New releases: MJ Hibbett & the Validators – Dinosaur Planet

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Where on earth do you start with an album called Dinosaur Planet? The title alone sells it. It’s an album destined for a catchy tagline and a deep voiceover – “In a world.. where dinosaurs rule”. It so effortlessly distinguishes itself from any other music in the indiepop world that it feels futile to try.

But MJ gave me a free album and told me to review it, so here I am.

It’s a musical about dinosaurs. A comedy musical. And, confusingly, the dinosaurs are invading this planet, instead of living on their own. Presumably, they come from their own planet full of dinosaurs. Maybe an idea for the sequel. (Don’t give him any ideas – ed.). The album works on its own, but it has had a relatively successful tour as a musical at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which shows how unusual this album is. It’s not really an album so much as a musical, which significantly changes the dynamic here.

The style of comedy will be familiar to listeners of Radio 4 comedies. It’s gentle, slightly absurd, and incredibly low-budget. MJ revels in the mundanity of everyday life, contrasting it against outlandish concepts – such as universities of space, space dinosaurs, space robots, space lasers, pretty much most things related to space. It’s very self-aware, slipping in popular culture references to common tropes: whether it be red shirts from Star Trek in Don’t, Darren, Don’t or a legal threat from Transformers about their robots. My favourite parts, somewhat predictably, are those about the hell hole that is East Anglia – I hail from that part of the world myself. In fact, my old secondary school is personally mentioned in The Battle of Peterborough, though I would be quick to tell MJ that Orton Longueville School has actually been rebranded Nene Park Academy. The power of rock, ladies and gentlemen. Also, when’s the last time Stamford was ever mentioned in an album? I’m frankly amazed. Great swimming pool, too.

The music is gentle, largely acoustic based, and acts as a vehicle to carry the meat across – the lyrics. Certainly one thing I would advise is that this is not an album you should expect to find hits on. It’s an album to be digested as a whole, as a sit down exercise. At 33 tracks (albeit short, but still), it’s a feast to get through, too, with several repeats. What worries me most about the album is that somewhat because of the length, there’s a lot of filler - a couple of songs are repeated, like the theme tune and Here Come the Dinosaurs. Whilst we’re talking about that track, I swear the intro sounds an awful lot like Velocity Girl by Primal Scream.

If you don’t enjoy the concept of a musical, you’ll probably struggle to find songs you want to listen to. That said, there are some great pop hits among the rest. Please Don’t Eat Us is hilarious and endlessly inventive. Literature Search too, although quite short., and My Grandad is Nuts would make sense on any album. In fact, if you need to need to listen to any track on the album, it’s probably the most obvious start:

 

So yeah, Dinosaur Planet. If you enjoy MJ Hibbett already, you’ll find plenty to like here, as it’s his normal stuff except with a plotline. If you don’t, you’ll probably be slightly bewildered  and maybe you should check out some of his other stuff first – there’s a lot to digest here. Or, even better, see him live, because he puts on a really great live show.

(Other pictures of MJ’s recent show at Popfest 2012 are available in the gallery, though they’re a bit jumbled)

By golly, an update

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Hello, hello. Just a quick update to tell y’all what’s happening around these parts. I haven’t been blogging, but I sure have been busy!

First off, if you’ve not seen the new front page, I suggest you take a look! It’s been made by these very hands. Although I started this website primarily for blogging, it’s really a general purpose website for my stuff – so you can see some art I’ve done, the crappy little coding projects, and even view an extremely narcissistic page about yours truly. Implying, of course, the entire website isn’t an exercise in narcissism as it is.

I also have a small gallery page I’ve been working on to show off my gig photography. The aim is for the art section to turn into an all-purpose gallery. I enjoy taking photos but only use a small choice of the best to actually embed in reviews – for shame! If you’re wondering how I did it (I know – you’re most certainly not), I made it myself in php. Yeah, yeah, reinventing the wheel. Truth is though, most website gallery software is bloated and doesn’t allow me to display it in a fashion consistent with the rest of the website. So nyah.

