I Killed Pharoah

Home EP

When a up and coming rock band list the best-forgetting Three Colours Red as an influence, one�s natural instinct is to run away. While the requisite low slung guitars and squealing solos are all present and correct, this four piece (whose line up includes a guitarist with the rather exotic name of Lukather, which conjures up images of lots and lots of Scandinavian death metal) do have one trump card up their sleeves � namely an affection for the work of Brian Wilson. The commendable attempt to graft multi-layoured harmonies over the usual metal mix may not be entirely successful, but as least shows this outfit are one willing to try something different.

Paul McGarvey

The Hours

Back When You Were Good

A&M

Every now and then a song comes along that you know you shouldn�t like, and try as I might,I thought I could resist this but if it�s a guilty pleasure then so be it, I love this song! There may come a time when The Hours are massive and it is deemed uncool to like them but on the basis of this one song, they deserve to be given a chance. A piano led, pompous, mini-epic recalling the criminally under rated Puressence and the criminally over rated Echo and the Bunnymen, this is currently on playlists everywhere so does not need me to hype it further but expect big things from this lot.

John Paul Mason

Charlotte Hatherley

I Want You To Know

Little Sister

Did you know Ash had relocated to New York shedding guitarist Charlotte Hatherley in the process? No? Me either. Anyway, apparently Ms Hatherley is now solo and, if her press release is to be believed, striking out in a bold new direction. Her new single, taken from the forthcoming ‘The Deep Blue’ album on her own (read: dropped by previous label) imprint finds her sounding like an exact cross between Belly, Veruca Salt and the Breeders…..not a million miles from the sounds of her previous releases. I suppose for some artists a change of guitar strings can be spun as a change of direction to boost interest in a flagging career.
The songs themselves are pleasant enough if ultimately forgettable with only Hatherley’s adoption of a rather peculiar faux-american accent causing them to stand out in any way.

Alex Botten

The Gossip

Standing in the Way of Control

Back Yard

These crazy Yanks – coming over here, stealing our women and our number one spots in our well respected cool lists… All the recent �media� fluff surrounding The Gossip can�t take away from the awesome dancefloor credentials of this tune; demented vocals; a blood broiling, infectious bass loop and crashing drums; all perfect for some no brainer dancefloor carnage. Undeniably it stirs a lot of energy, which is perfect because it�s all about a demand for civil rights and gay marriage in the US, or something. The awesome remixes, care of Soulwax and Headman, are so danceable you kind of forget the point behind it.

Laura Doherty

Good Shoes

The Photos On My Wall

Brille

Persevering with the jerking strut-rock that made �All In My Head� a surprise indie hit, Good Shoes continue to build their �next big thing� reputation with this short-but-sweet single. It might not have the instant appeal of their previous effort, but it�s still a particularly tasty slice of attitude-driven guitar pop. Put on your most tattered shoes and shuffle along with their fashionably unkempt melodies, before the rest of the country catch on.

Dan Coxon

Faithless

Bombs

Sony BMG

This sounds a bit like every other Faithless song I have ever heard � nothing vocals and silly spoken word bit buried under enough production to sink a battleship. Still, if you�re worried you missed any of the track�s hidden depths there are a couple of remixes on the b-side for you to get your teeth into. And they�re both seven minutes long! You lucky people. Still, I have to admit to being caught humming it afterwards. Don�t tell anyone though.

Lisa Marie Ferla

Fools Circle

Blackpool Tower EP

The first of four on this EP starts promisingly, fusing washed out indie guitar picking with the melodic sensitivity of early Ash or Teenage Fanclub. The vocals are ropey, and the mix is a bit vocal heavy, but I�m quite enjoying it until I hit skip track, at which point I become exposed to a bunch of stadium rock wannabes who can�t even spell the word �what� correctly. �Blackpool Tower� is marginally better, but with lyrics like �burn that fucking tower down� and �why don�t you kill the queen?� you can almost smell John Lydon posed quietly round the corner with his machete, just waiting to take these plagiarists down.

Vicki Cole

Einstellung

Konstant

Einstellung are something of a musical oddity. Boasting the kind of name that brings to mind wild-eyed, fire-breathing krautrockers Rammstein, their artistic debts are instead owed to the likes of The Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. �Konstant� may be lent some local colour by the Germanic spelling, but we�ve been hearing this kind of wall-of-noise soundscape for some years on these shores. True, there�s a bit of industrial growling towards the end, but without vocals or, indeed, a riff of any kind to lift them, Einstellung seem destined to remain as background music.

Dan Coxon

George Dyer

Five Out Of Five

Just who is George Dyer? Tap his name into Wikipedia and you�ll come up with an 18th century English classicist. Google him and you�ll find a world-renowned tenor and, er, Francis Bacon�s gay lover. Somehow I doubt that either were involved with this lo-fi (read: cheaply produced) five-track release. Working his/their way through a sackful of plod-rock tunes and horribly nasal vocals, he/they have made it all the worse by choosing such an arrogant title for what must surely be a debut release. Five out of five? Not quite�

Dan Coxon