Goldspot - Tally Of The Yes Men

Such is the nature of the media that Goldspot seem to be getting more coverage than your average West Coast band plugging their debut album, seemingly because frontman Siddartha Khosla is an American citizen of Indian heritage – something remarkably under-represented in US culture. The band are more notable in the UK, where Indian culture is of course ubiquitous, for giving away their album in conjunction with the Sunday Times Culture section (nearly two years after its release in the States). And of course for having their cover of Modest Mouse’s ‘Float On’ featured on the OC...

It isn’t very surprising that the broadsheets are on board with Goldspot. For ‘Tally Of The Yes Men’ puts a premium on classic song writing while retaining a depth of character and remaining just leftfield enough to entice the intellectuals. First track ‘Rewind’ is a case in point. Opening with simply strummed acoustic and Siddartha’s striking voice, it develops into the kind of fully blown sunshine pop song with a trace of wistful melancholy that is hard to ignore.

The album’s third track ‘Friday’ provides something of a centrepiece to the collection, with its inviting orchestral introduction and irresistible chorus. The song takes the age-old premise of enjoying yourself after a week at work that Hard Fi managed to exploit to remarkably popular effect with ‘Living for The Weekend’ and slathers it in Goldspot’s trademark yearning melodies with just a hint of Bollywood. The song’s rebellious theme takes on extra resonance with the seemingly personal line: “Momma can tell me I’m going nowhere, I’m just a prisoner of my faith”, but it is one that is universally understood. Whatever the theme of the song, though, ‘Friday’ is damned near to a perfect pop song.

There are a host of similarly contagious pop tracks on ‘Tally Of The Yes Men’, but the band are equally successful in their quieter moments. The haunting ‘The Guard’ is a beautifully understated and the song’s ending is inspired, while the sparse ‘So Fast’ recalls a number of morose balladeers, from Jeff Buckley to Will Mason. Goldspot slip in some subliminal messages on ‘Rewind’, declaring: “I’m asking you to stay, the words are finally here. Would you rewind it all the time?”, but the LA-based three-piece don’t really need those kind of underhand tactics, as throughout ‘Tally Of The Yes Men’, their music – be it the summery pop of ‘Time Bomb’, ‘Friday’ or single ‘It’s Getting Old’, or the more reflective ‘The Guard’ or ‘So Fast’ – provides an enticing blend of styles that form a coherent, eminently likeable whole.

Siddartha Khosla is clearly a man of mixed influences, with his Indian heritage represented by the odd instrumental tweak, but most notably by a vocal style and voice that grew up singing in Hindu temples. Often, during the course of the album songs build from quiet beginnings to soaring choruses where his voice is at its stunning best, and perhaps it is this voice that is the most important of all the factors that contribute to the album’s success. The influence that comes through strongest, though, is that of the band’s California home – it’s as if there is something in the water at the recording studios out there that invests everything produced with the California sun. Of course this is helped no end by the influence of Beach Boys engineer Jeff Peters on the recording.

At its heart, ‘Tally Of The Yes Men’ is pure West Coast pop and though at times Goldspot threaten to wander into the middle of a road inhabited by the likes of Travis, they are more often reminiscent of the just below the radar lo-fi pop of Modest Mouse or Herman Dune’s recent work. An extremely accomplished debut, Goldspot mix purity of song-craft with some potentially chart-conquering tunes. They show a softer side with some tender ballads but in essence it is an album full of potential summer singles that will hopefully get the airplay they deserve. Pop music. You’ve got to love it.

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First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.

Coley Park - Quiet Lanes and Other Stories

This four track EP from Berkshire band Coley Park is worth buying just for the cover if you ask me. Designed to look like a vintage orange Penguin paper back, it fills you with a nostalgic joie de vivre before you even take the CD (or vinyl) out – something you just can’t get by downloading an mp3. Ah, for a return to the pre-digital ‘good old days’…

This nostalgia is something that continues with Coley Park’s music, starting with ‘Quiet Lanes’ (taken from the band’s third album Rhinoceros’), a paean to the curiosities of the English countryside where “magic water dries, over quiet country lane, grass spilt either side”. It is a folk rock song, more alt-country than indiepop, but one that would sit happily in either genre, and the addition of some trumpet and Hammond-esque keyboard (that’s Hammond Organ, not Richard Hammond – I have no idea how he plays the keyboard) gives it a summery feel that belies its slightly menacing lyrics.