Oh, and, if you’re a band/label and you like my photography, I’m more than happy to give you hi-res versions if you get in contact (check the about section). No charge – think of it as giving a bit back!

In future – I’d like to tackle the design of the this WordPress blog, but this is something I’ll reserve for when I have time. In the meantime, priorities for me include catch-up reviews for some great albums, including:

  • MJ Hibbett‘s (sort-of) new release Dinosaur Planet
  • That superb Standard Fare sophomore effort Out of Sight, Out of Town
  • Almost certainly début of the year, Tigercats stunning Isle of Dogs
  • And possibly the greatest album of the lot, one I really shouldn’t have a copy of but have a review waiting anyway…it’s a secret!

Meanwhile chaps, I have a lot on my plate, as I have impending exams – and a report to write by Monday! I leave you with a song – and the title of a vastly superior rival – that pretty much sums up why I love indiepop, and by connection, all of you guys.

Until next crime.

 

Gigs: Fortuna Pop! – 15 years of fun (part 1)

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If there’s one thing you can’t fault Sean Price (Fortuna Pop’s El Presidente) - for, it’s persistence. In a workshop at Indietracks some years ago, titled “How not to run a record label”, he regaled some of the worst mistakes he’d made. At the time, success seemed elusive: sales were low and he’d invested ridiculous sums of money. Little did he know, he had just released some album called The Pains of Being Pure at Heart which would turn out a massive hit. At the same festival, there was a girl called Elizabeth playing with Tender Trap who had her own band, Allo Darlin’, who found success equally baffling, seemed to come last on the bill in every indiepop gig in London. It’s funny how things turn out.

The first night was the least exciting of the three, with more unknown bands and a less contemporary headline act. The very first was Monnone Alone, the new side-project from an ex-member of The Lucksmiths. In typical style for my gig outings, I completely missed him. Not that I didn’t want to – I’m a massive Lucksmiths fan – but you know, I had an emergency (my cat needed new kitty litter).

Bearsuit were a great way to start the proceedings (for me, anyway). Every time I’ve watched them, they’ve become better. Maybe it’s my familiarity with the songs, maybe it’s the larger venues – maybe it’s the fact that when I first saw them, they were in front of about 10 people at UCL Union. Regardless, their blend of fast, relentless, bleepy guitar pop has been getting distinctly better. In my eyes, they share many similarities with fellow sort-of-label-mates Shrag: their music is similar, except Bearsuit definitely are more influenced by dance/indie than Shrag, who lean towards a punkier aesthetic. And of course, they have small, hyperactive, female lead singers.

Cinema Red & Blue are a massively rare treat for those fans of indie-pop, specifically those of Comet Gain (who isn’t?), but they have members of Crystal Stilts, The Aislers Set, and The Ladybug Transistor, as well as probably a few others that I forget. David Feck, lead singer, mused that they weren’t so much a supergroup as the opposite – stragglers from other bands. I’m massively unfamiliar with their stuff, which isn’t too much of a surprise given that they have released a single album and played two concerts in their – ooh – 10 year history. They sounded lovely, although I have to admit a certain amount of bemusement, as I couldn’t help stare at the keyboardist from the Crystal Stilts. He has an erm, interesting dance.

They were swiftly replaced – and I do mean swiftly – by The Aislers Set, who put on a surprise set for the night, increasing the number of bands to 5 (five!). Their music, much more so than anyone on the line-up for the Tuesday, was pure, unabashed indiepop, flavoured with C86 tones. Despite that the band are from the states, I can’t say the surprise set was that much of a surprise, as rumours had floated around for a little while that it would be them. It’s nice to see some more C86 tones, especially with who was coming next:

That said, The Primitives never were on the C86, even though they’re commonly banded into that genre as they were active at the time. Their music is distinctly more punky in tone and owes more to say, Blondie than it does to your average 80s indie band. Nevertheless, they’re usually loved by indiepop kids, and they did get a UK top ten hit also covered by Matt Willis (from Busted)! That said though, I’ve always questioned how well The Primitives have been able to play to a large crowd. Although Twee as Fuck put them on to one of the best Buffalo Bar gigs I’ve ever been to – excluding the Pains – their headline act at Indietracks last year underwhelmed me, and I felt this had the same feel to it.

