Robots in disguise

Arrrright? Whilst perusing through the list of bands I should go and see at The Great Escape this year (oh yes, I had to get that in) I've happily stumbled across Masks, a lovely instrumental shoegaze group that make a kind of ambient-yet-paranoid noise, a bit like watching Twin Peaks with a hot chocolate. In fact, when interviewed for fellow blog Dummy, David Lynch was mentioned as an influence. Masks are another band to add to the growing list of bands-wot-make-scuzzy-guitar-like-noises-with-no-guitars, and, well, we just love that sort of thing round here.

Masks actually do wear masks, which they partly explain by saying they're "going for that Venetian look really, whilst ripping off The Knife while we’re at it". Fair 'nuff, it's nice to have a band whose name is just simple and descriptive for once.

They had an EP out last month on Fear & Records and, although based in Brighton, are hoping to start gigging elsewhere soon. Below is a little video of the wonderfully titled title track, 'Forever Dancing' - I'm just lovin' the simple yet effective keyboard melody, something that's exploited to it's fullest in the excellent chunky 'Entrepreneurs SB Remix' featured on the band's Myspace player.



If you are heading to The Great Escape this year, be sure to check them out, along with fellow Fear & Records act Rolo Tomassi; if my trawling of the unsigned lineup is anything to go by, I have a strong feeling that they might just shine a little beacon of goodness amongst the swathes of unsigned middle-of-the-road acoustic guitar twangers hanging around the place.

Can you guess what it is yet?

Right, we've had a couple of indie bands on recently, so methinks, in the name of eclecticism, it's time for another burst of electronica.

Patten is a tasteful Londonite making very pretty and very moody atmospheric nuggets of house music full of boopy bass lines. Y'know, the type that can only be described to other people by going 'boooooooooooooooooooop' at them. Yup.

So anyway, both of the tracks featured on his Myspace can be downloaded for absolutely nuffink from Bandcamp so you can boop along to them whenever and wherever you fancy, or you can listen to 'Fire Dream (C90 Demo)' below.

It's a short one today because I have a hunger headache and am off to chew some teabags. Toodleloo.

Three's a crowd

Isn't it just sickening when people are in more than one good band? It's bad enough when we have to be jealous of the people in one, never mind if they spring up another one as if it's the easiest thing in the world. Two bands is fine, but two good bands is just showing off.

Today's duo, The Proper Ornaments, contain one of our old familiars from Veronica Falls, something that only dawned on me when I went to see them in the flesh. And guess what? They're good! James Hoare of The Proper Ornaments is not only from Veronica Falls but was in the not-half-bad Your Twenties for a time before being ousted. And it certainly didn't do him any harm, as he clearly has a taste for reet good indie music. It's a bit surfy, quite a bit retro, and it has poppy harmonies and pretty melodies - all the things that are cool at the moment, but it's nice and sleepy too. It feels like summer, which is definitely what we all need a dose of right now.

Check out any of the tracks on their Myspace, they're all good.

In it together

This week's gigs included a band I've wanted to see since last summer but have only just got round to watching. I'd penned this little event in my diary a few weeks ago, when, lo and behold, upon turning on my radio earlier in the week to listen to the fine gentleman that is Mr. Steve Lamacq on BBC 6Music (save it save it save it!), what did I hear but the band themselves, chatting away amicably with Steve.

During the interview, Friendship (much to my delight) named No Age as one of their biggest influences, and, like No Age, they sure make one hell of a racket for two people. Their tracks are stylish and characterful (if you can say that about a song), and as much as I'm a fan of the promoters that put them on, at this particular gig they just seemed to be in the wrong place. They were just in a different league to the bands that preceded them, and by the time our intrepid duo got round to playing their brilliantly messy-but-polished tracks, the audience had all but got bored and gone home. Regular readers of the blog will know I'm quite a reserved audience member at the best of times, so standing on my lonesome in front of a very sparse crowd watching two men provide ear-splitting music to which thrashing around is probably the only appropriate response was a bit awkward. But they absolutely rocked, so it all turned out for the best in the end.

