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The Horrors – She Is The New Thing

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If anyone were ever to suggest that nothing good ever emerges from Southend, to point towards The Horrors as a counter-argument against this would not be a smart move. I’m still bewildered as to what anybody could ever possibly see in this band. They can’t sing, they can’t play their instruments, and they sure as hell aren’t talented songwriters. The Horrors have to be one of the worst bands to have emerged from this country in recent years, and with suitably awful haircuts and clothing tastes – to look at them is almost as torturing as to listen to their music. ‘She Is The New Thing’ will be the most painful 2 minutes 39 seconds of your life should you ever have the misfortune of listening to it, and if you ever happen to tune into your favourite radio station as this one is being announced, be sure to switch to another frequency as a matter of urgency. I really have no time whatsoever for this band, and this new single has done nothing whatsoever to change my mind on the matter.

Label: Loog Records
Release Date: 18th June 2007

Rating:
Review Star

Sounds Like Violence – Heartless Wreck

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Having recently played a handful of UK tour dates, Sounds Like Violence now release a new single in the form of ‘Heartless Wreck’, and I personally have to admit to not being in the slightest bit impressed with this latest offering. Sounding like a Swedish Placebo here vocally, Sounds Like Violence screech their way through this one and fail to ever really get going. There are moments when you feel as though this single has some real promise and is beginning to grow some balls, however ultimately it always seems to go back to being a vocally irritating and musically uninspiring track. When the band released their ‘The Pistol’ EP back in 2004 I was really quite impressed with what I heard, however somewhere in the past 3years something has obviously gone drastically wrong for them as they are now sounding dreadful as far as I’m concerned. This year saw the band release their debut album in the form of ‘With Blood On My Hands’ through Deep Elm/Burning Heart – I for one will not be rushing out to buy it. Unless you’re a fan of Placebo and feel you would enjoy hearing a slightly edgier version of them then I’d stay well clear of this one.

Label: Deep Elm/Burning Heart Records
Release Date: 11th June 2007

Rating:
Review Star

Koopa – One Off Song For The Summer

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Koopa made history earlier this year when they became the first unsigned band to enter the UK Official Top 40, entering at No. 31, and if the quality and catchiness of this one is anything to go by then they should be set to do it again come Sunday. ‘One Off Song For The Summer’ is one of the best songs I’ve heard this year by far, and with an incredibly strong chorus you’ll be humming it for months to come having heard it even just once. If this track were to be released by a band as well renowned for instance as McFly then there is no doubt at all in my mind that this track would easily enter the top 5, if not grace the prestigious Number 1 spot. It really is a finely crafted pop anthem, and with ‘Summer Anthem’ written all over it well and truly lives up to its name as the ‘One Off Song For The Summer’. Koopa are clearly a band with a bright future ahead of them – currently showcasing the fact that you don’t need to be signed to do well anymore.

Release Date: 11th June 2007

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview StarReview Star

Bowling For Soup – I’m Gay

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Following on from the release of first single ‘High School Never Ends’, Bowling For Soup are now to release ‘I’m Gay’ from their ‘The Great Burrito Extortion Case’ album. As ever, the single is catchy pop punk at it’s finest and still proves Bowling For Soup to be one of the best in their genre. Having never taken themselves too seriously, the emphasis has always been on having fun with Bowling For Soup and this is still a theme that is ever present in their music. ‘I’m Gay’ is a terrific single complete with an incredibly catchy chorus, strong guitars and good humour throughout. I have a great love of pop punk and as such have always been a fan of the band, and other than their quite frankly awful cover of Fergie’s ‘London Bridge’ they have never given me any reason to consider myself otherwise. Chances are that you’ll already have made up your mind about whether or not you like the band which is fair enough, but I’d strongly suggest you give this track a try as it truly is one of the finest Pop Punk tracks you’re likely to hear this year. Bowling For Soup tracks always put a massive smile on my face and in my opinion thats what music should be about.

