New Girls track…Vomit.

‘Vomit’ is the first single (and 6th track) from San Francisco band Girls‘ forthcoming sophomore album – Father, Son, Holy Ghost, which will be released September 13th. If ‘Vomit’ is anything to go on, in terms of what we can expect from Father, Son, Holy Ghost, then it is apparent that their sound has continued to evolve.

We are given 6.23 minutes of punishing lyrics which, when you take a look at them written down, are seemingly more repetitive than previous tracks but listening to the record it’s really not apparent. The track (which is wonderfully heavy and emotional by the way) features some standard Girls melodies, some amazing guitar riffs, and in keeping with the upcoming album’s name, the song ends with a soaring gospel choir. It seems as though Girls are continuing with their mission to pierce the soul, and doing a good job of it. If the rest of Father, Son, Holy Ghost is as good as this track, then we could be anticipating Girls’ best work yet.

p.s. Does anybody know why they named the track ‘Vomit?’

Photo by Sandy Kim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girls – ‘Vomit’

 

Lyrics for Girls – ‘Vomit’

Nights I spend alone
I spend ’em runnin’ ’round lookin’ for you, baby
Nights I spend alone
I spend ’em runnin’ ’round lookin’ for you, baby

Lookin’ for love
Lookin’ for love
Lookin’ for love
Lookin’ for love

Nights I spend alone
I spend ’em runnin’ ’round lookin’ for you, baby
Nights I spend alone
I spend ’em runnin’ ’round and ’round and ’round
And ’round and ’round and ’round and ’round and ’round
And down and down and down and down and down

Nights I spend alone
I spend ’em runnin’ ’round lookin’ for you, baby
Nights I spend alone
I spend ’em runnin’ ’round lookin’ for you, baby

Lookin’ for love
Lookin’ for love
Lookin’ for love
Lookin’ for love

‘Cause there’s something that I get for myself
And there’s something that you give to me
Well, I got one without the other
Well, it’s not enough to be – I need your love

Come in to my heart
Come in to my heart
Come in to my heart
My love
Come in to my heart
Come in to my heart
Come in to my heart
Oh, come in to my heart
Come in to my heart
Come in to my heart
My love

Watch out for…Givers

Givers are an eager, young, indie-pop band hailing from Lafayette, Louisiana. The group consists of five members, Tiffany Lamson (vocals, percussion), Taylor Guarisco (vocals, guitar), Kirby Campbell (drums, vocals), Nick Stephan (flute, sax, keyboard), and Josh LeBlanc (bass) who met at high school and university.

They first hit music radars in 2009 when they became the supporting act for the Dirty Projector’s tour and with the release of their self-titled EP . However, 2011 has definitely been their year. In February, they officially became a signed act under Glassnote records, and on June 7th released their debut full-length album In Light. Thanks to their recent performance on ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’ they’ve enjoyed a surge in popularity, which is apparent on Youtube especially.
When speaking of In Light, Givers admit “we’ve put our hearts, souls, and it all – everything – into this record,” and it certainly shows. If their mission is to make people happy with their music, then they succeed every time.

Givers – Up Up Up

Theophilus London ft. Sara Quin – ‘Why Even Try’ (RAC Remix)

Theophilus London ft. Sara Quin – Why Even Try (RAC Remix)

The renowned Remix Artist Collective (RAC) have done a lovely remix of Theophilus London ft. Sara Quin‘s ‘Why Even Try,’ which was released earlier this year on London’s album Lovers Holiday. Perfect for when you feel like kicking back and relaxing this Summer.

I Blame Coco – ‘The Constant’ Review

Here’s another review I found that I did in December 2010 for my university newspaper The Boar:

3/5

Fronted by 20 year old Eliot ‘Coco’ Sumner, The Constant is the debut album of UK band I Blame Coco, highly anticipated by the industry all year. It’s anticipation, sadly, is for largly the wrong reasons. Coco is the daughter of Trudie Styler and legendary musician Gordon Sumner AKA Sting, but don’t let that put you off listening to the record. Coco is definitely not just a celebrity kid trying to ride the wave of her parent’s success. Although Coco has, to some extent inherited her father’s cool, husky voice, the style she takes, she proves on The Constant, is distinctively her own. Coco wrote all the songs on the album, bar a Neil Young cover, along with the help of Swedish producer, Klas Åhlund, producer of Robyn, who incidentally, features on the track ‘Caesar.’

The Constant is largely an electro, synth-pop record with soft ska undertones which balance well against Coco’s deep, often androgynous, husky vocals. There are certain limitations present in her vocals however. Her low register prevents a great deal of range, making the album somewhat colourless at times, proving to be fairly inflexible and rigid at times. But despite this, Coco style is refreshingly unique amongst a sea of female British female-pop acts, like: Marina and the Diamonds, Florence and the Machine, and Ellie Goulding, meaning on, The Contstant, Coco cuts her very own distinctive place on a crowded scene.

