Cougar Microbes

Northampton’s premiere purveyors of indie-folk My First Tooth returned with a consolidated lineup and the release 4-track EP ‘Margaret Yen‘ last month.

Singer-songwriter Ross Witt was officially joined by violinist Sophie Galpin meaning that the guitar and violin interplay seen on the ‘My First Tooth And the Rubies’ EP has gained further prominence.

With a full length debut expected later this year these tracks are a good indication of the direction the band is moving in. Check out the special “quiet” rendition of ‘Margaret Yen’ dedicated especially to Cougar Microbes (and the blog readers too I assume).

The ‘Margaret Yen’ EP is available now on Alcopop Records.

TRACKS:

My First Tooth – Silent Spring

Twin Falls started off as a solo project for frontman Luke Stidson but slowly took on a life of its own adding members and instrumentations along the road. The “We Will Begin To Flicker” ep was the first I heard of them, its bitter-sweet tones becoming a fixture on my commute.

These acoustic anchored songs benefit from a deliberately lo-fi production, succeeding in giving the impression the tracks are being recorded right in front of you in a cosy room in front of a fireplace. Despite the warmth that emanates from these tracks an underlying heavy-heart rears its head occasionally adding new dimension.

Admittedly this post is long overdue. I had written a glowing review way back when I received the EP in the Summer but proceeded to lose my notebook with all my scribbled thoughts. Even though this review is not nearly as long or articulate as the previous version, at least in my mind, I would be doing anyone reading this blog a disservice if I didn’t at least try write about them again.

Fortunately there is a new EP due in January to keep me longing for Twin Falls‘ alt-country song structures.

TRACK:

Twin Falls- Matters Of The Heart

In case you need any more reminders Skunk Anansie are back and touring hard. Here is an exclusive video for new single ‘Tear This Place Up‘, created by the talented Adam Powell . The track is the first of three new tracks bundled with their upcoming greatest hits album.

‘Tear The Place Up‘ is available for free to fans (albeit through quite a torturous process) through this site.

TRACKS:

Skunk Anansie – Tear The Place Up

Rescue Cat hit me up with his impressive new single, £10 Bag, a couple of months ago. Had it been a tape I would have worn it out by now. Imagine a collision between White Town‘s legendary ‘Your Woman‘ single and Popcorn, the theme from my favourite 80s pc game Digger. With an official itunes release scheduled I thought I should share it with the world.

Listen out for it during my monthly DJ set at Hands Up Who Cares this Saturday 18th.

With a Glastonbury performance this year under his belt and international endorsements its time to adopt Rescue Cat this summer.

TRACK:

Rescue Cat – ‘£10 Bag’

Band Of Skulls could be forgiven for thinking The Gods Of Rock started smiling down on them the minute they changed their name from Fleeing New York in late 2008. Going from relative obscurity on the London club scene to bagging the prestigious iTunes Single of the Week in April as well as a commercial (and artistic) understanding with Californian label Shangri-La has meant the band has not looked back since.

The Southampton three-piece direct approach and catchy choruses fill the void somewhere between The White Stripes‘ simple yet effective grooves and passionate lo-fi guitar licks and Wolfmother‘s old school rock ambitions. Bassist and vocalist Emma Richardson provides a melodic edge, duelling and trading verses with singer and guitarist Russell Marsden while Matt Hayward hits a dancable backbone.

The band are heading out on an extensive tour of North America in addition to dates opening for Metric and Spinnerette (Brode Dalle new vehicle). Judging by their display in the ‘I Know What I Am video’ those Gods are still smiling.

MP3′s:

Band Of Skulls – I Know What I Am

The biggest and greatest buzz is discovering a new band, someone fresh that can rock the fuck out without compromising the clarity of their killer tunes, someone who you can say to your mates “you have to check these guys out”…and sit back and watch your kudos sky rockets. My intention has always been sharing good music, still the kudos is always welcome!

If you’ve bumped into me recently and we’ve talked music you will know of the band that has my full attention at the moment, If you’ve listened to SW1 Radio, the radio show I guest on you’ll have heard their tracks constantly played and their gigs often recommended…so which band has got Surge so excited I hear you ask?

