Single Review Round-Up: Vietwow, Scholars, Stagecoach/Johnny Foreigner, Enter Shikari, Avenge Vulture Attack, My Pet Dragon and The Prospect
Vietwow – If You Ever Leave Me/Hole In The Head'Available for download and on floppy disc from November 22nd via Idle Hands Records.
VIETWOW! feature ex members of Blakfish, Meet Me In St. Louis, Super Tennis, as well as a current Youvves member. Upon hearing this, you’d be forgiven for expecting to know pretty much exactly what to expect. However, you won’t find Big Scary Monsters records dream band on this double A side like you may have expected. What you will find though is two slices of lo-fi pop goodness that isn’t too far off the bands own description of a ‘Frank Turner and Rivers Cumo side project’.
First song ‘If You Ever Leave Me Then I’ll Fucking Kill You’ is reminiscent of an English Arcade Fire if Arcade Fire had a phsycopath writing their lyrics. It is an incredible pop song and I imagine it would be almost impossible to listen to this song without cracking a smile. Second song ‘Hole in the Head’ is more catchy lo-fi sing along pop music and makes this a strong double A side and well worth checking out.
4/5
Scholars - Tornadoes/FracturesReleased on limited edition 7” vinyl on November 15th (Pre-Order)
Scholars are a band I have heard mentioned a lot recently, their name seems to be cropping up in many magazines, blogs and various websites, most of the time this comes with comparisons to Hundred Reasons, Hell Is For Heroes, etc. They sound like pretty much the perfect band, too good to be true, surely? Based on this double A side record, not necessarily.
‘Tornadoes’ is a track that is just as good as anything the aforementioned bands did, it’s got the heavy guitars, strong vocals and a great chorus and after a few listens it’s easy to see why this band have got peoples tongues wagging. ‘Fractures’ takes everything that was good about ‘Tornadoes’ and does it even better, and only further cements this bands place firmly at the top of the current UK music scene. Cannot recommend this band/release enough, check it out and you might find your new favourite band.
4.5/5
Stagecoach/Johnny Foreigner - Split
Released on November 15th through Alcopop Records.
The Stagecoach/Johnny Foreigner split release was a record I was looking forward to reviewing since the moment it landed in my inbox, for two reasons; Stagecoach are a band I have heard a lot about but have never listened to, yet always wanted to. The second reason being that Johnny Foreigner are incredible and according to last.fm are my most listened to band ever.
Side A is the bands new songs, and first up is Stagecoach and their new one ‘Not Even Giles Would Say We’ll Be Ok!!!’ which is absolutely incredible, it’s got the math-y sounding guitars and screeching one minute, soothing the next minute vocals we love bands like Johnny Foreigner and Los Campesinos for and all with added woah-oh’s. Next up, is the new JoFo track ‘Tru Punx’ which is absolutely fantastic. Don’t expect a massive change in direction but if you already love the band, you’re going to love it, I certainly do.
Side B is each bands cover of the other bands song. Stagecoach take on ‘Salt, Pepper & Spinderella’ which is one of my favourite JoFo songs, so it would always be a hard task topping the original. The band do a great acoustic cover that is amazing in its own right, and the vocals are incredible, but I find that it really just wants to make me go listen to JoFo’s version. Johnny Foreigner then cover Stagecoache's ‘Good Luck With Yr 45’ and as I haven’t heard the original, I can only judge this version, which is incredible. Not what I expected to hear, it’s like an indie barbershop quartet and is amazing.
In short, Stagecoach are my new favourite band and Johnny Foreigner are better than they have ever been. Making for an incredible split.
5/5
Enter Shikari - DestabiliseAvailable now on Ambush Reality
I think by now, people are going to know how they feel about Enter Shikari, so I don’t think I need to go into much detail to set the scene. Either way, the band are back with new single ‘Destabilise’, which is Enter Shikari by numbers. It’s got all elements we have come to expect from this band by now; singing, shouting, talking, an epic sounding chorus, gang vocals, electronic music (which in this case is very dubstep sounding, which kind of works but at the same time it doesn’t set it apart from other Shikari songs like you may expect). Basically, fans of the band are going to love this song, but I can’t see it winning other the neutrals, and it definitely won’t change the minds of the haters. However, I am a big fan of the band, and personally, I think this is just as good, if not better than the last few singles.
4/5
Avenge Vulture Attack - Murder In The Nth DegreeAvailable now on iTunes.
Avenge Vulture Attack are a band I wouldn’t usually like, I have never been into female vocalists in rock bands, something about it doesn’t resonate with me, and I can’t put my finger on why. However, I was surprised to find myself quite enjoying the band’s new single ‘Murder in the nth degree’. It’s a dark song with haunting vocals that work well with the track, be it female or not. In regards to the actual structure and feel of the song though, there isn’t much new here, but they do it really well, and fans of The Pretty Reckless and bands of that ilk will definitely be a fan, and even if not, this track is worth checking out as you might find yourself presently surprised like me.
3/5
My Pet Dragon - Flow EPSomething about the name My Pet Dragon made me a bit sceptical going into this release but I was surprised to find a lovely, atmospheric, alt-pop band. Lead single ‘Flow’ is an epic sounding pop song with a fantastic chorus and great vocals. The B-side is an atmospheric sounding shoe-gaze take on Pearl Jam’s ‘Release’ and Todd Michealsen’s vocals really shine on the track. Expect to hear more from the band in the future.
3/5
The Prospect - Fairytale
Available as a free download here.
Fairytale is the new single from reading punk band The Prospect, and I think it is safe to say that it isn’t breaking any new boundaries, but the band are pretty good at doing what they do and it shows promise and potential. Basically, if you are into pop punk that leans more towards punk than pop then you could do worse than listen to this track. It's a free download at the moment so worth a punt at the very least.
2/5
All reviews by Daniel Ferguson
