SCARLET SOHO Ruthless Animation CDR (Redhanded)
All I'd previously heard from Scarlet Soho was a tape containing an earlier version of No Encore. This is an excellent song, so it's great to see it here as well. The version here is the Digi Mix, slightly more electronicy than the version I heard before, but just as good. This is my favourite track on here, a dark alternative pop song with added noise and dance beats. There are also two other tracks of goth-tinged pop with elements of dance/electronica, one of which is an instrumental. Info from scarletsoho@redhanded.co.uk

ROMEO TRADING CO. Boybands (In My Home) 7" (Blond & Dumb)
This is brilliant! The title track is slightly glammy pop with witty lyrics, concerning the singer's house being overrun with boyband members... The song namechecks boyband songs Love Me For A Reason and Life Is A Rollercoaster, and is, if you haven't guessed already, somewhat sarcastic towards manufactured music. A great song, but even greater is the B-side The Getaway, which mixes glam and disco elements with current indiepop. A really catchy and well-written song. I hope to hear more from this band! info@romeotrading.co.uk

THEORY OF EVERYTHING Return to Eden purple vinyl 7" (Addison)
Return to Eden is noisepop, vaguely comparable to early Radiohead. Yeah, It's A Weight is totally different, a surreal and angular mix of pop, noise, orchestral easy listening stuff, maybe a bit of classical too, that sounds like several songs in one, and as all this suggests, sounds like no other band. I heard them play this song live (see last issue's live reviews) and it just came across as a noisepop song - not that that's a bad thing, but I guess you have to hear this band on record to find out their true potential. hello@theonlytheory.com

SAVILE ROW Mannequin Garb CD and Diaphanous CDR (self released)
This band seem to have a fascination with the sleazy and decadent side of the 19th century. For example, Black Ink And Paper is about Aubrey Beardsley, who was known for his somewhat perverse style of Art Nouveau. Full marks for having a song about him, by the way. It's also a really good song with a very addictive tune. They also have a song called My Secret Life which may or may not be concerned with the sexual autobiography of the pseudonymous 'Walter'; I can't quite make up my mind from the lyrics whether it is or not, some bits suggest it could be, other bits less so. They're not living in the past entirely though as other songs have modern subject matter, eg Blockbuster, in which the singer expresses a wish to live a life that includes all the stereotypes of a box-office smash: "Guns, cliches and sex are all I really need to live", he sings.
Musically, this is mostly noisy indiepop crossed with rock, which has individual and quirky touches. There's also a vaudeville element in evidence, and Welcome To Savile Row shows the band are influenced by musicals most of all as it borrows from one of the songs from Cabaret. Just Who You Like mixes indiepop with easy listening then adds a rock guitar solo. Made For Television, Spare Part and Soho Dazed are all a brilliant mix of noisepop and rock. A dark feel runs through much of their music, most exaggeratedly in Vampires, but the darkness of this song sounds tongue-in-cheek, unlike most (if not all) of the vampire songs done by goth and metal bands. Savile Row are a band to watch out for, they have some interesting musical and lyrical ideas that stand out from the crowd. savile.row@virgin.net

DJ KOMIKON World Beaters EP CDR (Catchpenny)
The first track consists of heavy beats and noise, but it makes more sense than the tape reviewed earlier. It's still harsh on the ear and practically devoid of tune, but it seems to be more well thought out. The next track is just weird noises that get faster and slower, all a bit pointless if you ask me. The next three tracks are beats-based, with added noise. They're not bad but are just rhythms really, I'd prefer to hear a melody on top of the beats. Catchpenny Records, PO Box 88, Mold CH7 4ZQ.

TALKSHOW Stand Back I'm Armed and GM9 CDs (Complete Control)
Stand Back I'm Armed mixes punky noisepop with choppy rhythms and darker, emotional indie-rock. More indie-rock with a dark feel in Fear of Being Caught, this time with orchestral-sounding keyboards. The next song Demon Heels is a mixture of punkish powerpop and darker rock.
The second CD includes Gas Mark 9, a heavy, punky indie-rock song; This Side Of Silence, which starts off quite mellow in comparison with the first track, but then the noisy guitars come in, and Modern Girl, which returns to a more upbeat sound and has the choppy punk rhythms as heard on the first CD.
Also available is the Hey Mr Jones CD by Picture The Beautiful, which is what Talkshow used to be called. The title track is punk-tinged pop-rock, but more poppy than Talkshow. The other tracks aren't as punky, but instead a slightly angsty kind of indie-rock-pop. The standout track is Supermodel, which has a really strong, memorable tune. dj@aignmanagement.co.uk

