Album Review: Sameblod – Braided Memos

Clocking in at just over one year old (the band was ‘born’ in 2011) indie-electro-pop duo Sameblod already have one stunning EP to their name and are now swiftly following that with their debut full length, Braided Memos. In an incredible show of bravado, this 10-track collection features not one of the songs from the Our Future EP. The thing is they don’t need them.

The pair originally met in a small town in the north of their native Sweden where they studied music together. They eventually found they had a mutual love of the same kind of music and soon began to ‘get wasted and jam for fun after school’ with no intention that the music they made would ever go anywhere. That was until people heard it of course.

Our Future, which was released last year, is a very laid back and relaxed collection, quite measured in its approach and full of controlled and precision electronica. On Braided Memos the duo allow themselves no less control, but they have awoken from their tranquillity and stepped out to smell the warmth and optimism of a new day.

Asked to describe their sound, Frederick Rundqvist and Mikael Mattisson classified it as ”hopeful-electronic-mellow-pop with a lot of different influences”, they pretty much nailed it. The album is full of confidence, of sanguinity, even in its darker moments there is an underlying sense of hope. Like the pea beneath the mattress of synthesiser sounds upon mattress after mattress of synthesiser sounds, try as you like, you will still be able to feel it there. “UR Road”, for example, is carefree, joyously whistling away, happy and content with life. It’s flamboyant, animated and uplifting with a smile that is infectious. Similarly, “Always”, which follows it, is the bright sun shining on young, happy-go-lucky people laughing and joking as they travel and jape together across European fields, mountain paths, beaches. All those places beautiful people go in music videos.

Not all the tracks are as overtly uplifting but there is a wistful tenderness to almost all, “The Hardest Choice”, which features fellow Swede and purveyor of delightfully warm dream-pop in his own right, Summer Heart, begins and ends with birdsong. Rather than sounding twee, it completely fits the summery feel and transports you to the countryside.

There is some dark to counter balance this light though and the glacial indietronica of Our Future is not entirely absent. It adds another layer to the album; the sometimes sparse, sometimes rich electronics swell and pitch you up, crowdsurfing atop the reverb, the echoes and the gentle rhythmical beats. Atop the hope.

Braided Memos is a fantastic debut album from two highly talented and prolific young musicians that will live long on the stereo. It is out today (20 April) via Norway’s Riot Factory records and you can pick it up digitally on Amazon.

The Our Future EP is available to buy on the Sameblod Bandcamp page .

Read More
Listen: Sameblod – UR Road
Wednesday Evening Earworm – feat. Sameblod, “Kick It Out”

Album Review: She Makes War – Little Battles

On occasion, tags and labels attach themselves to artists that don’t really do them justice. One such label is ‘Gloom Pop’, which to the uninitiated has connotations of morose, despondent music that self-harms. It has attached itself to She Makes War; the solo project of the multi-faceted Laura Kidd, yet her music transcends such simplistic nomenclature.

Having performed all around the world with disparate artists such as Tricky, A-Ha, I Blame Coco, The Young Punx and Alex Parks, the styles and experiences that Kidd can draw on are legion and their influence are in evidence throughout her second full length album, Little Battles. Smooth, almost a cappella ballads, nestle amongst both the solemn and the upbeat; warm melodic harp sounds give way to cold and forceful staccato drum beats. Tonally the record flits from steel like assurance to crystal fragility, raw and edgy to tender and soft.

Her beguiling, almost choral vocals are often looped to create light harmonies that sit atop layers and layers of sound. These in turn are complimented by found recordings of the world. A Japanese mountaintop tannoy, rain in South London, and helicopters circling above are just a few additions to the already rich tapestry on offer.

The Little Battles of the album’s narrative are largely internal, the struggles and turmoils faced across life’s turbulent journey. It would be easy to play this out in a contrived and hackneyed fashion but Kidd handles them all with a delicacy and respect one would expect from such a disarming performer.

Little Battles is out now on My Big Sister Recordings and is available in a number of different packages from the She Makes War bandcamp page

Read More
Watch: She Makes War – “Exit Strategy”

Stalk She Makes War
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Shop
Mailing List
YouTube

Album Review: Professor Penguin – Planes

I’d like a ‘P’ please Bob.
Yes it’s an easy joke to make, and most likely one that will have younger readers scratching their heads in bemusement, and no doubt it is one that the assorted members (all nine of them) of Professor Penguin have heard countless times over the last couple of weeks. Given that their name, their debut album, Planes, and every thereon begins with the letter P, they shouldn’t really be surprised.