Label: A&G Records
Release Date: 11th June 2007

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Review StarReview StarReview StarReview StarReview Half Star

The Holloways – Generator

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Having originally released ‘Generator’ last October with the track named in NME’s top 20 tracks of the year, The Holloways have now re-recorded it and are to release it again on June 11th through TVT Records. Since having released it last, the track has been used on Fern and Reggie’s Radio 1 weekend show as the theme to their ‘New Music Generator’ so has since been exposed to a much larger audience. ‘Generator’ is a definite summer anthem which with it’s use on Fern and Reggie’s Radio 1 show should guarantee it a fair degree of success upon release. The track is an upbeat and enjoyable offering, showing The Holloways to be well and truly capable of penning tracks with fantastic pop sensibilities. It was a strange time of year to have released the single in the winter, however the fact the song is now being released in its rightful season should definitely reflect upon the popularity it will enjoy. Having spent the last 18 months on the road with the likes of Babyshambles and The Kooks, as well as having played several of their own sold out headline dates, this Summer could be when The Holloways really explode into the limelight.

Label: TVT Records
Release Date: 11th June 2007

Rating:
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The Bravery – Time Wont Let Me Go

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The Bravery were at their peak 2 years ago with the release of ‘An Honest Mistake’, and if this track is anything to go by then it looks as though the band peaked a bit too soon. ‘Time Won’t Let Me Go’ plods along and never really gets going – the music is very similar to what it was before, it’s just lacking the energy and excitement that it always had before. There are strong moments in the track, it’s just not consistently strong throughout and does become rather repetitive and tedious mid way through. The Bravery were never a favourite of mine, but I did rather like their self titled album – however if ‘Time Won’t Let Me Go’ is anything to go by then their next release ‘The Sun And The Moon’ is going to be somewhat of an anti-climax after the two year wait. Autumn is the season the band have picked to unleash their next album, only time will tell as to whether or not they will release another strong offering.

Label: Island Records
Release Date: 9th July 2007

Rating:
Review StarReview Star

Queens of the Stone Age – 3’s & 7’s

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With new album ‘Era Vulgaris’ soon to be released; on the evidence of this offering it should be a cracker. Typically Queens Of The Stone Age, ‘3’s & 7’s’ is complete with the unmistakable Josh Homme vocals and trademark jaunty guitar work. At 3 minutes 33 seconds in length, ‘3’s & 7’s’ stands proud as one of my favourite QOTSA tracks of all time and I for one will most definitely be listening to this one a lot over the coming months. There’s such strong guitar work here, and right up until the last second of the track Homme is still continuing to impress with it. When Josh Homme kicked Nick Oliveri out of the band in January 2004, I felt it could have been the end of the band; however QOTSA have marched on since then and proven me completely wrong, especially now with them sounding stronger than ever. It is clear that QOTSA still have what it takes to pen a fine track, and I personally am eagerly anticipating the release of their forthcoming album.

Label: Interscope Records
Release Date: 4th June 2007

Rating:
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Goldspot – It’s Getting Old

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Another day, another major label Indie bore. Goldspot are the latest generic and uninspiring Indie Rock band to be signed to UMG Recordings. Although a terribly dull and lacklustre offering, ‘It’s Getting Old’ did manage to live up to it’s name by getting extremely old after just one or two listens. There is nothing that stands out whatsoever about this track and I just don’t understand why record label executives keep seeing it as a good idea to sign up bands as creatively lacking as this. I quite honestly don’t have one single positive thing to say about this track – musically it is lacking, vocally it’s nothing special, and creatively their song writing talent seems to be non-existent. I do appreciate a good Indie track when I hear one, but ‘It’s Getting Old’ is most certainly not that; in fact this is Indie at it’s most mundane. There is no doubt in my mind that Goldspot’s time at a major label will be short lived; it’s only a matter of time before the boys from this band are forced to go back to their day jobs.

