Indie pop
Premiere: The Safe Distance release video for “Sandpits”
Still in the glow of the new year and the full flow of obligatory resolutions, its sort of gratifying that pretty much everything about The Safe Distance and their new (sort of) video “Sandpits” has more than a whiff of DIY about it, that old favourite of those new year promises that last not long …
New Music: The Crookes – You’re Just Like Christmas
Christmas may be over for another year, yet The Crookes have managed to keep that festive glow alight with their latest single ‘You’re Just Like Christmas’. It’s been a impressive year for the boys, as 2014 saw no less than 5 tours across the world, a new album, a handful of music videos and a couple …
New Music: Andrew Keoghan releases the quirky indie pop of Better Company
Hailing from Auckland, New Zealand and now based in Brooklyn, Andrew Keoghan seems to have successfully infused a cool naivety with a quirky, knowing feel to his new single, “Better Company”. I can’t help think of archetypal New York band, Tom Tom Club in the bouncy instrumentation and Jonathan Richman or David Byrne in the …
Live: The Heartbreaks, Bodega, 28th November 2014
The Heartbreaks are a band who know how to look after you. When I arrived at the Bodega in Nottingham last night, I found drummer Joe Kondras and lead guitarist Ryan Wallace telling staff how important it was they let me in. Great start, boys. The Heartbreaks are the first band I ever fell in …
Track: D.I.D – Hotel
D.I.D, formerly known as Dog Is Dead, have returned with a brand new single to remind us that they’re still making music and that they shouldn’t be forgotten about just yet. The Nottingham boys have been fairly quiet since their début album, All Our Favourite Stories, which got them noticed far and wide when it …
Track: The Hadron Colliders – Measuring the Space Between Us All
Out on Friday is the debut EP from Sydney band The Hadron Colliders. The band, Arun Kendall on vocals and guitars, Shannon Lewis on keys, Cameron McWilliams on Bass and Mark Duncan on drums hanker back to the heady summer days of the likes of the Sugargliders – soulful indie, the keys adding that extra …
Album Review: The Orchids – Beatitude#9
It could well be that The Orchids passed you by. The Scottish five piece James Hackett (vocals), John Scally (guitar), Chris Quinn (drums), Matthew Drummond (guitar) and James Moody (bass) formed in 1986, releasing a whole host of material on the tiny but (subsequently) hugely influential and loved Sarah Records label. Splitting up in 1995, …
Live Review: Belle and Sebastian – Manchester Cathedral 28.10.2014
Manchester Cathedral is a magnificently historic, Gothic edifice. On paper at least, giving a band like Belle & Sebastian the opportunity to play its hallowed nave appears both inspired and a mite sacrilegious, in a naughty-but-nice way. Is this not the band that sings about getting a “dose of thrush from licking railings” amidst other …
Album Review: St. Christopher – Evermore Starts Here 1984-2000
This is weird. Me and St Christopher have history. I bought, direct from Sarah Records, that beacon of all things indie and (in some cases) twee, All of a tremble, and fairly shortly afterwards stole one of their other singles for the label from my brother, Say Yes To Everything. Fast forward a long time …
New Music: Light Club – Youth Is Fading
In amongst the days and places that I’ve been listening to this, the debut from Portland, Oregon’s Light Club, I think I’ve found the perfect accompaniment: bright early autumn sunshine augmented by a strong, fresh breeze. I’m sat in my back garden, watching fragments of cloud cruising across the heart-stirringly blue sky, with washing snapping …