Tuesday night started off with the mighty Shrag, whose last gig I, uh, slagged off. I insist that the sound was to blame, but the band profusely apologised and said they were having a shit night. If this performance was anything to go by though, they must have been in high spirits. The music had real punch to it, and lead singer Helen (above) couldn’t help but crawl around on the floor during The Habit Creep. This is the Shrag I know and love – for god knows how many times I’ve seen them live. The one thing I’d definitely complain about this though: where the hell was all the stuff off the first LP? I know you want to play new stuff, but – but – Pregnancy Scene? Mark E. Smith? Those are some of my favourite tracks! I suppose you can’t have everything.

I’ll finish off this half with talking about Comet Gain. Now – and don’t judge me for this – I’ve always been highly skeptical of them. First (and last) time I saw them was at the last Twee as Fuck, and they were abysmal. For a band I’ve heard so highly praised, I made up my mind on the spot. Anyone who likes them is a nutter and they’re overrated. At some point, someone sent me an mp3 of You Can Hide Your Love Forever, and my eyes widened like dinner plates. How- what- huh?! Okay, okay, this is their only good song. They’re normally average. After this set, I don’t know what to think. They were utterly spellbinding. It was the kind of performance that utterly changed my opinion of them to the better. Particularly great was An Arcade From the Warm Rain That Falls, which has made me realise that their album this year is erm – fucking great.

Game of Life

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Since technically this is a gaming blog as well as a music blog (I almost never post about gaming, though), I thought I’d share one of my own creations with the world – a Java version of Conway’s “Game of Life”.

You can download it HERE.

You’ll need Java to run it, but most people have a version (grab it here). Just press each button to set the starting squares and hit space to start the game. Press space again to end it.

The rules are relatively simple:

  • a space gives birth to a cell next turn if it surrounded by 3 other cells.
  • a cell dies next turn if surrounded by less than 2 cells (freezes) or more than 3 (overcrowding)
There are some pretty fun patterns to be made, and I find it pretty hypnotizing to watch it grow and fluctuate! The Wikipedia article has some details about the mathematics, history, and interesting patterns (including ones that spawn and self-replicate).

Gig review: Fanzine, Old Forest @ White Heat

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I’m reviewing White Heat now? Christ alive, Matthew, get a grip on yourself. You’re way too hipster for this kind of thing.

Stuart and Lee

It’s the start of the academic year, and with that comes society outings. During my undergraduate years – which seemed like about ten billion years ago – I was involved heavily in the Alt Music Society at Imperial, which pretty much amounts to a society of hipsters. White Heat was one of the most reliable venues to come to, so current president Lee (far left) and treasurer Stuart (centre left) decided to come here for his first society outing of the year.

In typical mistakes that AMS presidents do, we were the first people there by several hours. I could have been drinking cheap beer down the road instead, but no..

Old Forest

After Old Forest were done playing their first song, they got my attention, though sadly not in a particularly good way. It was loud, it was boring, and they looked about 15. Now, I don’t really mind any of those things (well, let’s ignore boring for now). Loud is awesome when you’ve got awesome music – they didn’t. And, if anything it’s a boon for them that they’re playing White Heat at such an early age. But I was bored. By their second song, I was on my way to the toilet, and by their third or forth song I wasn’t even really aware they were playing their third or forth song.

On the second to last piece though, something happened. I glanced across to the person next to me to see whether they’d noticed. A tempo shift! They can make different sounding music. Next they might make it into a melody (okay enough cruel comments. – Ed).

Credit due where credit’s due, their last song was great. The terrible, incoherent singing ended (You’re fired. – Ed), and they started playing what sounded like pretty alright post-rock. It had energy, it had a never-ending crescendo, and although the guitarist was obviously not quite as good as he thought he was, it sounded excellent. It should be a good pointer of where the band’s strengths lie that they can pull that off, and given their youth, they’ve got plenty of time to develop their sound further.