The eccentric ‘Thurston Moore’ starts with a woozy introduction that sounds like one of those afternoons at primary school when the teacher hands out random instruments to the kids. In a good way. Featuring the Go! Team’s Ian Parton, it is a leisurely folk song where vocals chime slightly discordantly with a perfectly simple recorder line, to wonderfully unsettling results.

On side two of the EP, ‘Meadow Song’ is like a whispered re-telling of ‘We Are Sailing’, while ‘Tired Disappointed Blue’ is another of Coley Park’s slightly off-kilter, lo-fi summertime folk pop moments. The former’s banjo would not be out of place around a campfire and the latter’s breathy vocals turn into a grand indiepop chorus that culminates with an ever so charming impression of a train going “Choo choo choo”. Both songs, like their counterparts on side one, combine the lo-fi exploits of the likes of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Grandaddy and more with an enchanting Englishness that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

“Everyone else seems happy just to head for their final destination, without caring about the stations they pass through”, declare Coley Park as one on ‘Tired Disappointed Blue’. If you find yourself passing through Coley Park Station, make sure you take a look around: you won’t be disappointed.

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First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.

Fields - Song For The Fields

There are a lot of adjectives to describe the kind of music made by Fields: lush, epic, grandiose, ethereal, to name but a few. As if to live up to its mission statement of a title (it should by all rights be called ‘You’re Not The Only One’), this re-released single from debut album ‘Everything Last Winter’ encapsulates all of them.

The lilting acoustic introduction is pleasant enough, but when the song really kicks in with driving guitars, soaring harmonies and pounding drums it is truly impressive. It eventually builds to a euphoric, psychedelic peak with a wall of sound behind the gorgeous boy/girl vocals. For a time the song settles on a piercing repetition of “You’re not the only one” that sounds like your Guns’n’Roses ‘Use Your Illusion I’ CD is skipping, stuck on that line in ‘November Rain’, before falling away and then rising again for a final climax.

You could compare ‘Song For The Fields’ to any number of shoegazers, from My Bloody Valentine to Ride, while in parts there are also elements of Explosions In The Sky’s post rock, Arcade Fire’s chamber pop harmonies or South’s beat-laden euphoria. These stimuli and more swirl around in Fields’ expansive galaxy to create a single well worth its re-release. B-side ‘Nine Stones’ is more delicate and is reminiscent of much of ‘Everything Last Winter’, but is another moment of quality from this band.

When it first came out some 15 months ago, ‘Song for The Fields’ was a startling debut single that promised much. Its re-release now serves as a timely reminder of what remains Fields’ finest moment so far.

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First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.

Dogs - Tall Stories From Under The Table

It didn’t quite happen for Dogs first time round. After building a reputation as a thrilling live act, they were whisked away to record their debut album (‘Turns Against The Land’) to some promise in 2005, but for whatever reason (the band cite not really being ready for it when the opportunity came along) they ended up watching from the sidelines while the likes of Maximo Park and Kaiser Chiefs hit the big time instead of them. Two years and a hell of a lot of gigs later they are back to try and make amends with ‘Tall Stories From Under The Table’ at a time when bands like The Enemy are finding success with a similar brand of indie rock.

‘Dirty Little Shop’ is an excellent way to start. The bass intro and energetic guitar line combine with Johnny Cooke’s searing vocals and a euphoric chorus to create a moment of real quality. The glorious refrain “And you don’t let it fall apart, They’re stabbing little daggers right through your heart” adds emotional resonance to what is all-round a rather good song. Amongst other things ‘Dirty Little Shop’ is a song about desperation of the downtrodden (“the coldest place in the betting shop is by the litter bin, you lost the lot”) and much of ‘Tall Stories…’ focuses on similar themes. From the escapism of ‘Forget It All’ and ‘Who Are Yu’s exploration of the boredom and depression of the 9-5, to the examination of jumped up East End gangsters in ‘Little Pretenders’, Dogs paint a dark portrait of London in 2007.

