PLUS ONE MAGAZINE

Even though the summer months are finally here, the weather seems to be dragging behind. Some people feel their Beer tastes change with the seasons, but for this article I'm slurping from the Darker ranger of the spectrum rather than light summer ales. From a more traditional Porter, to a Black IPA all three should offer something different...

There's a sense of something in the air that's been and gone that was quite triumphant as I make my way into Leeds Brudenell games room tonight. Was it Sheffield's Bang Bang Romeo and their 60's-tinged Indie-Rock with a powerfully-vocal lady at the helm? Or Leeds' very own young surf scamps Porl Whos running amok with their youthful exuberance and birthday boy drummer in celebration mode? Upon a bit of earwigging it seems to have been the latter, though my late arrival can't confirm just exactly what went on so google away upon these two artists for some info.

Tory-bashing duo BLACKLUNG are something of an enigma; a modest online presence jars with the outspoken political slant of a promo blurb which screams that the Conservatives’ faces are death-tackle, that they stop hearts and “cast anxious shadows and make standing corpses of us.” And that Rage Against the Machine-style roar, Dead Kennedys thrash or even Woodie Guthrie soothsaying you might expect is nowhere to be seen on a four-track EP of self-styled kraut-disco.

Unbeknown to us, Stateside guitar bands have been secretly gorging themselves on our home grown Indie Top 20 era sound from a generation ago, and in some cases stealing the thunder of a milieu of UK outfits, struggling under the weight of expectation to recapture the excitement of their predecessors. Now it’s Big Apple 4-piece Malka ’s turn to mine a rich seam of dreamy shoegaze and make it their own on their inaugural offering, this rather splendid mini-album ‘The Constant State’. 

There has been a lot of drumming of fingers within Manchester for the past decade or so, the populous awaiting the next great guitar band to explode out from what had become quite a production line, stretching back to the punk era but seeming to peter out at the end of the 1990s.  Cue possible contenders, Mancunian based quartet ‘ Everything Everything ’, their falsetto-armed frontman’s vocal frantically wrapping itself around hyper dense math rock.  For those not familiar with the term, think of a Radiohead album played at 45rpm. 

Not 'just another guitar/drum duo'. .. These two Kentish men (or men of Kent? depending on their geographical abode)  Laurie Vincent (guitar) and Issac Holman (drums) are beginning to reap the rewards of their tireless work ethic, largely due to their fearsome live reputation. Bringing unadulterated fun and chaos to venues up and down the country.  A small word isn't it, fun? yet despite the albums obvious annoyances at the current state of the world and the country they reside in, Slaves bring a remarkably upbeat energy and bags of the stuff to the table in a live setting and (as far as they can), replicate this in Are You Satisfied? 

Anyone who loved thoughtful 80s synth-pop knows that in the intervening 30 years, technology has come on leaps and bounds. Indeed it’s possible these days to download a Fairlight CMI as a mobile app which brings us nicely to the subject of ‘Slowness’, the sophomore release from this ultra-stylish Wirral quintet who’ve mined that post-punk synth-pop sound from 3 decades or more ago and bought it right up to date with not inconsiderable aplomb.

Like Lord Of The Rings and election promises, the only way to get anywhere with ‘Little Earth’ by Copenhagen three-piece Shiny Darkly is to suspend disbelief and buy into the fantasy they create. Part of this is the musical attempt to conduct a Ouija board to channel the spirit of Ian Curtis, and part is the sheer theatricality of the songs. If this sounds like fun to you, strap on those boots and dig out your best black t-shirt, we’re going in.

WolfAlice 's early EPs are run through with entrancing, almost otherworldly qualities; Ellie Rowsell's sweeping, majestic vocals, backed by gently soaring guitars and finger-light deft percussion. In the life performance, they evolved to somehow translate this into a grungy, scuzzy wall of sound that hits you hard in the gut and the heart. It's unforgettable and made the listener's return to the folkier recordings feel lacking in their delicate beauty.