Radkey - 'Cat & Mouse' EP

Radkey are the NEXT BIG THING because:

- They are from the US (St Joseph, Missouri to be precise) Brits love US guitar bands. See: Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Interpol, QOTSA, KOL, The Strokes, The White Stripes... Springsteen?
- They're black but don't rap
- They're 3 brothers.(History tells us that this combination work: see Hanson)
- They are young. 15-19. People love it when 'youngsters' produce guitar music.
- Every song has at least a 15 second epic lead guitar solo. DIDDLY DIDDLY DIDDLA.
- THEY'RE FUCKING GREAT

I have to admit that i've featured Radkey more because I love their music than because of the EP artwork.

THE COVERART

A selection of samurai swords overlaid with text in an A-Team style font. It's definitely consistent with their image of casual eighties, punkness.

THE MUSIC

Really hard to place the music. The guitars are undoubtedly punk in all their four chord, distorted charm. The drums come across as fairly lo-fi, no stabbing snare or syncopated fills that filled the songs of pop-punk. This is pure guttural punk music. Misfits, DOA stylee. But the vocals... they're not so punk. They're sung what perhaps lazily but fairly accurately can only be described as Strokes-style. There's definitely more than a hint of Julian Casablancas in there. Not just just tone but the melodic, I  could be humming to myself in the shower, casualness of the lyrics.

Song number 4 on the EP, 'Red Letter' gets the most visceral with a nice bit of energy in the screamed vocals.

In my book, a good band must do one or both of the following; 1) make music that is so surprising in its innovativness that you can't help but listen again, tell a friend, Google them and become a fan. 2) make music of a sound and genre that has been done before, but do it better than it's ever been done. Radkey are the later.

This EP is good. They've been Guardian 'New Band of The Day', played by Zane Lowe on Radio 1, played Download Festival and just played Camden's BarFly with A&R from Island Records in the audience...

Best live band in London tonight? Quite possibly... @radkeyrock @simonmcculloch had good taste!… http://t.co/ZyhXcegCOB
— Olivia Mee (@OliviaMeeLDN) June 19, 2013

Like I say...NEXT BIG THING!

Flats - 'Country / Moonwalk' (One Little Indian)

Flats - Country / Moonwalk

First of all I'm definitely not going to mention the fact that Dan Devine of Flats is currently in Pentonville Prison on a drug rehab programme. And the fact that he's the son of Creation Record's founder, Alan McGee. Because it's all about the music and the artwork. OH SHUT UP! Everyone loves a good rock and roll story; how else would Pete Doherty have been able to elongate his post-Libertines career with the shite that Babyshambles produced - it's all about the back story.

THE ARTWORK

It's a viscous, snarling, threatening dog framed in black. Which is pretty much a mirror image of the music. Black and white for added starkness and hinting at an age where the voice of the suppressed clamoured to be heard by the privileged, ruling few - through the medium of guitars and guttural vocals, infused with pain and pride.

THE MUSIC

Wendy Roby manages to capture the essence of Flats in one phrase, which i'll steal quote here, "look at the waveform on that!" Indeed. No peaks and troughs here, just an all-out 4minutes 5seconds of rage (unfortunately I can't show you this as it's not letting me embed at the moment!) Following two EP releases in 2010, Country (backed by Moonwalk) is the London band's third single and continues their punkish outlook. Actually, the word outlook suggests that their is a strategy or contrived side to their music. Music with this much rawness can only be the product of pure, unadulterated heart-to-fingers/throat playing. This band has a chip on their shoulders and they don't just want you to know about it, they want you to take that fucking chip, shove it down your throat (or in your ears) until you get the fucking message that they are really, REALLY pissed off about stuff.

Listen here

All the best to Dan and here's to their postponed tour going ahead in the near future.

Pins - 'Eleventh Hour'

Pins are a rather trendy outfit from that hotbed of awesomeness that is Manchester.  Home of current favourites of mine Dutch Uncles, Everything Everything and..er...The Ting Tings (OK GUILTY PLEASURE ALRIGHT!)

THE ARTWORK

Not many words at all are needed to convey the artistic greatness of this double AA. side single from the band. The simplistic and subtle concept of a cut-out logo on the case, contrasting perfectly with the colours of the tape carries a lot of impact. The clean lines and almost futuristic metallic colours, give the impression that this was designed by someone at Apple perhaps...however this isn't corporate. This is DIY and damn good.

The Tape:
ITS A FUCKING GOLD TAPE. In a black case. Enough said. Amazing.

Or alternatively...

...a black tape in a white/goldish looking case

Obviously the gold tape has sold out as why on earth wouldn't you want this? How do they make the tapes gold I wonder? Is it an old TDK cassette spray painted? Or a specially commissioned masterpiece created by a flavour of the month artiste? Who cares, it's awesome.

THE MUSIC

As good, if not better than you would expect from music being played from a gold tape (or Vimeo in my case as I was too late in ordering the limited edition tape). Reverb but not too much to use that oh-so-repeated phrase 'drenched in reverb'. Hooks? Yes. Eleventh Hour would be the perfect soundtrack to standing in a storm; thunder building and booming, lighting threatening and guitars raining all around, whilst wolves crouch in bushes, light reflecting from their eyes with each flash, causing a beating of the heart and a moment caught between fight or flight.

Tracklisting:
A. Eleventh Hour
AA. Shoot You
BONUS TRACK "La Petite Mort"

Download MP3's here

You can catch them live at Liverpool Sound City or The Great Escape festivals or various other dates in May & June - i'm definitely going to try and catch them.

THE VIDEO

Pulled Apart By Horses 'Wolf Hand' (Tough Love)

THE  MUSIC

Pulled Apart By Horses (hence forth known as PABH) are the great success story of the British underground music scene. Before they were friends with Fern, attending Huw Stephen's stag-do, opening for Muse and generally being deservedly successful, they were touring the country relentlessly, playing shitty little venues for a pittance. I saw them in Bournemouth at the shittiest of shitty venues, 'iBar' and they were incredible. In terms of music their energy when live is like electric shock therapy. On record I'm a stickler for their more sing-along-moments as opposed to the raw-throated vocal turns. Yeah Buddy's probably my favourite.

Anyhoos...Wolf Hand. Full of energy AND melody. That perfect copulation of tuneful ingredients that make you listen, move and SMASH YOUR FACE in to things for fun. Here's an idea in fact. Perhaps if the scum that orchestrated and took part in last years UK riots had been marched in to an empty aerodrome and had PABH tunes pumped in to their ears at high volume, they would have released all that deviant energy, en-masse. Just a thought. Therapists! Put down your Enya CD's! Replace them with Wolf Hand, after people have listened and then uncontrollably punkballed round the room they'll be feeling a lot better...

THE COVER ART

Follows a similar style to a previous single, 'V.E.N.O.M.' and is pretty good. It's not stand-out good but it suits the song and you know what you're gonna get. In the bands own words "a drawing on the cover of a man who has gone all wolf messed up and proper cool."

THE JACKASS LIKE VIDEO