The album references “Welfare”, “young conservatives” and politically-minded collage artist Winston Smith (the man responsible for the Dead Kennedy’s banned ‘In God We Trust, Inc’ album cover) while setting everything against an aggressive backdrop of drink and drug-addled young London. More than anyone, ‘Tall Stories…’ aligns Dogs with the Jam (Weller himself guests on piano on final track ‘Let It Lay’) and The Clash with their politically charged lyrics, disaffected vitriol and quintessential Englishness, and they would probably have loved to have been making music 30 years ago. While invested with a similar London spirit as ‘Up The Bracket’ or ‘A Weekend In The City’, Dogs make noticeably more disaffected music than the Libertines’ romanticism of the good ship Albion and more straightforward fare than Bloc Party’s intricate deconstruction of city life.

Throughout ‘Tall Stories…’ Dogs walk a fine line between an excellent rock’n’roll band and an average one. Often a song will begin in a less than convincing manner – such as ‘Soldier On’s opening statement: “Here’s to all the lonely old soldiers” – only to grab you by the arm and pull you in. Like an awkward boy on the edge of a school disco dance floor, you may pretend you don’t want to dance, you may even believe yourself that you don’t, but once you get dragged in it’s damned good fun. This is exactly the way that song (and several others on the album) develops with its irresistible fraught, passionate, hell-for-leather chorus draws you in. Similarly, ‘Forget It All’s contrived line “run from the white coats, you’re not going to dance today” is initially a little off-putting but the aching guitars and anthemic chorus mean it ends up as an album highlight.

There are several other highlights on a record that doesn’t allow the listener much time for reflection, so on edge are all the songs. ‘Who Are Yu’ ends up like a harder-edged Kaiser Chiefs with its questioning chorus and Cribs-esque backing shouts, while the frenetic ‘Little Pretenders’ gives heavier treatment to the violence of East London that is world’s away from the fashionista neighbourhoods of the area. The final two tracks on ‘Tall Stories…’ prove that Dogs can do anthems too, with Cooke’s vocals at their best. He trembles through lines like “We grew up with this every day” and “I hope you’re better mate cos I can’t help getting afraid” on the nostalgic ‘By The River’, while ‘Let It Lay’s glorious chorus of “If you’re running away don’t waste it” is the finest moment on the album.

Dogs are at their best when they keep it simple like this. However, they mix their grand, affecting moments with attempts at contrived poetics, the more contrived of which do tend to stand out (see for example “the bullet whistles like a poison kiss” or “she’s been eating £50 notes as a slow red river runs sleepily over her” from ‘These Days’). Elsewhere, lines like “Right now I reckon I’m better off out with a packet of snouts and a shivering face” (‘Little Pretenders’), “He put the ‘pissed’ in philanthropist” (‘Who Are Yu’), “I’m heading for the bright lights, with a little bit of gumption…I’ve got one foot in heaven and the other in town” (‘On A Bridge, By A Pub’) and rhyming “balaclava” with “palaver” (‘These Days’) can either be endearingly entertaining or a little painful, though with the passion oozing from Johnny Cooke’s voice it is hard not to be charmed.

The album is, though, positively dripping with the passion and commitment of a band who have nearly made it once and are determined not to blow it again. It may not be revolutionary, but ‘Tall Stories…’ is dynamic and engaging enough throughout. Guitar riffs pulsate like synapses through an album that is racked with nervous energy and Cooke’s vocals are great throughout – though the recurring faux-sneering fills of “Yeah right” or similar are another aspect of the album that can be a little cringe-making. Whatever you think of their music, though, you certainly can’t fault Dogs for effort or endeavour and this is something that comes across in every song.

As rock’n’roll albums go ‘Tall Stories From Under The Table’ is certainly not the best you’ll ever hear, probably not the best you’ll hear this year, maybe not even this month. But Dogs have something that, given the chance, might just win you over. Whether it’s the commitment to every note, the non-stop action or just the melodies of songs like ‘Dirty Little Shop’, ‘Tall Stories…’ gets under your skin. If the likes of the Enemy and the Twang are adorning NME covers left right and centre, there is no reason why Dogs can’t join them. I’d rather listen to this band any day…

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First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.

Super Furry Animals live at the ICA, London 19/06/07

Is it just me or is there something in the air? Something rather familiar but definitely exciting? All of a sudden life seems that little bit more enjoyable, there’s a spring in your step and nothing can bring you down. Is it? Could it be? Yep, you guessed it: it’s that feeling any discerning music fan gets when there’s a new Super Furry Animals album in the offing. And a new album means the joys of seeing these infectious (purely in an entertainment sense, you understand – I’m not suggesting for a moment that any member of the band has any sort of contagious disease) Welshmen play a selection of their tremendous canon of songs live.

