Happy new year, my music related junkies! It’s time for the first weekly track round-up of 2021. I spent the whole of last week masturbating so wasn't able to do a track roundup last Friday. Anyhow, the last few days have been spent frantically catching up on all the submissions in my inbox. Here are some of the new tunes that have caught my attention recently.
THE BEST:
‘By The Power Of Barnard Castle’ – Those Fucking Snowflakes
Blackpool post-punk band Those Fucking Snowflakes (check out
my cracking interview with them here) have returned with a new hilariously
blistering attack on Dominic Cummings, backed by some signature tumultuous riffs.
The Tory chief advisor broke lockdown restrictions last year by taking a drive
to Barnard Castle, which he claimed was to test his eyesight. This subject
matter is of course the perfect fuel for Those Fucking Snowflakes. The
accompanying video follows the drug-addled adventures of Dominic Cummings and
his attorney (Fear-And-Loathing-In-Las-Vegas-inspired) as they journey to a
budget-replica of Barnard Castle before hooking up with Bojo for a coke party
twerk-a-thon. If that description doesn’t make you want to watch the video,
then I don’t know what will. The band will be dropping a new EP, Everything is Absolutely Fkkkkkkd, on January 22nd.
‘Too Many Emails’ – OOF
Ah yes, a track title I can relate to. All these bloody
musicians won’t stop emailing me their music. WHAT DO THEY WANT FROM ME??? Anyhow,
that’s not the only reason I featured this song. The Brooklyn band’s
self-described styles of ‘spazzpunk, no-wave, art-rock, post-punk’ is pretty
unique – it consists of snarled vocals, fuzzy riffs and squealing saxophones. The
hilarious lyrics and menacing delivery of the chorus top it off. Those who want
more OOF can check out their latest album Is This Really Happening? here
at their Bandcamp page.
‘Phantoms’ – AJAY
Philly artist AJAY originally wrote this song two years ago
during a period in which he felt socially isolated – and yet its lyrics couldn’t
be more relevant to today (how many more lockdowns must we endure???). What
really grabbed me however was not the lyrics, but the soulful production, which
is so spine-tinglingly gorgeous that I almost slipped a disc. It’s pretty much
a 70s soul track but with glistening modern synths and punchy electronic percussion. The jazzy guitar solo towards the
end is also a nice touch.
‘Just a dream’ – lando!
This is the smoothest take on hyperpop I’ve heard yet. It’s
like 100 Gecs visited a jazz bar and chilled the fuck out. The digitally-altered
vocals might still be a barrier for many people but you’ve got to love those warm
bright synths. It certainly does have a dream-like quality to it. I wasn’t able
to find out any information about who this artist is – or indeed what they are.
Are they human? OR ARE THEY DANCER???
‘Placeholder for the night’ – R. Missing
Here we have another quirky track made up of synths and
digitally-altered vocals, but with a much darker vibe. The ghostly reverb on
the vocals is very atmospheric and I love the rapid tremolo electro bass that
comes in around the 2 minute mark. Their sound is like an ominous Crystal
Castles. Similar to lando!, the identity of this artist is shrouded in mystery –
‘we’re quite invisible’ is how the artist put it in their email. It adds an
extra exciting layer of obscurity to the music. Fans of R. Missing’s sound should
check out their new EP here.
THE WORST:
‘Girl Like Me’ – Black Eyed Peas ft. Shakira
This collaboration is somehow worse than I imagined. Will.i.am
now thinks he’s a reggaeton artist and Shakira’s wailed delivery of ‘aaaaAAAaaa
you’re looking for a girl like meeeEEEee’ is excruciating. How are these two
acts still going strong? And why hasn’t Shakira aged??