Louise Distras - Heartstrings on a Hand Grenade EP Review

Louise Distras

  Young, wild, & armed with acoustic guitar, Louise Distras sings of desperate situations, dodging bullets, final stands and hostile towns with the coarse emotional vigour of a reckless outlaw pleading to the heavens for deliverance from the hell of a barren life. Her anthemic melodies and refrains grab hold with a fierce bite, whilst her lyrics are fraught with futile sentiments, fearful vulnerability, and aggressive defiance, reflecting an adept eye for the frustration of trying to escape a fruitless life in a town where only love and resentment grow.

  Her voice cuts through the tracks with the same visceral intimacy as on Jamie T's 'Panic Prevention', or Billy Bragg's 'Levi Stubbs' Tears'; whilst the acoustic guitar rattles out a cascade of chords with the same relentless vibrancy of Neutral Milk Hotel's songs about mutant children and poorly conceived monarchies.

  Folk-punk may strike some as somewhat of a contradiction in stylistic terms, but Ms. Distras ties the fast-paced aggression of Joe Strummer's Wild-West rebellious attitude to the rustic charm of the current 'folk revival' with jaunty skill, and the resultant sound is something distinctive, appealing, instantly memorable, and pleasantly indelible.

  Louise Distras' EP, 'Heartstrings on a Hand Grenade' is short, at three tracks, but fierce; like a musically inclined Gimli. The strength of this vignette is in the diversity between the tracks displayed within a fairly restrictive playing style. 'Black and Blue' is an upbeat and lively number, with lots of catchy whistling and whimsical fancying, but the lyrics have more in common with 'Jackson Cage' than Eliza Doolittle and there's a followable narrative structure, which is a welcome refreshment from the erratic mumblings of singers whose concept of lyrics is just the vacuous filler to hold stupid people's attention until the bass kicks in. 

  Opener, 'Bullets', has a strong refrain that feels instantly familiar and Distras builds well upon it, making the song feel like a personal anthem for a disjointed youth, rambling around the same ineludible streets. 'This is Your Life' has much the same feel, though there's an element of the politically charged that supports the '-punk' suffix to this hybrid genre, and it comes across as one of the strongest tracks because of it. There's real fury and commitment in these songs and the minimalistic instrumentation only amplifies the personal expression that's at the core of Ms. Distras' appeal.

   
  Overall I give Louise Distras' 'Heartstrings on a Hand Grenade' an animal rating of: Slow Loris. Don't be deceived; it may be short, instantly likeable, and something you will want to own, but this animal will still claw the skin from your face if you get it riled. Don't underestimate it.

Hail to the Eskimo - 'Anything can Happen' EP Review

Hail to the Eskimo

        Hail to the Eskimo's debut EP 'Anything can Happen' is burgeoning with snappy beats, crackling with energy, and flourishing with heavy pop; it is, in other words, the Rice Krispies of the music scene. Low in cholesterol, high in protein and glazed with sugar it is filling without being surfeiting, sweet but not sickly, it is full of energy with little excess fat. Don't let me be misunderstood, this is not a thinly veiled advert for the nutritious benefits of eating Rice Krispies - other brands are available - this is a poorly contrived analogy for the nourishing experience of listening to Hail to the Eskimo's krisp sound, delayed guitars, biting bass, and powerful, female-fueled, vocals. 

        Emerging out of the furnaces of Sheffield and the coal mines of Doncaster, Hail to the Eskimo are still in their molten state, slightly unrefined and unsettled, which lends a feeling of unpredictability and vigour to a sound reflective of the high pitched guitar of The Killer's first album, the readying for the jump to light speed feel of The Stroke's third, and the restless sophistication of Bloc Party's first.

        Eponymous track 'Anything Can Happen' kicks off drums flanging, guitar snarling, and bass bracing itself for the fight. It is unrelenting in its danceability, yet the arrangements are varied enough for this to not become jaded, though perhaps the songs would benefit from having more confidence to really accentuate the contrast between the passion and the breaks; not that confidence is anything the band lacks. There's space enough in amongst the tightly interwoven parts for you to get a good grip on the music, and it grips you back with matched enthusiasm. 

        The lyrics have an anthemic hold and vocalist, Sally, sounds like Beth Ditto on a Slim-Fast diet, which is why, microcosmically, the band work. There is no perceptible over-riding ego, pushing and shoving for breathing space, suffocating the others, and whilst this can be a curse in getting media coverage in an age where music is judged - and I use the word scathingly - on personality and wardrobe, not content, here it allows all members to play an intrinsic part in a wider order. The guitar breaks are like Nick Valensi's early ones, competent but unassuming, the drums are highly rhythmic without swallowing up the restless bass, and throughout all of this the rhythm guitar brings the substance whilst the vocals strike out from within, piercing through the layers like a lighthouse tearing through the night.  There are no egos in this band, because the band is the ego, a collective body functioning as a whole.

        I give Hail to the Eskimo an animal rating of: Cerberus, the multi-headed hound, guardian of The Underworld's eternal gates; a collaborative of heads working as one to produce something that resembles the familiar form of the loveable dog, but with much more bite.

Cats:For:Peru - 'We Had This Problem Last Winter' EP Review

Cats:For:Peru

Dear The Reader, 

I recently began writing music reviews for an online publication, We Are Unseen, you can visit them here. 
I'm also going to start publishing the reviews on this site for your own perusal; and my own pathological cataloguing needs.

You can listen to Cats:For:Peru here.

