Invaderband - I Won't Remember You

Derry-based group Invaderband first came to our attention a few years ago through their self-titled debut album and its infectious lead single "Not Alan Rickman", a short-sharp ode to the late thespian's greatest movie roles.

Four years later, and with album #2 on the horizon, the group have released their new single. Clocking in a less than 2 1/2 minutes, "I Won't Remember You" is sardonic ode to perpetual forgetfulness, and it's a great post-punky track which calls to mind the music of Franz Ferdinand or the Buzzcocks. It's an infectious, snappy little earworm of a track.

"I Won't Remember You" is out now, and is taken from their forthcoming album "Peter Gabriel". 

Adam Leonard / Invaderband · Invaderband - I Won't Remember You

CuT - Let's Go

This blog was first introduced London four-piece CuT last month after coming across their rather great spacey rock track "Time Traveller" through the Blog Collective. They've ridden the buzz of that track rather well, and are now releasing their follow up single, "Let's Go".

"Let's Go" is a more standardised version of the tried and tested poppy garage-rock sound, very much in the mould of The Vaccines and The Ramones (RIP Tommy). It's sharp, fun and straight to the point, which sometimes is all you ever need in a song. Plus, top marks for the well utilized yet underrated use of the humble handclaps.

"Let's Go" will be released on July 28th.

Gorgeous Bully - Sinking Feeling

If there's one thing that the world needs more of, it's scuzzy garage rock with a pop aesthetic.

Actually, that's a bare faced lie. Musicdom is becoming over-saturated with scuzzy rock with a pop aesthetic. Those Vaccines boys sure have a lot to answer for.

But that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be room in your heart for another band of the like. Enter Gorgeous Bully, a four-piece group based in Manchester. Their latest single "Sinking Feeling" may put off people who have been overwhelmed by the lo-fi indie-pop sound that's been popular of late, but it's worth a listen regardless, because a) the band share a label with some of the better artists of the wave, like Best Friends & The Black Tambourines b) it's got a delicious, simple little guitar riff running through it, and c) it's only 139 seconds short, so if the song's not your metaphorical cup of tea, at least it hasn't taken too much time out of your life to listen to.

"Sinking Feeling" is available now as a free download. It will feature on their E.P ""Nobody Hates You As Much as You Hate Yourself", which will be released on February 17th as a limited edition cassette, complete with badges & a lighter/bottle opener.

Drenge - Face Like a Skull

Of the many ways that an upcoming band can gain their first piece of  mainstream attention, being personally recommended by a resigning politician is probably not the most obvious, nor coolest.

Earlier this month, Labour MP Tom Watson resigned from his party's campaign team. In his parting letter, he advised Ed Miliband to listen to Drenge, a Derbyshire duo made up of brothers Eoin and Rory Loveless. Hopefully this isn't the beginning of a trend where music PRs start lobbying politicians in order to get the artists they mention name checked in Prime Minister's questions, get Acts of Parliament named after groups, and ensure that certain politicians don't mention their band altogether (and given how vociferous Morrissey and Marr have been about David Cameron mentioning The Smiths in parliament, there might be some good money in it).

But anyway, Drenge are lining up to release their self-titled debut album next month, with "Face Like a Skull" the latest single to be taken from it. It's a rather enjoyable slice of primal, garage rock built around a simple yet effective guitar riff.

"Face Like a Skull" is released on August 26th, and is taken from their self-titled debut album, out on August 19th.

The Wytches - Beehive Queen

Guttural lo-fi garage rock is the order of the day for Brighton based trio The Wytches. Their new single, "Beehive Queen", is a darkly tinged track which sounds like it would be right at home at a zombie surf party, with shadowy guitar riffs and its vocals from Kristian Bell, who comes across like Jack White at his most twitchy.

"Beehive Queen" will be released as a 7' single on June 3rd.

Girl Band - France 98 E.P

If you like your rock music to be primal, scuzzy and full of energetic urgency, then Dublin based quartet Girl Band may be right up your metaphorical street. Across the six tracks that make up the "France 98 E.P", the recording is wonderfully lo-fi (but not to the extent of becoming a distraction), vocals are manic and shouty, whilst the guitars are distorted and firmly in the red.

The two track which stand out the most on the E.P. The first track on the record, "You're A Dog", channels the guitar riff of  "You Really Got Me" into the sound of early White Stripes. The second highlight is the title track, which clocks in at just 77 seconds, and sounds like Elastica with balls, both literally and proverbially.

"France 98 E.P" will be released as a limited edition 12" vinyl on February, and can be downloaded from their Bandcamp page.

The Diamond Noise - Never Say Never Say Never

 

I've always had a pechant for "short sharp shock" music - that is songs that are economical with their running times, whilst still remaining in-your-face and brimming with exciting, primal energy. Elastica's debut album remains the most consistant example of this sort of music, and individual efforts from The White Stripes (Fell In Love With a Girl, Hypnotize) and The Vaccines (Norgaard, Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)) remain amongst their strongest sounds.

Which leads us on to London based quartet The Diamond Noise. Their debut single, the Greg Haver produced "Never Say Never Say Never", which in its sub-150 second timeframe more than delivers in the 3 s's. The song mixes the primal garage-punk that made people sit up and take notice of The Vaccines with the vocal stylings of The Hives (with the occasional Jack White inflection thrown in for good measure). If The Diamond Noise can continue with their short sharp shocks, then I expect we'll be seeing a great deal from these guys in the future.

"Never Say Never Say Never" will be released on 2nd April.

Sissy & the Blisters - Let Her Go

With their simplistic garage-punk sound and the dark barritone voice of James Geard, Guilford based four-piece Sissy & the Blisters were always going to get the inevitable comparisons to both The Vaccines and The Horrors. On their latest single, "Let Her Go", the band follow the familiar "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" chord progression for a tale about the break-up of a relation. 'But it's all been done before,' the critics of Sissy & the Blisters will inevitably chirp. But when a band make such fun out of rock and roll, is there any harm in that?
"Let Her Go EP" will be released on 10" vinyl and on MP3 on October 3rd on Fierce Panda Records.