Step forward Watford quartet SPY CATCHER. Formed at the turn of the year by former members of Cry for Silence and current members of Gallows and Haunts, they come fully-equipped with an Arsenal of Killer Rock tunes.  They have already been treating our ears to some cracking live performances in London and the South-East throughout the month of April (Old Blue Last, Camden Crawl, and Barfly).  The simply awesome ‘Music That My Dad Likes‘ was recommended in Kerrang‘s ‘10 Songs You Should Hear Now’ and that same track was Radio 1’s ‘Unsigned Track Of The Week’…you couldn’t ask for a better first few months as a band…so it’s time for all of us to sit up and take note!!!

What makes Spy Catcher unique is that their vocals don’t rely on the predictable sound you hear in every band that’s surfacing at the moment, it’s raw and throaty yet surprisingly tuneful at the same time. I especially like the diversity in Steve Sear’s vocals, when he hits the higher ranges on ‘Music That My Dad Likes‘, that raw throaty vocal steps aside to make way for booming Matt Bellamy-esque tones.

Killer tracks like ‘Good Times‘ and ‘You Got Soul‘ have the most amazing vocal hooks; I challenge you to walk away from a show (or listen of their demo) without singing a line from either song. The former providing the heart-felt chorus ”…these are not good times…these are hard times”, a possible insight into the current financial state the world is in at the moment. The latter possesses a superb pre-chorus hook, “… there was something about your shoes…” which leads perfectly into the infectious foot-stomping chorus.

Spy Catcher have the right song writing formula, the one that some bands take years to find and that some others never find…they should bottle their secret formula and sell some to bands that are poisoning our airwaves at the moment. I can’t wait to hear more from them on record, for now I’ll have to make do with their Demo and live onslaught.

As you’ll have probably noticed I haven’t compared Spy Catcher to any other bands, I’ll leave you to make your own decisions of who they sound like, consider this your introduction or eye-opener…now crank up the 2 tracks below and enjoy the best rock band the UK has produced for ages, ‘Good Times‘.

MP3′s:

Spy Catcher – Music That My Dad Likes

Spy Catcher – You Got Soul

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This is the second post from guest contributor Surge. More to come from him soon.

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I love instances where people are investing their time and effort into independent music, often with little or no reward, so when Alcopop Records sent me 2 of their latest releases a few weeks back I was happy to give them a spin. Add that to the fact that Alcopop is sister label to the fantastic BSM (whose bands The Tupolev Ghost and Copy Haho were recently covered on Cougar Microbes) and you can understand why I was keen to dive deeper.

First up are scouse-core band goFASTER>> whose 5 track EP, ‘A Modern Education’, is a welcome reminder that the summer is round the corner. Imagine the melodies and immediacy of The Maccabees and the cheeky lyrics of early Blur combined. However, you’d be making a mistake to tar them immediately with the “Brit pop revivalist” brush as there are times when gF veer into the territory usually occupied by the likes of Bloc Party and Idlewild. This EP showcases the band as a prospect to look out for, now is the time to combine all these separate references and turn them into the goFASTER>> trademark sound.

Fusing different influences is something Northampton’s My First Tooth do with extreme proficiency hinting at Beirut orchestrations and Bright Eyes melancholy whilst maintaining a distinctly British identity. The resulting EP ‘My First Tooth And The Rubies‘ offers spacious song structures, haunting melodies and a habit for minor key laments. Equal importance is given to strummed guitars and gentle violins (with the occasional guest appearance from trumpets, xylophones and harmonicas) to provide the melodic backing leaving the vocals out in the open to provide The impetus for the tracks. A little trick that works wonders and provides the highlights here.

‘My First Tooth And The Rubies‘ is the complete antithesis to ‘A Modern Education’ in both style and approach, but is in no way less impressive. I’m surprised more people haven’t heard of these bands but hopefully these EPs will change all that.

MP3′s:

goFASTER>> – A Modern Education

My First Tooth – Honesty Honesty

Buy these release now directly from Alcopop Records