Since the ascent of The Arctic Monkeys there has been a plethora of inferior indie bands riding on their coat tails. The Nightjars may exhibit some of The Arctic Monkeys traits: accented vocals, a raw sound and songs about humdrum Northern life. Yet they also have their own energy and intensity which recall both The Jam and The Fall.

An opening salvo of ‘You Set Me Reeling’ and ‘Set Them Up’ features guitar melodies that swing from speaker to speaker; like some of the best indie rock records they’re hook-filled and urgent-sounding. Thankfully it’s no fluke either. The Nightjars regularly incorporate smart chord changes which border on art-rock at times, as you’d expect from a group who count The Velvet Underground and Pavement as their influences. Yet the most impressive offering, ‘MDMA’ builds on a languid, distorted guitar figure which soon explodes into a rattling post-punk anthem. For fine moments like these, The Nightjars’ more mature and individualist take on guitar-led rock should see them stand out from the pack.

Web Sites:
The Nightjars Official Site
The Nightjars MySpace

Further Listening:
The Jam, The Nightingales, The Fall

Post-rock does tend to lean towards the darker side of music but Her Name Is Calla can justifiably claim to be amongst the darkest exponents of the genre. Their second release blends the most downbeat of folk music with harrowing crashes of guitars and percussion. The black mood is balanced by cello and trumpet to offer shafts of light when all around is black.

‘Nylon’ hardly eases the listener into the experience with the singer wailing like a man about to be sentenced to death. At least ‘New England’ begins quite delicately like a string-laden lament but then the dominant cello and trumpet give way to a musical warzone as guitars grind and drums are clattered in almost freeform fashion. ‘Paying For Your Funeral’ and ‘Wren’ are more refined tracks which hold back just as it sounds like they’re going to explode, much like a folkier Bark Psychosis. It takes a track called ‘Motherfucker! It’s Alive And Bleeding” to bring on the dramatics again with the vocals seemingly inspired by the tortured souls of a Hammer Horror movie. Finally, the most conventional track - in typical contrary fashion - is hidden towards the end; a relatively hopeful song called ‘Long Distance Runner’. Yet despite the seriousness of the whole experience, what cannot be doubted is the sheer conviction of all the band members as they force their bleak message home.

Web Sites:
Her Name Is Calla Official Site
Her Name Is Calla MySpace
Gizeh Records Label and Shop Site

Further Listening:
Bark Psychosis, Viarosa

In their 1980’s pomp both The Wake and The Field Mice made wistful innocent-sounding music which promised romance and melancholy in equal measure. So when members of both bands chose to collaborate as The Occasional Keepers in 2005, Bobby Wratten, Caesar and Caroline Allen duly delivered an album of music for sensitive souls. The follow-up is dispatched in much the same manner with a smattering of light electronica again bringing their style bang up to date.

As an opening ‘If The Ravens Leave’ sums up all that was good about both bands; the happy/sad tune delivered by Wratten’s always comforting tones. ”Town Of 85 Lights’ and ‘I’ve Realized’ are essentially a return to The Wake circa 1990 when they moved from Factory to Sarah Records; their music becoming lighter yet not nearl as vital as before. No quite as light as the Allen-sung ‘The Life Of The Fields, though, which is as tender as a snowflake.

In a further nod to their pasts, there’s time for an ambient/experimental homage to Factory Records whilst ‘Snow And Feathers’ has a definite Durutti Column influence. Yet the real highlight for me is ‘Leave The Secret There Forever’; everything about it is subtle and beautiful from the insistent bass and the light guitar jangle to the shimmering keyboards and Wratten’s confiding vocals. It beats the similarly dreamlike ‘Elsinore’ in to a close second. Taken as a whole, ‘True North’ stays true to the musicians’ pasts and proves that - even though they’ve embraced modern production techniques - their music can still be heartfelt and touching.