THE TYDE The World's Strongest Man 7" (Sub Pop Singles Club)
Two cover versions on orange vinyl. I don't know the original version of The World's Strongest Man, but this version sounds like a more easy listening pop version of The Tyde's own blend of indiepop, country and psychedelia. Not a bad song by any means, but it's the song on the B-side that's the most exciting for me. Cast your mind back to last issue, when I mentioned I'd seen The Tyde live and they played The Sea Urchins' Sullen Eyes. My opinion was that they should release it - and here it is!!! This is an amazing version of Sullen Eyes, and somewhat surprisingly, the countrified atmosphere actually suits the song. Listening to this just makes me grin from ear to ear!
This record will probably introduce Sullen Eyes to a whole new audience, which is great, but it's a shame that it's practically impossible to get the original, or indeed, anything else by The Sea Urchins, these days. It would be great if someone released a Sea Urchins compilation collecting everything from Stardust, the Fierce and Cheree singles, and, if they exist, studio versions of stuff from their live album, like Low Scene and Open Out. It's a crime that people today can't hear The Sea Urchins' records without paying through the nose for second hand copies which are incredibly scarce.
But going back to The Tyde - their version of Sullen Eyes is fantastic - anyone with good taste in music should seek it out! Band info - tydelist@aol.com Sub Pop singles club info - singlesclub@subpop.com

ECONOLINE Breakfast of Champions CD (Infur)
Indie-rock with an emotional, impassioned atmosphere. The vocalist, when he isn't singing, has a frustrated and angry sounding shout. It's the sort of music that's usually noisy and at times VERY noisy. I've heard similar stuff from other bands, mostly Swedish bands, but despite having a rather familiar sound, Econoline somehow still manage to sound off-centre. seriously.groovy@virgin.net

TWINKIE Dogs Die In Hot Cars 7" and MOGUL I Was Starving Hungry (In Tescos) 7" (Fortuna Pop!)
Twinkie's earlier stuff was excellent, especially the really catchy My Favourite Animal Is The Whyte Tyga. They've never quite matched this since, but are still capable of coming up with some good stuff. Dogs Die In Hot Cars mixes extremely noisy instrumentation with an extremely melodic song. C of E is much more brutal - the guitars are just as noisy on the A-side, but the overall feel of this B-side track is that of grunge, not noisepop, due to the shouty vocals. Seems bizarre that a band called Twinkie, who have a singer called Moo, and go in for cartoon imagery, would want to make such a row as this. Dogs..., whilst not being quite as superb as ...Whyte Tyga, is almost up to the standards of that song and is therefore worth checking out. Not being a fan of really heavy, shouty music in the main, I can't recommend the B-side to anyone other than fans of grunge or hardcore.
Mogul, however, are just as great as they were at the start. Starving Hungry... has humorous lyrics about shoplifting, over a piece of brill bedroom noisepop with spacey synth. There are three songs on the B-side. Precinct features that pre-programmed arpeggio synth effect, and some wobbly synth noises, and isn't as noisy as their usual stuff. 2 Little 2 Late is the noisier stuff I've come to expect of Mogul, and Just Look At You Now is noisepop meets early 80s synthpop. All great stuff! elpresidente@fortunapop.com

THE BUTTERFLIES OF LOVE Wild red vinyl 7" (Secret 7/Coffeehouse/Fortuna Pop!)
Two tuneful songs incorporating elements of old-style indiepop (jangly guitar, ah-ah backing vocals) and retro-futuristic stuff (moog, theremin). Despite the occasional old-school indiepop hint (which can be heard more on side A than B), don't expect happy-go lucky or twee. The melodies, and the singer's voice, can be quite dark, and the music has an overall sophisticated feel. Contact elpresidente@fortunapop.com or secret7@secretsounds.com

DREAMS OF TALL BUILDINGS 7" double pack (Bearos)
This band includes Justin Wiggan, formerly of Subaqwa, who were one of my favourite bands. It would be a big mistake to expect this to sound like Subaqwa though - this is without a doubt experimental music. 'Experimental' seems to mean different things to different people, usually either post-rock (which may have started off as experimental, but much post-rock stuff has become rather cliched and samey); music that's basically pop but more off-centre than most; or horrible noise devoid of structure, melody or talent.
Dreams of Tall Buildings are none of those. They make genuinely innovative music that's pretty much impossible to categorise, other than using the vague term 'experimental'. They use samples with an interesting effect, creating something a zillion miles away from dance music. Whilst not always strongly melodic, the music is always engaging. Listening to this is proof that in order to make really good experimental music you have to be talented. Too much experimentation is made by people who just want to make a row and don't have enough intelligent ideas to make their sound collages work, therefore giving the experimental genre a bad name. Dreams of Tall Buildings, however, create well crafted sound collages with plenty of original ideas.
The experimentation here isn't just on the records but also the packaging, which consists of a cardboard record mailer with a 'documents enclosed' envelope stuck on the front, containing a hand-stamped sheet of card with the doTb logo. Info from alan@bearos.freeserve.co.uk