FanzineOf course, the highlight of the evening was Fanzine. Drawing from the slacking tradition of late 80s/early 90s alt rock bands such as Big Star or Dinosaur Jr, their music is easily enjoyable and doesn’t take a lot of effort. Being ignorant of the band made it all the more pleasant a surprise how good they sounded. Their name, of course, echoes Teenage Fanclub, but that’s not where the similarities end. Fanzine’s best moments (for this humble indiepop fan) were when they emulated the sweet, subtle melodies of power pop, with understated vocals and clever, subtle melodies. I don’t make that comparison lightly - Grand Prix is one of my favourite albums of all time. Some of their more popular songs didn’t seem to quite hit home for me, but this might be just because I prefer one side of their influences more than others. The rest of the AMS were politely rocking out – maybe I’m showing my age when I just had to take a step back and enjoy them.

Gigs: Standard Fare, Let’s Whisper @ Librarians Wanted

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I’m not sure if it’s really the intention behind the song Philadelphia, but I’ve definitely waited more than a year to see Standard Fare. Once frequent supporters on the indiepop scene, their appearances have slowed to a trickle, if at all. I suppose they’re busy with a new album, and their myriad appearances – say, supporting Allo Darlin’ on their official album launch at the Lexington – were mainly to promote The Noyelle Beat, their debut album. Still, it’s very good to see them again.

Opening for the both of them were Owl & Mouse. Because I’m a terminal slacker, I missed them. From their bandcamp I’m mainly sorry for my ever suffering girlfriend – who is a big folk fan, and came with me that night. They’re extremely delicate acoustic folk – music that would really hush a crowd and get them to listen. They’re London based (even with a song about Finsbury Park!) so hopefully I will get another chance to catch them.

Let’s Whisper are an extremely rare treat for UK-based indiepoppers. They’re an offshoot of The Smittens, who amount to the twee-est band in existence. They’re notorious for ridiculous things like a song about gumdrops, whose video is in an elementary school library, or perhaps staging gigs in pyjama parties, or hosting workshops about how to write the perfect pop song (if you were there, apparently the perfect pop song has the lyric “What are you doing in my tent / Are you a man from the government?”).

Being based in Vermont, they don’t come over here much (although Max Smitten used to live and work in Leeds) – but it’s easier to get two of them over. Hence Let’s Whisper, a side-project with Colin Smitten and Dana Smitten, and in this case guesting with Emma from Standard Fare on bass.

Last I saw Let’s Whisper, they were doing an acoustic set on the trains at Indietracks. This seemed to suit them pretty well, but hell, they sounded about 10 times better on stage. Although the twee element might put some off, some of their songs are ridiculously catchy, even surpassing their work in the Smittens. A personal highlight for me was When You Were Eating Ice Cream, probably for the reason that I’ve chatted with Colin Smitten whilst queuing for ice-cream at Indietracks, first thing after we got up. I’m not sure what he usually eats for breakfast, anyway.

Weepop has several songs available for free which you can check out here!

Standard FareStandard Fare stole the show, though. As I mentioned earlier, generally I’ve always seen them as a support band, which is incredibly unfair – if anything, The Noyelle Beat was probably one of my favourite albums from last year. Embodying efficiency in band design, there are only three of them, the guitarist and bassist sharing vocal duties. Emma, the bassist, usually dominates though, and her voice has a gravelly, dry, and emotionally charged element that adds to their sound in so many ways. Especially during the peak of some of their songs – take Love Doesn’t Just Stop - she practically screams some of it.

Not that that’s the only thing to comment about. Standard Fare are a little odd for indiepop, because they don’t really sound all that much like your typical indiepop band. At times they sound like a pop-punk band, like Edges & Corners (nobody else seems to love that song, but it’s my favourite on the album). At this gig they were on top form, and it’s one of the best times I’ve seen them live. Perhaps it’s because I’m more familiar with their songs – maybe it was because Colin Smitten was yowling half of the time – but most of the songs sounded spot on. The best reception was reserved for Philadelphia, a near universal love story about being stranded far away from your loved one. Most of the crowd was singing and dancing along, which I definitely don’t remember from before – perhaps a testament to how they’re growing in popularity.

