#279: Elastic Sleep - Leave You (EP review)

Elastic Sleep

Leave You

April 28 2014 (Big Tea Records)

8.5/10

When I first heard Cork-based dream-poppers Elastic Sleep last year, they only had one song - 'Anywhere' - uploaded online at the time, but it was one that left me clamouring to hear more. Thankfully, forthcoming EP 'Leave You' not only sees Elastic Sleep having built upon their sound somewhat, but also having managed to pique the interest of the likes of BBC 6 Music it suggests that 'Leave You' might very well be the release that the lifts the band up a league.

This review was originally written for Little Indie Blogs. Click here to read in full.

#238: Ummagma - Rotation/Live and Let Die (single review)

Ummagma

Rotation/Live and Let Die

December 9 2013 (Emerald and Doreen Records)

8.5/10

Pop will eat itself, or so the time old axiom goes. And it's true; these days especially it seems we're rarely graced by anything completely original. Anything too leftfield, and an artist is dismissed as being experimental for experimental's sake, anything familiar sounding by comparisons, and it's disregarded as unoriginal. Fortunately, however, Canadian/Ukrainian duo Ummagma are managing to avoid such labels. The brainchild of Shauna McLaron and her partner Alexx Kretov, Ummagma's trademarked sound can be pretty much be summarised as dream-gaze, or should that be shoe-pop? And while some of you may well groan at the prospect of more of the same (there has been an awful lot doing the rounds at the moment), the band are doing more than enough to make them stand out amidst the multitude of dream-pop/shoegaze bands on offer.

This review was orignally written for Little Indie Blogs. Click here to read in full.

#230: Introducing...Titanics

As a band, Albany based two-piece Titanics have managed to distil the lazy summers of their  up-state home-town into crisp and atmospheric pop gems that bristle and glisten with a new wave warmth that’s impossible not to sit up and take notice of. Whilst the music of Mark Lombardo and Derek Rodgers won’t grab you by the balls (it’s in fact far less forward than that) it will put it’s arm around your shoulders and gently coax you in with it’s feel good vibes and almost euphoric instrumentation.

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This article was originally written for Hooting & Howling. Click here to read in full.

#228: Patterns - Waking Lines

Album review: Patterns - Waking Lines (2014)

This review was originally written for Muso's Guide. Click the link above to read in full.

#223: Ecstasy - Exhale (EP review)

Ecstasy

Exhale

December 9 2013 (National Anthem)

9.5/10

Though it's coming late to the game, Exhale could very well be one of the best EPs I've had the pleasure of reviewing this year. Marking London quartet Ecstasy's debut release on National Anthem (Haim, Chvrches), it comprises four tracks of irresistible dream-pop atmospherics and sugary synth loops that sound, somewhat fittingly, like Chvrches would do after a weekend on the band's namesake pharmaceutical (which, by all accounts, is never a bad thing). There is more to it than that, however, and despite there being very little information on Ecstasy at the moment (no bad jokes, please) Exhale feels like the record that's going to get more than a select few excited about them.

This review was originally written for Little Indie Blogs. Click here to read in full.

#197: Introducing...LUNGS

Having formed dream-pop duo LUNGS in early 2012 with singer Suzie Blake, it seems that the departure of MC Lord Magrão from indie-rockers Guillemots was almost inevitable, even if he didn’t know it yet. With the new found freedom at their disposal, it took LUNGS roughly six weeks from the date of Magrão’s departure to release their debut single ‘Faraway’, establishing an aesthetic birthed from the cloying conditions occasionally found when part of a band. There’s a sense of freedom within their music, exhibited by Magrão and Blake both; a definite feeling of emancipation  that can only stem from finding yourself with complete creative control.

This article was originally written for Hooting & Howling. Click here to read in full.