The Films - Don’t Dance Rattlesnake

Okay, so they’re lumbered with a dull-ass nom de rock, but forget that. South Carolina’s The Films sound like a party in full swing - the kind of party where half-naked, flirtatious sorts cavort around while the drinks and drugs are flowing freely.

‘Don’t Dance Rattlesnake’ oozes with a classic, cocky swagger matched only by its boundless vigour. Hell, sometimes it just oozes. ‘Belt Loops’ pours from the stereo all spring-loaded, twitchy bass and tumbling, excitable lyrical intrigue that ploughs a path for the pumping sing-along anthem, ‘Being Bored’. Ultimately though, all good parties must end as the hangover of closing strummer, ‘Bodybag’ calls for a taxi and clears the final stragglers to get the unenviable clean up underway.

At just over a half hour The Films’ x-rated debut is a short, sharp, shitfaced shock of salacious licks and hedonistic tales, as likely to pull on your zipper as it is your heartstrings.

Words_David McLaughlin

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Being Bored’, ‘Belt Loops’
FOR FANS OF: OK Go, Dandy Warhols

The Concretes - Hey trouble

After their lead singer quit last year, it looked like things were about to head south for Swedish indie band The Concretes. But they picked themselves up, dusted themselves down, and headed back to the studio, where drummer Lisa Milberg took over main songwriting duties. To be fair, you can’t really spot the difference, but this is no bad thing, as The Concretes have always excelled in making pretty, upbeat, retro-pop songs, and Milberg’s vocals are just as sweet as her predecessor’s. Plus, her off-kilter pronunciation of certain words adds quirky charm to a sound that was already quite quirky and charming.

Words_Ross Thompson

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DOWNLOAD: ‘A Whale’s Heart’, ‘Oh Boy’.
FOR FANS OF: I’m From Barcelona, The Cardigans, The Pipettes

The Answer - Rise (special edition)

The Answer’s storming debut gets a worthy re-release, with an exhaustive bonus disc of 15 B-sides, download-only singles, radio sessions, acoustic versions, live tracks and unreleased original material. Overkill? Certainly not, and the jewels here suggest that the best is yet to come. ‘Doctor’ and ‘Rock Bottom Blues’ do sound distant and see the band strolling where they normally strut, but the anthemic ‘Keep Believin’’ beggars belief that it was left off ‘Rise’ first time around. Stripped versions of ‘No Questions Asked’ and ‘Into The Gutter’ reinforce the band’s songwriting calibre, highlighting the work that went into the album proper. ‘Take It Easy’, singer Cormac Neeson’s first effort with acoustic guitar, stomps and claps; a ramshackle gem backed with Paul Mahon’s electric slide and worthy of campfires the world over.

’Sweet Emotion’ is the fulcrum on which The Answer’s appeal seesaws. Detractors call them copyists, fans consider them invigorators. The cover of the Aerosmith staple is a predictable acknowledgement of their musical forefathers but the band’s dexterity and Neeson’s rocket-launching screech elevate their efforts above accusations of plagiarism.

The criticisms of derivation levied at The Answer are simultaneously their appeal. While the template they’ve followed thus far might be dated, the energy they create and sentiments they express feel already classic, universal, and timeless, making this a classy example of first rate retro-tainment.

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Keep Believin’’, ‘Sweet Emotion’
FOR FANS OF: AC/DC, The Music

Sean Na Na - Family Trees Or Cope We Must

Sean Tillman shuffles off the court jester garb of his famous alter ego Har Mar Superstar to slip into the more slinky outfit of his singer songwriter persona Sean Na Na, for the first time since 2002’s ‘My Majesty’. Newcomers will be surprised to find he is just as effective playing it straight as he at playing the lovable, hip-hop funkopotomous. Older fans will be expecting more than just a half-assed draft of ideas with one or two absolute killers to let it slide as characterised frustrating, previous offerings. ‘Family…’ is a step up.

Most tracks are of the bouncy, melodic indie-rock meets alt.country ilk, thankfully bypassing the stoner sketchiness of old. You’ll be breezily singing along with these easy-jams within the first few bars but repeated listens reveal the dark, unhappy heart at their centre. Perhaps the old saying about the tears of the clown is true after all. With ‘Family…’ Sean Na Na finally delivers on his much vaunted promise and offers Mr. Tillman with an intriguing dilemma about what to wear next season.