Whilst they generally stuck to material from their debut for this gig, they did get the chance to air some new material. This was the first time I got to listen to Darth Vader, which I assumed was going to be a strong new single, but it’s a slow, sad song. I’m not sure quite how I feel about it yet, but here’s an acoustic version they’ve released on youtube:

 

Gigs: HDIF presents This Many Boyfriends, Tigercats, Haiku Salut, Tiny Birds

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It’s difficult to navigate the London indiepop scene without encountering How Does it Feel at least once, so here goes.

I feel slightly ashamed I’ve not been to one of the HDIF presents gigs before, but you see, well, they’re usually down at Brixton Jamm. Living the other side of London makes things awkward, and I’m a lazy bum – especially on a school night. Still though, it’s free (the best price) and this line-up really was something special.

Already playing by the time I arrived were Tiny Birds, a new band on my radar. They use a ukulele and a banjo as well as guitars and drums. The comical inclusion of a banjo probably tells you how serious this band are – they’re poppy, jaunty, and casually joke between their songs, which masks how sad some of their lyrics are. They’re one to look out for – they’re languishing in obscurity, but given time I hope they can become something bigger, because their live shows are good, and so is their recorded material. You can get digital versions of their music for free from their bandcamp.

Haiku Salut

Haiku Salut are a band that’s been making waves among my friends since their recent appearance at Indietracks (where I missed them). I was expecting ‘another twee band’, but I was wrong. Oh man, I was so wrong I can’t express. They’re an experimental orchestra made of loop pedals, accordions, melodicas, and god knows what else. It feels like watching Mary Poppins pull another instrument out of a never-ending bag. The three girls in the band remain mostly mute during the show, aside from the occasional mumbled thanks – it seems more out of humility than shyness, preferring to let the music speak. Their website is also rather amusing, I can’t stop sniggering at “Haik-uality Pictures”.

A Little Orchestra accompanied them for the last three songs. I worried that it would be tacked on, but it works wonderfully. Haiku Salut already tinker with a variety of unusual instruments, so adding traditional instruments perfectly complemented the music. They’re a band I’ve not discussed at length yet, but who were fantastic at Indietracks and seem to permeate the indiepop landscape wherever they go – appearing with Pocketbooks and having a stellar lineup of guest singers with them at Indietracks.

TigercatsTigercats are a band that are clearly destined to become much bigger.They enjoyed the most visual support of any of the bands, who seemed completely unknown just several months ago. When I saw them support Allo Darlin’ in July, I turned to my friends, jaw slightly agape, hand limply pointing, with a confused look. Their straightforward guitar pop perfects the art of tight, compact melodies, with an almost surf rock tinge. Maybe I just say the surf rock thing because every time I see the lead singer, he’s got a corny blue Hawaiian shirt on. That sums them up perfectly though, because they’re casual, fun, and probably don’t give a crap what I say about them. Well, at least the guy in the Hawaiian shirt. It’s pretty awesome.

Although he was saying it jokingly, I probably agree with the lead singer of This Many Boyfriends when he questioned why they were the headliners. I say it more because of how great Tigercats were, and how much the crowd reacted to them – not because This Many Boyfriends are bad in any way. In fact, they’re great. Like a modern version of The Pooh Sticks, they’re not so much an indiepop band, so much as a pastiche. Observers from the outside, they create ridiculous, shambling songs with in-jokes only an indiepop geek would get – “I don’t like you, because you don’t like the Pastels” embodies them perfectly in a chorus. They might not have the innate musical talent of those they mock or reference, but they more than make up for it with buckets of charm and an earnestness that’s hard to criticise.

