It's hard to believe, but it's nearly three and a half years since we first discovered Laura Hocking , who was then going under the guise of Laura Sings Liver. So to say that this debut release from her is long-awaited is something of an understatement. It's been clear from day one that Hocking is a unique songwriting talent, even if the production values on those original recordings couldn't quite keep up with her. All of that is rectified on this four song release though, which also introduces us to her full-band arrangement that has been steadily [...]
The first word I etched on a desk with a pen was Morrissey And the first time the words meant as much as the music was Morrissey And the moaning that came from my room everyday was Morrissey And the reason my Mum had to ask was I gay, yes Morrissey. There's probably a hundred songs out there by bands trying to articulate their feelings toward Morrissey. To a great many of them he was a [...]
The first word I etched on a desk with a pen was Morrissey And the first time the words meant as much as the music was Morrissey And the moaning that came from my room everyday was Morrissey And the reason my Mum had to ask was I gay, yes Morrissey. There's probably a hundred songs out there by bands trying to articulate their feelings toward Morrissey. To a great many of them he was a [...]
Loves Ends Disaster! are a band that I've been aware of for quite some time. I'd never really listened to them mind, but I remember them getting quite a lot of buzz back around the time I first started this blog, which is well over four years ago at this point. After that though, nothing much seemed to happen. I didn't see much more about them, and from a cursory glance around, nor did many others. So it seems a bit strange that they have finally popped up with a (self-released) record now. Trying to regain buzz given how fickle [...]
Loves Ends Disaster! are a band that I've been aware of for quite some time. I'd never really listened to them mind, but I remember them getting quite a lot of buzz back around the time I first started this blog, which is well over four years ago at this point. After that though, nothing much seemed to happen. I didn't see much more about them, and from a cursory glance around, nor did many others. So it seems a bit strange that they have finally popped up with a (self-released) record now. Trying to regain buzz given how fickle [...]
I'm generally hesitant to compare one band to another, particularly in terms of overall sound, but I feel obliged to do it here. Meursault sound very much like Frightened Rabbit. To most people, that's certainly no bad thing given the success the FRabbits have had in recent years. I'm still undecided about them myself. I really like some of their songs, but couldn't care less for others. Which isn't really the greatest introduction to Meursault , is it? The thing is, I've had a similar experience with Meursault until recently. There's something about [...]
I very briefly wrote about Kid Canaveral a couple of months ago after stumbling across them on Bandcamp. I posted up their song Good Morning , which was a lovely little indiepop song, but if I'm honest, I didn't give them much thought after that. Then a few days ago a copy of their upcoming full-length album dropped into my inbox, and suddenly everything that made that song great came flooding back. Twelve times over. Shouting at Wildlife easily has the potential to be the next big break-out indiepop record. It's a suitably upbeat record that has [...]
Great British Hopes are the main reason we do this in the first place. It never ceases to amaze me how a band can suddenly just pop up out of nowhere. Standard Fare have apparently been about since 2006. The first I heard of them was a few months ago when their Christmas song Tinsel Politics started doing the rounds. It seems that I wasn't alone in that either. The first music blog mention of them I can find is from July 2009. Seeing as music blogs are the only gauge of [...]
Great British Hopes features the very best bands that make us party like it's 2011. Oh yes. Now this is my cup of tea. You play sceptically through tons and tons of mp3s by bands that don't do very much, and then one will make you sit up and go 'wow'. Granted, my standards for that aren't that high. Sound vaguely like Pavement (or a bunch of other 90s bands) and you're already halfway there. Sir Yes Sir are far better than one lazy comparison. This is guitar rock [...]
Every now and again, being a music blogger heralds unexpected rewards. About a year and a half ago, I briefly wrote about The Kabeedies on here. I haven't really kept up with them since then, only really giving them a thought when the iPod would throw up one of their songs. Today I went to the Another Form of Relief Mail Centre (a PO box) to pick up a couple of things I had ordered (the Nosferatu D2 disc and the new Superman Revenge Squad record) as well as whatever the [...]
