Music to drink tea by
Archive for September, 2010
The Just Joans – Stuart’s Got a Dirty Book
11 year ago
in MP3s
The Just Joans are a band that I’ve never been able to completely embrace. I’m not entirely sure why this is, and the most logical reason could simply be that I just haven’t heard very much of their material. From what I have heard, I’ve liked some, and disliked others. At their best, they manage to combine brutal honesty with humour (see Hey Boy… You’re Oh So Sensitive), while at the other end of the spectrum they can prove to be too pessimistic even for a miserable sod such as myself.
I have no idea where this new EP is going to fall on that spectrum, though the title Your Pain is a Joke Next to Mines is perhaps something of a hint. On the merits of Stuart’s Got a Dirty Book though, I’m looking forward to hearing the full thing. It’s a glorious tale that manages to combine two somewhat conflicting topics: religion and masturbation. It’s hard to imagine many bands that could get away with lyrics like “struggling with the word of god / a hand on my bible, a hand on my knob”, putting The Just Joans into a rather unique position.
MP3 The Just Joans – Stuart’s Got a Dirty Book
Your Pain is a Joke Next to Mines is available to pre-order now from the ever delightful WeePOP! label, and best of all, it’ll only cost you £4 including delivery.
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The Lucksmiths – Get-to-Bed Birds
01 year ago
in MP3s
I came to the Lucksmiths party ridiculously late. So late in fact, they had just broken up at the time. I’d been vaguely aware of them for a while, and as is always the way with such bands, the size of their discography always kept me away from them. Earlier this year, I was finally convinced to give them a listen and it was something of a revelation. Starting with Warmer Corners and working roughly backwards, I’ve now picked up nearly all of their albums, and continue to lament the fact I didn’t bother earlier.
Get-to-Bed Birds i doesn’t tread any new ground, and nor should it. It’s a song that would feel right at home on any of the band’s previous records. It’s gentle, melancholic and reflective. In other words, a perfect coda for a band that disappeared just a bit too soon.
MP3 The Lucksmiths – Get-to-Bed Birds
The Get-to-Bed Birds 7″ is released sometime soon on the lovely Matinee Recordings in the US and Lost and Lonesome in Australia. If you live in Europe, you presumably toss a coin.
Shrag – Rabbit Kids
01 year ago
in Videos
Shrag’s latest album has become an unexpected album of the year contender for me. I never much liked them in the past and while I quite liked the first album, it didn’t really manage to grab me. I picked up the second on a whim though back in July and it’s hardly left my car CD player since. Likely much to the chagrin of anyone else travelling in it. So a new video from Shrag is the perfect excuse to remind you exactly how bloody good it is and that you should give it a listen. It helps that the video itself is excellent too, featuring what must be the most apathetic game of pass the parcel ever. As a song, it’s perhaps no their strongest effort, lyrically being just a little too random, but it still manages to be horribly catchy.
Life! Death! Prizes! is out now on Where It’s At Is Where You Are. The band will be starting a short tour of the country starting on Monday, and I implore you to seek them out. Such a fun band live!
Superman Revenge Squad – Dead Crow Blues
31 year ago
in Videos
Things have been quiet on the Superman Revenge Squad front for a while, so it was a nice treat this evening to discover a new video from the upcoming Dead Crow Blues EP. The video takes the title track and rather simply animates it with the words in speech bubbles, which gives an ideal spotlight to Mr. Parker’s songwriting talents. The song also seems to continue the gradual development of the Superman Revenge Squad sound, with beats being added alongside the now established cello.
The Dead Crow Blues EP will apparently be available to order from October 18, though word on the street suggests that if you’re at the excellent International John Peel Day event in London next month, some copies will be available there.
Tigercats – 1985
11 year ago
in MP3s
It seems that you can’t move around in London at the moment without somehow arriving at Tigercats gig. From recent listings, it appears that if there’s an indiepop gig happening, they will be there to support. Which isn’t a bad thing because it shows they are taking this lark seriously and because they are really quite excellent, particularly for what is ultimately a new band. Of course, the grand irony in all of this is that I still haven’t managed to see them.
Following on from their great (and brilliantly timely) Konny Huck single, the band are back with a new release that was apparently only finished up last week. Gone are the days when you waited months for a release to be sorted out, now they are with us a few days after a band finishes them. Anyway, Easter Island doesn’t really deviate from what the standard set by Huck, which is fine as the band are sounding increasingly assured in what they are doing.
MP3 Tigercats – 1985
Easter Island is out now in physical form and on the wonderful Bandcamp, where you can buy all three songs for a mere £1. It’ll follow on iTunes and other such services on October 1. It’s being released by Haircut Records.