In an album that is at times plagued by over-familiarity, stand-out tracks include the catchy electro-pop album opener, ‘Self Machine’, along with ‘Caesar’ and ‘Quicker’. ‘Self Machine’ and ‘Quicker’ are both songs with a strong 80s influence in terms of energy and rhythm. Their lyrics, although insightful at times, her references to the Lord of the Flies and the Miligram Device, seem somewhat overworked and contrite.

Other tracks worthy of a mention include the slower, more solemn, ‘Summer Rain’ and ‘No Smile.’ ‘Summer Rain’ is an emotive, melancholic ballad with a strong chorus, whilst ‘No Smile’, which Coco wrote at the tender age of fifteen, is simply hauntingly dark and beautiful. The disappointing tracks on The Constant suffer from a lack of distinguishing features and originality, ‘Party Bag’ and ‘Playwright Fate’ just seem to merge within the album, and are quite simply boring and easily forgettable with largely unrelatable lyrics.

It’s safe to say that this album is worth a listen. There are plenty of good, catchy tracks, thoughtfully balanced out by some slower, more sombre ballads. Coco is able to exhibit raw talent, some insightful lyrics and a unique, soulful voice. The album presents an interesting mix of electro, synth-pop and ska which somehow, rather unexpectedly works, setting her apart stylistically from other strong female acts out there at the moment.

The Constant, whilst not outstanding, is a commendable debut album by virtue of it’s distinctive and innovative highlights. Definitely a promising start for I Blame Coco, who are definitely an act to watch out for in the future.

Warpaint Video

Warpaint, Warpaint, Warpaint.

‘Warpaint’ is the latest video release from Warpaint’s debut album ‘The Fool.’

 

I’ve been living in Portugal for the last couple of weeks and as soon as I heard this video had been released I had been searching and searching for a way to watch it, with the official link on Youtube telling me that “The uploader has not made this video available in your country.” Anyway, I finally found the video, watched it and LOVED it. The band’s videos have been simply breath-taking to date, especially the simple-yet-mesmerizing video for ‘Elephants.’ Thankfully their latest video, created by Ted Newsome, has not failed to disappoint and completely matched up to the par established by ‘Elephants.’ We are transported from the dreary, black-and-white day to day lives of the girls (which each have an alter ego) into a vibrant, technicolour, underwater dreamworld in which the girls float and swim around beautifully and even take time to have a tea party. I also noted the rather symbolic entrance of the new drummer Stella Mozgawa. She’s the last to enter the water, the three original members are already there together, and as Mozgawa enters, Jenny Lee reaches out her hand and pulls her closer to them. Nice touch. The video is totally in keeping with the bands dreamy, psychedelic music and I hope their future videos are just as amazing.

Howler ‘This One’s Different’ EP Review

 4/5 

Exciting young four-piece from Minneapolis, Howler, is the brainchild of 19-year-old Jordan Gatesmith, lead guitarist for indie band Total Babe. Widely regarded as having much more talent than they care to let on or maybe even realise, big things have been happening for the band. They’ve recently become the latest signing to legendary label Rough Trade Records, were crowned #3 in NME’s Best New Bands of 2011 So Far (and were the editor’s personal choice), were hand-picked by The Vaccines to support them on their UK tour, and even more excitingly, have just announced the release of their debut five-track EP, ‘This One’s Different,’ which drops 1^st August.

Howler accurately describe their style as “surfy,” but punk and thrash elements can also be heard on this record. Whilst having succeeded in creating their own unique sound they may at times be comparable to a sobered up, speeded up, and cheered up version of San Francisco band Girls, which is definitely no bad thing. Refreshingly, the band members don’t take themselves too seriously, labelling themselves on their MySpace account as “four disgusting children in one disgusting band,” portraying their reckless, don’t give a f*** attitude.

 

“This One’s Different’ is a seemingly effortless first attempt by Howler, with fourteen minutes of upbeat, staccato, surfy riffs and carefully-crafted indie melodies combined with darkly romantic, sometimes angsty, sometimes bitter-sounding and self-depreciating lyrics about girls and heartbreak, brought to life by the quirky yet wonderful vocals of Gatesmith. The stand-out tracks are first release ‘I Told You Once’, with its catchy lyrics and upbeat melodies, along with the raw, interestingly named ‘You Like White Women, I Like Cigarettes’. This EP has plenty of potential to be part of the soundtrack to your summer (break-up). If this promising handful of tracks are anything to go by, then the talented Minnesotans have, without a doubt, a successful future ahead of them.                                  

Here’s a link to the review on my university newspaper, The Boar.