Tag Archives: New Music

YOUNG BOYS- Hate Young Boys.

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Back in April I wrote about one of New York’s finest band. A band that are loud, brilliant and decadent. No other band is going to move you like they do. No other band is going to make you feel as violated as they do. All in the most pleasurable way possible, of course.

Their new record, Hate Young Boys may only be 6 tracks long but it’s enough to put you in a dancing spin and to just gloriously melt your brain. Their record was made for those hazy summer days when you’re trapped indoors due to the blistering heat. There is something about Young Boys that makes you want to crawl to your nearest dive bar and engage with the most depraved individual you see and to just raise hell with them. Their lustful songs will get you through the blistering heat. I’m all for David ‘Legs’ McDaniel serenading my ears with his hypnotising voice.

Hate Young Boys is a brilliant record that is bathed in sinful yet glorious melodies that will make you forget you are in 2014. They’ve got something futuristic going on, but with a hint of past Garage Rock bands about them. They’re a typical band that I would go for, this is the kind of music I truly love and always want to hear. The soundtrack to my days as I daydream about something better, because we all know that there is something better. But is there anything better than this Young Boys record? Don’t be silly, of course not.

I think at the moment I’ll say Sin Again is my favourite track off Hate Young Boys. It’s pretty dark but is coupled with synths beautifully. I know I said when I wrote about them that Young Boys sounded how a New York band should, but I think I want to take that comment back slightly. You see, as I listen to this record I am not seeing any images of New York in my mind. All I’m seeing is Berlin. If a piece of music or a band can make you do this, then you know you’ve found something utterly timeless.

I’ve never seen Young Boys live (please come back to the UK) but I’d imagine their live shows to be sweaty, teetering to the edge of danger with lust and passion filling the room. Their music is highly romantic, and maybe it’s David’s vocals that make it seem that way. There is something about his voice that I hope in years to come someone says that he made them want to sing or start a band.

There’s a gang like feel to their sound. It is tight and it cannot be swayed nor can it be compromised. There have been some amazing releases this year, and Hate Young Boys is easily one of the best. It is rambunctious in all the right places, and I’ll quite happily spend the rest of my evening listening to it.

I don’t need to write any more than this about it. Go listen to it right here: http://youngboys.bandcamp.com/album/hate-young-boys play it as loud as you like, and let these handsome devils enter your being and allow your limbs to flail as if you are unapologetically possessed.

Enjoy their first single from last year here:

VIVA YOUNG BOYS! VIVA PUNK.

CANDY DARLING.

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Sometimes you hear something, and within seconds you know it is one of the greatest things you’ve exposed your ears to. It’s probably how most felt when they heard the likes of the Velvet Underground to Frank Zappa. If it slightly weird, there’s a good chance it’ll be bloody brilliant. Who wants to hear songs about how a person gives you butterflies anyway? No thanks.

Candy Darling (yes, named after one of Warhol’s supertars) are from Bristol. Candy Darling have that beautiful, filthy sound that is in the likes of Little Death Machine, Wax Idols with a hint of Lou Reed’s Transformer. Their sound is brilliantly weird and thankfully unlike anything you are forced to listen to. There’s a smutty fuzzy sound flowing through their debut single, Money.Which I guess fits the notion that those with a lot of money have a tendency to be corrupt and depraved. But aren’t we all to an extent. We just don’t show it.

Candy Darling have a fabulous trashy feel to their music; Money is the kind of song you’ll have stuck in your head for days, just itching to yell the chorus at someones face. You should do it, there’s nothing wrong with a public display of recklessness and lack of self-control. Don’t be shy about it. I’d imagine their live shows are dark, wild and deeply enthralling. You don’t need an acoustic guitar to grip a crowd. Be loud, be bold and be what your peers turn their noses up at. Candy Darling are a band I’d typically love, they’ve got something really magical about them that I love.

The b-side to Money is Temples. Temples shows just how strong and gorgeous Emily’s voice is. Temples has a proper 80s Goth-ish kind of thing going on. As you know The Jesus And Mary Chain are touring in November (some of us have spent £100 on tickets and feel mighty good about it!) and I think it is safe to say that Candy Darling would be an ideal opening act. Temples is like the Psychocandy record with synths; it’s just incredible and all I want from a band. Emily’s voice on Temples reminds me of Shirley Manson on Garbage’s Version 2.0 record. It is strong, moving and captivating.

