Discovery - Drive-By Argument, The Mae Shi, 4 or 5 Magicians, Dananananaykroyd.

Drive-by Argument - I gave this band a rather glowing review on God Is In The TV and still after a couple weeks can't get over how much fun this band actually are. The synth led hooks and choruses are simply put fantastic. While they do nothing special other than grab a good rhythm and melody, bands are slowly beginning to realise that is pretty much all you need to do. Drive-By Argument are technically a manufactured band, being thrown together by their lecturers at college. From this rather un-rock and roll start (compare it to a band that I am beginning to name drop more and more on this blog, Franz Ferdinand, where they were started over a fight for a bottle of Vodka) they have the whole rock and roil thing down to a tee. In fact, they blow the socks off any of the latest crop of Indie bands that are literally pouring out of gig halls and into Record Label books every 5 minutes.

The Mae Shi - Who? you might be asking. What? you will be asking after listening to their second LP, HLLLYH. Procured before my meeting with them a few weeks ago the band blew me away with the rather post-punk synth type of rock that not only looks at time signatures with loathing, but also grabs that lovely thing called "fun" and cuddles up to and squeezes it till it goes blue. While they might sound obtuse at first and even on the third listen you might be wondering how anyone is supposed to sing along to the random tracks that sway from stomping rock riffs and crunching bass to light shouting and singing. Under all the random firing from all corners lies a band having such fun that it can only rub off onto the listener. Like We Are the Physics you will be smiling and taping your foot. You might be asking how do you pronounce the album name HLLLYH - there are two thought on this, either Hallelujah or Hell Yeah! After asking the band I decided Hell Yeah; they seemed to agree with me. Seeing them live is something else - the Mae Sheet is something that when told about you won't believe. Literally, a big sheet is pulled over the crowd. I loved this band.

4 or 5 Magicians - Up and coming small band who are making waves in and around the scenes at the moment are worth having a little listen to. Sounding mature this early in their career is something that should be commended - plus, there are always places in the world of Music for a good strong vocal and chord progression.

Dananananaykroyd - Hailing from Glasgow I am still to catch these guys on tour but listening to them you can see where the buzz is coming from. There will be a bandwagon coming for these guys so jumping on it this soon will gain you indie credibility. I expect fun things from these guys.

Review - We Are The Physics - We Are the Physics Are OK At Music.

Something that sounds genuinely new and interesting should be celebrated with a large fanfare and a parade down the local high street – for We Are the Physics are here. The thing is that while these guys sound different and sound unique you realise after a couple of listens that they are not doing anything completely different, but are just taking bits from loads of bands, throwing them into a big pile and running through it, diving into and all the while shouting loudly.

They sound like mix of Franz Ferdinand, Les Savvy Fav, The Hives and Belle and Sebastian. No, wait, let me explain; the band have taken the shouty vocals from Les Savvy Fav 9and a bit of the high fret board guitar work), the danceable rhythm from Franz and a smattering of tongue in cheek from The Hives. So where does Belle and Sebastian fit in?

Well, the key to WATPh is that while they are jumping about the stage, frantically drumming, shouting, barrelling lyrics off, they have a handle on some rather exciting melodies that will stay with you for most of the day. A great example of this is the bass line from “Bulimia Sisters”, the shouty chorus from “You Can Do Athletics BTW”, and rather frantic shout along “This Is Vanity”. The tunes are infecting and will burrow deep inside that mind of you – your foot is tapping and you smile is widening before you cans top your self.

There does seem to a bit a problem with the album though, and I might say it lies in the production. The amazing riff that is buried in deep in “Pylons + Other Modern Art” is lost – if the riff was as prominent as the “solo” 1.00 in then it might have lifted the song above the rest of the album. Elsewhere the scatter technique of the drumming lets the songs go of in insane tangents almost every 10 seconds which can berate after a couple of listens.

The sum of the album though is that this is a good collection of songs. Fans of the band will recognise a few from singles that the band have released – there are a few tracks new to this album that will not have heard, but the quality of those singles (which for months have been on the band’s Myspace) are good enough to warrant a purchase. A great album, though not for everyone, I can’t wait to see what the band can do with their second album.

Did I mention that three of the four are called Michael?

8/9

Band's Myspace
Buy Album from Play.com MP3 Downloads

Apologies - Service will be resumed...

So, it has been over a month since either I or Colin updated this site. Don't worry! It is not dead - infact, far from it. Colin has been working on a rather interesting website - Coldwired - Video Networking - and I have been recruited as a writer for another site.

Colin's site will somehow find it's way to be included into this site in some fashion (like Music videos or something) and I will also be including some content based on what this new opportunity gives me. I had my first "real" review posted recently, and this avenue gives me routes to new bands that I have never had before - I have 10 or so promo copies of albums in my possession (and will have some more) and next week I have one of the biggest new bands of the moment (Johnny Foreigner) to see and will write them up in due course.

So, what I am trying to say is that not only has this blog suffered a bit, so has my personal blog, but slowly I am ramping up the writing on both, no I have incentive.

In the meantime, hit up this: This weeks Muxtape. Ra Ra Rasputin.