Aside from some preceding Cardiff club dates, Super Furry Animals the band haven’t actually played live together since last August. As Gruff states, since they last played London there have been “two babies, four solo projects and a new record”, but in front of a rather sweaty ICA crowd there is not even a hint of rustiness in what turns out to be a thoroughly enjoyable, textbook Super Furries show. From start to finish, the overwhelming enthusiasm that engulfes the audience from the stage suggests that the Welshmen are revelling being back in each other’s company. Needless to say, the enthusiasm is returned in kind.

A rousing version of ‘Slow Life’ kicks things off, made all the more [ahem] ‘powerful’ half way through when Gruff puts down his harmonica in favour of a huge red Power Rangers helmet, and, in a particularly surreal moment even for the Super Furries, proceeds to sing through the eye of his new giant head. ‘Rings Around The World’ and ‘Golden Retriever’ follow, and despite jokingly declaring that the band intend to play side one of new album ‘Hey Venus!’ before returning to play side two, the majority of the performance is a pretty much standard Super Furries set – perhaps unsurprising given that this is largely a festival warm up show.

They do, however, include six new numbers that they play consecutively. And do you know what? Not only do they fit in seamlessly alongside the familiar material, they all sound great too. ‘The Gateway Song’, which they declare to be the shortest they’ve ever written, is a 30 second burst of glam rock that declares, “Once you get hooked, you can’t get enough”. And with more of a pop-rock feel to them than recent albums ‘Phantom Power’ and ‘Love Kraft’, the new songs definitely seem to be of the class that might just get you hooked. ‘Run-Away’ is apparently the band’s attempt to “bring yodelling back to the lexicon of rock’n’roll” with its big, melodic chorus and, in fact, big choruses seem to be the order of the day for the forthcoming ‘Hey Venus!’. ‘Show Your Hand’ (“a song about gambling”) is a glorious 60’s inspired sing-along with hints of ‘Baby Love’ and ‘Good Vibrations’ and Gruff on acoustic guitar, while the more psychedelic ‘Neo-Consumer’ also begs for future crowd participation with a chorus that goes something along the lines of “Oh oh oh whoa-oh oh oh oh oh”. The rockier ‘Into The Night’ and the groovy ‘Gift That Keeps Giving’ provide Gruff with an opportunity to test out his falsetto and both utilise typical Super Furry Animals harmonies, the latter of which, according to the front man, will be their “Christmas single”. It all sounds very promising…

The rest of the show is made up of old favourites, but they are delivered with aplomb and there is certainly no sign of the band getting bored of playing them. Perhaps the loudest cheers of the night are reserved for ‘Mwng’s ‘Nythod Cacwn’ and ‘Fuzzy Logic’s ‘God Show Me Magic’. Some novelty is injected into proceedings with surprise guest Wendy Flower (from Wendy and Bonnie, whose ‘By The Sea’ is sampled at the beginning of the song) duetting on ‘Hello Sunshine’, by a reworking of ‘Northern Lites’ in the style of Teenage Fanclub and by Gruff taking on Paul McCartney’s ‘food’ role and munching on crisps during ‘Receptacle for the Respectable’. The band, in fact, make a point of playing at least one track of each of their seven previous studio albums, with highlights including an anthemic ‘Juxtapose With U’ (complete with vocal effects for the verses) and final trio ‘Do Or Die’, ‘Ice Hockey Hair’ and ‘The Man Don’t Give A Fuck’, during which Gruff and guitarist Bunf engage in some outrageous guitar sparring. Whatever they play, though, each song is delivered with verve and the band sound as tight as ever.

As far as live performances go, you don’t get much more entertaining than your average Super Furry Animals gig and this one is no different. It’s in everything from the giant Power Rangers helmet to the crisps, the vocal effects to the sparring guitars. Most importantly, though, it’s in the songs. The Super Furries make music that can be experimental on record, but live asks nothing more of its audience than to be enjoyed. And they pull at all off with an irresistible combination of boyish enthusiasm and rock star cool. As always, it sure is good to have them back.

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First published on rockfeedback.com. See it here.