Song of the day – the Top 40
fluttering wing-movements and stuttering synth breaks and fluting woodwind and those stunning voices
Belle And Sebastion @ The Tivoli, 07.03.11
Speaking as a Ramones and Undertones fan, I love a bit of self-parody, me. As long as it’s done straight.
Song of the day – 295: Blue Ribbon Glee Club (free download)
Those crazy Chicago hipster kids!
five more reasons why I’m still cooler than you
I’ve had too much coffee.
Song of the day – 228: La Sera
There’s absolutely nothing not to love about this single. A song that distills all the purest Shop Assistants elements of The Vivian Girls, with a teeth-clenching breathy high vocal, and drums that linger for seconds at a time. Harmonies that wrap themselves around your body like fondest memories. (You can’t put your arms around a […]
The Fresh And Onlys – Play It Strange (In The Red)
Little things can make a big difference. Sometimes, it’s the difference between loving something and thinking it’s just OK. Or thinking it’s OK and hating it.
Everett True and his First Ladies Of Rock
I still write for a few other places. One of these is the excellent NYC femme-focused magazine, Bust, for which I write a regular column, Everett True and his First Ladies Of Rock, a short consumer guide look at some of the fine, unheralded, female-led bands around. I’ve been on at my contact at Bust […]
Song of the day – 160: Frankie Rose And The Outs
The exact point where Dum Dum Girls meet Vivian Girls… which is barely surprising as Frankie Rose has drummed with both, and for Crystal Stilts as well. If this makes it sound like I’m only begrudgingly recommending this group to you because I think I ought to, think again Methuselah, think again. Those reverb-saturated harmonies! Bangs […]
Song of the day – 135: Town Bike
I’m a sucker for any band that’s a sucker for early Ramones the same as me, especially if they have a female singer. Of course, this sucker-dom can manifest itself in many ways. From Shonen Knife to Helen Love, from Soda Fountain Rag to Shop Assistants, from Vivian Girls to… ah Bangs alive, we’re going […]
Song of the day – 94: Neverever
Ah, but I love Facebook sometimes. An old Brighton friend tipped me off to a brace of awesome new femme-pop sounds, this group first. Damn, she knows me well: how can I resist such outrageously harmonised and resonant pop? Everything about this is so, so crush-worthy. Bangs damn it but there’s so much of this […]