Web Sites:
The Occasional Keepers MySpace
LTM Label Site

Further Listening:
The Wake, The Field Mice, Trembling Blue Stars, Northern Picture Library

For some, the electro-clash movement was a passing fad. Clearly no one told Florida’s Jonathan Glover who continues his one-man mission to give robots voice on his second album recorded under the name of Ars Phoenix. Yet it’s pleasing to report that Glover is, above all, a good songwriter and able to combine different genres very skilfully.

Thanks to the breathy desperation of Glover’s voice (not dissimilar to Steve Strange in his pomp) and the occassionally dodgy lyric (”Does it not make you proud to see robots dance around”), ‘Engines Of Progress’ does sometimes err towards the camp side and after over an hour of this music, there’s quite a lot to take in one sitting. Glover works best when he incorporates other styles into his music, which he does on a regular basis.

‘The Dry, Cracked, Yearning Earth’ uses grinding, gothic guitars to get its apocalyptic message across. ‘Through Nets Of Granite’ is a doomy song made attractive thanks to its haunting keyboard melody whereas the post-punk bass propelling ‘Sovereign’ and serene synth tune for ‘Twigs’ add to the list of compelling moments. In addition, a couple of instrumental passages reveal an unexpected lightness of touch; ‘Modules’ and ‘Tone Poem (Minus Text)’ rank well above the level of incidental music and cross over into IDM territory. There’s no doubt that this record could have been trimmed (the second half is definitely weaker than the first) but the variety, melody and experimentation is usually pitched at the right level and - despite initial reservations - I enjoyed the album more and more after each listen.

Web Sites:
Ars Phoenix MySpace
For Documentation Only Label Site

Further Listening:
Depeche Mode, Visage

There are times when writing reviews that I almost have to curse the artist who made the record, simply because the title they have chosen is the most apt description of the music. A case in point is Sidechain’s first release for Rednetic Recordings, which is entitled ‘Dubglitch’. Thanks to Southend’s Mark Soye, the man behind this mini-album, I don’t need to say too much more about describing his style.

Soye plays it fast and slow. The title track and final track are set to a trip-hop pace yet ‘Geiger Counter’ is more frenetic and ‘Insect’ cleverly incorporates drum and bass into the mix (although after a while I wished the intense rhythms would subside to leave something approaching a tune). No coincidence then that the pick of the bunch, ‘Violet Scratches’, balances the deepest of grooves with a cool synth melody. Overall, I found this record to be a good example of inventive and experimental electronic music and, yes, there’s a fair amount of “dub” and, indeed, “glitch” in there too. Yet despite the technical proficiency, what is lacking here is a human heart.

Web Sites:
Rednetic Label Site

Click here to listen to the full stream of Soundpool’s fascinating second album

There are lots of albums where you listen to the opening track and are instantly taken back to a time and place. Such is the case with Soundpool’s second long player, which transported me to my Sixth Form years studying for exams whilst listening to shoegaze music. One of these acts was Lush who created very dense guitar music, layered with effects and fronted by girlie vocals. I’m guessing that Soundpool may have listened to Lush at some point; they’ve even named a song ‘Lush’ so the clues are there, you might say.

So unsurprisingly a few of of these songs return to the Lush sound to the level of pastiche. Thankfully most deviate from the formulaic and some even explore space rock. ‘Pleasure & Pain’ for instance uses a psychedelic swirl that recalls music from four decades ago rather than just two. Meanwhile the grinding undertow which propels ‘Do What You Love’ is redolent of the considerably more venerated My Bloody Valentine. ‘The Divides Of March’ is also made up of sturdy stuff thanks to its dominant bass and a driving tune.

Then come more suprises. ‘The Only One’ and ‘So Much For That’ are ambient, low-paced efforts that are mysterious and beguiling but the clincher is the stunning ‘Dream Sequence’; a three-part suite that is as beautiful as it is complex. At times ‘Dichotomies & Dreamland’ is a little superficial and too much in touch with the past to be considered a great record but for the times when this New York outfit experiment they prove they are an inventive and very special outfit.