With our poor attempt at humour out of the way, let’s focus on the music, and what a treat it is. Considering this London based collection of musicians has swollen its ranks to nine, you would be forgiven for expecting something of a racket, with each of the legion of instruments battling for prominence. Not at all, melody is King of this soundscape and the horns, strings, keys, drums, vocals etc merely subjects sworn to its allegiance. It is about compliment, not combat.

The 10 tracks swim effortlessly along and each arrangement is as soft and dreamy as the last. It is no wonder the guys have been attracting the attention of 6Music and Brian Eno. With each listen more and more of the depth and beauty is revealed, the subtly and emotion of the lyrics unfold before you, drawing you still deeper into its warm and inviting embrace. Take your time with this, listen properly and without distraction and you will be rewarded. If all debuts were this good, no-one would make a second album, ever.

Planes is out now on Gentoo Recordings and can be bought digitally or on CD.

In Review: Vuvuvultures – “VVV EP”

Making a play for both the best band name and best song title of the year is London four piece, Vuvuvultures. After establishing a strong reputation on our capitol’s live circuit and evolving from a previous incarnation that was devoid of a real live drummer, their debut EP, VVV, was released last week on Popular Recordings/PIAS. Even based just on the ridiculously catchy, brilliant and wonderfully named lead track, “Ctrl Alt Mexicans” (which you can stream below) expectations are high.

Suffering from acute Schizophrenia, “Ctrl Alt Mexicans” sets the tone for this multi-stylistic EP perfectly. Jittery, fractious guitars jump and scuttle about while the beat pounds, pounds, pounds relentlessly underneath and the bassline growls. Ultimately, one of the most compulsive pop hooks we’ve heard this year gives way to a grand art-punk finale and with less than 3 minutes on the clock, we are away to “Safe Skin”.

Only slightly less addictive than “Ctrl Alt Mexicans”, “Safe Skin” treads a more contemporary electro-indie path. Occasionally it wonders off into the woods before running back, grinning, arms laden with delicious synth fruits and a chorus for a disenchanted youth, “You find yourself stuck again in/the middle of nowhere”. The schizophrenic feeling remains constant and contradiction is once again embraced with “Pills Week”, a hyperactive, psychotic synth heavy, indie anthem and closer “I’ll Cut You”, a slow burning, grinding howl of a song.

It may only be four songs long, but VVV manages to cram in more ideas and styles than most full lengths releases these days. It’s a cracking debut and well worth checking out.

VVV is out now digitally and a physical release of the EP is also available, which you can buy here.

“Ctrl Alt Mexicans”

In Review: Streets of Hastings – Three Streets to the Wind

When a group describes themselves as a “drinkin’ band with a little rock ‘n roll problem”, chances are you’re going to be in for a rocking good time. And so it is with Streets of Hastings, three proud Canucks, Phil Alexander, Jason “Trucker” Bedard, & Larry “Peyts” Peyton, who specialise in “a combination of rock and Celtic punk, with some solid alt and indie influences”. Their debut album, Three Streets To The Wind, released 17 March, is a rambunctious blend of all this and more.

Recorded in just seven days, Three Streets… is designed to feel like a live performance, a little rough around the edges and full of energy. It’s a dynamic collection, 12 songs that clatter along, rollercoaster like through styles and sounds. From the Celtic charms of “Kelly Anne” to the full on attitude fuelled, grinding punk sounds of “Faceless”, via the garage rock of “Rupture” and the White Stripes inspired “Comfort No More”.

It’s not all rawkus, sweaty energy though; there is the odd moment of comparative bluesy, relaxation included as well. “Don’t Go Away” offers momentary early respite from the vigour of the music before giving way to the tubthumping, military rhythms of “1812 (Proud Canadians)”

With such disparate styles, it would be easy for the album to feel disjointed and bitty and at times it does feel a little like a compilation. But the band has obviously considered this when structuring their song selection and the album flows well enough, it just lacks a little cohesion in places that would make it feel entirely like a single body of work.

Despite this, there is more than enough for listeners to enjoy and want to come back to, including a pretty faithful cover of “House of the Rising Sun”, a track that never disappoints. The standout though is leadoff single, “Sea Bag (La, La, La)”, which is probably the track with the greatest pop influence yet still captures the rough energy of a live rock band. In fact, this perfectly encapsulates what Three Streets… is all about, a band that clearly loves to play, translating the get up and go of their live sound to record. It’s a solid debut and one that not only entertains as a record, but also serves notice of their capabilities as a live act.

Buy the album

Connect with Streets of Hastings.
Website
Facebook
Twitter