Bring On The Night - Hurts At Hello

Bring on The Night are a Manchester based electro-rock duo, who for the time being have chosen to keep their identities secret, hence the Commedia dell'Arte masks in the above promo picture, although they have been involved in quite a few musical projects before this.

"Hurts At Hello" is their debut single, and offers a great introduction to their music. It's ostensibly a rock song, although it weaves in a more hip-hop, electronic production in such a way that it doesn't feel like too much of a distraction.

"Hurts At Hello" is out now.

Kassassin Street - Talk In Riddles

We have very much enjoyed the output of Portsmouth band Kassassin Street over the last few months, so it's nice to see a new track from the band premiering. "Talk In Riddles" is perhaps one of the most electronic-sounding song the band have released to date, calling to mind some of the more electronic-styled songs of Bloc Party.

"Talk In Riddles" is taken from their "Radio Silence" E.P, which is out now.

Kassassin Street - Centre Straight Atom

We first became aware of Portsmouth based 5-piece Kassassin Street back in June through their mystical, psychedelic single "The Royal Handkerchief Ballet". Having spent the summer honing their craft whilst playing at Isle of Wight Festival, Bestival, and other non-island related gigs, the band have announced the release of a brand new single, and it's a real corker indeed.

"Centre Straight Atom" tones down the more overt psychedelic sounds of their last single, and replaces it with a more electronic and, dare I say it, radio-friendly, core. It mixes electronic verses with powerful, heavy yet poppy rock guitars on its chorus to create something rather delicious indeed. Plus, it reminds us a little of local electro-rockers Not Squares, which is definitely no bad thing. Kassassin Street set the bar quite high with "The Royal Handkerchief Ballet", so it's great that the band have managed to well and truly smash that benchmark.

And on a final note, in our review of their last single, we had suggested that the band had named themselves after a village in Egypt. Many thanks to Robin at Breaking More Waves (who has also written about the band) for pointing out that Kassassin Street is the name of a road in the Eastney district of Portsmouth. We guess that makes a bit more sense.

"Centre Straight Atom" will be released as a single on November 10th.

Slackers' Symphony - Episode in Denial

Cork born but Dublin based, "Episode in Denial" is the debut single from 5-piece electronic-inflected rockers Slackers' Symphony (who instantly get 10/10 for that gloriously demented band photo). The band's influences spread all the way from Pixies to Brian Wilson, by way of Talking Heads, although the band's somewhat rocky, yet slightly off-kilter sound probably bears more musical similarities to Manic Street Preachers than anyone else. It's a strong, yet powerful opening statement for the group, who may be worth keeping a beady eye on.

"Slackers' Symphony" is available to download now.

Codes - Astraea

Now here's a band that are making a very welcome return to our earholes. Dublin band Codes made a few ripples back in 2009 in Ireland following the release of their "Trees Dream In Algebra" album. They then relocated to London a few years later and re-released the album (including the fantastic lead single, "This Is Goodbye", but since then there has been little noise from them.

However, they're starting to emerge from the shadows once more. They played  at The Great Escape last month, and are finally ready to release their much delayed second album this year. The first track to be taken from it is "Astraea", a track which should please the convince and pique the interest of the curious. As is the band's style, the song mixes indie-rock with electronic bleeps, bloops and other assorted noodling. It's a little less hooky and a bit more intense than their sound of old, but at its heart is the same old Codes we know and love.

"Astraea" will be released on July 7th, with their album "AALTERS" to follow later in the year.