Genre: Post-Hardcore
Origin: USA
Label: Victory Records
Length: 32:54
---------------
01. Killing Machine
02. Let The Right One In
03. Scavengers Of The Damned
04. Elizabeth
05. Crusifiction
06. The Asylum
07. Portrait
08. Excommunicate
09. King On Holiday
10. Black Market Hell

Genre: Alternative Rock
Origin: USA
Label: Victory Records
Length: 37:17
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01. The Opening Departure
02. She Will Love You
03. Teenage Queen
04. Hurt Me
05. One Love
06. Moment
07. Darkness
08. Son Of Lies
09. Believe
10. Bliss
11. The Sky Is Falling

Genre: Post Hardcore
Origin: USA
Label: Victory Records
Length: 40:09
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01. Knife Blood Nightmare
02. The Last Sunrise
03. Die Romantic
04. Genetic Design For Dying
05. Breathless
06. Unbreakable (I.J.M.A.)
07. It's Cold Tonight
08. Enjoy The View
09. Goodbye, We're Falling Fast
10. This City Is Far From Here
11. See You In Hell...

Genre: Post Hardcore
Origin: USA
Label: Victory Records
Length: 44:50
---------------
01. Our Gang's Dark Oath
02. The Dawn Breaking Tide
03. I Set My Friends On Fire
04. Pledge Resistance
05. Bridge Of Reason, Shore Of Faith
06. Life I Left Behind
07. Looking Glass Eyes
08. Fifteen
09. Kid Becomes The Dream
10. Cold December
11. World By Storm

The Wolfnote doesn’t seem like it much fits in with the bands on this blog, but it totally does! These guys are my first Alberta band on here. Great post-hardcore. These guys were pretty intense.

After some home burnt compilation demos they self released “Dancing to a Rhythm”, their first ep. They would also self release their next two eps, “Check the Lungs for Water” and “SI! SI! SI! SI!”. The later would be the first with their new vocalist Travis Sargent. After selling out the initial pressing on tour, Farway Records re-issued it in digipak. They were then signed to BlackBox Recordings, and would release their two albums on the label. “This is the Getdown” and “Sacred Bodies”.

The Wolfnote Myspace
The Wolfnote Discography

BATS haben mit “Red in Tooth & Claw” ein besonderes Album geschrieben. Eines dieser Alben, die man beim ersten Hören für zu überfrachtet hält, bei dem sich nach jedem weiteren Durchgang aber immer mehr in der Schädeldecke festsetzt. Bis man nicht mehr anders kann, als die Platte immer und immer wieder aufzulegen. BATS kommen aus Irland (ja, da gibt’s außer U2 auch noch andere Bands!) und spielen eine wüste Mischung aus Post-Hardcore und Dance-Indie-Punk. Vielerorts wurde die Band mit Q and not U verglichen. Und das zurecht! Kreieren BATS doch ähnlich tanzbare, luftige, angeschrägte und unheimlich verspielte Musik wie die frühere Dischord-Band. Allerdings verbinden die Iren diese Komponenten mit der Durchschlagskraft von At the Drive-In, Circle takes the Square oder den Blood Brothers. Sprich, die Songs sind zwischendrin einfach härter und besser zum Abgehen geeignet, als die von Q and not U. Was BATS mit all diesen Bands ebenfalls gemein hat: das ausgeklügelte Songwriting. Denn obwohl die Stücke verzwackt sind und selten einem Schema folgen, besitzt “Red in Tooth & Claw” allerlei anfixende Melodien, Hooks und Mitsing-Parts. Sämtliche Bausteine, ob leicht verdaulich oder eingängig, fügen sich perfekt zusammen und sorgen dafür, dass früher oder später jedes der elf Stücke klickt. Interessant ist, dass das Album unheimlichen Druck macht und es einem keine Verchnaufspausen gönnt. Die Gitarrenmelodien sind allgegenwärtig, werden aber niemals in den Mittelpunkt gerückt, sondern müssen sich gegen das Querdenkertum der anderen Instrumente behaupten. Ungewöhnlich für eine solche Band, ist die Tatsache, dass die Gitarren in einigen Songs gar moshig und leicht metallisch werden. Aber das passiert nur recht selten, fügt sich ins ungewöhnliche Gesamtkonzept ein und sorgt dafür, dass “Red in Tooth & Claw” noch eigenständiger klingt. Was man von den Vocals vielleicht nicht behaupten kann… denn diese erinnern schon ziemlich stark an die von Circle takes the Square und auch Trophy Scars – egal ob gesungen, gesprochen oder geschriehen, der Sänger hat eine ähnlich ungewöhnliche Klangfarbe. Allerdings macht er seine Sache gut, sorgt immer wieder für Überraschungen und steigert sich so richtig schön in seinen Part hinein. Er ist schlichtweg “over the place” und wird dabei hervorragend von seinen (Sanges-)Kollegen ergänzt, die ihn mal im Hintergrund unterstützen, um beim nächsten Mal voll Karacho miteinzusteigen. Ein perfektes Beispiel dafür, wie sehr gute, wandlungsfähige Vocals zum Gesamterlebnis beitragen können! Wer bei einer solchen Band Texte über zerbrochene Beziehungen erwartet, der hat in letzter Zeit wohl zu viel Emo gehört. Denn natürlich sind auch die Texte angeschrägter Scheiß – BATS gehen ihren ganz eigenen Weg und schreiben undurchsichtige Geschichten (?), die durchtränkt sind von wissenschaftlichen Referenzen und fantasievollen Formulierungen. Das passt nicht nur, sondern sorgt auch für viele hängenbleibende Zeilen. Kein Wunder dass ich bei “Shadow-fucking” anfangs verstanden habe “this dance is my distance” – wär ja auch zu cool gewesen. Hat man sich also immer schon mal einen Querschnitt der erwähnten Bands gewünscht, dann hat man hier den Soundtrack seines Lebens. Trotz massivem Namedropping sei gesagt, dass “Red in Tooth & Claw” eins der frischesten und besten Post-Hardcore-Alben der letzten Jahre ist. Voll von Energie und Experimentierfreude, sowie der richtigen Balance aus Schräg-/Fremdheit einerseits und Catchiness/Tanzbarkeit andererseits. 9/10

