Local favourites // Vadoinmessico

Five piece Vadoinmessico only just qualify as 'local' favourites, solely thanks to drummer Joe. The remainder are made up of Italians Giorgio and Alessandro, Salvador (from Mexico) and banjo playing Austrian Stefan, combining to make luscious, tropical folk-pop. The Vampire Weekend-esque Pepita Queen of the Animals and In Spain showcase elegantly quirky vocals reminiscent of Devendra Banhart, while the nostalgic rolling folk and slide guitars of Teeo are our personal picks, but there's much to admire in all the band's enigmatic output thus far.

Preparing to release their debut record 'Archaelogy of the Future' on 5th March on PIAS, Vadoinmessico will be following up with a show at the Lexington with Drugstore on 6th April.


 

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Local Favourites // Shells

It's been a while since our last local favourites, but a return was inevitable once we heard the Balaeric pulse and crystalline beats of London's Shells. Following his Pastels EP earlier this year, electronic producer Shells' (Khalid Rafique) Arctic is so clean and crisp it's making us feel decidedly grubby on this dull autumn evening, a feeling that is only intensifying with multiple, multiple replays. Go enjoy it for yourself below.



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Local favourites // Novella

A Google of 'Novella' may confuse the lazy among you into thinking that London's Novella is also in fact Finland's Novella, or perhaps Christian rock band from the early 90s. They're not.

This Novella has been knocking around London support slots for a while, but their recent superb trio of Sonic Youth / Teenage Fanclub influenced tracks is the best the band has produced yet, each descending into grinding jams swamped in fuzzy feedback with dreamily laissez faire vocals.

Alongside Warm Brains, Not Cool, Male Bonding, Gross Magic, Yuck, Colours, Weird Dreams, Sauna Youth among others, London isn't exactly wanting for lo-fi talent, however the tracks below suggest Novella is more than able of joining the party. Catch them at 1234 in a few weeks.

The Things You Do by Novella.
Oh Brian by Novella.
Beach Fatigue by Novella.

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Sauna Youth // Tense Men

We haven't done a local favourites feature in a while, so now you get two for the price of one. Or two for the price of none, really.

Trading in 3 chord riffs and cat calls, Sauna Youth is a balls out blast that resurrects the late 70s without seeming formulaic or copyist. Sharing a Faux Discx 7" with Ale Mania and various London stages with Abe Vigoda, Fair Ohs and Trogons of late, the soon to be released Backgrounds marks a distinctive step forward. The band have been about for a while now, but hopefully this release will drive them on to even better things.





To segue impecibly, Tense Men is a project formed of Sauna Youth frontman Rich and Cold Pumas' Ollie. Their sound is claustrophobic post punk built around looping, agitating guitars, chanted lyrics and incessant cymbal-led drumming. It's definitely tense, I'm pretty sure they're men and the tracks below, particularly A Gruesome Discovery, suggest this side project has legs.

TENSE MEN by TENSE MEN

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Woman's Hour // Human

London based four-piece Woman's Hour put out this brilliant track a month or two ago, but being slow on the uptake should not stop us from praising its slow burning dream-pop elegance, built around a pulsing bass and Fiona-Jane's ethereal vocal.

The band play the next monthly Vice issue launch at Old Blue Last at the end of the month alongside Hyetal and Dauwd.

Human by Woman's Hour
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Local favourites // Fanzine

Fanzine have not been gigging long, but what they have done has been of the highest calibre of bill. London shows with Spectrals, Cymbals Eat Guitars and French Kissing have helped draw a deserved amount of attention to a band with a discerning collective ear for a melody.

While heavily influenced by late 80s / early 90s American indie, there's a gleaming poppiness to the vocals on early track Susan, which draws on Pacific coast surf and, somehow, Pink Floyd, while Run is akin to a sprawling, Smashing Pumpkins re-edit of Graham Coxon. With the band currently recording new material, there should be much, much more to enjoy from Fanzine this year.

Run by Fanzine

Local favourites // Drum Eyes

Minding my own business I was. Waiting for The Pipettes and minding my own business. Then, from the wings of the many-tunnelled sweat-box of Leeds' Cockpit, came DJ Scotch Egg armed with said picnic snack and a fearsome barrage of SNEStronica to temporarily blind me. Being average height (for a girl) I'm not a tall man, but fizzing through the armpits and shoulders of all before me like a Robin Hood arrow a bread-crumbed ball thundered into my right eye.