Web Sites:
Soundpool Official Site
Soundpool MySpace

Further Listening:
Lush, Stereolab, Ulrich Schnauss

The striking thing for me when listening to These New Puritans is the sheer coldness of their first album. Granted, it’s the sound of four highly intelligent musicians from Southend with impressive record collections but they show little in the way of hearts. Thankfully it’s also music given a modern twist with short, incisive bursts of songs, which at least sound exciting and different.

“What’s your favourite number? What does it mean?” is the key line to ‘Numerology (AKA Numbers)’; its barked lyrics seem half-influenced by childrens’ education programmes but it’s allied to a funk/post-punk backing. Likewise ‘Colours’ marries funk guitars to intense percussion. Choruses are chanted rather than sung.  It led me to think that if this group were around at the time of Joy Division they would be accused of being Nazis. Lighter moments are few but ‘Doppelganger’ and ‘Costume’ provide welcome respite from the austere atmosphere even if their titles promise otherwise.

Nevertheless several tracks are impressive, ‘Infinity Ytinifni’ makes the best use of military drum beats and abstract electronica to create a dark and original song, ‘Elvis’, perhaps the most poppy offering, has traces of new wave and builds dangerously into a shouted chorus. In the same way, ‘Navigate-Colours’ understands the need for melody. Overall, though, it’s a record to be admired rather than adored and because of its very “now” feel, it will be interesting to see whether it stands the test of time.

Web Sites:
These New Puritans Official Site
These New Puritans MySpace

Further Listening:
The Fall

Arthur And Martha have the honour of being the first artists to have a release out on the new Happy Robots label. Together they (”they” being Adam Cresswell and Alice Hubley) make retro-futurist electro-pop which will doubtlessly endear them to the Stereolab crowd.

And so we have the title and lead-off track. Like a female-fronted Kraftwerk, Hubley’s slightly robotic voice is the perfect foil for Cresswell’s clean yet poppy synth melody. ‘Japanese Kiss’ is an altogether more human-sounding song. Hubley sings with a very British sense of emotion; a break-up characterised by the line “You called me to sort out financial matters and custody of the acoustic guitar” as vintage keyboards capture the spirit of early-80s Factory records. The instrumental ‘Squareway To Heaven’, however, moves into more obscure Krautrock territory, with lots of drone and a hypnotic metronomic rhythm. Then the EP ends with a brief reprise of ‘Autovia’. Although their style is a little throwaway, in less than fifteen minutes of music, Arthur And Martha skilfully capture the essence of some of the most endearing electro-pop acts.

Web Sites:
Happy Robots Label Site
Arthur And Martha MySpace

Further Listening:
Kraftwerk, The Wake, Stereolab, Dubstar, Helvissa

Dead Leaf Echo turned miserablism in to a very attractive art form on their first EP ‘Faint Violet Whiff’. The follow-up doesn’t differ too much from this direction but they now embrace a fuller sound; partly explained by a remix contribution supplied by dreampop exponent Ulrich Schnauss but there’s now a growing confidence evident in this New York trio.

Guitar and bass lines shimmer whilst LG still sounds more disaffected than a Piano Magic record. The first two tracks are basically moody scene setters. Then on the third track ‘Tears’ the guitars really start to ring out and segue neatly into the even more aggressive ‘Cry The Sea’, forming a kind of concrete jangle if you will. ‘Pale Fire’ itself is the song which seems most entrenched in shoegazing influences; it is awash with layers of guitar effects in a manner which makes Chapterhouse seem subtle. Unsurprisingly perhaps, this is Schnauss’ remix. Much better is ‘Reflex Motion’ where the group return to what they do best: intricate, gothic melodies. Overall, I think I prefer the first EP over this one because of its unusual haunting ballads but there’s no doubt that ‘Pale Fire’ is a development in their sound.

Web Sites:
Dead Leaf Echo MySpace

Further Listening:
Pale Saints, Piano Magic, The Gubernatorial Candidates