  In 1870, in the small Northern Irish village of Parkgate, a rather peculiar and morally ambiguous event took place. A poster went up, declaring that a man from Peru was coming to visit the village, and would pay good money for the villagers' cats. Many believed that they could make a fair sum off of this peculiar man's ailurophilia, and so the villagers brought all of their cats out into the street. When it was discovered, subsequently, that no such man from Peru was coming, there was much disappointment, and following this, much irrational selling of cats between the villagers who had needlessly gathered. This resulted in two separate outcomes. One, that all of a sudden some people had a lot of money and no cats; whilst other people had no money and a lot of cats that they didn't want. And two, the Sheffieldian band Cats:for:Peru found the inspiration a century later for their name.

  This is, by means of an introduction, a fairly long winded way of starting a review, but I knew you'd ask. The second question I am assuming you will want addressing is, "are they any good?" and so we move swiftly on.

  Cats:for:Peru have recently released the first EP, We Had This Problem Last Winter, since their 2009 debut album, and in that two year gap they acquired a synth, grew a bit taller, and swelled musically. The opening track of the EP, Open House, contains hints of Interpol's bass lines, Tokyo Police Club's enthusiasm, The Strokes' reggae infused chords, and even a splash of Does it Offend You, Yeah?'s breakdowns. All this should provide a veritable recipe for success, or a rather overstaffed brothy disaster. It is neither. These, albeit subjective, influences are simply spices sprinkled sparingly throughout, and serve simply as a testament to the band's eclectic tastes in music. 

  The actual meat of the music is much more tender, such as on Sleeping on Tightropes and raw, such as on Fear of Better Things. The songs take time to breathe and as a result rarely leave the listener gasping for breath, but they are well structured examples of lyrical ability, and how to use multiple instruments without creating a feeling of claustrophobia. The first two tracks are fairly decent synth powered indie standards that belong in the darkened back rooms of late night showcase gigs. Whilst the closing tracks have the sort of emotional depth that evoke midnight lakes and morning's mist clad forests, whilst the vocals sing of fading love, desperate situations, and futile actions.

  Overall I give Cats:for:Peru's EP an animal rating of Melanistic Cougar. Dark, sleek, elusive, and all too liable to be categorised as representing a whole genre of which it simply makes up a rare and arresting part.

Cats:for:Peru's 'We Had this Problem Last Winter' can be purchased or download from the Sheffield Phonographic Corporation's website for £3.49. A meagre price to pay to encourage the growth of unseen talent.

Japanese Sleepers - 'Little Victories' EP Review

Japanese Sleepers

Dear The Reader, 

I recently began writing music reviews for an online publication, We Are Unseen, you can visit them here. 
I'm also going to start publishing the reviews on this site for your own perusal; and my own pathological cataloguing needs.


You can listen to Japanese Sleepers here.


       Japanese Sleepers are a quintuplet from the seven hills of Sheffield, a river city which was once a industrious silvery pool of steel production set into the fragile beauty of the surrounding hillsides. The band do much to reflect this contrast of manufacture and meadows with their delicate mix of crisp guitars, snapping drum loops, glockenspiels, and folksy violins. Their new EP, Little Victories is a pleasant and slightly refreshing take on the somewhat indie folk feel that permeates through the pirouetting choruses and drifting violin melodies of Whistler's Breath and These are our End Times. The chorus of the band's first single, Celebrate, is reminiscent somewhat of early Los Campesinos! shout-and-clap-along tracks, and there's a definite splash of the Celtic folk hidden amidst the laptop drum samples, and completely mystifying 'sparkle' effect; which the band seem to have hidden somewhere within each song, presumably as some form of 'Where's Wally' in-joke.

       Of course, be not mistaken. This band doesn't fit into the comfortable label of 'indie-folk' so readily. Whilst occasional comparisons with Mumford & Sons et al. may appear, the band bypass the genre to produce something with a slightly simpler sound, which serves both to hamper and elevate their style in parts. On some tracks one can't help but feel the abrupt repetitiveness of laptop generated drum loops and the buzz of tapping synth undercuts the violin and vocals, causing a sense of restriction. On, These are our End Times the song structure becomes awkwardly visible at points, pulling the listener up before they have had a chance to properly submerge themselves in the song. After a first listen one may be left with the impression that they have just heard something ephemeral; appreciable, but lacking in weight.

However, the light melodies and punching rhythm, whilst certainly a little understated, allow the lyrics to be appreciated as an integral middle filling to this 'song sandwich', and it is here that the weight comes to bear. Song for a Satellite Town clearly takes its lyrical cue from The Enemy's, and Indie's love in general, for the mettle and spirit of the industrial northern town. Other lines, such as 'You were a gentle melody/Dancing from a whistler's breath' are permitted to stand alone by the slightly mellow style, yet the Sufjan Stevens-ish electronica keeps the songs ticking over nicely.

Japanese Sleepers are well worth the listen, and their Ep, Little Victories is certainly not one that grows tiresome after just a few listens. To the contrary, once you know what to expect the songs seem to gain something with each play. It would also be worth catching any live gig you can, in and around Sheffield or Nottingham, just to see a violin and glockenspiel accompanied by a macbook. (That their laptop is a macbook is an assumption, but judging by most bands' prerogative, not a massive one).

I give Japanese Sleepers an animal rating of: Alpaca. 

Certainly not just another sheep, and not restricted to mere black and white clothing; yet indecisive towards becoming a full llama. In doing so however, it perhaps gains something else, and becomes a more interesting and individual creature because of it.

Japanese Sleeper's 'Little Victories' can be purchased or download from the Sheffield Phonographic Corporation's website for £4.99. A meagre price to pay to encourage the growth of unseen talent.