EDIT: Tragic news has come through that Peter Sykes, guitarist for This Many Boyfriends, has passed away due to a severe brain haemorrhage, under a week after this performance. Whereas I cannot say I knew him personally, with the community feel of the indie-pop scene, this affects us all. The band have left a personal message on their record company’s website which you can read here: http://www.arc018.com/index.php

New Releases: Wake the President – Zumutung!

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Oh! A new release. Well, I never. Of all the releases I anticipated this year, I can’t say that Wake the President was one of them. If anything, I thought they were dead. They were a pretty big deal two or three years ago with the release of You Can’t Change That Boy – full of straight up indiepop classics, enjoyable without having to try too hard. Zumutung! is a different matter, though. Just like its title, it’s a sudden, unwelcome imposition into my life – I feel I have to enjoy it out of duty for the band. My patience reaps rewards, though.

This is a far deeper album, and a band who want to be taken seriously. It succeeds somewhat. The album opens with She Fell Into My Arms, an obvious first single. I feel dubious about this one, though. It feels a bit strained, a bit too “yeah, let’s make a single song”. Your Expressions, next, hits the mark much more naturally, and is the kind of song you’ve come to expect. The guitars are jangly but have a curious scratchy quality, and ebb out over the entire song. In a change for the band, the bass and drums fade out in favour of giving the guitar more precedence.

The effect is to give the band a more mature, less indie-pop feel, favouring atmosphere over melody. In fact, a few songs down, This is New is just out-and-out dark, like they’ve taken lessons from Interpol. This is New is probably the best that the album has to offer, and an interesting pointer to where the band will head next. What I find really interesting, though, is the end of the album. The beginning reels us in with the familiar, poppy tunes, but with a slightly darker, more mature edge. The end shows us where the band are thinking of going: Stockholm’s Archipelago is almost post-rock in its influence, with an aching soundscape and cymbals like clashes of waves. It’s a clear nod to the Swedish heritage the brothers in the band have, and it’s a vastly more successful end to the album than A&E for the last (I usually just turn off at that point – sorry lads). With repeated listens it’s a delightful song that shows a great amount of emotional depth, something they’ve only hinted at until now.

Zumutung! is an interesting album. It’s normal on your second effort to show you’re capable of more. It sometimes succeeds, it sometimes fails. Although it fails to supply the sheer amount of hits that their first album had – and that’s probably where the album fails most – but it shows a subtle change of direction for a band that risked pigeon-holing as ‘just another Scottish indiepop band’.

So you can see what I’m talking about, here’s my favourite track from the album, called This is New.

 

Gigs: Shrag, Wolfhounds, Wake the President @ The Buffalo Bar

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I’m back! Uneventfully. After a two-week holiday on the East coast of the US (and some fun with hurricanes, floods and earthquakes), I’m back to actually writing something about indiepop. Here’s a review I should have written a week ago.

It’s a while since I’ve been to the Buffalo Bar, you understand. I’ve found myself skulking around the area a few times to other venues, but a really good concert here has eluded me for a few months. Twee as Fuck is long dead, Silver Rocket is long deceased (although has recently resurfaced), Basement Scam went with a bang, Baby Honey with a whimper. So many great band nights, such a great venue, some wonderful memories. Most of the time I’ve visited recently, it’s for the excellent HDIF spin-off Great Big Kiss, a 60s/Northern Soul based night, but it seems that it’s all clubs these days. Fortunately, Guided Missile still exists, but I scarcely recognise a lot of bands that play there. Until I saw this eye-popping line-up – holy cow, that’s one, no two, no three indie-pop bands! Good indie-pop bands! I can barely stop pressing my hyphen key.

Wake the President

I could scarcely believe it when I saw Wake the President on the line-up. I had no time to realise that You Can’t Change that Boy was a stone-cold indiepop classic before they’d stopped touring – the last time I saw them live was two years ago, at Indietracks 2009. Suddenly, they’ve appeared out of the void (Glasgow, actually) with a new album, although supporting two other bands. A shame, considering the quality of their work. Also, a shame considering the quality of the sound: It was just flat. Wake The President have a very distinctive sound, but you couldn’t hear it at this gig. Songs like Mail, Alice have unique drums for indiepop, and their use of bouncy bass is a blast of fresh air in a scene traditionally obsessed with dreamy shoegaze treble. It’s a shame, and not one I’ve not noticed with Guided Missile, the Buffalo Bar, nor Wake the President before. Shrug.

