A very polished three track demo which is actually far too good to be classed as demo material. Excellent, sharp guitar underpins all the tracks but never overtakes the melodies and allows the songs to shine out beyond the Marshall stack. more… “Less Than Me”
Space To Breathe is the kind of record suited to quiet nights with a cup of tea, Admittedly, it’s the kind of music you’ll hear playing from the listening post of the new-age kind of shops you go to buy joss sticks from and certainly something you need to be in a relaxed mood for. more… “Simon Nixon”
Arch Stanton don’t have the kind of cool sound that popular music publications like to hype and so while many of the punk/ emo bands have conformed to what is popular by turning metal, the members of Arch Stanton have continued to do what they did in their former bands; Southpaw and Dragline by playing the kind of music they like rather than what other people like. more… “Arch Stanton”
What with all these C86 revivalists roaming around, it seems appropriate to remind everyone that a little professionalism is probably too much. more… “The Microscopic Talents”
How Punch and the Apostles are unsigned is a mystery because this demo EP is absolutely brilliant. Lead singer Paul Napier has already released a fantastic debut solo album ‘Stuttering Hand’ and formed the band with Rory Hayejahans and Doug Macgregor last year. more… “Punch and the Apostles”
Hustle, in popular parlance, can be defined as outwardly looking rubbish, while being secretly brilliant (I’m using The Color of Money as my informer). The Hustle have at least half this equation right. Your thoughts on which part of the equation that is will be dependent on your take on a band that “is not about wearing scarves indoors or out of tune guitars but finding a groove and riding it for four minutes or so”.
My first reaction to hearing the track ‘Gonna Teach Myself To Fly’ was just one word; Eurovision. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Not if a bit of camp, bombastic Erasure-esque pop tickles your ear lobes. more… “Neil Yates”
It’s an odd approach – send us a CD of 8 tracks but advise just to listen to the first 3. Needless to say we went for all 8, which may well have been their plan. more… “Cancel The Astronauts”
With a free plectrum (Fender Heavy) the payola should be enough to generate a kind review for this Bristol-based act more… “The Felt Forum”
As this tune starts, the singer’s drawl is so much like that of a certain Mr Doherty that it’s hard to expect much more from them than another Libertines pastiche. more… “The Bluffers”