Indie musician Efro can't get away from the lo-fi sound of the Athens, GA, underground. Now based in Berlin via Brighton, the new single Run Too The Sun has all the trappings of the surf-tinged slacker rock, heavily leaning on the softer side of vintage garage bands. It is a yearning for the halcyon days that were never real, but it doesn't hurt to daydream a bit.
Taxi Girls have made a video for Midnight Mixtape, a track from their Static album: "Imagine Blondie having a rowdy sleepover with The Hives and The Shirts. Whatever bad things the universe may have in store for them, they are ready to face them head on, armed with the holy trinity of rock 'n' roll instruments. As Lou Reed once wrote: you can't beat guitar, bass and drums."
HCTF review of Static
English experimental rock band The Fierce & The Dead will release their fifth studio album, Regional Theatre, on September 11. It is now available for pre-order in a wealth of formats and configurations (various vinyl colours, CD, bonus CD with "Purist Mixes & Other Stories", play script, T-shirt, etc.). The artwork was made by the legendary Mark Buckingham.
Film director, pianist and composer, and singer Diana Ringo paints with broad strokes on her new album Clowns in America, a dark wave album, brimming with sarcasm and satire, that would have been a smash in the Weimar Republic, if they had access to electronic wizardry back then. It is a bunch of theatrical, over the top songs, wrapped up tightly in frozen beats and percussion. Fans of Soft Cell will take to this like a duck to water.
Ringo's experience as a movie maker shines through all the tracks, making it easy for listeners to conjure up haunting scenes that will haunt them in their dreams, waking up in a sweat because of the scary Teeth and the title track Clowns in America. Her vocals are a bit of an acquired taste - having a working knowledge of the works of Genesis P-Orridge, Nico and Anat Spiegel will come in handy. As she sings in the opening track Reptile: "Everything's beautiful when it's strange."
Mancunian indie quartet Westside Cowboy have been playing in Up Boys at pretty much every show for year-and-a-half, but never got around to recording it properly in the studio. They tried and tried, but it never really gelled. A semi live take should have salvaged it, but even that take on the classic loud-quiet-loud approach stumbled and fell flat on its back. That is a pity, but rest assured: they will get it right on stage.
