reviews

Bobii Lewis

Cut Me Some Slack
Playtime Entertainment

With second single ‘Cut Me Some Slack’, new urban artist Bobii Lewis shows us a new side to his personality and talent. more… “Bobii Lewis”

Wake The President

Zumutung!
We Can Still Picnic

Wake the President‘s debut in 2009 was greeted with a warm critical reception, but the band’s deft pop songs didn’t reach as wide an audience as they probably deserved. Undeterred, the Maryhill bohemians are back with their second effort, the gloriously named ‘Zumutung!’ (the German word for ‘imposition’) more… “Wake The President”

Shoosh

Magus
Herb Recordings

The absence of Neil Carlill from the ‘Magus’ ep sees the four tracks coming to you as an instrumental more… “Shoosh”

Oswald

These Days
R&R

Oswald are a difficult band to make up your mind about. ‘These Days’ is incomprehensibly catchy from the very first listen, with a simple drum-beat and riff driving through to the rousing chorus that you may catch yourself humming if your aren’t careful.

Therein lies the problem, because it really isn’t a substantial record in any shape or fashion, and it appears to be slickly produced pre-cognitively to effortlessly glide in the mainstream.

It is unsurprising to discover that former U2 A&R Nick Stewart has championed Oswald, because there are moments, particularly on second track ‘Banging On Those Drums’ (not the best title ever conceived), where an homage to Bono edges dangerously close to direct, unashamed imitation.

And while the mention of the Irish band should probably send you running for the hills, it is still difficult to shake off the infectious nature of the title track, which demands you give them the benefit of the doubt.

But then you find that Clyde 1 has welcomed ‘These Days’ with open arms, adding it to their playlists.

I leave it to you dear reader, to decide their fate.

I Remember Tapes

C45
The Animal Farm

I remember tapes too. They were rubbish.

The band from Winchester aren’t a great deal better, and their vision is equally as obselete. They label themselves a mash up of Duran Duran, Roxy Music and the Smiths, and this evokes grandiose self-importance that is woefully unsubstantiated from the first note of ‘All I know’.

It’s no more than a Futureheads B-side, dialling in repitition of the title for the duration of the tune, followed by the lyric, ‘There’s thousands of people, at my front door’, which is unlikely to be a problem ever faced by I Remember Tapes.

It’s impossible to hear second track ‘Indecisive’ and not immediately think of The Ordinary Boys, which is about as welcome a comparison as looking at your girlfriend and thinking of Susan Boyle. Frontman Tom Ferry harbours a similar drawl to that thing known as Preston, the type which wastes no time in becoming a distinct turn off. I Remember Tapes are likely to be consigned to history alongside Betamax.