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Physical Format-20190626

  • Published in Columns
 
And we're into 2019. Only this and three more weeks of me finding it hard to see any redeeming features in most of the music Flying Vinyl have been releasing, which no doubt makes everyone happy. As an aside though no further sales have been made via Discogs at time of writing (May) so that may be relevant.
 
Right from reading their name I dislike Dahlia Sleeps. As soon as the needle hits their white vinyl my dislike is confirmed. Hold on while I go and turn it off. 'Love, Lost' is one of the drippiest songs I've heard whilst writing this column. Get over it. 'Settle Down' is a bit more like White Lies in pace & weight and indeed has me seeing the quartet in a new light. It would have been a good contender at Eurovision, rather than the lad in jeggings. No one seems to want it on Discogs though so it's flea market bound. Twitter shows the band have a tie-in with Ellesse and are working on new material.
 
Ivory Wave are seemingly trying to be the new Flowered Up. It's probably rather discourteous to mention Oasis in connection with them as the booklet this month does. 'Separate Beat', at least musically, owes more to the wackier group although the vocals do sound a bit desperate to conjure up Gallagher junior at times. 'Club' is a bit more Happy Mondays-like. Facebook shows the band to have a few live dates between now and the end of August.
 
Miqui Brightside's 'Panorama' is a wobbly, drunken slice of electro-pop, the core tune of which quickly becomes annoying. B side 'Burning Bridges' employs the talents of Adriana Proenza to mumble unintelligibly and then witter over it at points, in the age old game of trying to work out why one is no longer wanted. Facebook shows Miqui to be keeping his hand in DJing.
 
The Starlight Magic Hour are trying to hard to create some after-hours, singalong thing on 'Song To Bethy'. Convinced the pressing's iffy too. 'I Am The Swan To Your Song' is a bit better in a Bonzo Dog Band vein. Facebook shows the band have a gig i Manchester in the middle of August.
 
"Vistas are the Edinburgh trio making fiery indie-rock". The only one. In the whole city. And no one I know in town has yet mentioned them to me. That aside 'Fade' isn't bad. It races along anyway. Like a cheerier Hookworms (if one can yet mention them in polite company). I'd stick around to watch a number or two if I stumbled upon them at a festival but I'd not make the effort to walk in to town and see a whole show. 'Like An American' has a more mainstream, anthemic sound about it. Possibly addressing the subject of the city's yearly tourist invasion. The band's website reveals they have a slew of live dates coming up across the UK, particularly in October.
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Physical Format-20190619

  • Published in Columns
The final five discs of 2018 start with Lady Bird (on the near obligatory orange vinyl) and the socially conscious 'Reprisal' and 'Shag Tally'. The trio are on the roster of Slaves' label & that comes as no surprise, given the mainstream modern punky sound they purvey. Nice inclusion of some organ on both tracks though, which lifts it a bit above the herd. Facebook shows the band have an active summer ahead.
 
Bessie Turner is unfortunate enough to get one of the wonky discs that periodically come out on Flying Vinyl (most seem to be the purple ones) but, as I'm never that bothered by singer-songwriters 'Nino' and 'Abseil' don't sound like my cup of tea anyway. Pleasant enough but easy to pass over. Bessie seems to have a fair amount of online coverage but no site or page showing here current doings.
 
Superego are this month's group with a Miles Hunt-alike in their ranks. Apparently they're "the four-piece who've been slowly crafting their sound on the underground scene". The only one. In the whole world, at least five months ago they were. 'Sleep' chugs along but sounds like it would be pretty boring live. 'Black Balloon' is rather quiet in comparison. Even the bits that are obviously meant to be loud. Soundgarden they are not. The band seem to only have a Twitter account to highlight what they're up to but they're obviously active.
 
Doubling up random letters in your band name seems to still be a thing for Llovers (who're definitely not Welsh). The Lego Ninjago Movie comes to mind. More '80s (via Suede) stuff going on here on lead track 'Go Get Her, Go Getter', a piece of wordplay all their own it seems. It's shiny. 'Without You' is yearning and slow. At least up to the point I stop listening at. Facebook shows the band to have had a new single out last month.
 
Cleopatrick are Canadian and manage to sound more accomplished than most of the Flying Vinyl UK bands within about two seconds. 'Hometown' has a very pleasing weight of grunge about it. This is the best tune to come out of one of these boxes for months. 'Youth' repeats the feat on the B side, albeit with a more considered approach. Still a good double-header though. Five months in to 2019 though and I for one have failed to see more of the duo, despite the booklet's assertion to the contrary. The band's site shows they've a couple of UK dates next month though so those may go some way towards raising their profile.
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