Oxfordshire's Fixers are probably the first thing to come up if you typed "Positive dreamy" or "How I would most like to wake up" into Google. Or maybe "What would it sound like if 'Smile' era Brian Wilson recorded Simple Minds' Don't You?".
Amsterdam is a beautiful, expansive track, and the filmic video only adds to it's wonder. The band will be alongside fellow No Action favourites Get People and Cheatahs at Young and Lost Club's Christmas do in a few weeks, and watch for more dates in what is likely to be a big 2011 for them.
Mixing the post punk agit of The Fall and XX Teens with the essential weirdness of La Shark, Hull's The Neat are rising nicely and preparing the release of new single Hips on Kaiser Chiefs' label Chewing Gum Records.
The video is an anxious, intense experience and, while while earlier track Youth Is Pleasure is probably superior, the band have much in their locker. They'll be in London three time in the next few weeks as they traverse the isles, and are definitely worth a look.
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.
In what is the antithesis of the video for the single version of this track, here we not only get a hooded Bonnie Prince Billy's whispering backing vocals, but a splendidly be-capped Alexis and a prime view of Mr Joe Goddard's puppies (ahem, my apologies). A most pleasant five minutes.
Cloud Nothings is a man. Let's get that straight. To his friends he's 19-year-old Dylan Baldi, and he makes bedroom garage anthems and brilliant record sleeves, such as this. Leave You Forever is but one part of his True Panther released 4-song EP of the same name and, of the host of excellent acts that have already been announced for SXSW 2011 and no doubt countless more to come, Cloud Nothings could well be the pick.
Dylan and band will be trading their wares with Les Savy Fav in London before the month is out, which will definitely be worth a watch.
London label Sleep All Day Records featured, albeit briefly, on No Action as an aside to a featurette on the magnificent Colours. We felt it only right that the label backing some of the best and brightest first city talents should garner some plaudits of its own. So here's a brief dedication, highlighted through the works of its pedigree offspring, to Sleep All Day.
Weird Dreams meld 60s London pop with Johnny Marr riffs and the result is aural heaven. Their 'Weird Dreams EP' is below, but track down Hurt So Bad as well. Weird Dreams ep by Weird Dreams
Perfect Hair Forever could well be No Action's favourite tack of the year, perfect gutter pop if ever there were such a thing. 03 Perfect Hair Forever by notcool
SAD have also gone fishing on the opposite side of the pond for their most recent output. Brooklyn's Byrds of Paradise are all discordant punk smash genius with an ear for crescendo. Barefoot Generation is out now. This is Rowena. Rowena - Byrds of Paradise by kohar
Last up, some divine dream-surf from Colours, showing the West Coast how it's done.
Perhaps it's the influence of a US tour in support of London's own Florence that explains the sense of unveiling that accompanies the new single from Smith Westerns. Their 2009 debut, full of carefree melody and distracted mumblings, was a joy of fuzzy lo-fi but, while the hazy reverb remains, the boys have stepped up to the foreground and into outstanding pop clarity.
The new album 'Dye It Blonde' will follow on Fat Possum in the new year and, if Weekend is anything to go by, 2011 is off to a flyer. See 'em at the Windmill or Luminaire before the month is out.
Given the absence of posts on here for the past couple of weeks thanks to a much needed distancing from all things responsible and total worshipping of the Valencian sun, No Action has some serious catching up to do.
Not least in attempting to understand why Kings of Leon are continuing their mission to tarnish any last semblance of decency and taste generated by their first 2 albums with a video which makes Michael Jackson's Heel the World vid seem appropriate. We're beginning to feel a fool for even contemplating a return to such form given their escalating and increasingly calculated drive for starCASHdom. Perhaps the pigeons had the right idea after all. Then there was something about Lady Gaga and beef?
In better news, the high kings of alt-rock Les Savy Fav released 'Root For Ruin' on Wichita, an utter beast of a record, preceeded by a single powerful enough to make fellow Brooklynites The Drums and MGMT weep for mercy. Let's Get Out Of Here may well be the best thing the band have done. get your own copy in exchange for your email here.
Ignoring the identity hysteria surrounding Manchester's Wu Lyf which, craftily, made every A&R mess their Y's trying to find, follow, friend, sign or understand the band then strut provocatively outside their windows promising their undevoted love in exchange for their hits, the collective actually produce addictive, intriguing music. Heavy Pop is Jesus and Mary Chain gone gospel, with swirling reverb and tear-soaked vocals marking Wu Lyf as much more than image.
Sating our want for garage rock this week are Mona as they finally released their debut single this week. Limited copies are available from Rough Trade, where the Tennessee foursome will be performing on the 30th September, a day after a slot at The Flowerpot and 2 days prior to a headline show at Camden's Koko. Wait. Garage rock? Tennessee foursome? This can only end in tears.
Offset Festival has a line-up so brimming with creative juice, the fact that tickets for the two days are still available begs the obvious question: what the hell is wrong with people?
