BRØR - Something New

Last night, the winner of Chordblossom's Kickstart competition was announced, and after much deliberation among the judges (full disclosure - your humble captain was part of the panel), it was decided that the winner of the competition was BRØR. They will receive a raft of support to help them in their musical career, including recording time, CD duplication, and a number of supporting slots at gigs and festivals over the next couple. The runners up on the night included Glass Wings, Claire Louise and Sam Wickens, and although they didn't come out on top, we have a feeling we will be covering them on the blog in the future.

So who are BRØR? They are an Armagh based duo made up of brothers Ben & Johno (Hence the name BRØR, which is Swedish for brothers). They were previously members of HOW (a band that we covered on the blog three years ago), and are purveyors of driving rock of the alt and noise variety. "Something New" is their first single, and the song by that won many of us over to their sound. Both their band line-up and sound call to mind Japandroids, with its heavy, bass-absent sound, yearning lyrics and rocky harmonies. They've got a lot of other great songs waiting in the wings, so we are looking forward to what they're going to do now that they've got a bit of traction behind them.

"Something New" is out now.

Clockwork Noise - The Tourists

You just can't help but take notice of a band that describe themselves as "Nine Inch Nails playing Buddy Holly songs, with a string section." That is the sound that Irish 5-piece Clockwork Noise appear to be aiming for on their latest single "The Tourists". And although it might not exactly sound like that, it's still a rather great piece of music nonetheless.

The song sees Clockwork Noise making full use of quiet/loud dynamics, with the serene yet slightly menacing string arrangements during the first part of the song becoming slowly punctuated with moments of noise, before ending the song on a noisy, unexpectedly indie-poppy moment.

"The Tourists" is taken from the band's album "Whethermachines", which is out now.

Averkiou - Fuzzy Photograph

 

Making noise is easy, anyone can do it. What is trickier is taming the noise and then putting a leash on it. Which is exactly what Florida quintet Averkiou do on their latest track "Fuzzy Photograph."

"Fuzzy Photograph", with its scuzzy guitars, which mix with tender vocal harmonies to make off-kilter pop tunes, calls to mind Teenage Fanclub during their "Thirteen" era. It's quite a noisy track, but it is kept under control in such as way that it doesn't feel unharmious. It's a great introduction to a band that I will be keeping my eye on in the future.

"Fuzzy Photograph" is the first track from Averkiou's "New Imperative E.P", which will be released on February 10th.

Milk Maid - Dead Wrong

Milk Maid were formed by former Nine Black Alps bassist Martin Cohen, and released their debut album "Yucca" in June of this year. Now they are lining up to release their next single from the album, the fantastic "Dead Wrong."

"Dead Wrong" melds the dark undertones of Lou Reed's "Transformer", with the noisy simplicity of Teenage Fanclub's "Bandwagonesque" era and sublime pop melodies. Never before has darkness been so joyous.

"Dead Wrong" will be released as a 7 inch single on September 19th on FatCat Records, backed up with new song "I Know."