Label: UMG Recordings
Release Date: 4th June 2007

Rating:
Review Star

Maroon 5 – It Wont Be Soon Before Long

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Maroon 5 released their debut ‘Songs About Jane’ back in 2002, however it wasn’t until 2004 that the album really started to take off. 5 years on from the release of their album of break up anthems and their sound has developed to be a Jamiroquai meets Justin Timberlake affair. Done well and this would probably be a brilliant mix, however the band never quite manage to match the flair of either and have instead come up with an album of competent yet unmemorable offerings. Although at times an enjoyable listen, ‘It Wont Be Soon Before Long’ leaves you empty of any real lasting memories; and half hour on from listening to the album the chances are that you’ll have forgotten the majority of what you’ve just heard.

Although not the most memorable of albums, for the duration of the album it is predominantly a fairly enjoyable listen. In my eyes however; the definition of a great album is one that leaves a lasting impression on you, which of course this doesn’t. Having said this I mustn’t be too negative as the album does provide some entertainment and enjoyment, albeit soon forgotten. ‘Won’t Go Home Without You’ is reminiscent of ‘She Will Be Loved’ in its intro, but other than this initial buzz is devoid of what made that track such a standout single. ‘Can’t Stop’ and first single ‘Makes Me Wonder’ are promising tracks, however there is nothing particularly special about them. They are semi-catchy tracks that with time stop being catchy and in turn just become plain irritating. There is a distinct lack of imagination shown in this release with many of the tracks sounding identical to one another as is true of many bands of this sort.

With ‘Songs About Jane’, and in particular ‘She Will Be Loved’ the band stood out from the pack, however there is nothing that really does this for them here. Sure the album is enjoyable and to an extent it is interesting, but the interest provided here is not enough to make you keep wanting to go back to the album meaning it will soon be neglected to a life of acquiring dust. I fear that ‘It Wont Be Soon Before Long’ shows a strong sign of sophomore slump syndrome, with their second release showing a distinct lack of musical progression.

Having taken 5 years to release another album, you’d have thought that the band would have come up with something a little better than this, however the fact that they haven’t seems to suggest that their multi-platinum selling debut was more a fluke than talent and judgement. A gap of 2 years between albums and you have the understanding that the aim of the band is to better themselves and come up with an album to the best of their ability. A gap of 5 years and you just assume the band are either lazy, incompetent or both. It would seem that Maroon 5 got lucky last time round, and the old cliché ‘Lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice’ springs to mind here.

Label: Octoscope Music
Release Date: 21st May 2007

Rating:
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Kaiser Chiefs – Everything Is Average Nowadays

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With a single title like ‘Everything Is Average Nowadays’, you have to wonder if the band were being ironic when they came up with the title. There’s nothing special at all about this one, and on a scale of 1 to 10 I’d say it would most definitely get an ‘Average’. Although of a similar styling to the singles on their previous album ‘Employment’, there is just something lacking about this one, with the track failing to ever remain in the memory for long. It truly is a lackluster offering from a band that only 2 years ago released an album packed full of catchy and interesting tracks. Thing’s go from bad to worse when we get to B-Side ‘Out Of My Depth’ which has to be one of the most boring tracks I’ve heard in a long while. It’s hard to imagine the band writing this one and sitting down collectively thinking ‘Yeah, this is a good one’, or perhaps they didn’t and thats why its been lazily pushed aside as a B-Side. I suppose with an A-Side as dull as ‘Everything Is Average Nowadays’, the B-Side was never going to be up to much and all we can be is thankful that the track was not any worse than it is. All things considered, things seem to be going from bad to worse for the Kaiser Chiefs and as far as I can see, the band will be incredibly lucky if they live to see the release of a third studio album as their popularity rapidly declines and decays.

Label: B-Unique
Release Date: 21st May 2007

Rating:
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