Any band that can mix a 60s girl group feel with sad/woeful guitar sounds will probably become a band I end up adoring. The Debutantes are pretty much that band.
The Debutantes consist of Sarah and Paula from September Girls and their pal Leon. Together they have made something really beautiful. They have this sadness flowing throughout their songs which is done in a way that isn’t all “PITY ME! LIFE IS HARD!” kind of bullshitty way. Their songs will heal hearts and make you want to dance. If you don’t end up doing questionable moves to Burn The Merchandise then something isn’t right. Perhaps go see a doctor.
In the midst of the reverb sounds, you can’t tell that they are from Ireland. They sound like a band from the West Coast with their sun-kissed guitar sounds, but don’t let location fool you. A great band can make you feel like you are anywhere in the world and that is what makes The Debutantes so great.
With the sun appearing less, walk into the dusk with their record blaring in your ears. Or be a bedroom dancer and sway to their summery grooves in a freeing fashion. The Debutantes will make your heart swoon and make you gush with glee. They are just a brilliant band.
The EP will be released as a cassette on the ever wonderful Soft Power Records, and you can catch Soft Power at the Indie Label Market in Edinburgh on 11th October (day of the EP release also.) The tape is limited to only 100 copies.
To merge Garage Rock with the Wall of Sound is something that I pretty much have a weakness for. I say weakness, but that’s not the word I want to use. But I am being lazy. It’s irrelevant.
The best Irish band EVER; September Girls released their Talking EP on Monday. It is bloody excellent. I love them. Genuine love for them. They have this haunting sound surrounding their music, but the ethereal vocals add something quite delicate to the music. They aren’t as rambunctious as a lot of bands who make music similar to this, but something about their music is quite tough. Go find yourself a leather jacket (a fake one obviously..or maybe just for me. I don’t eat/wear animals. Each to their own.) and bop around to this EP as freely as you wish.
Talking has quite an eerie vibe about it. Sort of like a tamer version of The Creeping Ivies. The b-side to Talking is Some For Me which has a gorgeous summer feel to it. Their debut record is hopefully going to come out this summer, probably going to be one of the best things you hear. Past releases by this Dublin 5-piece have been just exquisite, and the Talking EP is just as perfect. The little break down in Some For Me which happens around 2.08 then the drums kick in, it’s a beautiful moment. The vocals start again and you are transported towards something simply stunning. The vocals on both tracks have a glorious distorted sound. Jack White has The Black Belles. Well, we have September Girls. I love both bands, but we win really don’t we.
They make music that is pleasurably catchy. Having their songs stuck in your head all day is a small piece of heaven; unlike having something by some generic and mundane pop band. This is music with a lot of power and the ability to make you cause some kind of riot. But..maybe do that internally or just go throw your limbs about in some sweaty basement bar.
‘Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don’t have any surface noise. I said, “Listen, mate, *life* has surface noise.” ‘~ John Peel.
There are a few things in life that really piss me off, but they aren’t that important so I let them go. There are things I do not understand, so again, I let them go. For instance, I do not understand why a person would link their Twitter account or Tumblr account to Facebook. Why would you do that? Or, why would you watch a programme and update Facebook or whatever every 5 seconds about it. Don’t get me started on those who did the whole “IT’S SNOWING OUTSIDE” shit. I have eyes, I can see- I also have windows. Cheers Michael Fish. Pointless. These things aren’t really important because it shows how boring our lives have become. I’m not an interesting person. My daily routine consists of going to the gym for 2 hours, come home and look for jobs until I feel my self-worth leave me and I start to hate everything. I then go listen to my records and read a book. I also do a lot of writing. Writing that no one will ever see, because I can handle someone saying “Olivia, that shit you write on your site is awful please stop.” I’ll stop one day, rejoice in that. But if someone read what I wrote in my notebooks and said “Your poetry is WAAAAAAAAANK.” I don’t know how I’d deal with that. It’s probably why I’m too much of a wuss to ever get anything published, let alone read. Sure I’ve shown the odd poem/song to a few but I know they’re only saying it’s alright so they don’t offend me. Racisim, homophobia, any form of discrimination offends me. Telling me I’m crap at something doesn’t mean as much. I’ll toughen up. Lord knows I’m trying. This leads onto something, but I’ve gone round the houses to get there.
I am massively against downloading music. I hate it and I’d like to punch those that do. It’s on a par with those who use Kindles and think it is better than picking up a book. A book, made out of paper that if you drop it..IT DOESN’T BREAK. Imagine breaking someone’s Kindle..oh the sheer joy. Don’t get me started on iPads and whatnot. I’m not a technophobe, I just see how technology is making people more and more stupid; and how they cannot function unless they have some kind of gadget in their hand.
Alright so, I’m against downloading music. Why? Because I want to be able to HOLD the cd/cassette/vinyl in my hand. I want to go into a shop and interact with the staff (you can tell I worked at HMV,right?) I want to wander around for ages and find something I thought I’d never find again. I want to get butterflies in my belly when I find a record I adore. I want all of that, and I don’t want some idiot telling me that record stores are dying out, that we must download. Piss right OFF.