Nonetheless, some of their new stuff sounds really promising, although it doesn’t sound like it matches up to their previous efforts. I particularly liked Elaine and This is New, enough to ask the lovely merch guy whether he had a copy of any new stuff on CD. It took asking their label owner to get a copy of Zumutung!, which I will currently digesting and will give my thoughts on later.

Sadly, I’m not particularly knowledgeable about The Wolfhounds. I think I remember at one point saying I’d stop seeing C86 bands for fear of disappointment, but it seems I just can’t avoid them. I wasn’t sure I was going to recognise anything – I really couldn’t recall which song of theirs was on the C86 – but when Anti-Midas Touch came on, I was vaguely relieved (it was on CD86, but let’s not quibble small points..). I’d have to say it was my only highlight, but it proved to be a fairly enjoyable set. They have a lot of spunk (still!) and some fun songs. However, they’re overshadowed by the next lot..

ShragShrag have been around the London indiepop scene for longer than I can remember. It’s like they’ve always been here. Straddling the line between indiepop, post punk, and riot grrl, they make tight, growling songs that are bursting with energy. In fact, they, the band are pretty much bursting with energy. The lead singer has a distinctly crazy dance, and a surprisingly loud voice when she wants to show it.

Sadly, though, they seemed to be missing something that night. Shrag are a great band, don’t get me wrong. The atmosphere was all wrong, though. The band didn’t seem to have as much energy, and the sound (as I complained for the first band) was flat. It works well for bands with a dreamy sound, but here it just did not suit. Punchy, poppy songs – ones that Shrag and Wake the President thrive on – fall down. It’s a shame, because they’re all great bands: in fact, it’s a great line up. It’s a great venue. Guided Missile are usually great, too. I went away feeling strangely disappointed, though, and it’s a real shame.

New release: White Town – She’s a Lot Like You

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I’m suffering from a bit of post-Indietracks burnout, so lately I haven’t had much to speak of that would be of much interest – aside from a lot of The Wire and some Humble Indie Bundle #3, life has been pretty boring recently. Some of my thoughts on the bundle soon, but this is primarily an indiepop blog, so more of that first.

White Town

Those who are familiar with one-hit wonders will recognise the name White Town - when I caught sole member Jyoti Mishra performing at Indietracks this year (an acoustic set in the merch tent), he referred to Your Woman as “the only #1 single I have.. and am likely to ever have”. Which is a shame really, because although the aforementioned song is catchy enough to top the charts, most of White Town is of a similar ilk. I guess it’s a reflection upon how music becomes popular – some attach the name of the band to it, others only remember the song. Dexys Midnight Runners were popular as a band in the UK, with a couple of enormously successful albums, but only had one really famous song in the US. Why? God knows. Music PR is a strange and mysterious business, with great songs getting ignored and The Kings of Leon becoming famous.

Whilst hits like that only come along every once in a while, I’m glad to see that the average output of White Town is actually pretty good. The acoustic set was touching, Jyoti’s voice actually being very soft (for a large, perpetually grinning Indian man), and the tone is sentimental with subtle melodies. His new single, She’s a Lot Like You is a breezy tune with hand claps and a tale of an odd love triangle – but what you’ll mainly remember is that it’s so damn catchy. The tone is summery and perfectly complemented by the video that accompanies it, and makes me especially nostalgic for Indietracks. Jyoti was looking for volunteers for the video, but my partner and I never followed through, which is a shame – the video is an indiepop spotters dream, with appearances from Help Stamp Out Loneliness, Allo Darlin’, Pocketbooks, Stolen Wine Social, Oddbox Records, Moustache of Insanity, Horowitz..

You can get the single for a measly 50p right here.