Words_David McLaughlin

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Photo Booth’, ‘Fold, Hit Or Stand’
FOR FANS OF: Johnathan Richman, Evan Dando

The Pigeon Detectives - Wait For Me

If their debut album, ‘Wait For Me’, is anything to go by The Pigeon Detectives need some relationship advice. Almost every song here documents the bittersweet drama of falling in and out of love, and getting royally pissed off with your ex. Bless ‘em and their broken indie-pop hearts.

Musically it’s all been heard before. The youthful exuberance of The View mixed with the surreal jauntiness of The Coral. None of that really matters when it’s as good as ‘Romantic Type’ or ‘I Found Out’ – tracks that have more bounce than Zebedee from The Magic Roundabout.

A change of pace would be welcome as the acoustic intro to ‘Can’t Control Myself’ proves but ultimately this isn’t an album for contemplative moments. It’s one for drinking, bitterness and shouting along to lines like “your conscience is wrapped around your ankles”. Good stuff.

Words_Stewart McCullough

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Romantic Type’, ‘I Found Out’
FOR FANS OF: Larrikin Love, The Coral, The View

Mice Parade - Mice Parade

‘Mice Parade’ is a wonderfully cohesive mix of the acoustic and the electronic – a space where the opposite worlds of introspective folk and deafeningly distorted guitars co-exist as a single entity. Sure, it’s unmistakeably acoustic-led, but there’s an electronic undercurrent running throughout. At times delicately understated (such as on the haunting ‘Double Dolphins On The Nickel’, replete with Icelandic verse courtesy of Múm’s Kristin Anna Valtysdottir) and wonderfully exuberant at others (as on ‘The Nights After Fiction’), this is a record of great depth, and begs to be played repeatedly.

Words_Chris Mc Corry

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Double Dolphins On The Nickel’, ‘Swing’
FOR FANS OF: Blonde Redhead, My Bloody Valentine, Death Cab For Cutie

Mark Sultan - The Sultanic Verses

Sadly this has nothing to do with the much missed Sultans of John ‘Speedo’ Reis fame. Still as one half of King Khan & BBQ Show and recording for the In The Red label, Mark Sultan (Mark Khan to his mum) has garage rock credentials up the hoo-hah. ‘The Sultanic Verses’ sounds as if it was bashed out in a fun filled afternoon with three chords, a lot of reverb, a knackered drum kit and a complete disregard for the last thirty years of music recording technology. It ain’t brain surgery but have you ever met a brain surgeon? They can’t play rock ‘n’ roll for shit.

Words_James McDonald

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FOR FANS OF: Dan Sartain, The Oblivians, The Heartaches.
DOWNLOAD: ‘Beautiful Girl’, ‘100 Little Women’

Justice - †

And so, the album arrives. A year after their delirious reworking of indie troupe Simian’s ‘Never Be Alone’ on ‘We Are Your Friends’ enlivened radios and clubs everywhere, French electro-house duo (where have we heard that before?!) Justice deliver big-time on ‘†’ (pronounced “cross”, apparently). What’s most striking is that it really plays as an album, not just a collection of club tunes. For a start, it’s concise. Secondly, it’s varied. Third, it flows. Though they claim to have fallen into this music lark accidentally from a background in graphic design, there’s a very real sense that Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge (such names!) know how to work a crowd, and not to shoot their load too early. Metaphorically speaking. Case in point: the monumental genius of ‘Waters Of Nazareth’ is the penultimate song, the pace and tension is ratcheted all the way up on the second half of the record to the point where it demands a climax. This track is it, and it encapsulates all that is great about Justice – fat, pummelling beats, evil basslines, vintage synths, kinetic energy, and some fearsome distortion. French house plays metal. And in the full knowledge that you can’t follow that, what rounds things off is simply a mellow reprise of a recurring theme from earlier in the record. The feeling of satisfaction, nay fulfilment, when it’s over is pretty special.

