Cougar Microbes

“I know loads of you noticed that I dropped the shaker half-way through that song,” announces Jack Goldstein, the unassuming front man of Oxford band Fixers. After a brief apology and deliberation the group reach a mutual decision. “Let’s play it again.”

Most people inside Hoxton Bar & Grill were too busy bopping to notice the slight hitch. They are not complaining though, as the five-piece launch back into an immaculate rendition of ‘Crystals’, a sparse but pulsating slice of pop. This, merged with sweet harmonies, is their signature sound.

The unorthodox decision to replay the same song, to get it just right, is a reflection of Fixers’ craftsmanship and attention to detail, the result of which has seen these boys come far, very quickly. The BBC, NME magazine and the Guardian are all over these guys and it is easy to see why. They layer chiming guitars over electro samples and build up to epic choruses – without straying into Snow Patrol territory.

Every song is greeted with approval from the eclectic mixture of observers, which ranges from hipsters in their twenties to old timers with – evidently – cultured tastes. The set is paced brilliantly with a blend of up-beat grooves and lower key atmospheric moments that keep everybody engaged throughout.

Taken from their upcoming EP ‘Imperial Goddess of Mercy’ the lyrics “I’m in love with a tropical world” on ‘Trans Love’  just about sum up the mood inside the venue. There is definitely an element of sunshine to Fixers’ music.

It seems harsh to pick out individuals in what is so obviously an all round talented outfit, but drummer Michael Thompson is worthy of a special mention. He barely drops a beat all evening and injects an incredible amount of energy, the evidence of which glistens on his forehead as the evening progresses.

After an hour of top tunes, the band closes with new single ‘Majesties Ranch’. This dynamic tune, driven at times by dirty guitar and at times by three-piece harmonies, sounds like something the Beach Boys may have dreamt up if they were touring Africa in the 80s.

As the set draws to a close Fixers thank the crowd politely and wish us all a very pleasant evening. We like Fixers.

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Post by Kenny
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TRACKS:

Crystals by Fixers

Three years after releasing ‘Superabundance‘, Young Knives came out with their third full-length ‘Ornaments From the Silver Arcade‘ back in March. ‘Vision in Rags’ is the second single from the album.

I saw these guys at Kendal Calling festival in July and their stage presence is awesome. They are light hearted, energetic and tight as you like. This release is a divergence from their typical, frenetic single. The guitar hooks are still there but more laid back than we’re used to. Dreamy melodies and harmonies are layered over a steady groove.

But fear not purist YK fans, a familiar angular breakdown adds extra dynamics to this instantly memorable number and reminds us exactly who we’re listening to.

It’s undoubtedly indie-pop, but I’m definitely into it.

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Post by Kenny

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TRACKS:

Young Knives – Vision In Rags

After answering the previous week’s call from Kendal Calling, it is on to Big Chill for team Cougar Microbes‘ next stop off in a marathon of summer festivals.

Right from the off this is the friendliest I have encountered yet. Stewards wish you a jolly good knees-up. Caterers willingly smile without gritting their teeth. Furthermore there is plenty of space to pitch your tent – and there are showers.

It is no secret that this year’s Big Chill is far from a sellout – the consequence of an ever-growing UK festival market which pretty much operates all year round. But those who have flocked to Eastnor Castle Deer Park are in for numerous great acts to wave their glowsticks to.

Fenech Soler get our procedings off to a start with their cool – sometimes too cool – synth-heavy pop. The tent packs out quickly with impressive hair-do’s and catchy hooks. There are far worse ways to start a weekend.

Next up we have received an anonymous tip that Wild Beasts are tearing up the main stage. Not to fear though, we’re soon nodding along to melodic tunes in the vein of a laid back Everything, Everything. Wild Beasts by name, master craftsmen by trade.

A brief visit to one of our friendly caterers and then back to the main stage. Empire of The Sun ‘wow‘ us with glam costumes, a glitzy stage show and quality pop before veteran dance legends The Chemical Brothers light up the night with an impeccable set.

Day two starts with a gratefully received four-pack of Lucozade delivered by a bleary-eyed Chemical Brothers fan. Our summer benefactors are certainly treating us well.

Today is wetter and greyer but there is still plenty of fun to be had. We try a spinny fair ride, immediately wish we hadn’t, and recover just in time for Metronomy. The Brighton outfit are great, but then we knew they would be. They draw mainly from albums ‘Nights Out‘ and ‘The English Riviera‘, showing off their quirky electro hooks and witty lyrics en route to crowd pleasing closer ‘Radio Ladio‘.

Escaping the gloriously unpredictable weather we head for Juke Joint, a deep south barn themed tent. It feels authentic enough and as DJs spin tidy tunes we sip on a delectable Southern Comfort cocktail. Just the one – we’re working.

