LOCKAH - THE SOUR DRINK FROM THE OCEAN

I was recently perusing Pitchfork’s new tracks section and stumbled upon something I have been listening to non-stop since last week: ‘The Sour Drink From The Ocean’ by an up and coming Aberdeen-based producer called Lockah. So much am I enjoying this song in fact (and repeatedly playing it at work), that I sought it out on my phone via the Soundcloud app just so I could finally unlock its potential for travelling listening on the way to and from work. Yes, I can spot potential for a joyous strutting stomper a mile off.

He just signed to the Mad Decent imprint, Jeffree’s, to release an EP. This has an aweeesome title. Wait for it…..When U Stop Feeling Like A Weirdo & Become A Threat. If that isn’t a bad-ass title for a record, I don’t know what is.

Anyway, check this guy out. Reminiscent of the tight sampling (any idea of the sample?) yet soulful result of Star Slinger, I think this pulsing oblivion of sound signposts Lockah as an interesting new talent. 'The Sour Drink From The Ocean' has already had 20,000 hits on Soundcloud in less than two weeks and was featured on BBC Introducing in Scotland on Ally McCrae's Radio 1 show tonight. 

Tennis- 'Tell Her No' (The Zombies cover)

Tell Her No by tennisinc

Ahhh it feels good to be back.

I had an email Q&A exchange with the awesome Lucky Number Music (home of Caged Animals and Friends), which was rudely botched by a website I occasionally do some writing for- but never mind: my musical mojo is still intact. I’m going to endeavour to bring you everything great and spongy that I’ve heard of late, for your great and spongy ears!

The first piece- saying that- is lifted from gorillavsbear.net- a recent post about husband and wife duo Tennis, who we featured earlier this year on the site.

They’ve covered (download here) The Zombies’ 1965 chart hit ‘Tell Her No’. It’s a classic Beatles-cum-Beach Boys-esque song but with a cruel anti-romance twist. The lyrics go: “And if she tempts you with her charms, Tell her no, no, no […] Don’t hurt me now for her love belongs to me.” It could have fitted pretty well on their debut LP Cape Dory if you ask me, due to all the 60s-style throwbacks.

A follow-up to 2011's debut is in the pipeline. Here’re some words:

“We’ve spent the last several months writing and preparing for what we hope will keep us busy all winter. We will be announcing a Forest Family release in the next couple of weeks as well as tour dates to make up for the Vaccines tour cancellations. Also, we are excited to announce the existence of our next album (produced by our new friend Patrick Carney coming out early next year. In the meantime, we made this cover of the Zombies “Tell Her No.” It’s been a long time favorite of ours and is the best use of a lone-clap we’ve ever heard.”

Friends- Friend Crush

Friends- Friend Crush

(2011, Lucky Number Music)

Friends only formed in spring 2010, yet their debut 7” ‘Friend Crush’ set firm intentions about the sophistication Friends can channel into their jilted dance pop. Signed up by Lucky Number Music for this record (although not for an album), the band share the UK label with Caged Animals, another band practising droning, slurred music oozing listlessness. “That first practice went so incredibly well, we knew we had something going on”, songwriter Samantha Urbani told Stereogum this April. “After that we really threw ourselves into practising almost every day, and playing 2 or 3 shows a week, only because we loved what we were doing so much.”

Hailing from Bushwick, New York and constituting five stylish, good-looking boys and girls, there is a partial gloss of cool about Friends even before you’ve heard the music. However it is tunes driving their appeal. ‘Friend Crush’s 250 print run sold out fast (I bought one on Ebay) and no doubt their debut London show with Caged Animals on 27^th September will be a big draw too.

The song is immediate. It is pressing, anxious and tense, as though always on the precipice of a lick that never comes. Consequently the band have been compared with great new-wave inspired, alternative 80s acts like ESG and Tom Tom Club. Another infectious number ‘Feeling Dank’ is on soundcloud.

lucy rose- middle of the bed

Lucy Rose is a good friend of the British band Bombay Bicycle Club and a rising star on the country’s indie scene. Featured in the ‘Shuffle’ video and lending her voice to ‘Flaws’, Rose is currently on a UK tour promoting debut single ‘Middle of the Bed’, a reflective, sombre song reminiscent of fellow country-woman Laura Marling.

It is for her writing though that comparisons with the 2010 Mercury-nominated Marling are made. ‘Middle of the Bed’s candid autobiographical style would feel right at home with any of Marling’s works. However, hoping to find a middle-ground between the female pop and folk genres, the music accompanying Rose’s despondent, jaded voice is occasionally more upbeat. Various live performances on the web testify to her ability as a performer as much as a songwriter. Quiet and introspective, Rose manages to remain the right side of mawkish and banal, infusing a delicate charm into her voice to retain your attention.

That is precious and easily scuppered in the saturated world of acoustic music. However when song-craft comes this good, it is a pleasure to be reminded that the humble acoustic pop song can be made as fresh, tingling and delightful as it ever was.

Middle Of The Bed - Single Version by Black Book Management

guerre aka lavurn lee

‘Bedroom’ artist Guerre (aka Lavurn Lee) has produced a big musical catalogue in the past two years. His music is quietly enticing, like sand immediately after a wave has struck that gently gravitates towards the sea. It’s the after bits that Guerre deals in; the clicks, the slurs, the tiny cuts, to produce delicately emotional results.

Debut EP Darker My Love is available for digital download via new label Yes Please.