James is back to offer his favourite singles from this past week, so please feel free to check out the bands, check out the songs, and let us know what you think via our Social Media channels!
gP. – Daffy Duck
Where do I start with this? Well, the music video is what’ll get you first, at six minutes long it feels like a mini crime movie or an extract from an episode of The Wire. The vocal approach flits between huge, ambient choruses and a verse delivery that reminded me of a much slower, mellowed out Jason Butler (Letlive. / TheFever333). Instrumentally, ‘Daffy Duck’ is utterly jarring, and despite so much going on, literally everything sticks. This is well worth a listen for the modern, contemporary rock fans out there.
Trope – Surrogate
Up next and another magnetic music video is American Alt-Rockers Trope and latest single ‘Surrogate’. What we’ve got here is a three minute offering of compelling progressive rock that never overstays its welcome for a second. ‘Simplistic’ would be an insulting word to describe ‘Surrogate’, yet despite variation in how the riffs drive the song forward, the variation is often found in the immense vocal delivery that’ll suck you in from first listen. I can see everyone from the most chin strokery of Prog Fans, to the more bombastic symphonic metal diehard really being won over by Trope.
Brandon Watson – Game Face
On first glance, I thought I’d sussed Brandon Watson from his promo pictures. I was either expecting a guitar virtuoso, or some sort of solo country/indie singer. So obviously, ‘Game Face’ absolutely floored me from first listen when it roared out the traps with youthful sleeze and an overwhelming Rock N Roll vibe. Seriously, I love finding someone buried as deep in the underground as this, writing choruses big enough for stadiums. Wicked stuff.
Witness – Trench Slang
It just wouldn’t be the same, doing a weekly singles roundup without covering something that literally sounds like hatred personified. This week’s lucky winners are Witness, an interesting proposition that’s seen their members spending the best part of a few decades cutting their teeth in an array of cult musical projects, most notably the likes of The Twilight Collective and Shai Hulud. If that’s anything to go by, expect glass shattering to the soundtrack of The Chariot meets Cave In. Yeah, it’s fucking chaos. Yeah, you fucking love it.
8-Bit Heroes – The Neverending Party
I’ve said it before, I bloody hate Pop-Punk at times, and on first listen I felt like I was rolling my eyes at 8-Bit Heroes a little bit. Despite expecting the cheesiest end of the Pop-Punk spectrum, what I got instead was a slightly sharper-edge in ‘The Neverending Party’ that suddenly had me hooked from the get go. If you could imagine a slightly cleaner version of Drug Church, with still plenty of grit, that’s enough to sink your teeth into 8-Bit Heroes.
Internal Credit – Internal Credit
Alright, what’s the point in me talking about this band when I can’t find A SINGLE THING ABOUT THEM. That’s right, no social media pages, no BandCamp, NUFFIN. Internal Credit is basic, fuzzy, and peerless British Pop-Punk that offers one of the most catchiest tracks in the genre that I’ve heard on our shores for years. But guess what? You can’t bloody hear it, because I can’t find a bloody link to it. But I love the track when it was submitted to us, so they deserve a paragraph anyway. Please get in touch if you read this, so I can give you some proper coverage. Or are you the UK Pop-Punk equivalent to as that Threatin bloke?
Algorhythm – Why Now
Personal story, I actually consider myself to be quite a competent bass player, and spent years in and out of bands on the local circuit. The reason why I say this, is because ‘Why Now’ made me set my bass on fire and swear to never play that sodding instrument ever again. How did Algorhythm clone Les Claypool? Why does Prog Rock enveloped with Jazz Fusion work so well? So many questions, and thankfully Algorhythm have answered them in all but four minutes. We always have a wildcard track every week that I want everyone to listen to, ‘Why Now’ is the one, let your imagination run wild with this one.
Sadgasm – It’s Better With Jonny Around
And last but not least on my weekly picks is contemporary Emo-Rockers Sadgasm, with a stripped back number in ‘It’s Better With Jonny Around’ that gives it so much raw appeal. Hopelessly bleak lyrics, yet vocal hooks that feel wonderfully optimistic, this track flourishes towards its finale when it merges into a sort of, Math-Rock orientated spin on American Football. Beautifully simplistic, I never want that vulnerably raw style to ever leave Sadgasm’s approach.
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 2019 Spotify playlist below. There’s also plenty more tracks to be uploaded to Spotify soon, and a wonderful mix of our best picks week in week out, be sure to subscribe!
