Filthy
Little Angels, our partners in the glorious catastrophe of Joyfest have
put together a collection of their favourite bands, neatly packaged in
a series of 2 band, 4 track vinyl EPs, and unleashed them on an unsuspecting
public as the Filthy Little Angels Singles Club. Here's Joyzine's rundown
on each instalment:
Hmm, I can already see that it's going to be tricky being impartial here - The Favours and The IK+ are not only two of my favourite bands, but also helped us out by trekking down, from Hull and Cardiff respectively, to London on no less than three separate occasions to play gigs for us in the summer.
The Favours contributions 'Kill' and 'Out of Control' showcase their indie tinged rock 'n' roll sound, and although still capable of pissing on the vast majority of their contemporaries from a great height, these recordings don't quite capture the perfect collision of pure pop melody and biting punk ferocity that makes their live shows so intoxicating. Still, if you're not shouting along by the third chorus of 'Kill', then you've probably visited the wrong website. Buy this first, then see them live for double the exhilaration.
The first time I heard 'Nexus in a Chain of Thought' by The IK+, I was absolutely blown away by its jangly melodic splendour, and since then the glorious Pavement meets Flaming Lips somewhere in South Wales-ness of it all has only grown on me more. 'Hats Off to Harry Kewell' continues their penchant for both unusual titles and indie-pop magnificence, adding a slightly spikier edge before exploding into a blissfully laid back chorus. Rich pickings indeed.
Two bands from the Angular Records stable, not only share an EP, but a band member too, with Andrew taking up drumming duties for The Violets before switching to guitar in The Swear.
The Violets are steadily becoming one of my favourite live bands, and fortunately they are able to carry this over to vinyl. Opener 'Feast on You' is a pounding artpunk new wave stomper, complete with a guitar line than frequently threatens to escape the control of Joe Daniel's fingers, before he craftfully reels in back to some semblance of order. Second track 'Come Home' is a far more sinister affair, with Alexis' haunting vocals flitting menacingly over an eerily hypnotic backing.
The Swear offer up a more straightforward indie-punk sound - 'Untitled Monochrome' takes the drudgery of everyday life as its muse and turns it into a storm of quiet bit-loud bit guitars, punctuated by Tycie's deadpan vocals before 'Japanese Pop Song' sees them casting off all restraints in favour of shouty vocals, twisty guitar lines and dancefloor filling drumbeats.
All looking pretty darned good so far, but I guess it's pretty difficult to keep up that kind of quality forever, and although this EP has glimpses of genius, it's not quite able to hold its own against the other EPs in this collection.
The Fairies Band are plenty of fun, 'Pink Socks Rock' comes on like Art Brut with Jo Brand writing the lyrics (though there's a clean version for the easily offended amongst you), but fall flat with a bland acoustic version of 'Colonel Bright', which never quite gets anywhere.
The Vichy Government are a band that are going to divide opinion wherever they go - first time I saw them I was immediately put off with the artifice of their stage presence and the "Look at me, I'm being controversial" attempts at offending Daily Mail readers. However, following a performance at Joyfest that was as sarcastic as it was fabulous I found my opinions shifting. Fortunately on these two tracks, they cast off the Selfish Cunt antics, and while the pop-philosophy of 'The Immortals' doesn't do much for me, the absurd storytelling style of 'Oliver Cromwell in Weimar Berlin' is the best I've ever heard them sound.
Save the best for last, as a wise person once sang, and that's exactly what the chaps at Filthy have done here, with two more Angular Records bands at their shimmering best.
The Boyfriends are beginning to prick up ears in the music press with the Smiths gone cheerful tunesmithery of tracks like 'No Tomorrow', and 'I Love You', a track of such slushy hackneyed sentiment that I would usually smother it with a torrent of bilious cynicism, but for some reason I find my usually stony heart uplifted by the soaring guitars and rampant optimism of it all. 'No Tomorrow' is of course one of the best songs of the year, but then you all know that already because you got it on the Angular Records compilation.
Also from the aforementioned compilation, and similarly brilliant is The Long Blondes' 'Autonomy Boy' a feast of razor sharp artrock guitars and lush female vocals. Just as good is 'Long Blonde', which sees the band indulge their 60s girl group fetish to devastatingly catchy effect.
So there you have it - 3 EPs of immense quality, and one that is merely good; not bad for your first batch of releases. Next up on their agenda is a DVD of Joyfest (and lets face it, none of you came to the festival, so here's your chance to catch what you missed).
www.thefavours.co.uk
.. www.theikplus.com
...www.theviolets.co.uk
...www.the-swear.co.uk
www.thefairies.tk
..www.verot.net/vichygov
..www.theboyfriends.com
..www.thelongblondes.co.uk