Paralytic Stalks is its own album, and is simultaneously frustrating, self-loathing, insecure, thrilling, deranged, and always completely honest.
Author Phil Gwyn
Gauntlet Hair – Gauntlet Hair
Gauntlet Hair have got one fantastic idea, and they execute it perfectly on at least one occasion, but that just leaves the rest of the album sounding tiring and overblown, argues Phil Gwyn.
TLOBF Introducing // Outfit
“I’ve consistently made decisions in my life which have prevented me from doing anything other than playing music. It’s gone too far now.” Outfit talk ambition, art and murderers in their garden.
Warm Brains – Old Volcanoes
Old Volcanoes is a record that takes a while to understand, but once you do, its discordant harmonies and sloping, off-kilter rhythms start to sound strangely attractive.
Dutch Uncles – Cadenza
It would be unfair to Dutch Uncles to sit here and bash out the names of favourite songs from this record; what is most admirable here is the album as a whole, a perfect balance of accessibility and the avant-garde.
FOE – Hot New Trash
Within the 4 songs of Hot New Trash, FOE, rips and tears apart the media’s current obsession with the ‘next big thing’. Phil Gwyn explores an EP seemingly designed to divide opinion from one of 2011′s brightest young hopefuls.
The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
A return to simple, nostalgic and addictive guitar pop from one of the most talked about English guitar bands in recent years. But, aside from the hype, is it any good? Phil Gwyn decides…
TLOBF Introducing // Polock
If the quality of debut album Getting Down From The Trees, US tours and appearances at SXSW suggest anything, and they must do, then the column inches that have been dedicated to Polock so far must just be the beginning…
TLOBF Introducing // Evan Voytas
Evan Voytas is the sort of enigma that would have brains at Bletchley Park popping just at the consideration of his situation. Impressed and intrigued, we set out some questions to try and elucidate the whole musical situation, and spectacularly failed. We did, however, find out some fantastic trivia should he ever pop up in a particularly cutting-edge pub quiz.
The Tallest Man On Earth – Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird
The Tallest Man On Earth is, without a doubt, not simply a passing talent; he may well be proving himself to be one of the finest songwriters of our generation.
SOTD #153 // Gauntlet Hair: ‘Out, Don’t…’
The swell of shimmering guitars giving way to echoing vocals is almost vitriolic in intensity, and comparisons to No Age or Japandroids can now extend beyond the meaningless fact that all bands involved are duos.
Magnetic Man – Magnetic Man
Cynical major label ploy, or real champions of the post-dubstep scene? Phil Gwyn tries to get to the bottom of Magnetic Man’s debut…
SOTD #66 // Jetskiis: ‘Bodymore’
A tight r&b derivative beat strings everything together, bass drives the lamentingly confused vocals, comparisons to The xx become almost unavoidable, and the internet might have just found its new favourite band.
SOTD #62 // The Mary Onettes: ‘The Night Before The Funeral’
‘The Night Before The Funeral’ tugs at the brain in all the right places with an almost indecent amount of hooks that recalls label-mates The Radio Dept. at their head-arresting best.
SOTD #55 // Twin Sister: ‘Lady Daydream’
“Lady Daydream” is smoothly concocted with a respectful nod to the past in its simple melodies and brooding atmospherics, and a nudge to the present with a facelessly efficient rhythm that hums like a spaced out update of The xx.
SOTD #52 // Beach Fossils: ‘Youth’
“Youth” manages to sound exactly like what we wish The Drums might sound like if they spent more time wrapped in introspection and less time worrying about everyone’s opinion of them.