Saturday’s headliner is Kanye West who has the crowd howling with disapproval after turning up half an hour late. He somehow wins most people over – citing vocal troubles as his excuse for lateness – then goes on an inexplicable 20 minute rant. He raves about his music videos, boasts about awards, attacks the press and likens his public image to that of Hitler. Cue more howls of disapproval. Nonetheless his performance, when it comes, is fairly spectacular.

The final day of our festival extravaganza is peppered with heavy rain showers. However, this is no reason for the fun to stop. We spend a very pleasant half hour watching PJ Harvey‘s Let England Shake film – in a tent – before scoffing some tea and cake chez Mr Scruff.

Then it’s on to the main stage to take in our final act of the weekend – legend Robert Plant and The Band of Joy. The seasoned local boy blasts out a great set drawn from a back catalogue that boasts Led Zeppelin classics. It is a perfect way to end a great weekend.

Cougar Microbes attended Big Chill 2011 in collaboration with Lucozade‘s Play Festivals campaign.

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Post written by Kenny

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TRACKS:

Fenech-Soler – The Cult Of Romance (Alan Braxe Remix)

WILD BEASTS – Bed Of Nails

The Chemical Brothers – Swoon (DJ Macabre’s Fantastik Remix)

METRONOMY – THE BAY (ROMERO REMIX)

Kanye West – Power

It has been a long time since I last visited a proper music festival. I have always hated camping. An attachment to home comforts – colour TV, hi-fi stereo, designer sofa, electricity, running water – exposes me for the materialistic 80s brat that I am. So it was with a degree of apprehension that I migrated north to the Lake District for a summer weekend of music.

Many of this year’s festivals have struggled to shift tickets but Kendal Calling had no such worries. The boutique event sold out well in advance and upon arrival it was immediately obvious why. Showcasing acts like Blondie, Chase & Status, The Cribs and Frank Turner against a backdrop of beautiful rolling hills – and the occasional lake – certainly makes for sunny faces.

We pitched our tent with surprising ease and headed for the arena just in time to catch hip hop old-timers House Of Pain break into ‘that’ song. So we jumped around a bit, investigated what the modern music festival has to offer – posh pizzas apparently – and then checked out headliners Chase & Status. We found the Londoners on hot form, whipping up the masses into a Friday night party. Yes.

Easy Star All-Stars set the beaming Saturday mood with dub and reggae renditions of classics from The Beatles, Radiohead and Pink Floyd. It was certainly a very pleasant way to start an afternoon before the festival’s stand-out act, angular rock outfit Young Knives, took to the stage. I am reliably informed it was front man Henry Dartnall’s first ever topless gig. The three-piece didn’t let that phase them as they stomped through favourites from ‘Terra Firma‘ to ‘Weekends & Bleak Days‘ – complete with appropriate sing-along line “hot summer, hot hot summer!”

After a few complimentary shots of Lucozade – thank you sunburnt Lucozade man – we headed over to watch the fittingly energetic punk outfit The Minx bound around stage to rapturous applause. There was just enough time to scoff a gourmet kangaroo (!) burger before seeing Japanese Popstars take over from where Chase & Status left off the previous evening. An incredibly striking aspect of the weekend was the energetic crowds. Though we did our best to keep up we headed for our nylon home some time after one am with the party still in full swing.

Drawing from a distant memory I somehow had the impression that the final day of a festival has the potential to be an anti-climax. Not so at Kendal Calling. After taking in some festival art and expert hula-hoop performances we decided to plonk ourselves at the main stage for Lancashire Hotpots’ northern humour and Frank Turner’s folk punk. Neither disappointed but the top act of the day was Cougar favourite Blondie. Not looking a day over 26 – ok, maybe a day or two over – Debbie Harry belted out hits including ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ and ‘One Way or Another’ to give this charming festival the rousing send-off it deserved.

Cougar Microbes attended Kendal Calling 2011 as part of Lucozade‘s Play Festivals campaign. Make sure to check back as we bring you more events through the summer.

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Post by Kenny.

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TRACKS:

One hot summer, a while ago, I almost exclusively listened to an album called ‘Something to Write Home About’ by an awesome band called The Get Up Kids. I was a whiney teenager and they wrote music I could relate to, man.

Ten years on, and a breakup and reunion later, the band it seems have done more growing up than I have. Any hints of their melodic punk roots appear to have been eradicated. All that remain are great hooks, good ideas and slick production. This ‘Shatter Your Lungs’ video from latest album ‘There Are Rules’ illustrates the point.

The band have also confirmed a 10-date co-headlining tour with the legendarySaves The Day. The run begins June 2 in Palatine, Illinois, and continues through June 12 in Allentown, Pennsylvania

‘There Are Rules’ was released earlier this year through Quality Hill Records.