With music seeming to be more and more throwaway, it’s bands like Candy Darling who kick some meaning and purpose into it at all. If you can move people, make them think, do anything other than stand still then you’ve created something worth treasuring- which is exactly what Candy Darling have done. With just one single (that’s not even out yet) they’ve become one of the best new bands of the year. The ideal band to hear in dark and cramped basement bar to just lose a bit of your mind to.

They only formed a yer ago, but everything about them just makes you think they’ve been together for decades. Quite simply, one of the best bands in this country.

You can order a copy of Money here: http://candydarlingmusic.bandcamp.com/releases it is out 1st September. Treat yourself to some pink vinyl.

And you can listen to Money/Temples here: https://soundcloud.com/candydarling1

MORRISSEY-World Peace Is None Of Your Business.

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“I turned silences and nights into words.

What was unutterable, I wrote down.

I made the whirling world stand still.” 

                        -Arthur Rimbaud

 

There is no greater feeling than your favourite singer releasing a record. You wait, you ache and you wait some more leading up to it. You tremble in the first listen knowing you are listening to something truly remarkable. It doesn’t matter who this singer/band is to you, it’s just a mutual feeling. Especially when that person is more than likely responsible for you still being alive….just. Sort of. Depends on the day.

Could I ever write an unbiased piece on Morrissey? No. Will I defend him? Yes, well..within reason. Do I think World Peace is his best work? Of course. Lord knows how long Morrissey fans have been waiting for this. And of course, the cynics will come out in their masses to find fault in it. They probably like Kings Of Leon or something equally dull.

World Peace Is None Of Your Business is flamboyantly clever, dry and accurate. It is everything I adore about Morrissey. I thought after reading his biography a handful of times I really understood my love and admiration for him, but I was wrong. But when am I ever right. I thought  understood my love for him, turns out I didn’t. Not quite.World Peace is lyrically a work of art, and I will gladly place it next to Vauxhall And I as his best work. He has this way of getting to the root of an emotion, churning it out and spitting it out for you to taste. And when you do, you understand. You understand whatever it is that is choking you.

I’m Not A Man is lyrically one of the strongest songs on the record as it dips into society’s skewed vision of what it is to be a man. A nod to Meat Is Murder of sorts is hinted in the line, “I’d never kill or eat an animal, and I never would destroy this planet I’m on.” Man destroys, and Morrissey’s sensitive and gentle disposition feels out of place on this planet. You don’t have to be a man to identify with this, you just have to human. Gentle and kind.

As I listen to the record, I start to make sense of my love for Morrissey. It’s his words and how he uses them. There’s always been comfort for me in his words. If I could communicate using his lyrics, I’d probably feel less awkward in my skin. Too much skin. He has this way of telling it like it is without being grand or pretentious, although some would argue that he is. If that’s the case then they’ve probably never paid any attention to his lyrics. His words are why he is a hero to so many.

I’ve read a few reviews where they comment on how tight his band sound, but I don’t know enough about Music to comment on that. Boz is there still, so I’m happy. As I listen to World Peace Is None Of Your Business, I am visualising these songs live. Kiss Me A Lot is one I hope he puts into his live shows- at his longing best, this song is glorious. Earth Is The Loneliest Planet has one simple line in it that just means everything, a simple line that holds so much; “But you’re in the wrong skin.”If I heard that line whilst a teenager teetering into adulthood, it would have been a touch easier. As an adult, well..I think it still does the same as it would.

Staircase At The University has the same kind of dark humour that is found in Girlfriend In A Coma. The pressures of a young girl excelling in her studies to which she finally packs it all in, and throws herself down some stairs. Splitting her head in three ways. I love the line, “And if it breaks your heart then don’t come running to me.” You can relate that to anyone, it doesn’t have to be someone who is constantly studying. We all know that one person….

Kick The Bride Down The Aisle is a stroke of genius for this alone; “You’re that stretch of the beach that the tide doesn’t reach. No meaning, no reason . The lonely season.” I can’t help but wonder where he comes up with these wonderful words, and how. And in Mountjoy we’ve got the gorgeous statement; “What those in power do to you reminds us at a glance, how humans hate each others guts. And show it given a chance.” If you want an understanding of how shitty the human race can be, just listen to Mountjoy.