After this traumatic episode I'm loathed to hail the future projects of my nemesis, but Brighton based Drum Eyes are too good to ignore. Theirs is a world of boundless possibility, merging hardcore drums, 80s synths and a psychedelic take on structure to create music alien to convention. Their debut Gira Gira was out a few months back on Upset the Rhythm, but here's a taster of their madcappery.

Local favourites // Not Cool

Tom Bingham is the man responsible for the excellent and confusingly sinister superhero above, soon to adorn the front cover of London three-piece Not Cool's debut 12". At eight songs, is it an EP or is it an LP? Perhaps it should be an MP? However it's pitched, Not Cool are destined to win a score of fans with its release, melding lo-fi garage with a wilful disregard for convention, making them a massive No Action favourite.

Rugged Raw is out in September on Sleep All Day Records. In the meantime, here's an example or what's in store.

Local favourites // Get People

Get People have been on the radar for a bit but, in an unusual move for a new, unsigned act, seem almost determined to fly under it, cloaking themselves in mystery and playing no shows save for a few DJ sets.

Delivering the sort of tropical electronica Friendly Fires hinted at with post album single Kiss of Life, only perhaps with a more explicit use of pan-pipes and bongos, the band's sound is complex yet invitingly warm, making their self-imposed absence from the spotlight all the more intriguing. Apparently live shows will arrive in September. Till then you'll have to make do with the below.

Local favourites // Colours

London four-some Colours produce songs draped with claustrophobic reverb yet filled with vibrant melody, making for a thrilling sonic experience. While their song-naming can only be described as satisfactory (Lost Youth, The Lost Hour, Losers), there's much to love in their powerful three minute thrash.

Having recently released their debut 7" on Sleep All Day Records, the band are playing a series of London dates (including a support slot with No Action favourites Spectrals at Cargo) before the July 27th release of a split EP on Marshall Teller Records alongside Not Cool, Cheatahs and Dignan Porch.

Local favourites // Trash Kit

Lo-fi is currently very en vogue, but the flaw of any emerging scene is that, once the door is opened, all and sundry can stroll through with a roughly crafted demo and command undue attention from slathering labels.

Trash Kit, however, are one of the good ones. The release of their self-titled debut on local indie Upset the Rhythm supports their case. While it's defiantly ramshackle and chaotic, there's a wild energy and melody to be found among the fuzz and reverb that sets the girls above their peers. No more so than on Cadets, its tribal drums and war cries acting as an unrelenting call to arms for those tired of polished pop.

Head to Stereogum for more Trash Kit related goods.

Local favourites // Male Bonding

Dalston's Male Bonding (be careful when you Google) are preparing to release their long awaited debut album Nothing Hurts on May 10th, followed by a launch party at Camp Basement, Old Street on May 27th alongside other London greats Pens and Veronica Falls. This and, most importantly, the fact the trio produce some outstanding shoe-gaze inspired grunge, thrillingly towing the line between noise and melody, makes them more than a little deserving of being current local favourites.

Having released various split 7" alongside Fair Ohs, Pens and Cold Pumas, Sub Pop were suitably impressed to invest their time and cash in the band, who are now on their way to shake the foundations of a village hall near you. Here's a taste from the band's BBC session. Great huh?

Local favourites // Babeshadow

Having bagged a lugubrious tour support slot with the increasingly omnipresent Florence and gigging alongside fellow London success stories Golden Silvers and The Maccabees, Babeshadow are pretty successfully crafting a first class career for themselves.

Having formed mere months ago this marks progress indeed and, while early demos Sea Serpent and Darling are pleasantly lilting three minute vignettes of city loving, the 60s song-writing and hooks promise plenty. One hopes the Babes choose the more scenic, challenging route to success for longevity's sake but, for now at least, there's enough to love to make the days seem brighter and the summer seem closer. Plus, they'll be appearing alongside the incredible Summer Camp on April 8th at London's Lexington. Reason enough to raise the Babeshadow alarm in No Action's view.

Local favourites // La Shark

From this week forth No Action will be highlighting the fine work of some of London's primest cuts, in a series sensibly titled 'Local favourites'.

First up, New Cross's La Shark. Harnessing Beefheart's experimental spirit and a distinctly London DIY-punk ethic, the product is deliciously offbeat synth-pop with prog leanings. Perhaps a cross-breed of XX Teens' darkly surreal delivery and Micachu and The Shapes' genre defiance. Bones and recent single A Weapon could well see them propelled into brighter limelights, while 1958 is currently free to download from their site. Catch it while it's hot.