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.

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In Review: Juan Zelada – High Ceilings & Collarbones

It’s been a long time since we made London based, and inspired, Spanish singer-songwriter Juan Zelada our very first Alphabet Band, way back in November 2010 in fact. Since that time he has broken out and achieved heavy rotation and support from the likes of Radio 2. His blend of mellow but engaging pop-funk has been warmly embraced by the nation’s most loved radio station and each of his three most recent singles have been made record of the week. Now, with momentum and a major label behind him, he is releasing his debut album, High Ceilings & Collarbones and is set to charm us all.

1. The Blues Remain
2. Breakfast In Spitalfields
3. Baby Be Mine
4. Elsewhere
5. What Do I Know
6. Barman
7. The Boy With The Television On
8. Open Up My Eyes
9. Satisfied
10. Four Days
11. I Can’t Love
12. Don’t You Hold Me Down (Live)

As a kid, there was always this mindset that an artist would stick their best known single towards the end of an album to get you to listen to the whole thing. Artists who chose to lead off the album with what was nominally their strongest song were always seen as brave, stupid or brilliant; occasionally all three.

By that logic, choosing to lead off his debut album with both of his best known songs, the ones with the most radio play and which have been mainstays in his live set for well over a year, could mean Zelada is utterly fearless or entirely mad. Of course, the logic of childhood is often found to be flawed as one matures, and so it is that Zelada’s potentialy bold gambit is nothing more than a mark of confidence and assurance. As the keys tinkle their solo introduction to “The Blues Remain” you already feel at ease and eager for what is to come. By the time the horns have added their rich, warm sound, you feel as cosy as if you were settled by a roaring log fire as winter rages silently out your window.

That it all feels rather effortless is testament to the quality of the craft on show. The arrangements are intelligent, with sounds swelling and falling naturally, in perfect harmony with one another. The lyrics move seamlessly from wide eyed innocence to giving a knowing wink, with the kind of cheek that only someone so damned charming could get away with.

Practically every song is a gem but the stand out track is “Elsewhere”. It’s a bass hungry tale of confusion, remorse and the shattering of a relationship that adds a soupçon of drama to proceedings. Then it is back to the brass and the groove with latest single “What Do I Know” and “Barman”, a funked up jam calling out for ‘one more for the road’.

Zelada is an engaging and captivating performer and this pleasant amiability translates well to his recorded work. It may not convey the vibrancy of his live show, but there are toe-tapping sing-a-long-a moments a-plenty to be found and more often than not, a smile will have made its way to your face without you even realising. This is an album of affection and of James Bond level smoothness and the sumptuous blend of blues, funk, soul and pop makes for a very easy and enjoyable listen.

High Ceilings & Collarbones is released on Monday 6 February on Decca, and can be pre-ordered via Amazon or iTunes.

See also:
Juan Zelada interview – Part one
Juan Zelada interview – Part two
Juan Zelada Announces UK Tour

Review: Cheyenne Marie Mize – We Don’t Need EP

You’d be forgiven for approaching any release where the artist themselves says “the songs … are meant to be digested individually more than as continuous parts of a complete whole” with some degree of trepidation. However, while Cheyenne Marie Mize is correct in her assertion that each track on her latest EP, We Don’t Need “has its own character and will likely be enjoyed in different mental states“, any suggestion that the six songs don’t hang together as a collected whole does a disservice to her song writing and musical accomplishment.

Such is the variety on offer here, that if we were to attach We Don’t Need to some form of electronic device that measured tempo, or speed, a speedometer perhaps, then the needle would be flying back and forth like crazy. The EP begins with “Wishing Well”, a fast paced percussion and vocals only track that had this reviewer’s foot stamping the floor like a failed Stomp auditionee; before moving immediately into the sombre, funereal “Call Me Beautiful”. Sure, a rest is required after all that foot stamping but you are left unprepared for Cheyenne’s haunting Beth Gibbons-esque vocals and the deliciously dark, gothic sensibilities.

From then on the tempo picks right back up again with the dance-a-riffic swing-a-thon of “Going Under” before finally settling down on the more moderate “Keep It” and “It Lingers”, ultimately coming to rest on the gentle instrumentals of closer, “Back Around”.

