Back in 2015, when LSF was but a newly born thing, Gurgles’ album ‘Gurglefirst’ was the first release I ever reviewed. Much water has passed under the bridge (and indeed flooded through our towns, cities and villages since), but I still have a certain place in my heart for that album.

Back in 2015 they described themselves as a Progpoppsych band – kinda summed up the mix of influences in one difficult to say word – but they now describe themselves as quirk-poppers.

There’s some information below that describes what the song is about, so I can skip that – it’s way too complicated to insert into the review, sorry.

For this release, and sadly I have no idea whether this is the case with their sound generally, the band have given us a thing that sounds somewhat familiar to me as the kind of quirky music that was around in the early 80s. It’s keyboard/synth based, incredibly poppy. It reminds me of say ‘Dare’ period Human League or more particularly Thomas Dolby. The keyboard sounds are jaunty, and slightly warped. It has that 80s vocal sound I recall with a certain amount of fondness.

But enough of the 80s’ retrofest. What Gurgles have released here is a wonderful slab of danceable pop, with just enough of a quirky edge to it. The quirkiness just adds that extra bit of sparkle. And I have a particular fondest for the Bradford City Hall Bells ringing out at the end. And having listened to it for a couple of ‘spins’ I can vouch for the fact that it’s horribly and strangely earwormy, and incredibly catchy.

Gurgles are a bunch of very talented musicians and that’s obvious from this release. But musically what stands out for me is the vocals – I love the vocals, that mix of male and female voices.

It may not be what I expected but it’s still a thrilling groove. Catchy, danceable to the max, and leaves you with a huge smile on your face. Cool stuff, way cool stuff.

The info

Gurgles’ single was part inspired by an excellent audio art performance by John Bonner itself inspired by a book by Alain Corbin – Village Bells, Sound and Meaning in the Nineteenth-Century French Countryside.

It is fascinating how different French villages used church bells to communicate social messages between different hamlets to the level of almost evolving a language of peals.

Couple this medium with the desire to counterbalance sadness, bad times and political cynicism with something unusually rallying(for us anyway) and references to ghosts and the civil war siege of Bradford and ouais, here it is!

Augustin Bousfield – Fender Rhodes, Alesis Micron, Korg Miku, handbell, Singing
Nanette Brimble – Bass, Singing
Bradley Cunningham – Drums

Bradford City Hall Bells- Bradford City Hall Bells

Recorded and mixed by, Robert Whiteley at Whitewood Recording Studio, Liverpool
Artwork by Bob Priestley

I’ve previously reviewed a couple of singles from Leeds based The Racketeers – ‘No Show’ and ‘Glitter’, both of which are on the album – and these showed a band who are not afraid to mix up what they do. There was something that marked them as being from the band but there was variation. So I was looking forward to seeing whether that was carried through on the album.

Album opener ‘Sundown’ showed me a side of the band I hadn’t heard before. This is something that mixes up Beach Boys harmonies, folk-rock, Brit-pop and indie into a song that shines. And yeah this thing may start off slow and moody but it builds, it builds into something huge before dropping out. And boy is that drop-out good, surfy guitar, voices in harmony. This thing is as catchy as hell with guitar that bites.

‘Half Hearted Prayer’ has a kind of Western sound at the heart of it – just groove on that beat people. With sections that are almost indie-rock. And that theme of great guitar continues.

Already having shown us two new sides to themselves, we get yet another side with ‘Part Of The Story’ – one part big smooth indie-pop slow ballad, one part big fuzzed up almost psychy thing with a surprising folky ending.

And then we come to the revved up blast of raw garage indie that is ‘Glitter’. This is followed by ‘Hey Smile (It’s Been A While)’ an indie-pop track that has guitar to die for, a tune that bores its way into your head.

‘Orange and Hazy’ is yet another change of pace and mood. It starts all sparse voice and guitar before taking off halfway through. It has that feel of old style indie (say Libertines) with that special something that the band bring to the party. There’s something great about the way they put a song together, and that guitar.

‘Make A Break’ is an indie song, a great indie song, and this is followed by the again familiar ‘No Show’ with those moving words, that great guitar.

Album closer ‘Climbing The Walls’ is a surprisingly moving song about a claustrophobic relationship. Again there’s stand out guitar this time in a warped way.

