Archangel

Not The Man You Think I Am

One of those slow burners that will probably struggle to win over many fans first time, this is a kind of subtle dancefloor gem. more… “Archangel”

Middlehill

You Talk Too Fast

This nineties-ish mid-tempo indie pop tune has plenty of punch, but the singer sounds like he’s got a mouthful of food and the timing is all a bit weird. Essentially after the first ten seconds or so, with its Red Hot Chili Peppers-like guitar hook, the whole thing just collapses into first-on-at-the-pub-with-only-their-parents-and-the-landlord-watching territory. On ‘Say What You Want’, there is a glimmer of Morning Runner about the vocals – a nice bit of promise – but the rest of the package remains pretty uninspiring.

Mike Hastings

EP

Hastings is the former leader of the Pendulums, a Glasgow psych folk band, but on his debut EP the elaborate instrumentation is replaced by some fine guitar work in the same vein as Bert Jansch more… “Mike Hastings”

Comrade Down

What’s For Me’ll Not Go By Me

From itm?’s considerable “fallen between the cracks” section, a 6-track download that demands your attention. From one third of Peel favourites The Aphrodisiacs, this is, surprisingly, little like that band’s electronic-fueled guitar rock more… “Comrade Down”

Dancing Mice

Eroded

Everything suggest that the Dancing Mice are “back”… I’ve never heard of them, but on listening, it’s clear that they last recorded around 1982 more… “Dancing Mice”

Isoceles

Kitch Bitch

Well, we should get the plaudits out of the way first, Alex Kapranos has given his seal of approval to this Glasgow act, and there are some rather OTT comparisons from some of their earlier reviews. more… “Isoceles”

Official Secrets Act

Victoria

Official Secrets Act arrived earlier this year with the simply splendid ‘Snakes and Ladders’ and follow-up ‘Victoria’ sticks to the same formula, but expands upon the bands hugely likeable sound. Think The Waterboys ‘The Whole of the Moon’ on fast forward and you’re close to imagining their poptastic sound. Their beats, lyrics, style and list of musical admirers are all positive and pleasureable. more… “Official Secrets Act”

Nephu Huzzband

Papers

With a music scene as densely populated as the city itself, London bands in the main can be hard work to review. To cut through scenester wannabes to find the genuine musicians is needle/haystack stuff. The ‘Nu-rave scene’ and its derivatives are succumbed to, and bands can morph into one big tumble dryer of Topman clothing. more… “Nephu Huzzband”

Grammatics

D.I.L.E.M.M.A./Polar Swelling

Leeds based Grammatics have plenty of nice ideas and do their best to squeeze them in to new single ‘D.I.L.E.M.M.A.’, plenty of plinking guitar harmonics and soaring, borderline operatic vocals give the tune a unique flavour – Matt Bellamy would be proud. The second track on this double a-side is ‘Polar Swelling’, a more low key number with a lilting cello backing the vocals and synth. It’s all well and good and neatly executed but at the end of the day is simply just a close encounter of the Muse kind.