Lyon Tide describe themselves as “Snow Patrol meets Massive Attack after a painful divorce from Erasure“ - which is to say that the Birmingham three-piece who met at art college make emotive electro pop in a brilliant fashion. ‘Blind’ is one of those rare songs that you know is going to be incredible after the first few seconds. With shades of ‘A Real Hero’ by College & Electric Youth, this is a modern take on classic 80’s synth rock. The vocal here is endearing, the lyrics simple yet perfect. ‘Blind’ is our Single Of The Week. Listen to this and listen to their debut single ‘Closure’. Then listen to this again. Phenomenal. STREAM HERE.
Electro duo Whirling Romantics have released their debut EP, ‘Shades Of Blue’, a four song collection. EP opener ‘Press Play’ is a sombre effort while second track ‘Eyes’ does finally build to an emotional level. ‘Crave’ is more accessible and the finest song here, a more melodic effort. The EP closes with ‘Shades Of Blue’ which is unfortunately uninspiring. Whirling Romantics do have something about them, perhaps highlighted on ‘Crave’, but this EP is on the whole disappointing...Novacain are an indie rock band from Portsmouth who have a rock n roll stomper in new single ‘Wasting Time’. With a heavier, more traditional rock sound than we were expecting, the four piece impress..’Get Me Out’ is a song about escaping small town suburban life by Jody & The Jerms, a song that vocally takes us back to female fronted bands of the 90’s such as Saint Etienne and musically is like a trip to The Double Deuce in Roadhouse. This mesh shouldn’t work but it really does. The song’s melody, perfectly carried by Jody Jeger is the thing that keeps everything together here and as such ‘Get Me Out’ is one to discover...Hardwicke Circus have released their infectious new single ‘Walking On Broken Glass’, a classic rock n roll tune that is perfectly layered. There is a certain charm and charisma to this vocally charged track...Victoria Sponge have put out a radio edit of ‘Talk About Tonight’ complete with b-side ‘Ask My Art’. ‘Talk About Tonight’ is a bass powered tease of a song that threatens to unleash before morphing into an indie riff and a strong “yeah yeah yeah” melody. The b-side here has an almost RNB vibe, something very different that serves to showcase the diversity of Victoria Sponge…’Watch The Sun Burn Your Eyes’ is the new release from Martin Leary, a talented songwriter who impressed last year with his ‘All In Good Time’ EP. This new one has a killer riff and a top notch guitar tone, complete with a songwriting sensibility that puts Leary in a league of his own...Artesan released one of our favourite songs of 2020 with their debut single ‘Feel Like Myself Again’ and they are back with more acoustic rock goodness on new release ‘LIfesaver’. Lead singer Ronnie Bissett has one of those classic rock voices and the sound here is so full, it is astounding to be honest. An incredible release that could well have come from one of the world’s biggest bands which is frustrating for me as a listener and fan, God knows how they feel. If there is any justice and the stars align, maybe Artesan will hit the dizzy heights of rock n roll fortune and fame but until then get stuck in at the ground level...If you are looking for an indie rock anthem this week that is best played loud you won’t go far wrong with ‘Better (Than You)’ the new single from Manchester’s Garden Party. This one has a raw, gritty sound that sweeps along in great fashion. There is a mature undercurrent in the vocal and lyrics that makes Garden Party a band to take notice of. There is a foundation here for them to be one of the UK’s best bands...MIke Clerk is back, someone who gave us our Single Of The Week late last year with his previous release. ‘The Air In Here’ is taken from Mike’s debut album which is out at the end of March and serves to whet our appetite for the LP. This is another song with a solid foundation made up of a thick, solid rhythm. Mike Clerk is one of the greatest undiscovered artists around (if you haven’t discovered his music yet) and if you have, you’ll know that he is a special talent. One to listen to ASAP...The Riot Vans give us the best song title of the week with ‘Scotrail’s Stealing All My Money’, and as such we now know who the ‘Abellio’ are and why we should be getting angry at them. This is a brilliantly angry song that has a niche subject matter albeit one that the band are passionate about. A catchy chorus that will have you shouting expletives…’Viral Love’ is one of our standout tracks this week, with its clever lyrics and fast paced energy. Panic State are the band behind this brilliance, a London based trio who have a firm humour in their writing...Scottish Teenager Robin Ashcroft displays her talent on ‘I Luv U’, a splendid debut pop single. This one is layered with emotion - a classic rock love song that is lyrically moving...Bad Idea are a lo-fi dream pop outfit from Leeds who fulfill our need to reflect and chill out with new single ‘Happy’. This is an easy listen that by the end of the journey is awash with fuzz. Decent...Fleurr is one talented singer songwriter and previous release ‘Angels’ is one we have recently discovered and keen to write about. The song is stripped back and intense; it's personal. Fleurr lets the song breathe in places and ramps up the emotion in others. An absolute gem of a song...Chay Snowdon are fun. ‘Loud Shirts’ is a slice of raucous glam rock inspired indie noise that has pop sensibilities. Recorded during lockdown and at great length (including the use of a caravan) the production really stands out here. Best listened to after a few beers and you’re ready to throw caution to the wind. A riot..’Walking With You’ is the endearing new tune from Izzy Moriarty White, a DIY singer songwriter who can clearly carry a tune. ‘Walking With You’ is almost lo-fi and maintains a certain authenticity due to the production here...Amy Shark along with Keith Urban has another new single, this time written with Ed Sheeran. The Pair met in LA pre-covid to work on material and ‘Love Songs Ain’t For Us’ is the result. Predictably a slow and acoustic love song, this is plodding, corporate music with no edge to it whatsoever. Amy Shark delivered a great debut album a couple of years ago and it is frustrating as a fan of her work for the recent singles taken from her upcoming second LP to be so boring. So ‘just there’...Electrasy, who are responsible for one of our favourite tunes of all time, the 90’s anthem ‘Morning Afterglow’ have surprisingly (to me at least) released ‘Marie Marie’, something random that popped up on our release radar. Yes, they can still write a song and a half after all these years and ‘Marie Marie’ is in fact their first single in a decade. How we don’t know we miss something until it reappears...and finally, the legendary Richard Ashcroft has new material in a cover of John Lennon’s ‘Bring On The Lucie (Freeda People)’, recorded at Abbey Road studios. Whether or not this will be on Ashcroft’s upcoming new album which contains acoustic re-workings of some of his previous material remains to be seen. Ashcroft is one of the nation’s greatest living songwriters so it is perhaps a little selfishly disappointing that this isn’t an original work, however as far as cover versions of John Lennon classics go, this won’t be beat.
All of the music reviewed here can be listened to on the Our Sound Spotify Playlist here.
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