This is an incredibly impressive set of songs. Songs that although they all have that The Racketeers’ thing are hugely varied in sound and feel. All of which show a band who know how to put a great song together, to surprise us both within the songs, and in the range of sounds each song has. They all have great words – these are words to listen to properly. And this is a band who sure can play, they play almost casually brilliantly. And I love the fact that there’s an edge of rawness, a looseness, a refusal to make it ‘perfect’. This makes it perfect in my eyes, I’m like that.

This is an album to add to your playlists, download, or get to listen to in whatever your chosen way is. I don’t care how you hear it, you just have to hear it.

The info

The Racketeers are a garage rock act from Leeds. Combining bright, pop – inspired vocal harmonies with fuzzy, biting guitar hooks, the music draws influences from 60s folk rock, Britpop and modern alternative indie to create a unique and memorable sound.

Band Members:

Joe Mosley – Guitar and vocals
Joe Dean – Guitar and vocals
Alex Scrowther – Bass
Mike Johansson – Drums

This is the third album from Hebden Bridge based Uncle Wally and Uncle Steve. The name that this duo chose to play under – clearly their names are not Wally and Steve, or perhaps they are that should remain a mystery – may indicate that what they do is some sort of novelty or comedy music. I guess I should own that comment, the name gave me the impression that what I was going to hear was some sort of novelty or comedic record. This is actually far from the truth. Not that that would have been a barrier to the album being reviewed, if it was a good example of that kind of music I’d have been happy to review. But it isn’t, so it’s all good. It is something different to the majority of the releases we review but I like something different.

Before I dive into the songs. I’ll say that their music has what I’ve decided to call ‘a certain retro charm’. Or possibly that what they do ‘lovingly celebrates music from the past’, that past – in the case of this album – being the late 60s/early 70s with occasional side trips to other things. This may imply that in some way they’re just ‘reproducing’ that music but, again, this is far from the truth, it’s original and good.

Opening song ‘DC7’ is going to set the scene for at least some of the album. It has the feel of say The Byrds, lots of harmonies, that kind of country psychedelia feel. But they add a rather wonderfully jaunty organ. And they’re not afraid to add a rockier element. Lyrically this song is about going on holiday. The words have a slight edge of, let’s call it, corniness but strangely this doesn’t jar.

‘Funland’ is a weirder, more out there thing – it’s more of a psychedelic pop song, although it edges out to something more psychedelic. Feel and tempo changes aplenty. Sweet sweet guitars, keyboards, voice effects. Yet somehow it has hints of music that doesn’t fit into that theme. There is a change of feel for ‘Slow Lane’. It sounds sometimes like an 80s slow pop song but there are trippy sounds mixed in there – Eastern sounds.

‘G-String Love’ mixes something of an 80s’ AOR slow song, hints of prog into something that is compelling musically. Subtle guitars hold your attention, a great arrangement. It does however have the odd moment when things jar – there’s a drop out to something slightly art-rock that I found odd in the smooth feel of the rest of the track.

‘Not The Same’ has an intro that sounds of all things like a lounge band doing The Doors that kinda bends into something that sounds like gentle prog with hints of a jazz thing going on in the keyboards. Again you may get the idea that musically this isn’t going to work but the transitions are so smooth it does.

And they follow this with ‘Shadows’. This is a slight return to the lounge band sound. Actually I’m condemning this with slight praise, because actually this is a pop song in say the vein of Bacharach, smooth with lovely horns, a swing to die for.

‘It’s All Gone’ has a feel, or something of a feel, of 70s’ art-rock. Talking guitar, slightly quirky vocals. Hints of Bowie in places – some of the vocals for one. For some strange reason, a reason I can’t define, I have fallen for this song in a big way.

‘Bad Men’ is one part Americana, one part rocking out, one part something a bit proggy. This may sound like a recipe for disaster but it isn’t, what you actually end up with is something epic, something that takes you on a journey musically.

I haven’t covered all the songs on the album but what I’ve done is to pick out things that for me define what Wally and Steve do.

Look before I go on, I have to say that Steve and Wally are incredibly talented musicians – as far as I can work out they play all the instruments on the album. I can’t fault the album musically in any way.

Some of the songs work better than others. To be honest having listened to the whole album more than once I found the number of songs that I really liked increased. It’s one of those things that you have to let grow on you. Their world is quirky – they mix sounds and genres of music up. Some of the lyrics can be a little jarring at times. But the more you listen to the album the more you get what they do, but you need to open your mind. You may, at times, find yourself smiling at their music but there’s nothing wrong with that.

