EP review: Lazybones – Bang! Bang!

Brighton three-piece power-pop punk project Lazybones have put together a hugely enjoyable four-track romp of an EP that will have your head nodding. There’s not much in the way of depth and complexity in Bang! Bang! but with a bass this dirty and songs so catchy, who really cares.

Fashion Victim kicks us off, making full use of vocalist Candi Underwood’s lung capacity as she belts out a tirade against conformity and clothing choices. As I mentioned, we’re not going too deep here, but it does contain the line ‘You wear your Metallica T, but where’s you Kill ‘Em All‘ CD?’, so all is forgiven.

Next up is Heart Beats Like a Drum, which sees dirty, heavy bass employed to create a feeling akin to early hypnotic Queens Of The Stone Age tracks. My favourite track on the EP

We then enter strange territory with what appears to be an ode to jeans with Denim. Odd, but otherwise this is a bouncy number that keeps the record ticking along nicely and sees some of the organ work enter the spotlight.

Closer All My Friends Are Dead sounds like it might be a pretty serious number, but no such worries as we move between some staccato riffs, 60s influenced organ and a full on rock-out chorus.

Hopefully Bang! Bang! is a sign of things to come and Lazybones will managed to pull together a full album of fun garage pop rock anthems like these.

Release date: 15 February 2019

Rating: 7/10

Standout track: Heart Beats Like a Drum

For fans of:

Marmozets
Demob Happy
The White Stripes

Listen on Spotify

Album review: Cherry Glazerr – Stuffed and Ready

Cherry Glazer - Stuffed & Ready album cover

Stuffed & Ready is the third album from LA’s post-punk trio Cherry Glazerr and a follow-up to 2017’s rather enjoyable Apocalypstick. This is a much more mature effort though. It has elements of Riot Grrl punk interspersed through it, but most songs take a much softer tone that highlights Clementine Creevy’s angelic voice.

The are touches of 60s-influenced Franco pop on Self Explained and indie-pop on Distressor, though heavy guitars are never too far away.

We have some slow swing on Isolation, before crunching guitars sweep in for the chorus. Some changes of direction on Daddi, along with a smattering of drum machine, make it stand out as more interesting than your standard alt-rock numbers.

There are a lot of competent rock numbers which, when matched with Creey’s softer vocal style, make for an enjoyable listen. This perhaps isn’t going to set the world on fire, but this release will certainly find the band some new friends.

Release date: 01 February 2019

Rating: 7/10

Standout track: Wasted Nun

For fans of:

Goat Girl
Marmozets
Our Girl

Listen on Spotify

2018 Music Review – January

January started with a bang – in the sense that a lot a bands favouring loud, distorted guitars decided to get out of the blocks early in 2018. January didn’t produce a deluge of albums to pick from, those that did packed an enormous punch.

We had the catchy, twangy guitars of Shopping, the alt-rock growling of Shame, the psyche-laden riffs of Prettiest Eyes and the unashamedly power-pop-punk of Marmozets (lead singer Rebecca Macintyre channeling Transvision Vamp’s Wendy James marvellously). These bands proved that loud punk-laced rock still has relevance in a age of auto-tuned RnB.

But the early contender for my album of the year came from another place entirely. German composer Nils Frahm’s All Melody is a stunning blend of neo-classical piano artistry, beautifully desolate electronicawith a touch of smoky late night jazz bars. This took me aback when I first heard it and, after repeated listening, it still blows me away.

Top 10 January 2018