Their new single, 'Lifeguard', is out on the great Too Pure record label on Monday 19th April, check out Friendship's blog for details of where you can get your grubby little fingers on a copy. In the mean time, here's a video for 'The Graveyard Shift', a single that came out last year:

Deep doodoo

Ever wished that you could cross Gentle Friendly and Small Black to make a beautiful and wondrous Gentle Black? Friendly Small perhaps? I know I certainly have. And wouldn't the sound you made be deep? Very deep? Well, it would be Deep Sht, in fact - our band of the day. What's that you say? You'd even add some more poppy hooks? Well, in that case, this guy has just come up trumps on all counts.

His sound, as you can imagine, is scuzzy enough to satisfy the most scuzz-obsessed of us, and it's just lovely. The tracks are mainly short bursts of thoughtful, summery deliciousness, although word has it that they're coming from a darker, cynical sort of standpoint on his part. Maybe I just think it's summery cos it's sunny outside.

Anyway, he sometimes has some other people to help him out with playing his scuzz, and you can possibly see this happen at London's 1234 Shoreditch Festival on Saturday 24th July. For now, though, please do check out his Myspace page, or, better still, download his debut release, 'Weird You', available from emusic.com

Young, free and with great singles

Bachelorette, a.k.a. Annabel Alpers, is a lady that's been floating around the musical stratosphere for a while, but if, like the me of yesterday, you haven't listened to her stuff yet, I strongly recommend you get to it on the double.

She makes "stuff that buzzes one out", as she puts it. Floaty vocals and expert production come together in tracks with a surprising and refreshing amount of variation. We're quite used to laid-back, floaty, female-fronted 'quirky' indie, but this is a creation all of its own. There's layers of britpop, funk and electro, all tied up in a big pop bow, and even though that description might make it seem nightmarish to some people, just try in on for size and see how well it fits.

She's currently on tour around the US with Beach House, and - dare I say it (yes) - I prefer her stuff to theirs. But, fear not, she isn't planning on heading back to her native New Zealand after that - no, she's a hard-working single lady and she'll be gracing the fair isle of the UK with dates in Leeds, Sheffield and London, all of which are on her Myspace page.

Here's a nice video for 'Her Rotating Head', taken from her latest album 'My Electric Family', and cos I just couldn't decide which video to put up, you get two for the price of one with the video for 'Complex History Of A Dying Star' as well.

Let's hear it for the girls!

Last night's wandering about town brought me to the battered door of the ever dependable Old Blue Last, behind which lay a stage soon to be graced by two bands that I had seen before - Veronica Falls (about whom, readers will know, I am given to rant approvingly) and La La Vasquez - and one band that I had not - Girls Names

These wonderful people (not, as you may assume, all female) have come across from the wilds of Ireland to give England a right royal indie kick up the backside. Now, I'm one of those types that can be seen standing cross-armed and serious at any gig, perhaps mustering a smile if the band in question is particularly deserving, but - BUT - last night, when treated to the garagey-pop delights of Girls Names, I could be seen by all and sundry to be moved do what can only be described as polite bopping.

Their description of themselves is admirably spot-on: "Girls Names play disposable noise pop songs" and, I will add, they play them very well. We all know that 'noise-pop' or garage, or shoegaze, or general wonky distortion is very much the flavour of the week with us bloggers, writers and the Shoreditch scenesters, but it's so nice to see a band who aren't just going through the motions for the sake of being cool. The fact that they played alongside a band like La La Vasquez (sorry girls), and have done for the duration of this little tour, just illustrated the contrast between La La Vasquez's 'bang-a-drum-not-quite-in-time-and-goo-ooh-a-bit' displays of being trendy without substance, and Girls Names' impressive, individual songwriting, guitar playing and vocals. Oh, and Veronica Falls were great as always.

Check out this little video to hear their track 'When You Cry', and catch them live at various places over the next couple of months, all listed on their Myspace.

Girls Names - When You Cry (Ad Hoc Version) from CASS/FLICK on Vimeo.