Right at the top of this review I said this wasn’t a novelty or comedic album, and I’m sticking with that. But I will admit that in the process of writing the review I’ve come to see at least some of the songs as being in the vein of Neil Innes. Whether this is the intention the duo had I have no idea. I have to say that I rather like these a lot. But the thing is that these are mixed in with songs that are just great songs played really well.

I hope I’ve at least intrigued you enough to take a listen to the Bandcamp stream, and make up your own mind. I’ve already done that and I rather enjoy Steve and Wally’s musical world, I enjoy it a lot.

The info

Steve and Wally live in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. They’re knocking on a bit, but still planning on livin’ the dream some time soon…

They also both play in bands based in Hebden Bridge – Wally in Owter Zeds and The 844s, Steve in Pepperjam and The Last Chance Saloon Band.

I was impressed with BACKSPACE’s last release – ‘Letting Go’ – it showed a band that was both progressing and maturing into something really good. I kind of expected something much the same in sound and feel from ‘Faces In The Dark’ but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

‘Faces In The Dark’ is a big piano/keyboards driven ballad-y pop-rock song (tagging it as alternative rock on the preview stream is somewhat misleading, at least to me). Although I’m being somewhat misleading myself in describing it as ‘big’, it would better be described as huge. It has something of a 70s feel to it – it’s that piano and organ, the fuzzy guitar break, the voice and piano intro and outro, those massed backing vocals.

Musically, it almost goes without saying, this is fantastic. BACKSPACE are a band who know their stuff playing wise. But what makes it stand out for me – and I’ve listened to it way too many times, many many more times than I really needed to write a review – is Rosie’s vocals. What she does is take that big rock-pop ballad vocal style and make it her own. She brings a bang up to date twist to it.

What this might sound like is something that’s a strange mix but it’s put together so well that it just works. That vocal twist is something that comes and goes – she has this way of bending the vocal melody that’s compelling. If she did it all the time it would jar.

The other thing about this song is the words, the words are great. And they need to be because Rosie’s voice is so prominent in the mix. It doesn’t give her voice and the words a place to hide. Lyrically this song really works.

BACKSPACE continue to grow, and show us that they are a band to watch. ‘Faces In The Dark’ is impressive, totally impressive. This is one cool song, people.

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a release from FloodHounds, so news of an upcoming single was something of a happy time here in LSF Towers.

‘Something Primeval’ is primeval. It does, as you’d expect, that FloodHounds alt-rock/bluesy thing but it’s heavy and rawer, it’s darker and swampy sounding. The guitar is strident, the drums beat furiously. It’s wonderfully free of frills, it’s just heads down and do it. This is just going to be a blast live.

The band say that the song ‘explores the idea of our innate primeval instinct and if it helps or hinders you in these modern times’. Look, the words of this thing are just something you need to hear for yourself, they rock. They’re full of outrageous rhyming couplets. That’s a huge smile inducing thing right there.

Weirdly, or perhaps not weirdly at all, there’s something in this that reminds me of Roky Erickson’s solo stuff. It’s somewhat more sophisticated but there’s something in that raw earthy beat that does that for me. Look, go Google, Roky’s stuff is cool. Sorry, that was a bit of a strange tangent to go off in but the thought occurred and I just had to share it with you. The point is that ‘Something Primeval’ connects with you somewhere deep musically just like Roky’s music does.

This song is just what we all need right now. This is a riot, it leaves you with a huge smile on your face. It has you up on your feet in seconds, rocking out. Get to it.

Sorry – just a personal message to the band. Please, pretty please, could you release more songs like this!

The info

Just like ‘Out Of Time‘, FloodHounds recorded this track with Thomas Mitchener (producer of Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Strange Bones, Kid Kapichi). They say, ‘We wanted to make something darker and heavier than our previous tunes, mostly ‘cause it’s just fun as hell to play live.

‘The upcoming video was shot in Sheffield’s historic Bear Pit, which is a crazy location, a medieval hole in the ground where they used to house fighting bears’.

Lewis is new to me, although he’s part of Fossilz (so some of you may be aware of him) but having taken a sideways dip into them, what he’s doing solo isn’t anything like the band.

This is music that takes things from such a range of sounds that to list them would just take too damn long to list them and would be, I have to admit, rather tedious for you, the reader. Lewis himself, in an attempt to describe what he does says it’s ‘alternative’. But somehow out of all these influences what he’s come up with is something that I found to be compelling.