At just 30 minutes to Hainault from central London on the sweaty cylinder more commonly known as the Central line, the locals have no excuse. A selection of the finest young musical minds (and Tim Burgess) will be proving why they could be ‘the next big thing’, so while the journey may be somewhat longer for some (or shorter, depending where you start from), entertainment is inevitable. Plus you can try Garam Guru’s revitalising Sexy Breakfast. What more could you ask for?
Here are some examples of the brilliance coming to East London.
For stand-out Offset bands you can’t look beyond Male Bonding, not only because there are 13 shoe-gazing grunge-punk reasons on their Sub Pop debut Nothing Hurts, but because the vibrancy and discordant thrill their live show offers is un-matchable. Seeing them at The Basement a few months back felt like nirvana. Or Nirvana. Choosing an example track to emphasise the point was tough, but No Action chose to look beyond the inevitable Franklin or Years Not Long to hidden gem Nothing Used To Hurt, mainly for the life-affirming drop at 1.06.
Being hyped at the start of the year as one of the BBC’s ‘Ones to Watch’ can be a burden to heavy to bear for some. One fears that Ellie Goulding may buckle within the intense media whirlwind at any moment. Egyptian Hip Hop have remained firmly under the radar but have set about crafting a fine selection of soulful tropicalia, not least on Heavenly. If the sun shines on the Saturday, Egyptian Hip Hop will definitely become your new favourite band.
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 shared vinyl space with fellow Offset attendees Not Cool, Colours will definitely provide a Saturday treat.
Much is being said and written and loved about London’s Fiction, so let’s add to that here at No Action. The foursome conjure an addictive, restless sound, with touchstones in post-punk and new wave but without dwelling on any genre for long before it’s on to the next. Having recently released Devo-esque single Curiosity, the first ever release on Offset Recordings, the band will no doubt be seeking to impress their erstwhile employees, as well as the rest of the ECC Stage spectators on the Sunday.
Choosing a fifth and final example of why you MUST attend Offset Festival was a tricky business. It could have been Caribou’s psychedelic aural blessings, Mystery Jets’ increasingly powerful power pop, or Bo Ningen’s bombastic, 70’s rock revivalism. Instead, I can’t look beyond Brighton’s own 80’s Matchbox. Partly brought on by seeing Guy lately in the town’s unmatchable thrift / antique store Snoopers Paradise and seeing the grey streak of maturity through his otherwise raven locks, but mostly because, despite the hampered quality of their more recent output, their first two records remain throbbing, gothic treats while their live show offers the most self-destructive, gum-chewing, eye-popping spectacle No Action has ever witnessed. So for the very reason that every show may be their last, you must see 80’s Matchbox.
Harlem and Spectrals, two bands that have been immovable on the No Action playlist for months now, on the same bill? You read our mind Hoxton Bar & Kitchen.
Before the fun starts, however, The Lucid Dream made the long trip from Carlisle trudged through the sort of psychedelia that thankfully is not present in recent 90s revivalism. And on this basis it's not likely to be.
Spectrals' set, despite the impassive looks etched across his and his band's faces induced by the sweltering heat, is immaculate from the start. Harnessing the combined charms of Mersey-beat and baroque pop, Spectrals comes over like The Last Shadow Puppets with a lo-fi ethic. The delicate Birthday Kiss gets the room swaying before superb early single Leave Me Be adds some Californian surf to the mix. Throwing in a Milkshakes cover for some teeth-grindingly ragged garage-blues only makes us love him more, while a forthcoming Reading/Leeds slot and supports for Les Savy Fav, Wavves and Here We Go Magic look set to place Spectrals firmly on the radar.
What better way to back up Spectrals than with some balls-out Texan garage? While their tour manager lines up the drinks (whiskys, lagers, strictly no waters) for them to knock down, the band instruct the crowd to "dance around like retards" and crash through Beautiful and Very Smart before Friendly Ghost's opening refrain "I live in a graveyard!" stuns the room into life. The sound is much heavier than comes across on Hippies, particularly prior to the vocalist/drummer switch, with Faces causing the queued up couples front of stage no end of trouble from the burgeoning mosh pit behind. Post switch, South of France and recent single Gay Human Bones get the best reception. While there's no end of garage bands about, Harlem's melodic riffs and boozy drawl set them apart. Check them out below.
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.
Having missed Still Corners due to their unreasonably early slot at 1234, No Action is determined to catch them at their upcoming series of London dates, which kicked off tonight at the Old Blue Last. The band will be launching their latest 7" at Stoke Newington's The Drop on August 20th, which will feature the hazy beauty of Wish, pitching them firmly as our answer to jj. Listen and watch its sun-bleached phantasy below.
Welcome to No Action.
Based in Bow, East London, writing about stuff that sounds good.
No Action has also written for High Voltage and The Fugitive Motel.
