Credit: Far Out
Another seven days have passed us by, and what have you done with your time?
Perhaps you were topping up your sunburn or dancing in the thunderstorms of the United Kingdom’s yearly heatwave. Perhaps, regrettably, you spent your week holed up in an office block somewhere. Regardless, let the Big Indie Playlist wash away your trials and tribulations by introducing you to all the music that you might have missed over the past week.
Farms, country houses, and virtually any patch of grass large enough to host a stage are currently gearing up for the festival season, which is now well and truly underway. You can practically hear the cheap lager being supped, the mud underfoot, and the crushing realisations that waterproof tents aren’t all made equal.
Festival season does, of course, mean that artists across the spectrum are churning out releases at a rate of knots in support of their summer slots, so it is no surprise that this week has been – yet again – a bumper week of new releases.
What is surprising, however, is the nature of some of this week’s releases. Gilla Band, for instance, return with their first single in four years, only for the Irish noise rockers to be outdone by The Cramps, of all people.
To the shock of the punk landscape, this week saw the announcement that a lost Cramps record, Gravest Gravy, recorded with Alex Chilton of Big Star fame way back in 1977, is being polished up for a widespread release. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, it is Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye teaming up to oversee the release.
This week isn’t just about veteran acts, though. Rising Welsh garage rockers The Bug Club unleashed their rip-roaring new record, Leeds-based Family Art Club showed us all once again the power of the West Yorkshire music scene, and Mercedes Brown made a promising start with her debut single.
Yes, folks, it is another incredible week of new music, and your ever-generous friends at Far Out have made the effort to collate all the highlights of the past seven days. No filler, no guff, just the best new music of the week. You’re welcome.
Must-hear: The best new music of the week
Gilla Band – ‘Giraffe’: It has been a long four years without new music from Dublin’s Gilla Band, but the noise rock, post-punk heroes appear to be picking up where they left off, with the mastery of Most Normal. Harsh and abrasive, without losing its more melodic moments, ‘Giraffe’ is a sign, if nothing else, that Gilla Band have still got it. [4/5]
The Cramps – ‘TV Set – 1977 Version’: What is a song from 1977 doing in a playlist of the best new music of the week? Well, this is the first song to be released from the previously lost Cramps record Gravest Gravy, and its organic, fuzzy nature, along with the noise-rock-adjacent guitar solos, perfectly captures the infectious energy of that legendary psychobilly outfit, so it would be remiss not to make mention of it here. [4.5/5]
Family Art Club – ‘Bird Watching Accident’: The Private Regcords label proving once again why it is a cornerstone of Leeds’ music landscape; this newly-released single from Family Art Club, capturing their knack for storytelling songwriting. A must-listen for fans of 1990s slacker indie rock, bird-watching, and unexpected brass horns arriving at climax. [4/5]
The Bug Club – ‘Miss Wales 2012’: A new Bug Club LP brings with it a fresh stack of short, sharp, garage rock euphoria, in this case centring around the honour of encountering the Miss Wales 2012. Not only is it a notable highlight from Every Single Muscle, but it is sure to be a festival set stormer too – a fact that will be proven over the course of the summer. [4/5]
TVOD – ‘Rerun’: If you were in any doubt about the geographic origins of TVOD, ‘Rerun’ should clear up any confusion. An inescapable slice of Brooklyn post-punk with a heavy bassline and typically self-depricating, politically-charged lyrics, the single reaffirms the group’s position as a core part of the American independent music scene, as well as building excitement for their upcoming record The Farm. [4/5]
De Staat – ‘The Fire’: Watching the world burn from afar, would be a fitting description of the prevailing themes on this new single from Dutch alt-rockers De Staat, setting the world to rights with a fittingly brooding, darkly-intensifying anthem on political inaction and the complacency of neutrality. [3.5/5]
The Wind-Up Birds – ‘The People With The Telly Heads’: Another DIY stormer from the musical haven of Leeds; this adrenaline-fueled garage rock appears on The Wind Up Birds’ new cassette tape release via Shooting Tzars, painting a bleakly energetic portrait of an android-ruled dystopia. [3/5]
Adult Leisure – ‘View From Our Window’: Bristol’s Adult Leisure rebel against their own band name on this new track, exploring childhood insecurities and fears. If that sounds rather too heavy for your end-of-week listening habits, do not fret, there is a driving post-punk bassline and harmonising vocals to see you through. [3/5]
San Vito Ryder – ‘Room Two Five’: Eerie rock and roll from London’s San Vito Ryder might not entirely fit with the summer sunshine streaming through our window panes, but it is tough to deny the infectious energy of a tailor-made moshpit anthem even at the brightest of times. [3.5/5]
Mercedes Brown – ‘Playing With Fire’: Harking back to the alt-rock scene of the 1990s, existing somewhere on a spectrum between PJ Harvey and Pixies, ‘Playing With Fire’ is an incredibly promising, solid debut single from young Wet’suwet’en and Tsimshian songwriter Mercedes Brown, marking her as one to keep an eye on moving forward. [3.5/5]
Off the Beaten Track: Left-field Sounds
Zoh Amba – ‘Eyes Full’: Setting aside the saxophone that made Zoh Amba such a force to be reckoned with on the New York avant-garde scene, Eyes Full instead centres around the thrashing of an acoustic guitar and its title track united the artist’s avant-jazz leanings with a more contemporary alt-rock sound, culminating in one of the most original releases of the week. [4/5]
SML – ‘Roundabouts’: A 24-minute live recording from the Los Angeles improvisational jazz outfit SML, ‘Roundabouts’ might not be the most succinct release of the week, but its ebbing and flowing atmosphere, spurred on by rich horns and improvisational electronica, is difficult to ignore; the group luring you into their sonic universe with worrying ease. [4.5/5]
Mitchum Yacoub – ‘89’: Exemplifying himself as the everyman of global rhythms, Mitchum Yacoub’s new LP darts sporadically from Afrobeat to cumbia, salsa, reggae, jazz-funk, and everything in between, but the Afro-funk-fuelled, sun-soaked sounds of ‘89’ form a particular stand-out, denoting Yacoub’s deep-rooted knowledge and dedication to the sonic legacy of Afrobeat. [4/5]
Joey Quiñones – ’Bolsita’: On his incredibly infectious new album Inna Soul Steady Sensation blends the Latin soul and R&B heritage of his East LA upbringing with the Caribbean rhythms he wholeheartedly embraced during his earlier years, culminating in timeless, brass-heavy Latin triumphs like ‘Bolsita’. [4/5]
Sugar Bear and the Sensations – ‘It Won’t Be Long’: Lord knows where Athens of the north are digging up these impossibly rare soul records from, but given the grooving nature of this deep soul single, cut to seven-inch wax as the label’s latest release, we won’t ask any further questions, so long as the records keep coming. [4/5]
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source faroutmagazine.co.uk ’
