I love music that’s really hard to describe in a single genre word or phrase.. And this release from Green Gardens is one of those. I’ve listened to this so many times trying to come up with some simple phrase that will immediately put the sound in your head, but have failed completely.

That said, I’m going to try to give you some overall sense of the song. It’s about the build; the song gradually, subtlety builds. It’s a musical storytelling journey. It starts low key, voice and guitar; loose, in a style I’m going to describe as alt-singer/songwriter. It shifts so so slowly into a lush many vocal layered section, before getting up-tempo into something like an indie. But then gradually it gets fuzzier and fuzzier. Something with a sense of restrained wildness.

The overall sound has something of a psychedelic feel; at times it sounds like a 60s’ psychedelic pop track, The Polyphonic Spree. Acid Rock. But, and this is important, the song retains a sense of wonderful melody. In a way you could describe the song as a progression of variations on the same melody. You get what I’m saying here; this is complex musically. But it’s not something that’s inaccessible; on the contrary, it’s incredibly catchy.

The band say “It’s about the mental health crisis and blends the soundscapes we explore in the full EP. It embodies all corners of the release from the gentle and loving to the more manic and exposed. The song was inspired by playing in a room together and reacting to the energy where lows can be as exciting as highs”. And this makes sense of the musical structure and feel of the song.

So yes, it can be listened to both as something wonderful to have on, and as something to get deeper into. And getting deeper is rewarding; both musically and lyrically. The track is full of clever and subtle sounds, juxtapositions of different sounds. And the words intrigue.

Look it feels almost trivial, but necessary, to tell you that the playing on this is amazing. Every instrument plays a central part; there’s not a lead instrument as such. The only thing to highlight here is the vocals; both lead and backing. They are truly beautiful.

This is an astounding release from a band who are making music with depth, with meaning, with emotion. A band who are not afraid of exploring difficult raw subjects. This is frankly incredible.

The info

‘Free Words’ is the final single from the band’s forthcoming EP ‘Goodnight, Greenrot’, released soon.

“We’re excited to launch Free Words as the final single before our EP ‘Goodnight, Greenrot’ is out.” Chris Aitchison from the band says about the song “It’s about the mental health crisis and blends the soundscapes we explore in the full EP. It embodies all corners of the release from the gentle and loving to the more manic and exposed. The song was inspired by playing in a room together and reacting to the energy where lows can be as exciting as highs.”

“Goodnight, Greenrot carries all the complexities and emotions of a whole person, a village of people. It’s full of stories and fables, while also being counteracted by personal musings and considerations of posterity. We found this whole EP so fun to create as it’s one of the first times we’ve been able to fully let go in a room together, we’re excited to play this whole EP live and experience it with you all which is where it lives most comfortably.”

I have only ever seen the name of Leeds based Japanese Raccoon Dog; and that is only in the last couple of weeks. Japanese Raccoon Dog is, by the way, both an intriguing and lovely name for a band. I will return to this later in the review. They describe themselves as an ‘alternative rock/math rock band’; again this is important. And ‘Put a Pound in the Sorry Jar’ is their debut EP.

Given the way they describe their sound I was at first confused and then left speechless by the EP’s opening track ‘Grace’. I mean yes, if you were pushed really hard you could describe this as alternative rock, but it’s so alternative that it becomes something else. Like Allora Japanese Raccoon Dog infuse the sound of this with many many other things – a touch of U2, the lush rich sound of Fleetwood Mac, a hint of Cocteau Twins, and achingly beautiful pop to make something so outstandingly wonderfully beautiful that you wish it could be the soundtrack to your every waking moment.

And yes I suppose I should say that, in common with the rest of the songs on the EP, the playing is beyond excellent and the vocals charm and mesmerise.

‘Never Watching You’ picks up the pace, has more space in the sound. It’s with this track that you hear that math rock guitar you might have expected. But, and it’s a big but, here it sounds almost classical, and something I kind of noticed in ‘Grace’, something of an Irish sound creeps in. The vocal becomes another musical layer, almost becoming not words but a pure tone at some points, strangely jazzy at times, and showing a range that astounds.

‘Better Now’ takes on that alt-rock form; that quiet/loud thing but somehow the sound incorporates something I haven’t heard since the 80s. It’s hard to explain but it’s there in the vocals; this is not in any way shape or form an alt-rock vocal. And yes, there is some rock guitar but there’s this huge classic pop thing going on.