GAG Caveman Shuffle Suffers Known As Patty 7" (Flitwick)
I first heard Gag in the early 90s, on a split flexi with Ablemesh. I really liked the Ablemesh song but found Gag annoyingly weird. In more recent years I've been getting into more angular/quirky music, and have also been reading good things about Gag in zines that I like, so I thought I'd give them another chance. I'm glad I did - Gag's strange music makes more sense to me now. This single mixes tuneful singing with ranted vocals and harsh guitar noise. The band have the same sort of angular approach as Warser Gate, but sound far from identical to them. The front cover of this single kind of sums up Gag - a scrawled sheet of notepaper stating "Softer talker/there is no bill/I know that because/I wrote bill/+ I serve that/Finnish (sic) the/drink you have/the end - Gag". So, imagine a roughly scribbled message with no apparent meaning and then imagine its musical equivalent. Gag's sound is pretty close.
This single, as well as other Flitwick releases, are free! Info from bebepopeye@onetel.net.uk - but forget trying to get a copy of the Fall single they released; this, needless to say, is long gone.

THE BEE MEN Braindrop 7" (Hotel)
There are ex-members of L'Augmentation in this band, and this was apparent when listening to their previous single, Green Submachine. This EP is completely different - these tracks have vocals, and the soundtrack influence is less apparent. Tango Western and Braindrop are quirky, psychey pop songs that feature orchestral instruments alongside the more usual band instrumentation. King of Caravans alternates between a part with a strange spoken voice and a vocal/brass part with a rather Spanish atmosphere. At the end of the song it's more like free jazz. Goodnight Birmingham begins as a more restrained song, accompanied by woodwind, then noisy guitar and swirling organ come in. Very creative, imaginative music, well worth a listen. thebeemen@hotmail.com

THE STARRIES The Years Are Hers 7" (Bearos)
Following their appearance on a Fierce Panda compilation EP and a split single with Jameson on Bearos, The Starries now get a release all to themselves. The title track has rather a folkish melody but is NOT folk! It's more like melodic punk crossed with quiet pop crossed with something more harsh. Foreign Age is kind of noisepop but with non-melodic, semi-shouted vocals. Water Flow sounds like a punk version of Gag or some other quirky band. Crying Girl contains elements of both melancholic indiepop and searing noise. Apparently The Starries are on 'the accessible side of the Birmingham Emo-core scene'. If this band is accessible, the mind boggles what the less accessible bands sound like, as to these ears this is music for a very specialised audience. If you like anything quirky and angular, eg Gag or Warser Gate, this may well be right up your street. Info from alan@bearos.freeserve.co.uk

TIMO I Must Be Right 7" (KAW)
KAW has been releasing tapes for about 10 years now, this lathe cut 7" in a limited edition of 100 is the first non-cassette release on the label, and is also the first non-cassette release for Timo. This EP shows two sides of Timo's music. Two of the tracks reveal the harsher side of Timo; heavy music with angry vocals and lyrics. "I never voted for your laws ... don't you take away my gun", he snarls on I Must Be Right. Welcome To Hell is full of hatred and threats of violence, and he sounds like he means it too. Red Planet is the more restrained Timo, the side of him I've always found hard to pigeonhole - this isn't strictly pop, rock or folk, just melodic music. £3.50 or $5, payable to M Ritchie, from KAW, 94 Main Street, Forth, Lanarkshire ML11 8AB, UK.

LION Alene Had It All CDR
Lion are a 2-piece band with vocals, guitar and drums, but they have a surprisingly big sound for so few instruments. Miss My Lion begins with a grungey melody but quiet instrumentation. Later in the song the full-blown guitar noise and screamy vocals come in. Faulter is another noisy song. If you like Twist you'll like this. If you like Hole you'll probably like it too. Wet Road is much more sparse, just voice and guitar. Crowned has a folk influence. Into is another quiet song, this time with rather an off-centre, angular feel. Info from Flat 6, 174 Derby Road, Canning Circus, Nottingham NG7 1NF.

THE REGULARS This Is The Sound 7" (Bearos)
This Is The Sound is mid 80s sounding, jangly indiepop, with added noise in the chorus. Lincolnshire Skies also gets louder during the chorus but its overall atmosphere is more laid-back than This Is The Sound. It also has less of an obvious 80s influence. Two great pop songs - well worth checking out. Info from alan@bearos.freeserve.co.uk