Great British Hopes features the very best in new British music. You know, stuff that doesn't sound like James fucking Blunt. I've spent the last 24 hours trying to decide whether or not Hold Your Horse Is is a good name for a band or a bloody terrible one. I'm still not entirely sure, but the more I think about it, the more it's growing on me. The band come to us from the mean streets of Hampshire. So mean in fact that they rarely tend to produce decent bands. [...]
Click here to view the embedded video. Pocketbooks have been one of my favourite bands to cover since I started this blog. Watching them rise from a few rough early songs to releasing their first proper album has been a joy to behold. As such, Another Form of Relief is delighted to present a free download of their next single, which also happens to be the opening track to the aforementioned album. It'll be released on June 15, but you can download it here right now. [...]
Click here to view the embedded video. Continuing the seemingly never-ending trend of great bands coming out of Leeds, Tigers That Talked may well be the best of the current crop. Despite being together for a while now, I only discovered them recently, meaning I've skipped any early awkwardness the band may have experienced. This meant the band I started listening to was fully formed and almost ready to be the UK's own Arcade Fire. It's the obvious comparison to make, but the sound is certainly eerily [...]
Every now and again something I'll run across something that I instantly love. Coming up with new content for here on a daily basis means that I post a lot of stuff that I like, but don't have that immediate connection with. The ones that do tend to be the bands that end up being part of our Great British Hopes series. Assuming that they are British of course. The Sailplanes are currently based in Berlin, but luckily for me they formed in London. They make a kind of noisy, messy pop that is [...]
This will be even briefer than usual today as I feel like hell. The Rumble Strips are one of those bands that I knew existed, yet managed to completely pass over in the past. Then again, I do that with nearly everything. The press release for London tells me their album was produced by Mark Ronson more than once. The only problem is that I don't know who he is. I know that he exists, and that he must be important to be mentioned more times than the band themselves, but I [...]
I was always under the impression that Copy Haho were actually called Copy Halo. I'm not entirely sure, as that isn't exactly a more logical name. In fact, I only noticed that it was Haho last week, several months after first listening to them. Those several months ago, I liked what I heard, and did intend to feature them. Promptly, I forgot all about them, as if often the way. Then I noticed that they are one of the Awesome Pals , and projected them right back into my blog field of vision. [...]
Two Great British Hopes in a row. Both from Glasgow. Both really bloody good. Every now and then a band I've never heard of previously will come out of nowhere that I immediately fall in love with. Usually these bands tend to be ones that play on my nostalgia for the US indie scene of the 90s. Projekt A-ko is no exception to this, drawing from the Pavement, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jnr playbook. Marching in as if it's still 1993, the band instantly assault the ears with lots and [...]
Talk about your unwieldy band names. Getting the right amount of anananana is bad enough, but then there's the double header of Aykroyd not being the simplest name to spell either. The funny thing is that the music fits the name. If you'd asked me beforehand what I'd think a band called Dananananaykroyd would sound like, I'd go with loud and fast. And that's exactly what we have. The thing that takes one aback about Glasgow's Dananananaykroyd is just how loud and fast it is. The vocals jump straight in, not sung, but [...]
While at Reading back in the summer, I didn't get much of a chance to see bands playing on the BBC Introducing stage. The lowliest stage of the festival, it was just a small tent with bands you've never heard of playing to people passing by on their way to one of the chip vans. I've no doubt that a lot of these bands would have been talented, but in the limited time that a festival allows, you tend to head for what you know. So the only band I ended up seeing there was The Joy [...]
Great British Hopes celebrates new British music that is really bloody good. As I was preparing to write this, I came across a fact that threw this piece into question. I tend to write these Great British Hopes pieces as a way of talking up the absolute best from all of the new bands I hear. Doing some research on Butcher Boy though, I discovered that they have been playing for 11 years. Which begs the question of whether they can really be hailed as a hope for the future of music. [...]
Another Form of Relief
Skrillex Uses Satanic and Homosexual Influence to Win Grammys
Music Alliance Pact. MAP. February 2012.
A-Trak - "Round of Applause" / "Where My Money At" (MP3 Download)
Listen: Usher x Diplo – Climax
Imperial Teen – Runaway (2012)
