I Am Not Lefthanded - Screamager

Over the past two years, there has been a trend for taking indie/alternative rock songs and covering them for advertisements in a sincere piano/female vocal style. It all started when Taken By Trees covered "Sweet Child O'Mine" for a John Lewis advert, and since then we've seen The Calling, The Pixies and even The Smiths being used in such a way. Birdy has made a career out of it. Earlier this year, I joked that someone should take Therapy?'s "Screamager" and do a straight forward piano cover of the song. After all, how much emotion can be wrung out of the phrase "I've got nothing to do, but hang around and get screwed up on you?"

Well, it turns out that the gods of mischief went and enlisted Irish/UK trio I Am Not Lefthanded to go ahead and do just that. The cover removes the ubiquitous guitar riff that the song was built around and replaces it instead with exquisite strings. It's a brave cover version, and one that head and shoulders above most of the other piano/vocal covers of rock hits. I'm willing to wager £10 that it will be used in a high-profile advertisement campaign by the end of the year though.

"Screamager" is taken from the band's fan-funded debut album, "The Fire & the Sigh", which is out now.

Les Bicyclettes De Belsize - Beatnik My Guest

Reading the biography of Les Bicyclettes De Belsize, it is hard to work out how much of it is genuine and how much is made-up whimsy. Apparently the band came about after lead single Charlie Darling "crashed his bike into a billboard poster of Peter Cook's wife." Weirder things have happened, I suppose.

Regardless of their biographical liberties, their track "Beaknik My Guest" is a wonderful slice of dreamy indie-pop, with gorgeous string melodies, and intelligent lyrics, which name check such luminaries as Jean-Paul Sartre and Jack Kerouac. It's a wonderful chamber-pop song, like The Divine Comedy sans the sarcasm.


"Beatnik My Guest" is available as a free download, and is taken from the group's album "The Ballad of Charlie Darling."

A hat-tip to the wonderful Fresh On the Net for alerting me to this great track.

Ireland Tunes - Round-up #3

Here's a couple of tunes from the island that have been floating The Metaphorical Boat recently.
----------------------

The Emerald Armada - Strangers

The Belfast folk quintet The Emerald Armada have marked themselves out as one of the most promising acts to come out of Northern Ireland in recent months off the back of several energetic and well-received live gigs, culminating in a sold-out launch of their debut E.P last week. The strongest track from the E.P is "Strangers", with sing-along lyrics and incredibly engaging guitar licks.

---------------------------------------

We Are Mr.West - Neighbourhood Watch

Typical. You wait for ages for one great piano-pop artist to come out of Derry, then two emerge from the same family. Dominic O'Callaghan, who performs under the name We Are Mr.West, is the brother of Eoin, who fronts blog favourite Best Boy Grip. His latest release, "Neighbourhood Watch", showcases the project's pechant for lovelorn piano music. Their sound is still a little rough around the edges, but there is heaps of potential to be found, especially when he embraces the sillier side of music (check out the delightfully playful "Sheep in Wolves Clothing").   ----------------------------------

Cfit - Triage

Dublin based sextet Cfit have made their latest single "Triage", which they launched at The Grand Social in the city last week, available as a free download. It's a rollicking good heavy indie-rock tune that calls to mind the sonic experimentation of Bloc Party's "Intimacy" album.

Album Review: Shonen Knife - Pop Tune

(Damnably)

Thirty years into their career, Japanese premier female pop-punk trio Shonen Knife are showing no signs of slowing down. Their last studio album of original material, 2010’s “Free Time” (which was belatedly released in the UK in 2011), has been one of the best received of their career, with extensive play on BBC 6music and a well-received UK tour, which included their first ever gig in Belfast.

2012 sees the release of the band’s 18^th studio album, “Pop Tune.” A rather self-knowing title, given that all but one of the tracks clock in below the 4 minute mark.

In some ways, the album treads different ground to its predecessor “Free Time”. There is a slightly more serious tone to the album this time around. Songs like the mid-tempo Britpop sounding “Sunshine” (which features bassist Ritsuko on lead vocals) and the album closer “Move On” seem to showcase a more mature side to the band, with the overall production feeling a little less polished in comparison to its predecessor.

Furthermore, while a large amount of songs in Shonen Knife’s back catalogue are based around food or cute animals (a fact that singer/guitarist Naoko has acknowledged on many occasions), only one track on the album deals with one of these topics, “All You Can Eat”. The track is a gloriously daft one, one which mixes wonderfully irreverent lyrics (sample: “when you go to an all you can eat, don’t forget to take some vegetables”) and a kazoo solo for good measure.

However, the album still has the familiar fingerprints of Shonen Knife all over it. The album’s title track is one of poppiest songs released this year, with life affirming lyrics (“since you’re already here, think of happy things), and wonderful harmony vocals. The short bursts of opening track “Welcome To The Rock Club” and the Kiss pastiche “Osaka Rock City” serve as a reminder as to why the band are often called the Osaka Ramones.

“Pop Tune” is a great album from a band that is very much a one-of-a-kind act. While there are a few more mellow moments to the album than one would expect from Shonen Knife, on the whole it is a fantastically bonkers, energetic, and above all, fun album from the Japanese trio.

Released: 25th June 2012

Highlights: "Pop Tune", "All You Can Eat", "Sunshine".

General Fiasco - Bad Habits

Following the great reception to their recent singles "The Age You Start Losing Friends" and "Don't You Ever", Belfast band General Fiasco are gearing up to release their sophomore album, which is their first for Dirty Hit Records (home of Little Comets) and their first full-length with former Panama Kings guitarist Stuart Bell augmenting their line-up.

The final single to be released before the album comes out is "Bad Habits", which is their most mature, and possibly strongest song to date. Filled with the massive guitar lines that have become a trademark for the band, with a sense of melancholy hidden behind its soaring power.

"Bad Habits" is taken from General Fiasco's 2nd studio album "Unfaithfully Yours", which is released on July 30th on Dirty Hit Records.