She has a wonderful voice and a real talent for drawing the listener into the music, which is especially impressive given the disparate musical styles and tones on offer. As Cheyenne herself says, “As a whole, We Don’t Need is surely eclectic, but each part gives a little taste of the things to come…”. If what is to come can maintain this level of quality then Cheyenne may be in for quite an exciting year.

“We Don’t Need is out now on Yep Roc and American fans can catch Cheyenne on tour on the following dates:

January 25 – Schubas – Chicago, IL
January 27 – Cosmic Charlie’s – Lexington, KY
January 28 – Headliners – Louisville, KY
February 8 – MOTR Pub – Cincinnati, OH
February 9 – The Bishop – Bloomington, IN
February 10 – White Rabbit Cabaret – Indianapolis, IN

If you still want more, you can find her previous releases over on bandcamp, like her Facebook page or check out her official website.

Album Review: Kuedo – Severant

Jamie Teasdale, a.k.a. Kuedo, was doing dubstep way before everyone started to pretend that James Blake had invented the genre. Now the former V’exd member has stepped out and taken dubstep to a new world, a new planet even, in a science fiction inspired epic that is simply astonishing.

1. Visioning Shared Tomorrows
2. Ant City
3. Whisper Fate
4. Onset (Escapism)
5. Scissors
6. Truth Flood
7. Reality Drift
8. Ascension Phase
9. Salt Lake Cuts
10. Seeing The Edges
11. Flight Path
12. Shutter Light Girl
13. Vectoral
14. As We Lie Promising
15. Memory Rain

There is no point wasting anyone’s time, this album is stunning. It’s as simple as that. Severant, as you will soon hear, is heavily influenced by Blade Runner and the sublime beauty of the Vangelis soundtrack that accompanied it. ” I wanted to capture a really futurist sentiment, kind of melancholy and grand luminescent, so I used the instrument that most evokes that for me – that sweeping Vangelis brass sound”, he explains. He nailed it. Like the staccato drums, the brass is almost ubiquitous throughout, swirling and swooping through your ears.

You cannot listen to Severant without being transported to some dark, dystopian future. It consumes you, close your eyes and you can see the spacecraft cruising above the gargantuan, neon encrusted skyscrapers, all while the rain teems down around you. It’s like someone has taken a William Gibson novel and turned it into music, even the track names are like chapter titles.

Vangelis may be the predominant influence, but there are others. Jazz, hip-hop, drum and bass, UK road rap; all have been taken in, broken down and reconstructed to create dazzling, multi-layered soundscapes. When you’re not staring at this wondrous megalopolis you have been transported to, your head will be nodding, the beat taking you round the corner to the next delight.

There is a lot of synth music in the UK right now, there is a lot of dubstep in the UK as well; none of it sounds like this. Nothing even comes close to sounding as intelligent or as complete as this. You could quite easily find yourself lost in Kuedo’s world for quite some time; it’s a great place to be.

Severant is released today on Planet Mu.

Review: Apparat – The Devil’s Walk

In recent years, German electro artist Sascha Ring (aka Apparat) has moved away from the bombastic , techno noises he was famed for crafting and is now “more interested in designing sounds than beats”. This approach has culminated with the creation of some unhurried ambient loveliness for his latest album, The Devil’s Walk.

1. “Sweet Unrest”
2. “Song Of Los”
3. “Black Water”
4. “Goodbye”
5. “Candil De La Calle”
6. “The Soft Voices Die”
7. “Escape”
8. “Ash/Black Veil”
9. “A Bang In The Void”
10. “Your House Is My World

Before we start a quick point of clarification, we are not using ambient in the ‘Café Del Mar, chilled out versions of popular Ibiza house tracks’ sense of the word, nor are we using it in the ‘nice gentle background music for a dinner party’ sense. No, when we use ambient, we mean turn the lights off and let the music penetrate your very being as you contemplate the universe and all of its vagaries and intricacies.

The Devil’s Walk is a quite extraordinary album, full of contradictions. It is swathed in a dark and sombre melancholia that acts as both the comfort blanket against the cold harsh winter outside and the winter itself. It’s ten tracks, a mix of instrumental and vocal songs, blends exquisite bareness and a dense richness with the spaces, the gaps and pauses sounding as impressive as the notes and melodies.

It is an album that embraces solitude in its listener and prompts introspection, yet would also welcome the warmth of a crowd. Listen alone, listen with friends, but make sure you listen.