Rare single reviews

White Rabbits – Percussion Gun

No, this is not one of the singles of the new Alice in Wonderland film, the plural might make that story just a bit too chaotic, wouldn’t it? No, ‘Percussion Gun’ is the new single of the six piece hailing from Brooklyn, New York, who’ve last year released their sophomore effort, tentatively entitled It’s Frightening. And though some bands ought to be frightened of releasing a second album, White Rabbits shouldn’t. ‘Percussion Gun’, produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel, starts of with some driving drums that form the framework for the rest of the song, and possibly also the title. Soon a layer of vocals is added by either Greg Roberts or Steve Patterson (having two similarly sounding vocalists can be quite confusing at times), closely followed by the guitar and bass and a second layer of vocals by, well, whoever’s left after the lead vocal part I guess. This layering is completed by some keys and the rest of the song plays around with adding and removing each of the layers. Even with the simplicity of that concept, White Rabbits are able to produce a rather complex sounding song by using off beat melodies and interweaving of the different layers. “Just give me some piece of mind!” is exclaimed at the end of the song. Well, OK then: great song.

Released 11^th January 2010 by Mute Records

You Don’t Know Love – Editors

I really, really want to like this song. Editor’s debut album, The Back Room, is one of my favourite albums of the noughties (though I now feel I have to add that it’s quite an elaborate list) and after being slightly disappointed by their second effort An End Has a Start, and even more by single ‘Papillon’, I didn’t even dare listen to their third album, In This Light and On This Evening. And after listening to this single, I must say that I’ve made the right decision there. Editors seem to have a solid idea of what they want to sound like, but utterly fail at achieving that. Tom Smith’s warm voice sounds enchanting as ever, but appears to hold no connection to the accompanying late ‘80s/early ‘90s synth-inspired
 music in whatever way possible. The whole thing sounds just a bit uninspired, like they’re just focussing on what they want to achieve without actually involving themselves in the music they’re making. Lyrically the song’s pretty shaky as well. “You know the truth when you lie,” sings Tom Smith. Why yes Tom, that’s kinda what lying is all about. The chorus, if you can call it that, is where the song gets really gut wrenching. It’s just... camp. And that’s not the kind of genre you want to use to describe a band like Editors. 

Released 25^th January 2010 by Columbia Records

Tell the new kids were I've hid the wine

Having heard the earlier singles by Dead Kids, ‘German Heart’ almost sounds a bit tame. Yes, there is the whole belting out the lyrics thing like you’re trying to communicate with someone while on a bus full of school children who’ve just noticed the year’s first snow flakes, but other than that, this would almost classify as a general pop song. However, with all the energy and testosterone piled up in their earlier work, this could be exactly what the London based band needs. With ‘German Heart’ Dead Kids show that they can do more than just write dancefloor killer tracks (if one could ‘just’ do that anyway). It could also be that I’m just getting a bit too old for all this indietronica/new rave/whatever-they-call-it-these-days, and need a breather every once in a while.

Released on 23th November 2009 by ARTJAM




(If anyone gets the reference in the title, without using the likes of Google that is, I'm buying them the biggest Christmas present ever)

Don't you ever write reviews anymore?

As 2009 was supposed to be the year female singer-songwriters were to take over the entire British music scene (and yes, Florence and the likes of her did try), it seems a good idea to end the year on the same note by reviewing the single of one of the up and coming artists of next year. Lonelady, better known to friends and family (well, at least family I suppose) as Julie Campbell, is to release her debut album Nerve Up in February, with ‘Immaterial’ being the single used to familiarise us with the new sound she adds to vast amount of lush sounding, guitar playing girls.

Well, new sound, better replace that by old sound revived. While the song itself sounds like it could just as easily have been released twenty years earlier, it’s the voice that really takes you back: isn’t that Alanis Morissette singing? With a voice that sounds so familiar already and her song-writing so reminiscent of years long gone by, Lonelady appears to be at risk to drown in the pool of talent for the new year before she’s had a chance to even take a swim.

Released on 9th November 2009 by Warp Records (available as a free download from lonelady.co.uk)