THE PALANTINES Constantly Shakin' CDR
New 4 song EP from this brilliant band. Only two of the songs are brand new to me, as the other two tracks appeared on previous CDs in different versions, but as the songs are so great I don't mind hearing them again! Curveball is a powerful song in which the guitars are sometimes surf-tinged and sometimes noisy. The other song I'd heard before is The Lilo Song, which tells the story of going to Ibiza looking for casual sex. This has a few humorous lines, like "Ten shots of scotch and someone's grabbing my crotch", but this is no mere novelty song. Beginning with piano and building up to dark, atmospheric crescendos throughout the song, this has an arrangement that sounds unlike anyone else and no description can really do it justice - you have to hear the song to really get a feel of what it's like. Constantly Shakin' is a dark, powerful, noisy song which again has an occasional surf touch in the guitar sound. Don't Cry For Me is more laid-back than the usual material to come from this band.
The Palantines have an original and inventive sound, yet they don't sound wacky, or make music that will only appeal to a limited audience. As I've said before, this band should be huge. Info from palantines@palantines.com

DUST BYTE Butterbox Babies, Is This The Way It Should Be?, Feeling Male and Priscilla CDs (all Smelt A Noise)
Several issues ago I reviewed an album by Black Garden. Since then they have changed their name to Dust Byte - a good move, as Black Garden sounded rather gothic and this band are definitely not goth. The first of these CDs starts with the excellently titled It Hurts My Head To Be This Cool, which begins with some piano-plinking, then some 80s rap-esque "1, 2, check the mike", before turning into the song proper, which is a quirky indie-rock number with changey bits and a catchy tune. Ditto is angsty indie-rock, Smile is more poppy and Fuzz is heavy noise stuff with a quieter interlude. Definitely not a one-dimensional band!
I like them best when they're being quirky and fortunately this trait makes a welcome reappearance on the 2nd CD. The title track is noisepop with electronic elements and Co-Pilot Blues is like grunge but a little more angular. Then it goes instrumental and sounds like post-rock at this point, before going grungey again. Is This The Way It Should Be? is completely transformed in the Unit 23 remix, which has elements of ambient and techno.
The Feeling Male EP includes What Is In The Bloodstream (an angular, changey song that's part harsh noise and part pop), two noisepop songs, the catchiest being Stealing A Smile, and the country/psych tinged pop-rock of Amber Rose. The latest of the CDs has two songs, Priscilla (punk-pop tinged with quirky electronics) and The Misadventures of the Great Red Shark (punky, grungey, noisy stuff crossed with pop).
Info from band@dustbyte.co.uk

"SINGLES" Party Politics CDR
The title track is an excellent, powerful slice of glam-tinged indie-pop-rock. The Day We Die is far more laid back in comparison and sounds like it may be influenced by The Smiths, although it does have a raucous guitar solo that completely changes the mood of the song for a while. Plastic Flag has a jangly verse and a more rockish chorus. I don't have a lyric sheet for this song but from what I can make of it, it seems to be rather political. Close Your Eyes is a good indie-rock song with a particularly strong and memorable chorus, and some atmospheric sounds going on near the end. The Day We Die is the weakest track for me, simply because I don't like The Smiths. Everything else here is well worth a listen though - well written songs with tunes that stick in your head. I look forward to hearing more from this band! singles00@hotmail.com

DAVE SWAIN Work Nearing Progress CDR (Gore Infidel)
A change of style for Dave Swain, whose earlier recordings were sparse songs with just voice and guitar. This three song EP shows a more experimental side to Dave's music, but this isn't the sort of experimental music that's just experimental for the sake of it, destroying all tunes. Media Monkey has some electronic instrumentation and samples (but don't expect dance music) and distorted vocals. Bus Mummy is one of those titles that sounds nonsensical, but makes sense when you hear the song. In this case, it's a small child exclaiming "Bus, mummy!" on seeing said vehicle - this appears as a sample along with some rumbling bass and echoey guitar. Second Breakfast is a good piece of off-centre pop. Three very listenable tracks that show that the phrase 'experimental music' needn't always be a contradiction in terms. Costs £2 from Gore Infidel Records - email them for address info - goreinfidel@firenet.uk.com

ANNA KASHFI Philokalia 10" (Emma's House)
The name of this label has special significance for me, as Emma's House by The Field Mice was the first proper indie record I ever bought, and one that set me off on a journey of discovery of all sorts of other indie/underground sounds. If it wasn't for Emma's House it's quite possible I'd never have discovered non-chart music and therefore wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today.
The band Anna Kashfi are alt-country. I was always a bit wary of country music in the past as much of it was so tacky, but since then I've discovered that, like alternative versions of other genres, alt-country generally isn't naff. Anna Kashfi certainly aren't. This two-piece band consisting of vocalist and percussionist Sian Webley and multi-instrumentalist James Youngjohns, make well-crafted, classy songs with intelligent lyrics. Used Up and Sunburn are especially superb, but the whole EP (6 tracks) is worth checking out, even if you don't consider yourself a fan of country music. Limited to 200 copies though, so be quick! Label info from info@emmashouse.net; band info from james@annakashfi.co.uk

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