It’s Valentine’s Day, but don’t expect any love songs. It’s mostly loud and unhinged stuff. Artists featured this week include Black Country, New Road (all one band), JPEGMAFIA, Courting, Ecce Shnak, Idioteque and Lady Gaga…
THE BEST:
‘Besties’
– Black Country, New Road
Art rock band
BCNR are back with a new single and a new singer. The band’s violinist and
backing vocalist, Georgia Ellery (she’s also the lead singer of experimental duo Jockstrap), has stepped into replace former frontman Isaac Wood. Their new single
‘Besties’ is a Paul-McCartney-flavoured baroque pop song. Combined with the new
vocals, it sounds nothing like the BCNR I’m used to. At first, I wasn’t sure
what to think of it. But after a second listen I’m in love with it. The
instrumentation is enjoyably quirky, and pop culture referencing lyrics like ‘I’m
a walking TikTok trend’ are on brand.
‘Cult
Status’ – JPEGMAFIA
R.I.P. Death
Grips. At least we still have JPEGMAFIA to rely on for our dose of cacophonous hip
hop. This might just be the most disgustingly filthy beat that Peggy has ever
produced. It’s a mixture of bowel-rumbling bass and ear-piercing tremolo squeals.
A full EQ assault on the ears. And just when you think it’s reached maximum
filth levels, he switches up the beat and hits you with the most septic sludgy
bassline you’ve ever heard. Peggy teased us with a few seconds of this production
at the end of ‘New Black History’ on his latest album I Lay Down My Life For You, and I thought that teaser was all we were going to get. I’m glad he
decided to take it and flesh it out into a whole song.
‘After
You’ – Courting
‘After You’
has an anthemic rock sound that you don’t hear too often nowadays. The guitars
sound huge without being drenched in reverb and the vocals sound like they’re
being sang through a megaphone. It’s a refreshingly straightforward rock song.
And yet there’s an uneasiness to the chord choices and the lyrics that still makes
this quite unique. The song come’s off the Liverpool band’s upcoming lengthily-titled
album Lust For Life, Or; How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story.
‘Shadows
Grow Fangs’ – Ecce Shnak
Classical-meets-rock
‘chamber punk’ band Ecce Shnak have been releasing a stream of songs from their
new EP. ‘Shadows Grow Fangs’ is their
latest release and is the EP’s title track. It’s a blend of choirboy vocals and
wiry post-punk guitars – it’s tamer than their previous singles, but still more
nuts than most rock songs you’ll hear this month. Those wanting to take the craziness
up a notch should check out their last single ‘The Internet’, which also infuses
hip hop.
‘Weightless
Stairway’ – Idioteque
‘Weightless
Stairway’ is the work of Radiohead-inspired London artist Idioteque. It consists
of woozy vocals and hypnotic keys over a hip-hop-flavoured drum beat that
certainly give it a weightless quality. The vocals are courtesy of frequent collaborator
Sheba Q. Idioteque’s upcoming EP A Stone’s Throw From Home drops on February 28th.
THE WORST:
‘Abracadabra’
- Lady Gaga
The beat drop is pretty nasty. But the verses are forgettable. And Gaga goes a bit too goo goo gaga in the chorus: ‘abracadadaaa, amor-oo-na-naaaa’
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