Something old, something new, something good, something... well... something pleasant-ish. A few things that have been on my radar in the last week that i feel need to be shared.
The Pretty Faces - Another Sound
Another album that has been in my possession for several weeks now and another apology to accompany that statement. The Pretty Faces are two brothers and a married lady (married to one of the brothers obviously, hence the common surname of the three), originally from Canada, but now based in Florida. Another Sound, it seems, is their second album. It's tight, tight garage pop. I don't know what it is, the vocals or the style, but there's something very unmistakably North American about it, especially the title track, Another Sound. Yeah, you're right, it's probably just the accent. I dunno, I'll probably get shot down in flames for writing this, but they sound slightly Weezer-ish to me.
The tracks themselves are very guitar heavy, dirty and best played loud. If i had to pick a my favourite track (and it's my opinion that counts, right?), I'd go with Sinking Ship, more bass heavy and noisy than the others. Raw, but polished at the same time. Also, a special mention for the track Elephant; love the vocals and harmonies of guitarist Hannah Thorslund, possibly the only track that stands out from the rest.
I'm not 100% sold on this album yet, maybe a few more listens and it'll grow on me. It does test my attention span, with not one specific catchy riff or melody that has gotten stuck in my head after several listens. I reckon these guys would be excellent live though. I can imagine standing in a packed room, beer in hand tapping my foot along (I'm very civilised, you see) to these tunes.
For more info, including tour dates and where to by Another Sound:
Official Website: http://www.theprettyfaces.com/
MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/theprettyfaces
The Laurels - Hopetoun Hotel, July 18th
After arriving to catch the second last band (out of four), first thing i should say is that as amazing as shoegaze can be, it's all to easy to find shoegaze bands who are just plain boring and or, for want of a better word, wanky.
So.... the first band I caught were Warhorse. They had the right idea, but sadly, I was unimpressed by the frontman and his wailings. I just didn't think his vocals gelled with the rest of the band. Also... i found the football hooligan-esque guy on the theremin quite perplexing; slightly out of place, but you have to admit, that a dedicated theremin player in a band is kind of cool. Long, loud songs, i reckon they only played about 4 during their set.
I hadn't realised that I had seen The Laurels before until I actually arrived. How excellent are they? This was the launch of a new 7" containing the tracks: Art School Girl and Wandering Star (you can also download these tracks for free at http://magneticrecordingcouncil.com/). FREE!
The melodies are excellent, the harmonies are spot-on and there's not an ounce of pretentiousness. Shoegaze at it's finest. Love it.
Links:
Warhorse: www.myspace.com/warhorserocknroll
The Laurels: www.myspace.com/thelaurels
Maps - We Can Create
The past week or so I've been re-living 2007; in particular, a song that I acquired on a compilation CD many moons ago that I've really only recently discovered an unnatural love for. Along the same shoegazey theme as the previous writings, Maps is a solo project of a Northhampton-based musician by the name of James Chapman. The song is named Elouise and the album it comes from is We Can Create.
I finally got around to acquiring the whole album, and yes, I'm not disappointed at all. It's quite electronic, but still quite mellow. Slow paced, lovely melodies. If having music playing whilst i was trying to get to sleep not drive me insane (yeah, I'm not sure why either), I'd probably use this album as a sleeping inducing soundtrack; not because it's boring, moreso because it's just so calming.
I've also discovered at least three more songs that I'm probably going to begin obsessively listening to, specifically, To The Sky, Lost My Souls and You Don't Know Her Name; the more poppy songs on the album.
Keep your eyes posted (and look at the show poster up there) for shows in the UK in the near future and keep your ears alert, looks as though there's a new album (Turning The Mind) on the horizon.
Links:
Official Website: http://www.maps-blog.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mapsmusic
That's enough for now!
Sally
[email protected]
The Pretty Faces - Another Sound
Another album that has been in my possession for several weeks now and another apology to accompany that statement. The Pretty Faces are two brothers and a married lady (married to one of the brothers obviously, hence the common surname of the three), originally from Canada, but now based in Florida. Another Sound, it seems, is their second album. It's tight, tight garage pop. I don't know what it is, the vocals or the style, but there's something very unmistakably North American about it, especially the title track, Another Sound. Yeah, you're right, it's probably just the accent. I dunno, I'll probably get shot down in flames for writing this, but they sound slightly Weezer-ish to me.
The tracks themselves are very guitar heavy, dirty and best played loud. If i had to pick a my favourite track (and it's my opinion that counts, right?), I'd go with Sinking Ship, more bass heavy and noisy than the others. Raw, but polished at the same time. Also, a special mention for the track Elephant; love the vocals and harmonies of guitarist Hannah Thorslund, possibly the only track that stands out from the rest.
I'm not 100% sold on this album yet, maybe a few more listens and it'll grow on me. It does test my attention span, with not one specific catchy riff or melody that has gotten stuck in my head after several listens. I reckon these guys would be excellent live though. I can imagine standing in a packed room, beer in hand tapping my foot along (I'm very civilised, you see) to these tunes.
For more info, including tour dates and where to by Another Sound:
Official Website: http://www.theprettyfaces.com/
MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/theprettyfaces
The Laurels - Hopetoun Hotel, July 18th
After arriving to catch the second last band (out of four), first thing i should say is that as amazing as shoegaze can be, it's all to easy to find shoegaze bands who are just plain boring and or, for want of a better word, wanky.
So.... the first band I caught were Warhorse. They had the right idea, but sadly, I was unimpressed by the frontman and his wailings. I just didn't think his vocals gelled with the rest of the band. Also... i found the football hooligan-esque guy on the theremin quite perplexing; slightly out of place, but you have to admit, that a dedicated theremin player in a band is kind of cool. Long, loud songs, i reckon they only played about 4 during their set.
I hadn't realised that I had seen The Laurels before until I actually arrived. How excellent are they? This was the launch of a new 7" containing the tracks: Art School Girl and Wandering Star (you can also download these tracks for free at http://magneticrecordingcouncil.com/). FREE!
The melodies are excellent, the harmonies are spot-on and there's not an ounce of pretentiousness. Shoegaze at it's finest. Love it.
Links:
Warhorse: www.myspace.com/warhorserocknroll
The Laurels: www.myspace.com/thelaurels
Maps - We Can Create
The past week or so I've been re-living 2007; in particular, a song that I acquired on a compilation CD many moons ago that I've really only recently discovered an unnatural love for. Along the same shoegazey theme as the previous writings, Maps is a solo project of a Northhampton-based musician by the name of James Chapman. The song is named Elouise and the album it comes from is We Can Create.
I finally got around to acquiring the whole album, and yes, I'm not disappointed at all. It's quite electronic, but still quite mellow. Slow paced, lovely melodies. If having music playing whilst i was trying to get to sleep not drive me insane (yeah, I'm not sure why either), I'd probably use this album as a sleeping inducing soundtrack; not because it's boring, moreso because it's just so calming.
I've also discovered at least three more songs that I'm probably going to begin obsessively listening to, specifically, To The Sky, Lost My Souls and You Don't Know Her Name; the more poppy songs on the album.
Keep your eyes posted (and look at the show poster up there) for shows in the UK in the near future and keep your ears alert, looks as though there's a new album (Turning The Mind) on the horizon.
Links:
Official Website: http://www.maps-blog.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mapsmusic
That's enough for now!
Sally
[email protected]