Track: Clwb Fuzz – No Heaven
Cool and assured with just a hint of delicious malevolence, ‘No Heaven’, the new single from Welsh band Clwb Fuzz is an absolute sonic delight. If a reference is needed, there is a Bad Seeds insouciance to the music, a dash of Mazzy Star and Sonic Youth and a quiet/loud ethic that The Jesus and …
Track: Unruly Girls – She Grew Up in a Shotgun Row
It’s been two years since we’ve heard from Southern Italy’s provocative and innovative Unruly Girls and their new single ‘She Grew Up In A Shotgun Row’ displays a sharpening of their incisive and slightly anarchic sound. The single is an aural assault – a pleasant and pulse-quickening one – that is inspired by the upbringing …
Track: Thrillhouse – Lesser
There’s always been something in the water at Brighton which is rapidly solidifying its reputation as a hot bed of unbridled creativity. So it is with ‘Lesser’ from Brighton band Thrillhouse. This is one of the most enthralling singles I’ve heard in a while – it has a bouncy, rippling pace but with a maturity …
Premiere: The Brave Faces – In The Dark
With an insistent, driving beat and crystalline guitars, ‘In The Dark’ is an instant indie anthem that is posed and elegant in its delivery. Astonishingly, this is a debut single from Brighton’s The Brave Faces: it has a pre-installed maturity that augurs well for the future of the band. Here at Backseat Mafia, we are …
Track: The Psychedelic Furs – You’ll Be Mine
If you are like me, the very sound of The Psychedelic Furs‘s singer Richard Butler’s voice increases the pulse and sets free a wave of nostalgia. One of the coolest of the cool post punk new wave bands in the eighties, The Psychedelic Furs had such a distinctive sound and a way with melody and …
Track: Wray – Jogging/Neon Forming
‘Jogging/Neon Sway’ is an absolutely immersive and magic single from Birmingham band Wray – gentle bubbling dream pop with shimmering guitars and haunting melancholic vocals: it hits all the right buttons. And it subverts expectations – distorted voices echo in and out and a synth wash interpolates the structure. The band describes the song as …
Track: Varanasi – Mishima
Formerly known as Japan Suicide, Italy’s Varanasi have re-invented themselves into something slightly more accessible and singing in their native tongue. Their first release under this name was last year’s magnificent ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. They have now released a haunting video for the track ‘Mishima’, now in Italian and it is just as magnificent. Directed by …
EP: Jekyll – The Whispering Gallery
Here at Backseat Mafia we are unabashed fans of Jekyll since their debut, and have already reviewed – very enthusiastically – a number of singles off their new EP ‘The Whispering Gallery’ (The Escapist, I Do What I Can and Marionette). ‘The Whispering Gallery’ collates these releases and adds two new track – ‘Echoes (Uncut)’ …
Track: Hannah Georgas – That Emotion
Produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, the new single from Hannah Georgas is a gorgeous, dreamy pop song that is celestial and majestic: soothing, crystalline guitars and a driving rhythm, with Georgas’s voice the absolute icing on the cake: Georgas says of working with Dessner: Aaron and I agreed the production needed to bring out …
Live: EWAH and the Vision of Paradise, Altar, Hobart 14 March 2019
EWAH and the Vision of Paradise were launching their single ‘Play Hard’ (see my review and interview here) in their home town, seemingly on the cusp of the apocalypse, and it was a great performance from a band that is incredibly mature and poised. While undoubtedly the enigmatic EWAH, as the principle songwriter, guitarist and …