I’ve taken to going to the market in town to buy my records because it is truly my idea of heaven. I go there when I’m having a rough day. I take some money out of my account, and I clutch it in my pocket hoping I find something. I always do. Always. I’ve found Transformer by Lou Reed, a Sarah Vaughan LP and a few 7″ singles by The Jesus And Mary Chain. I’ll never win the lottery, but finding these and more was my equivalent of doing so. There’s something so peaceful (and personal) about going record shopping. I feel the same way about books too. I’m not really someone you want to go book/record shopping with because I can (and do) spend hours just looking; always leaving with something. I remember the first time I went to the market to buy some records, and the old man said to me “We never get any young people in here buying records” and we just had a discussion for about 20 minutes about the beauty of records. I think I’m a 70-year-old trapped in a 26 year old’s body. I was born at the wrong time, and I’ll never fit in. I’ve accepted this as not being a bad thing. I’ve always been like this.
My mum used to play a record with Scott McKenzie and Jefferson Airplane on when I was a baby to get me to sleep. I used to pretend I couldn’t sleep just so I could listen to it. It was the crackling sound at the end of every song that used to make my heart skip a beat. It was the crackling sound that made the imperfections so perfect. You cannot get this from downloading a song, you just can’t. It doesn’t feel personal. It doesn’t feel as if it was made for you.
I’m fortunate enough to be sent a lot of free music. I don’t do this to get free music, so far from it. If I didn’t write about music, I’d have no reason. I really wouldn’t. I get sent free music, but for the most part I go out and buy it on cd/vinyl as soon as its out. I couldn’t call myself a music lover and never buy music. That’d be hypocritical, and just wrong. It’d go against all I believe in, and I don’t like it when someone tries to sway me on things like this. Hate it. I’m not writing this to call out people who download or whatever. I couldn’t care less. It’s just, I know there is percentage of music lovers out there who love spending hours in record shops, holding the record and going home to listen to it.
There’s another thing that irks me a lot about this. People who think it’s alright to leak new records or to just download an album without paying for it. It pisses me off because, these musicians- their music is their LIFE. That’s how they make their money. Would you go to your local shop and steal some milk? No, you wouldn’t. So why is a shop keeper any different to your favourite musician? If they’re your favourite musician, surely you’d want to pay for the music so you could support them. Steal their music= they never make any money which means they never tour and you bitch about never seeing them. Pay for their music=they make a living and you get to see them live. For me, it’s a no brainer. The latter will ALWAYS win.
I adore the fact that so many new bands are putting their music out on cassette. I bought a few last year, and one came in the post this morning (thank you to Bek at Soft Power Records!) and I may not play them as much as I’d play a CD because I don’t want the quality to be ruined. The same goes for my records. I own two records by The Ink Spots that I refuse to play to death. I don’t want the quality to fade. These guys were around in the 30s/40s; the way their records sounds to this digital bollocks is, well, you just cannot compare at all. I will take the crackling imperfections over the over-produced dullness any day.
I have a lot of love reserved for the likes of Sacred Bones, Art Fag, Soft Power Records and Zoo Music because they put out music on tape and vinyl. It appeals to those who spend hours getting lost in record shops. Lost in their own little world and when they find something they’ve been aching to find; well, there’s nothing on earth you can compare it to. Collecting limited edition 7″ singles from your favourite band is so beautiful. When I’m 80, I’ll still be playing them with fond memories. I love going to record shops and buying a record on the day it comes out. I used to miss lessons at college and university to do this. I once did it when I bought Bleed Like Me by Garbage. I got off the bus, my mum got on the bus. “You’re home early.” I told her the truth, she said it was alright. She understands.
Last year the sales of vinyl went up, but sadly that isn’t enough to shut these gadget obsessed fools up is it. I think if you have to explain why its important, then maybe you’re fighting a losing battle. I don’t wish to convert anyone or anything like that; mainly because my words don’t hold that much power nor will anyone read this. I know if anyone does, they’ll just assume I’m a dick. They don’t know me, so I guess they’re pathetic for passing judgement. I haven’t written anything as long as this in a while. It’s a shame so many words have gone to waste, but we all need to unleash our frustrations at times don’t we.
I personally don’t think record shops are going to die out. People are still going to want to physically purchase music. There’s a record shop in Soho that has a record by The Walker Brothers that I’m going to try to get next week/the week after. I’ll be spending my time wisely (I’m using it as a reward for when I’ve handed my CV out to anyone who will take it!) Record shop owners are as passionate about selling you music as the musicians are as making it. My dream has always been to own my own record shop, but I have no money so that’s one I can just kiss goodbye. Music is such an important force. To dumb it down and make people just download music without going to a shop and buying it..it’s just really sad. You can tie it in with how society is fucked, but you don’t need me to tell you that. I’m pretty sure you can work that one out yourself.
I’ll give you some songs from bands that have put out some brilliant tapes/vinyl recently. Go support your local record shop. They need you, and you need them.
Next month, my favourite Irish garage rock band are releasing their debut US release. September Girls are easily one of the best female groups around at the moment. Any band that makes cassettes is a gem in my eyes. Well, providing they aren’t crap and I like them.
