Cougar Microbes

You know that thing when you hear a song on TV or film and you think: ‘Fuck that sounds good‘! Then you go out and buy it and it sounds like a goose farting in the fog?

This isn’t one of them. It happens to me frequently, but I can safely say with or without the effective medium of moving image, Deaf Club‘s ‘Lull EP‘ sounds as epic and evocative by itself, even without gaping landscapes or raucous lovemaking.

‘Forest/Shore‘, although clearly lending itself to images of forests and shores, takes you to the peak of emotion through it’s subtle use of Sigur Ros style guitar and Foals off-high-hat energies.

‘Hana‘ is as apocalyptic as it is a dramatic dawn, it’s rimshots like a tribal dance to a sparse use of bass and relentless twinkling guitar.

‘It, She‘ darkens the mood slightly to a hypnotic drone, reminiscant of Joy Division’s ‘Transmission‘ before a more melodic and couragous chorus kicks in, and the fantastic backing vocals scream from a distant continant.

With or without a David Attenborough TV advert for awesome wildlife, ‘Lull EP‘ will shake your booty whilst you either ball into your jack and coke in ecstasy or give you the unshakable urge to make passionate sexy time to whoever is shaking their fist in the air like a lunatic too.

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Post by TR Wicks

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TRACKS:
Deaf Club – Hana

Deaf Club – “Forest/Shore”

23-year- old Brighton-born artist Teej has combined Deadmau5 sounding dance melodies, vintage synths and repetitive bass lines to produce a new wave of Synthtronica.

His debut EP ‘I Got Electrocuted‘ was written post -emergency room after he, err… got electrocuted trying to fix his faltering keyboard. The very literally-named track had me worried his music would be similarly straightforward but with scratchy guitar pieces and gloomy bass lines, the track’s dense texture was anything but linear. At only 1:54 of airplay, however, the track builds but doesn’t quite reach a crescendo.

In contrast ‘Heart Timing‘ is more complete. Its glistening keyboard melodies are strongly glued together by a heart beat bass line that pulses through the track. The resulting sound is like a primitive version of Sigur Rós with a dash of depression from the Antlers’ Hospice.

Despite tracks like ‘Flying Deep‘, Teej‘s ode to snowboarding, feeling largely unfinished there is something exciting here and with some more craftwork and a live gig under his belt, he may provide a few more surprises yet.

The debut EP ‘I Got Electrocuted‘ is out now on Make Mine

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Post by the proficient Ruby

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TRACKS:

Teej – I Got Electrocuted

The Kissaway Trial had seemingly gone missing since I saw them at Wireless Festival and subsequently wrote this glowing review.

The above statement is not strictly true as over the last few years the Danish 5-piece have been silently honing their sound and sharing stages with artists as diverse as Sigur Ros, Editors and Passion Pit.

The band are gearing up for a return in 2010 with a new album titled ‘Sleep Mountain’, out on Bella Union, that triumphantly builds on the foundations laid down for their 2007 self-titled debut.

The first song to be unleashed from the upcoming release is the stomping ‘SDP’’ with its six-minutes of buoyant energy.  Fans of the bands previous output will draw parallels gems like ‘61’ and the awesome ‘Smother + Evil = Hurt’ and the trademark dual vocals are still at the forefront. Producer Peter Katis’ work with Interpol and The National may well have rubbed off on The Kissaway Trail because they look and sound more focussed than ever before.

‘Sleep Mountain‘ may well be one of the releases to look forward to in 2010.

TRACKS:

The Kissaway Trail – SDP