I have to admit that by this time I was deep in astonishment and was deeply in musical love with what the band do. So much so that it’s actually hard to be objective.

Next up in the sublime sound of ‘Honey’ which somehow magically combines the sound of huge rock with a jazz influenced ballad. The guitar weaves its mesmerising sound hypnotising you. The vocal intrigues with odd little yelps that remind me of The Cranberries.

Like they were saving it for the end ‘Time’ unleashes, at least initially, a harder alt-rock sound. But then, and you expect this, the band add in this wonderful big pop ballad sound. I want you to imagine that they’ve taken that alt-rock format and mutated it into something so completely unlike alt-rock. And it’s huge, massive and epic.

This is a frankly incredible set of songs. The band have taken what I can only imagine is a huge range of musical likes and influences and brewed up a sound that is all of their own, a sound that sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before. And this is why I am reduced to desperately hooking onto sounds that exist in their songs that remind me of things I’ve heard and can name. It’s inadequate, I have to admit.

And to return to their name, as I said I would. Japanese Raccoon Dog say they play alternative rock/math rock but this is in the same way a Japanese raccoon dog is not a type of raccoon or even strictly speaking a dog (although it is of the species family Canidae). There’s a broad indication of their sound but it’s misleading because it in no way even hints at the complexity of the music they play..

I love music that’s hard to describe but at the same time find it hard to review because it’s hard to glom onto something in it that puts it into the reader’s head. Fortunately we have a way of overcoming this by giving you a stream.

The songs on this EP are wonderfully complex musically yet are incredibly easy to listen to. The playing is faultless, the vocals are astonishing, and the songs are put together so so well. This is mesmerising and beautiful. You must listen to this EP.

The info

https://www.facebook.com/japaneseraccoondogtheband/
https://www.instagram.com/japaneseraccoondog

Japanese raccoon dog

Japanese raccoon dogs are a member of the Canidae family. There are 34 species in the Canidae family – including domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals, and dingoes

‘Goodbye (So Long)’ is Killer Kings’ debut single and it’s killer. It rocks, it rocks hard.

So that’s the headline, here’s the detail. The band do Emo influenced alternative rock; so we are talking the quiet/loud thing here. The thing is that, at least as far as this track is showing us, they take that to extremes. The loud is crunchy punky guitar, the quiet is extremely melodic and nuanced. It took, to be honest with you, a couple of plays for this extreme contrast to click in my musical head.

But once it clicked, I started to notice stuff. There is some outstanding guitar being played on this; both in the loud and quiet. And the quiet sections are, guitar-wise, not exactly what you might expect to hear. The drumming is, and I can’t think of another word to describe it, interesting; it doesn’t do what you expect.

This is one addictive track, you find yourself waiting for that crunch of guitar to come in after the quiet, but then waiting for the sheer elegance of the guitar in the quiet. It’s a bloody joy, people. If this is what Killer Kings are debuting with, I can’t wait to hear what comes next.

The info

Killer Kings are a 4-piece Emo/Alternative Rock band from Harrogate/York, North Yorkshire.
Formed in 2020 by a bunch of like-minded nineties and noughties rock music lovers inspired by the likes of Alexisonfire, 36 Crazyfists and Funeral for a Friend.

Killer Kings are

Mark Brown (lead vocals)
Rob Casson (guitar and backing vocals)
Tom Malkin (bass guitar and backing vocals)
James Dye (drums)

Somehow I missed the release of this, for which I can only apologise. However, music doesn’t age in a month, so let’s get down to a review.

‘Panic Stations’ is a FloodHounds’ take on alt-rock. It’s a stomping hard rocking tune but it does that loud/quiet (ish) thing and it’s sharp and angular. That’s the bare bones of it but let’s flesh that out.

There’s a sophistication to this that may take you a couple of listens to get. Here’s some hints to get you going; the subtle vocal effects that bring the anxiety, the tension between the guitar and drums, and the way the track shifts in mood, loudness and sounds.

Musically FloodHounds always impress but this is a real showcase. Jack’s vocal is a joy, his guitar roars, and the bass and drums are so locked in it hurts. I have to admit that I always seem to concentrate on Jack’s guitar playing but this track really highlights the drumming. There’s some really clever drumming on this, and with every listen it continues to surprise.

This has it all. It’s a hard rocking track with lots of clever twists and turns. Great playing. A great tune, and hey, the icing on the cake, it’s the kind of song that’s going to get you moving. Play loud for full effect. Another great release from FloodHounds.