1. 'Surreal Teenagers' - Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
Purely for the chorus. At the moment it's hard to assess quite where Wig Out At Jagbags sits in relation to the rest of Malkmus' solo canon (not enough critical distance), but I've certainly found myself giving it a lot of airings.
2. 'Ducking And Dodging' - Parquet Courts
Without a doubt, the song from new album Sunbathing Animal that I'm most looking forward to hearing live next week. Pin-sharp punk perfection, and probably the most endearingly nerdy guitar solo you'll hear all year.
3. 'Apocalypse Dreams' - Tame Impala
The highlight of last month's gig at the Academy. Psychedelic, maaaan.
4. 'Pattern Walks' - Cloud Nothings
The more I listen to Here And Nowhere Else, the more I'm reminded of a band like Japandroids - fist-pumping pedal-to-the-metal punky scuzz capable of instantly transporting this 36-year-old father-of-one back to his teenage salad days. Simpler times, when the prospect of a fortnight spent with a broken washing machine wouldn't have filled me with terror...
5. 'Your Love' - Howling Bells
A shimmering, hypnotic ballad - and further evidence to suggest that Heartstrings is indeed a (very welcome) return to form.
6. 'Bring The Sun' - Swans
That gig in Reading at the back end of last month? Well, they were loud. Very loud. In fact, if I listen carefully I can probably still hear this ringing in my ears.
7. 'Shut Up' - Savages
Great bassline, stunning voice, an all-out assault of an album opener. I'm increasingly regretting missing them when they passed through Oxford a couple of years back.
8. 'Candy Gun' - Melt-Banana
Ah, serendipity. Searching for fruit-related songs to play while Stan was finishing his tea the other day led me to stumble upon this rather stupendously schizoid song. Now taking advice from my good friend and confirmed Melt-Banana aficionado Dave on where best to start when it comes to tackling their back catalogue.
9. 'Weightless' - Washed Out
Markedly better than anything I've heard from Washed Out before. Not sure I can quite get past the fact that they're essentially for hipsters who sneer at M83, mind... The video is painfully M83 too.
10. 'Juvenile Scene Detective' - Compulsion
Back to those teenage salad days again - this time, as a result of a conversation about unjustly neglected and unknown albums of the grunge period. Comforter fits that bill slightly more closely, but The Future Is Medium is the better album.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
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2 comments:
I'm not massively taken with Parquet Courts, but that tune is a corker. Enjoy the show!
...and Compulsion, sniff, great days. I remember being in a mosh of pure violence watching them at Pompey Guildhall once. They weren't even the headline act. PWEI were, and I wasn't the only one for whom the evening had already peaked as the top-of-the-bill turn barrelled on. Think I left early.
I'm almost certain I saw them at Reading '96, but couldn't find evidence online to corroborate my memory that they played. The Future Is Medium was particularly unfairly neglected - but it came at the wrong time, when Britpop was ubiquitous (if already completely creatively bankrupt).
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