‘Heartbreaking’ starts out with something of a hint of Americana, a dash of, and I mean this, Pink Floyd – there’s a guitar sound that when you hear it you’ll know what I mean and a vocal that does that too. And to that he adds a spoonful of something bluesy. And something that has me in mind of Robyn Hitchcock. BUT, and it’s a big but, out of these comes something that is magical, something that is compelling, something that worms it’s way into your head. And this song has the most surprising guitar outro.

‘What Comes Next’, a good question. No, this is actually the name of the next song. I want you to imagine something, a slowed down early REM song, I ask you to do this because this is what it reminds me of.

Look I’m going to stop this, stop pulling out elements that remind me of X artist or Y band because it isn’t fair on Lewis. It makes it sound like crate diver music – you know where it comes from people searching for stuff at record fairs and secondhand record fairs – which this isn’t. This is music that is written and played for the sake of the music not to jump on any sort of bandwagon.

So back to ‘What Comes Next’. What this is a song that laments the unknowing of the future, that wishes for the future to be better. The music would say this without the words, but the words are rather fantastic. And this is a song that rises and falls sonically. And emotionally you are drawn into how the subject of the song feels, you feel that intensely. It’s one of those songs that’s sad, but beautiful in it’s sadness.

‘Passing’ is just voice and guitar, at least to start off. From what I can work it appears to be a song about remembering somebody who’s gone – this may be dead or just gone away. But suddenly it bursts into life, there is extra guitar, there are keyboards. It gains something that is sadly joyful musically.

The closing track ‘I’ll Find My Way’ is something of a madcap indie track. It’s a burst of manic energy.

Look at first I found these songs intriguing, nothing more, but the more I listened to them the more I got past the intrigue and started to connect with the songs. ! started to appreciate the way they’ve been written, put together and played. And then I went back to the start and listened, I mean really listened, to the songs. And then I realised that – and I may be manufacturing something that isn’t there at all – that they hang together, that there’s a thread that connects them. And while individually they’re really fantastic, the full beauty of these songs can only be gained from listening to the whole EP.

You can hear that Lewis writes, plays and sings from the heart. He’s putting himself into these songs, and that’s what makes them so good.

Stream /Download: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/lewisjackinman/reflection

‘Hurricane’ is one of those soaring indie-pop songs, the sort of song that makes you want to sing along to the chorus, waving your arms in the air.

You may be saying ‘But hold on a moment there Frank, those big indie-pop songs aren’t exactly uncommon. What makes this one stand out?’. And I’d say ‘There’s lots’.

There’s the mix of synth-y poppy sounds and slightly rocky guitar bits that’s handled so well. There are the electronica sections that throb with beats and voices fx’ed to the max that bloody soar. There’s the frankly gorgeous vocals that had me surprised in a good way. Are you getting the message here, this isn’t a run of the mill big indie-pop song.

It has ‘cross-over potential’ – if you’ll forgive me lapsing into jargon – it could be almost considered to be a big synth pop song, it has that feel going on. And yet it has enough of that indie-pop thing going on to appeal to fans of that. Look let’s just cut to the chase here, this is a great pop song.

I was, and still am to be honest, somewhat surprised that I liked this track, and I like it a lot. It isn’t usually my sort of thing. For me to be grabbed by something like this it has to be good, more than good. And this is fantastic.

I’ve loved The 99 Degree since I saw them as the first support band at a Fall gig that was to be honest disappointing. They do their own thing, and I love that in a band – as you might have realised.

For The 99 Degree their own thing is mutant punky surfy psychobilly with a dose of western theme music (you know what I mean). ‘John The Killer’ throws in another thing, that Screaming Lord Sutch thing.

It’s all clanging guitar, mad surf guitars, vocals on the bloody edge of gorgeous chaos. I say vocals but let’s be honest the whole thing is on the edge of chaos, it lives on the edge of falling apart. And that’s a wonderful, a fucking wonderful thing. It sounds like it was recorded during the late stage of a drunken night out, but this is a good thing. It’s a riot, it says this is a band who love making music together.

And while it may sound like it’s about to fall apart, the thing is that it’s actually been been put together in a rather fantastic way – from the backing vocals that are casual, to the guitars that basically fucking rock. From the chant-y section to the wild drumming.

And look it makes you want to throw open your windows, turn it up way loud and get people just freaking out to it. It’s hugely fun, and isn’t that something we all need right now.