James offers his favourite singles submissions from this past week. Please check out the bands, and let us know what you think via our Social Media channels!
Cedar Park – Levee
First up on our feature with have San Francisco based Cedar Park. What interested me was that the post-punks didn’t just have a distinctively US sound to them. Vocally, it’s not too distant from UK britrockers Blur. It makes for a really odd, but brilliant mix between sounding bloody massive, yet still maintaining an unequivocal fuzzy garage rock vibe. Weird on first listen, but wicked nonetheless.
Fade Awaays – Get Along
Toronto based Fade Awaays describe themselves as four teenagers making noise on the local live scene, but there’s a significant feeling of maturity to their sound even at this early stage in their careers. The production in ‘Get Along’ is slick, polished, and the chorus has been sat in my head for days. It’s Indie Rock exactly how it should be played, with enough Punk and rough edges to maintain its danger throughout.
Ollie Thorpe – All A Waste
Aussie’s Ollie Thorpe‘s vocal qualities are remarkably easy to pinpoint on first listen, but what really got me going with ‘All A Waste’ was the shifting variation to it’s pacing. It opens with a sombre, laid back approach with obvious nods to Radiohead. By the end, you’re hit with technical Post-Rock grooves that the likes of UK’s Arcane Roots and Black Peaks have been famous for the past few years. The shifting dynamic is vital, but more importantly, cohesion is the sticking factor to ‘All A Waste’, opening in a simmer and ending in a thunderous crash.
Clove – Sober
Imagine the lighter side of Basement with the progressive hardcore elements of More Than Life, that’s Clove in a nutshell, and they’ve really hit the sweet spot with ‘Sober’. It’s usually a sound I don’t typically go for, not because I don’t like the music, but because a significant proportion of bands in the scene come off as a bit copycat. I’m thankful Clove have found a solid balance here, offering middle ground between both the lighter and heavier ends of the emo rock spectrum. Very much looking forward to see what Clove release in the coming future.
Desert Clouds – Speed Of Light
Desert Clouds are British but nail that distinct American, desert rock vibe that made so many waves back in the 90’s, with added layers of laid back nods to psychedelia. What I liked to much about ‘Speed Of Light’ was that while it’s influences play on artists of the past, it still sounds contemporary enough to feel cutting edge and modern. It’s a mid paced tempo, but Desert Clouds knows exactly when to gently raise its bite at the most perfect of moments. Well worth a go if Kyuss meets Alice In Chains sounds up your street.
The Holy Gasp – What I Gotta Know
I don’t even know what genre to describe this as, but that’s the best thing about discovering new music right? The Holy Gasp describe themselves as Indie Rock, but that’s an insult to their music in my opinion, there’s so much going on to really pinpoint. There’s a 50’s rock and roll vibe, there’s big querky country riffs that scream Reverend Payton’s Big Damn Band. It’s mental, but that’s what makes it brilliant, feel good music at its best, and my favourite track of the week. ‘What I Gotta Know’ is released October 4th 2018, keep your eyes and ears peeled.
Into The Flood – The Art Of Burning A Bridge
Finally, some metal music submitted that I can actually get behind. Into The Flood envelope classic, American metal with nods to the likes of Lamb of God and Devildriver, but pummel it with the modern day metalcore sensibility of the likes of August Burns Red and The Devil Wears Prada. ‘The Art Of Burning A Bridge’ sounds fucking lethal, cohesively put together with more than enough shred and breakdowns into full a swift three minutes. Watch these blow up in the next year.
The Rumjacks – Saints Preserve Us!
I’m a sucker for traditional folk put through a punk rock filter, The Rumjacks nail that vibe with perfection and add a smattering of ska for good measure. Lyrically, I haven’t quite worked out who ‘Saints Preserve Us!’ takes a jibe at, but the vocal hooks are unstoppable nonetheless. Perfect drinking music, ‘Saints Preserve Us!’ is the lead single from The Rumjacks’ new album of the same name, out October 12th if this track takes your fancy!
Ryan Vanicin – The Plot
Two submissions to Mind Noise Network and two successful inclusions into our Singles Only Feature. In case you missed it the last time, Ryan Vanicin is a real sucker for taking everything brilliant about 90’s rock and metal, and melding it together with a contemporary edge What impressed me so much about ‘The Plot’, was how quickly it establishes such an eerie feeling using one singular riff. More so, there’s no significant reliance on distortion to make it sound particularly heavy either. The video is as harrowing as the song itself, and it feels like Ryan Vanicin is becoming a beacon of mine for true underground music done purely for the love of it. And how could you knock that?
That’s this weeks singles reviews, please feel free to check out the tracks above on the usual formats, or alternatively you can access them on our embedded Spotify playlists below. Thanks for reading!