September Girls are exciting and wonderful, that is obvious. They make you go back in time. Say the 60s when girl groups truly had talent. The songs were about heart ache and the hair was big. Now the songs are painful to listen to, and you’d much rather you were deaf. Girl groups; where did it all go wrong?! Can I blame the Spice Girls? I can? I can’t? I’m going to. September Girls remind me of a tame version of The Black Belles. I bloody love The Black Belles. If you mix The Girlfriends with Dum Dum Girls and the Wall Of Sound era; you basically have the ideal band don’t you. That ideal band is called September Girls (DDG also, but this is about September Girls.)
Their 7″ EP consists are 3 beautiful songs that leave you typically wanting more. So all you can do is hit repeat over and over. 3 songs that leave you in a state of bliss and also leaves you unsure where you are. Are you in the present or have you gone back? Maybe you took a trip to the future and this is what it sounds like. If that’s the case, then to hell with all that’s happening now and catapult me to the future.
There is a glorious video to the song, Hells Bells which you can watch here :
Hells Bells makes you think you are at a cheap disco surrounded by good people. You just have to move you limbs about in a way that basically states, “I don’t care, this song makes me happy. Move out of my way.”
Wanting More takes you back to the blissful state that the summer left you in. You want to go back because for the most part, you had a pretty damn good summer. Give or take a few shit days; you still had a good time. Man Chats is just divine and is the perfect ending to this wonderful EP.
As this is their first US release (through Matinee Recordings) I hope with all I have they become huge in America and win over their hearts like they have won over mine.
September Girls make the kind of music that makes me love writing about music. Music is basically all I know and care enough to write about. The band fuel my love for this, and give me hope that out there, there are bands making music that is pure and honest. They merge all the genres I love into one. I just adore them a hell of a lot.
The EP is out next month, and you can purchase it here, along with some other cool stuff : http://matineerecordings.com/
Despite me looking like on of life’s most miserable buggers; it doesn’t take much to make me happy. Well, when it comes to music it may take a bit more because I’m really fussy. I’m only fussy because I am intensely passionate about it. You know how with some people, when they talk about what they’re passionate about and every single part of them lights up? That’s what music does to me. I get stupidly excited when I go to markets and find old 7″ singles of songs I never thought I could find. I sometimes can’t sleep the night before a record I’ve been waiting for is released because I want it in my hands. When I go to a gig, that’s when every single part of me comes alive. Music is everything to me. Someone once asked me, “Could you love a person as much as you love music?” I used to think I couldn’t, but I know I could. I can. I do.
I honestly don’t know much about bands from Ireland. Aside from The Undertones; that’s it. That’s as far as my knowledge goes. I’m sorry if this makes me small-minded. But you know most of my love is for New York and LA based bands. Obviously I know there is amazing music everywhere. I think most can agree that Sweden is responsible for some amazing bands right now. And of course the UK has some wonderful bands. But today, I’m going to write about a band that with first listen filled my ears with sheer joy and nostalgia. If you can do this, then I will regard you as perfect.
September Girls are a 5 piece from Dublin. I’ve been to Dublin, only once. I want to go back again. If anyone wants to take me there again; I’ve got a passport and a suitcase waiting to be packed. I think a nice whiskey trip would go down well. Whiskey talk aside, September Girls remind me of one of my favourite bands ever- Dum Dum Girls. They have managed to take the Wall Of Sound and added the purest sense of Garage Rock and have created something that makes you think, “Are we in the 60s?!” See, I love Dum Dum Girls because of Dee Dee’s delicate voice and their distorted but beautiful sound. September Girls do exactly that.
Their music gives you a true summer feel mixed with winter loneliness. But hey, don’t focus on the loneliness because you can cure that by listening to your favourite song. Or maybe by listening to September Girls. They’re the kind of band that would fit perfectly on the Girls In The Garage compilation (if anyone got me any of these, you’d have a friend in me for life.)
I’m not much of a dancer. Alright sure I have moves, but I only flail my limbs when whiskey has been summoned into my system. However, September Girls make you want to dance as if you are in a 60s girl group. I’m talking well rehearsed synchronised moves with a lot of concentration. Play their music, and conjure up a routine. Show your friends- if they mock you, find yourself a better social group.
The band only formed a year ago, and released a cassette on the amazing Soft Power label. Cassettes are brilliant, they need to be brought back. I used to make mixtapes when I was in secondary school for friends. I’d do my homework and make the tapes at the same time. Obviously the music had more of my attention.
They have haunting organs (instrument wise!) and exquisite guitars. The drums and bass make you want to move around in an insane fashion. It is fair to say that I am utterly in love with this band. I really cannot understand how you couldn’t be.
I know I shouldn’t tell you what to do and such things, but honestly- make sure you listen to them. They’ll blow your mind and move your soul in a way that no other could.
I guess if The Jesus And Mary Chain were female, they’d be September Girls. Takes a lot for me to say that because The Jesus And Mary Chain are my favourite band of all time. They have the same feel to their sound, maybe not as dark. But the general atmosphere is there. This is just a tame outburst of my love for September Girls; pretty sure I have more to offer.
Beat In My Bones. 