Anonymous Dublin-based duo St. Francis Hotel impress on “You’d Gotta Be Alive”. Constructed around a steady syncopated groove and cool minor-keyed guitar leads and harmonies, “You’d Gotta Be Alive” takes the UK dark pop sound of the past few years to a more rock and roll direction. A++.
Manchester, UK’s excellent guitar-driven Spring King gained notoriety as having the first song played on Apple’s Beats 1 radio station. We hung out prior to their first LA show the night before the election, talking about the worldwide response to that spin, their music, their take on UK and US politics, who in the band is most like the dad, and much more.
You can listen to Bruce’s interview with Spring King live on his Indie 103 show on December 9th at 11AM Pacific with further airings in the following days.
New from Israel’s BLDG5 Records (Garden City Movement) is “Dirty Lover”, the latest from Tel Aviv band Less Acrobats. On “Dirty Lover” the band neatly blend the seemingly disparate tones of Voodoo-era D’Angelo grooves and the more psychedelic tinges of the chillwave sound with a hint of added-in noisy gaze-derived guitar. It’s a cool refreshing sound that we’re really digging. Give “Dirty Lover” a spin below.
Young Liverpudlian four-piece The Night Cafe follow up Radio 1-playlisted winner “Mixed Signals” with excellent crossover-ready new one “You Change With The Seasons”. TNC are touring throughout Britain in Decemnber beginning in Liverpool at the Arts Club on December 3.
December 3 | Arts Club, Liverpool
December 5 | The Bullingdon, Oxford
December 6 | Louisiana, Bristol
December 7 | Old Blue Last, London
December 8 | Bodega, Nottingham
December 9 | The Cookie, Leicester
December 10 | Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
Hartlepool UK’s PLAZA stream third single online “Youth”. Constructed over a rudder of UK shoegaze’s more illustrious moments (the timbre of Slowdive particularly comes to mind here), “Youth” ably applies the gaze idiom into a modern gruffer frame that we’re digging.
The Liverpool maniacs Trudy and the Romance latest exercise in melodic chaos is the cool as hell new track “Sandman”.
The UK “Saltwater” hitmakers, Geowulf, follow-up their breakthrough with track of equivalent blissed-out brilliance. The beachy, dreamy number “Don’t Talk About You” sonically picks right up where “Saltwater” last left us, excelling through a tuneful surrealistic vibe long on great pop songwriting skill. Stream “Don’t Talk About You” below
