Boy Genius - Blame Love

Velvet Crush’s Ric Menck told a UK fanzine in 1990 that the main difference between the British and American underground scenes was groove. British guitar groups, Menck observed, mostly don’t know how to groove.






I suspect that among the most important points Menck had in mind was America’s powerpop tradition and the musician/producer Mitch Easter.

Following their rollicking debut album, Anchorage, it’s hardly surprising that Brooklyn's Boy Genius get Mitch Easter – producer of Anchorage’s most obvious influences, REM and Pavement – in the control booth for their new single, Blame Love.

Blame Love grooves (of course it does!); it freewheels, it cavorts, it spells out L-O-V-E (more in the manner of Orange Juice than Al Green), and it has that woozy keyboard sound that says “1967”. The b-side is a rousing, jangling cover of Miracle Legion’s The Backyard (and, yes, that grooves, too).

There’ll be another single this year and then an album, Staggering, produced by Easter out next year.

Lost Soul: Four Below Zero

My Baby’s Got E.S.P. is a modern soul anthem. It’s hated by the northern purists – it’s even a bit too much for many crossover fans; when “dropping” this tune at any of those indiepop clubs where the audience is open to soul, this song has cleared the dancefloor. Every single time.


I used to work with an old northern soul boy who told me that Pete Waterman broke this tune. I once met Pete Waterman – I did! – and talked to him about northern soul. He pointed out that it was interesting that two of the biggest UK pop writers/producers of the 90s – himself and Ian Levine, whose greatest success was with Take That – were northern soul fans.

There’s no contradiction between people schooled in northern soul’s infectious hooks and driving beats being able to make big chart hits, just as there’s no contradiction in loving both northern soul and Four Below Zero’s 1976 classic.

Crocodiles - Summer Of Hate

Where Crocodiles’ debut single, Neon Jesus, was an elemental punk thrash through Kraftwerk’s robotic hypnotics, their album, Summer Of Hate is a time-travelling trip through the 1980s.




This duo’s fuzzy, droning guitars – not to mention their Ray Bans and sulky stares – are straight out of the Mary Chain’s copybook; the reverb-drenched production is itself practically a period piece; and the throbbing electronics and uncomplicated riffs reek of the simple sonic experiments road-tested by post-punk adventurers and new romantic dreamers alike.

Song titles such as “Young Drugs”, “Soft Skull (In My Room)” and “Refuse Angels” hint at Crocodiles, like Wavves, being familiar with teenage rock rebellion’s hackneyed style; overall, though, they marshal enough substance to realise their simple techniques three-dimensionally.

The Motifs acoustic gig at the Hangover Lounge

Everyone was thrilled and charmed in equal measure by The Motifs last night - how, indeed, could they not have been?

Those happy punters and those damned fools who missed them will be delighted to know that they can get a second bite of The Motifs cherry when they, and Sly Hats, play an acoustic set at the Hangover Lounge on Sunday, May 17. The fun starts in the Lexington at 2pm and is free. As the guy from The Motifs said last night: "that's what we in Melbourne call a barg."

London's Trendy Hangover Lounge opens its doors at its new home, The Lexington, on May 3 at 2pm and every Sunday thereafter.

2009!

This year just gets better and better. 2009 did start very slowly but at least once every week these past two months there’s been something new and shiny to get excited about.

A second single this year from Brilliant Colors and a second classic. Highly Evolved is one insistent riff with the brevity and wayward tunesmithery of Beat Happening and the giddy pop drama of those early Velocity Girl singles. Punk-pop purists will be thrilled to learn that Highly Evolved features a simple and very effective guitar solo at the end.

Standard Fare fuck yeah! Their debut single, Dancing, is mesmerising. It’s a skewed art-pop take on Pavement’s coupling of angular noise and smart lyrics, and – joy upon joys – only eclipsed in quality by the wonder of their other songs. They should be massive. I want an album. Now.

Surely there can be no way that Standard Fare will meet the apathy that Pavement-style Yorkshire bedfellows The Old House and Piskie Sits have undeservedly suffered…

Falling Debris

The making of the LP really has been an organic process. As opposed to a pre-planned idea. I also think of the word serendipity - finding pleasing or valuable things in unexpected places. It’s been a great pleasure making this record. Sam has brought us a lot of joy.

David Kilgour’s new album, Falling Debris, is a collaboration with the poet Sam Hunt. From what I’ve heard so far, it sounds stronger than his last album, The Far Now (although, to be fair, The Far Now isn’t a particularly immediate album, I came to love it greatly).

On the basis of Chord (video below), there’s a distinct Robert Forster influence. After one listen, I ordered the album from New Zealand (the recession will not interfere in buying albums with this much potential).
More information about the album, as well as some free downloads, are on Kilgour's website.

Denim - Sun's Out

After uploading Demin's Summer Smash complaints poured in that the link to the b-side, Sun's Out, didn't work. The FET Rapid Response Team ("the fourth emergency service") sprang, panther-like, into action and a mere 14 (FOURTEEN) months later has corrected this error.

So, Sun's Out.