There will be mixed views on this record, some will declare it as his best work to date. Some will yearn for past releases. It is his tenth solo record, you can’t possibly expect him to keep making the same one over and over again! He just excels himself with every record, and he will last longer than those who put him down. You won’t win.

I’ll end this with a section of lyrics that I feel are entirely true, and are a highlight for me. A selection of lyrics that I believe in and treasure. In all his delicate, honest and observant nature, he just says it all so beautifully:

“Slamming one shots, gentle pain
Someone calling out my name
Sex and love are not the same.”

World Peace Is None Of Your Business just reinforces my love, respect and admiration for Morrissey. I could have mentioned this, I could have mentioned that. Maybe I’ll re-read this and add more. But for now, I’ll stick with this being one of the best records of the year.

VIVA MOZ.

THE BEDROOM HOUR-Hinterland.

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It’s been a very strange week for me. I went for a job interview on Monday with a charity that are very dear to me, and also a charity I’ve been wanting to work for for some time. I think anyone who’s read anything I’ve written knows that since I graduated from University in 2009 knows that I’ve struggled with finding a job that lasts longer than a few months. I’ve signed on for Job Seekers Allowance more times than I wish to remember, and my fortnightly trips there taught me to never have any self-belief or pride. Going to the job centre made me able to handle rejection and to expect nothing. My luck changed on Tuesday. I didn’t get the job I went for, but they offered me a similar one as I am “too good to not employ.” So now I don’t have to worry about finding a job, and I’m not sure what people use the internet for now! I start in September, and it feels strange. A nice strange. It’s nice to know someone thinks I’m alright enough to do a job you know?

I do know what the internet is for, it’s for finding new music/being sent new music.

Next week a band I love are FINALLY putting out their debut record. The Bedroom Hour have that grand sound in their music that is found in the likes of Elbow. I wouldn’t throw that statement around for just anyone as I really love Elbow and I want Guy Garvey to adopt me.

Hinterland consists of euphoric gems that were created to soothe, to heal and to purify the soul. Hinterland is made up of songs that will at some point make you cry. Cry as you confront whatever it is you’re facing or from sheer joy. Hinterland will tug at your heartstrings in a gentle and reassuring manner, so whatever happens to you as you listen to it- just let it happen. Not everything in life needs to be controlled.

People like certain bands for certain reasons. Maybe something happened, and that band was there for them. Maybe they were searching for something and it led them to that band. Whatever the reasoning is, you cling to that band as a way of holding onto something sentimental. The Bedroom Hour are a sentimental band, they ooze nostalgia for something that hasn’t happened yet. You can drown your sorrows to a sorry-looking pint at your local with The Bedroom Hour playing in the background, you can sort your life out whilst listening to them or you can sit and do nothing with them playing in the background. They aren’t a band you listen to casually, you give them your full attention because for the most part, they are expressing all you would rather not say but must face. I guess if you’re feeling a little lost or confused, then they are the band to turn to. Music is comforting and The Bedroom Hour are a prime example of that.

Hinterland is a beautiful debut record that I sincerely hope they are proud of. It doesn’t matter what obnoxiously jumped up “Music Journalists” say about the record, they’ve got a solid and loyal fan base, and they’ve not released their debut record yet. Every track on Hinterland surpasses the last and has you anxiously waiting for the next one, knowing it is going to be an experience. For me, I’m going to say WW/Me is my favourite track off the record, for now. I will change my mind but now, it’s a solid favourite. It’s got a little Bloc Party feel to it. If Stuart’s voice doesn’t make you cry at least twice on this record, then go see a doctor.

If I was going through my dreadful teenage years again. The Bedroom Hour would be a band I would turn to. A band I would listen to late at night when I should be sleeping. But as a difficult and probably awkward 27-year-old, they just offer reassurance that things work out. Not always in the way you hoped, but they will. In time. Time shouldn’t always be used wisely, but if you want to be sensible, then use your time wisely and listen to The Bedroom Hour.

Music is something to truly believe in, and with bands like The Bedroom Hour it is fairly obvious why.

Hinterland is out 14th July 2014, and if you’re like me and have to face the “ALL STATIONS” route on the Met line, then this record will ease that painful journey. At least it has air-con!