Words_Chris Jones

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Phantom’, ‘D.A.N.C.E’., ‘Waters Of Nazareth’
FOR FANS OF: Vitalic, Daft Punk, MSTRKRFT

Johnny boy - Johnny boy

In 2004 Johnny Boy released a single called, ‘You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve’. Unfurling a lush line in Spectorian pop, it was proclaimed by all and sundry as one of the finest songs of the year. The orchestrated poptronica and anti-materialist sentiments are echoed in the album, the belated ‘Johnny Boy’. The combination of Lolly Hayes’ wistful vocal, Davo’s ragged guitar and a plethora of jitterbug beats and jiving keys create a wonderfully textured collage. Particularly impressive is ‘Livin’ In The City’, a song which thrums with metropolitan energy. Elsewhere songs such as ‘Wall Street’ and ‘War On Want’ condemn the consumerist mindset of modern society, urging us to look for meaning beyond the confines of what we own. That said, ‘Johnny Boy’ is one possession you really ought to have.

Words_Francis Jones

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DOWNLOAD: ‘You Are The Generation…’, ‘Livin’ In The City’, ‘War On Want’
FOR FANS OF: The Ronettes, St Etienne, My Bloody Valentine

Jetplane Landing - Backlash Cop

‘Wait, did I just say genitals?’ When this soon-to-be-immortal line is dropped within the first minute and a half of the record it becomes clear that Jetplane Landing are once again set to confound expectations. Evolution is out, reinvention is in. Forget everything you thought you knew and prepare to have your mind blown.

While previous album ‘Once Like A Spark’ was quite different from their debut ‘Zero For Conduct’, you could at least align that record with what was happening in the UK music scene at the time. JPL fitted in perfectly alongside the likes of Hundred Reasons, Biffy Clyro and Hell Is For Heroes. They all had a knack for churning out flawless, heavy, riff driven post-hardcore. You might have predicted that they would continue on the course that was bringing them a fair amount of success and fans.

Yet here we are presented with what can only be described as a funk-hardcore concept album. Yes, funk. Of all the directions that Jetplane could have went, it’s doubtful even a single person would have wagered money on this one. But it totally works.

They’ve created a sound that stands alone in today’s playing field. It’s 35 minutes of frenetic and funky musical insanity that none of their peers would even dream of. Cut together like a single segued track, the album moves along seamlessly, weaving linked lyrical themes that reference greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Les Savy Fav. It’s so clearly well studied it feels like an education just listening to it. There are stories and intricacies woven into every track, and you’ll be compelled to dig deeper.

The closest comparison you could throw at this is Rage Against The Machine, only with a shed-load more melody and groove. Andrew Ferris’ vocal delivery is sharp and pointed on every track, Cahir Doherty’s guitar lines and solos are wailing and awesome, drummer Raife Burchell’s rhythms are played out to perfection and Jamie’s basslines just pile it on thick. These four men could well be the funkiest white fellas since the Beastie Boys.

‘Backlash Cop’ is a record so crammed full of ideas and detail it makes you want to listen to it from start to finish, over and over again. If you’re expecting ‘Once Like A Spark’ Mark II then you won’t find it here, but if you’re looking for something fresh, new and exciting then seek no further – this is where it’s at.

Words_Jonny Tiernan

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Why Do They Never Play Les Savy Fav On The Radio?’, ‘Song For Sonia Sanchez’,
FOR FANS OF: Les Savy Fav, Rage Against The Machine

HTRK - Nostalgia

Recorded live with only a pair of microphones and an old tape machine, this debut from HTRK (pronounced “Hate Rock”) is alarmingly atmospheric; it’s a claustrophobic, immersive experience that is worryingly addictive and somewhat hypnotic. Like My Bloody Valentine with a PIL fixation, or a Big Black record played at the wrong speed, the unrelenting, slow motion drum machine, broken-speaker bass, ethereal guitar and indecipherable vocals come together to create a delightfully murky sonic landscape.

Words_Chris McCorry

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DOWNLOAD: ‘ Look at That Girl’, ‘Look At Her’
FOR FANS OF: Liars, My Bloody Valentine, Throbbing Gristle