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Post by Kenny
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TRACKS:

It takes a cold heart and a degree of self-importance to dismiss Matt & Kim offhand as childish and naïve. There is no doubt that many do. There is undeniably an air of youthful enthusiasm to their made-for-radio, synth-pop – with emphasis on the ‘pop’. But scratch beneath the surface and you unearth a real craft for imaginative song structuring. And, as the Brooklyn art-school duo hone their talent, a degree of – wait for it – enlightened lyricism is even starting to prevail.

Their third album ‘Sidewalks’ was released at the end of 2010 in the US but for the well-behaved non-file-sharers out there it officially hits UK shelves at the end of March. Like its 2009 predecessor ‘Plans’ the new full-length is incredibly polished, yet producers Ben Allen and Oliver Straus preserve some of the lo-fi urgency that shot the outfit into the billboard charts.

‘Sidewalks’ is very much an album of two halves. Die-hard fans of Matt & Kim’s previous work will be comforted to hear the familiar upbeat innocence which, musically at least, dominates the first half of the album. Kim Schifino’s exuberant percussion is prominent as ever yet this is far from being ‘more of the same’ with quasi hip-hop rhythms lending a new ‘freshness’ to their work.

Midway through this ten-track slice of pop, proceedings take a slightly more minimalist turn on ‘Where You’re Coming From’. Low on instrumentation and simple in structure the track shows a new level of maturity from this likable duo. It is a pattern that peppers the rest of the album, most notably on ‘Northeast’ which would be unlikely to appear on either of the outfit’s previous releases.

There is, however much in Matt Johnson’s lyrics which point to compromise. On the whole the music may be uplifting but the message is more contemplative and at times regretful. Themes focus heavily on strained relationships and resentment towards life on the road. On ‘AM/FM’ the lines “meet after dark and just follow me, treads been worn away, wrong side of the street” wouldn’t feel out of place in a Springsteen notebook. Though the pace and delivery remains urgent and vivid, the words reveal undoubted melancholy – “we tore the walls out, in this old bedroom of your house,” says Johnson on ‘Where You’re Coming From’, “to make room for dreams”.

There are the obligatory sure-fire hits and they are undoubtedly good – ‘Camera’s’ is a stand-out track which in a sense captures the essence of the entire album in three lines: “pound my steering wheel, we yell to the windshield, I’m finally home”. Yet it isn’t all deep and serious, ‘Good for Great’ could slot easily into any of the acts previous collections with lines like: “we sing along though the notes are wrong, we sing along through night and dawn”. It is, however, the understated tracks that triumph, making this the New Yorkers’ strongest release to date.

Overall ‘Sidewalks’ is an unexpectedly honest and personal affair. Sadly it is hard to shake the feeling that the chirpy duo have cheated themselves slightly – the desire to keep things low-key almost wiped out by the fear of upsetting the core support. You feel that anybody who really gets the outfit must surely appreciate each piece of work for its own merits. The result is that the album feels disjointed in places but equally whets the appetite for an exciting new direction. Matt & Kim are growing up. That is not necessarily a good or a bad thing.

‘Sidewalks’ is out in the UK on 28th of March via Different Records and is available in all the very best record stores. Take your pick.

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Post by Kenny the elder statesman.

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TRACKS:

Having shown so much promise on their debut Tokyo Police Club returned with their brilliant second full length ‘Champ‘  in 2010. Right from the opening notes you are in for something special with the band making the matter of writing catchy anthemic songs seem wholly painless.

The Canadians manage to build on all the early promise they displayed whilst throwing a few interesting curveballs into their indie meets punk meets pop template.

Back in July Cougar regular Kenny commented that Tokyo Police Club ‘seem to have a fresh, different, brilliant idea for every day of the calendar year.’ It is for this reason that these 11 intelligent upbeat tracks demand to be returned to frequently.

TRACKS:

NEXT: #04 Cougar Microbes Top Albums of 2010: Yeasayer – Odd Blood

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A new Spoon album is usually cause for celebration and as expected ‘Transference‘ made its way on to a few Cougar writers’ lists. Kenny justified it’s inclusion by saying:

Spoon have rightly won themselves a reputation for bashing out great pop albums. But ‘Transference’ has a freshness that sets it apart from its predecessors. The self-produced album is the 8th from the Texans and their once polished sound has given way to a lo-fi approach. It works.

The piano driven ‘Written in Reverse’ and straight-up-rock-song ‘Trouble Comes Running’ are personal favourites. But with an album so consistently strong it would be wrong to reference ‘stand-out’ tracks. ‘Transference’ is the most imaginative and mature album the band have released to date. Unlike other ‘mature’ albums it’ll still get you up on the dance-floor. It’s a cracker.

TRACKS:

NEXT: #09 Cougar Microbes Top Albums Of 2010: Best Coast – Crazy For You

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