Watch: Caveman – “Old Friend”

We loved the debut album from Brooklyn’s Caveman last year, so much so we put it in our Top Ten for 2011. We were captivated by their warm, fuzzy sound that felt like a close yet not oppressive summer evening. Now though they have done something we thought was impossible. With this dark and creepy new video for “Old Friend”, they have managed to make their music sound almost ominous. We still love it though, check out the video below.

Caveman – Vampirer / Old Friend (Official Video) from Caveman on Vimeo.

Free Download: April’s Ghost – “Bring You Down”

Descriptions can be tricky. Finding the words to convey what something does or how it sounds is not always as easy as you’d imagine. Writers and artists alike can agonise over the best way to describe the object of their attention or even themselves. Striving to come up with a way that will excite and inspire people to investigate further with language that conjures images and feelings, memories and fantasies.

Of course, ebullient and exuberant language, hyperbole and poetic licence are not always the best method of description. Sometimes less is more. A fact not lost on new Norwich four-piece, April’s Ghost, who describe themselves as ‘A rock band from Norwich UK’. And they are.

Below you can stream and download for free, their debut single, “Bring You Down”. First though, a couple of lines of description of our own that, we must confess, eschews the simplistic fact based style beloved by the band, and instead embraces the simile like it were a long lost love we never dare’d hope to see again.

“Bring You Down” is all high octane growl of guitars, pounding of drums and la la la la la’s. Vocalist Ellen, not April (nor is she a ghost for that matter), sings with a cool kid sneer and while not exactly floaty light, the comparative softness of her vocal offsets the ripsnorting sound of the band nicely. Yes, the guitar riff does get a bit Darkness in the middle but the low rumbley intro is awesome, like some kind of throaty engine noise from a tricked out American drag racer. The kind that makes you wonder for a moment if you’ve messed yourself as it pulls up alongside you on the street and the growl runs up through the floor and makes your stomach shudder, in a good way.

The lyrical waxing about the song has stopped now, you can hit play.

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Free Download: All We Are – “Cardhouse”

There’s a thin line between madness and genius and while voluntarily choosing to spend weeks holed up in an isolated cabin, lost within the wilds of a Norwegian forest, does sound more than a tad bonkers, for All We Are, it could prove to be an inspired move.

Ostensibly from the musical hotbed of Liverpool but with a smattering of Brazilian, Irish and Norwegian nationalities in their background, this three piece found that this isolation provided more than just a quite place to work, explaining that their surroundings “rubbed off on the way some of the guitar lines actually sound, particularly in Cardhouse…”. If that is the case, expect to hear many more tales of bands disappearing into the wilderness in the near future as the result is quite something.

“Cardhouse”, lead single from the band’s brand new EP We Hunt, is a sprawling, swirling festival filling track. It has a whole military drums, folky feel to it, not dissimilar to that currently being peddled by the amazing Of Monsters And Men, but with less fantastical tales of beasts and myths. Infact, “Cardhouse” is very much more focused on the fragility of life, of love, and how quickly and easily the house of cards you have built for yourself can come tumbling down. This frailty is echoed throughout by the ethereal melodies and vocal harmonies. It really is rather lovely.

The We Hunt EP is out digitally today on Payper Tiger Records. Click for your Free Download of the wonderful “Cardhouse” and while that’s doing it’s thing, check out the video below.

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In Session… Olympians – “The Dictionary”

Last week we shared with you our first session with Dan and Ben of half-Norwich, half-London based four-piece,Olympians. As promised, this week we have a brilliantly improvised version of “The Dictionary”, a track that has been receiving a lot of love in recent weeks. Seriously, you have to watch this, if only for the way in which the guys conjure up a percussion section using anything to hand.

Click to get some CDs in a book from the Olympians Book Club which is out now.

More Sessions
In Session… Olympians – “From Your Head”
In Session… She Makes War – “Minefields”
In Session… She Makes War – “Exit Strategy”

Track of the Day #2: Lovepark – “How Do I See?”

We’re not sure if summer has already been and gone here in the UK, we did have at least two days of pretty hot weather the other week so that could well have been it. If so, it’s a damn shame because the debut release from Brighton based Lovepark is perfect for late summer evening listening. Preferably after some alfresco drinking and dining, when moving to reach for your beer is about all the energy you can muster as the sun drops lazily over the horizon. The warm, dreamy sounds gently nudge and probe into your subconscious, simultaneously relaxing you while stirring something from within, a happy memory perhaps or a sense of contentment. Not bad for four skater boys who met on the ramps of Burgess Hill.

“How Do I See?” and it’s Double A-side companion, “Shudder” will be released only on a limited edition (to 500 copies) purple 7″ on 2 July. The band will be playing a show to launch the single at the Queen of Hoxton on 4 July.

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