Here’s the previously mentioned album review for Damage Pants. Give ‘em some love.

Hard rock duos have always had it rough – filling up a room with sound can be damn difficult with only two men. Nonetheless, Austin angerfiends Damage Pants manage to do more than fill a garage with their rough-at-the-edges thrash rock. Combining post-hardcore vocals with more upbeat garage rock rhythms, this group’s self-titled vinyl debut release is abrasive enough to wear down senses and styluses alike. Read the rest of the review.

… APARECEN LOS EMOS …

Se trata de una subcultura que nace en los Estados Unidos hacia 1980, localizado en Washignton DC. No nos referimos a la cultura emo apelando únicamente al término “estética” sino que se trata de una tribu urbana que persigue una fuerte filosofía. Esta tendencia nace como un genero musical post-hardcore que rápidamente debido al contenido emocional y expresivo de sus letras fue definido como emotional hardcore y, posteriormente, abreviado como emo-core. Su estilo musical deriva del hardcore punk con la diferencia de ser más lento y melódico. Se considera el nacimiento del género emo-core con el lanzamiento del disco “Rites of Spring” de la banda homónima en el año 1985.

Los seguidores de la cultura emo rápidamente comenzaron a masificarse y a buscar su propia identidad, que los diferenciase de otras tribus urbanas con las que tenían más de un punto de contacto pero que sentían ser sustancialmente diferentes como los punks y seguidores del grunge. Los emos son muy atacados por ser considerados como un flagelo social y, en ocasiones, por entender a esta cultura una máscara bajo la que ocultar la homosexualidad.

… FILOSOFÍA …

La subcultura emo se desarrolla generalmente entre jóvenes de trece/catorce años hasta principio de los veinte. Se caracterizan, generalmente,  por un sentimiento de nostalgia y melancolía. Entienden la vida como un sufrimiento y, por ello, tratan de esconderse bajo su indumentaria y aspecto físico. La idea principal es “sufrir por sufrir”. Sin embargo, esto no es aplicable a todos los jóvenes y adolescentes que optan por este tipo de vida. Por ello, es normal que muestren rasgos de apatía cuando se les juzga o clasifica de melancólicos y nostálgicos sin entender a la vida como algo más que un mero camino de sufrimiento.

El pasado jueves 19 de Noviembre, Maderacore dio un conciertillo en Bilborock, dentro del Consurso Villa de Bilbao. Estuvieron muy bien, como de costumbre, y fueron los mejores de la noche con (mucha) diferencia… bueno, he de confesar que al primer grupo casi ni les vi el pelo y que los madrileñodaneses que cerraron la noche me parecieron un poco apagados. Tocar detrás de los “maderacuores”, que contaban con el calorcete de su público, al que ellos mismos calentaban debió de ser una faena de las gordas para l@s Skejby… además hubo mucho contraste con su rollo minimalista, pero no suenan mal y la cantante tiene una muy buena voz, que conste.

En fin, a falta de tiempo para una de mis disecciones tipo biblia, os dejo con algunos videos de la noche, cortesía del usuario TheMaorock del yutubes.

Vine, vi y perdí…

La Importancia de llamarse Humano

Ropa Mojada

Irónica Tú

Cierro el chiringo emplazándoos (me ajusto el monóculo) a que os deis un paseo por el canal de TheMaorock o el de los propios Madera, para ver otros videos de la noche (por cierto, ya le he dejado un aviso, pero TheMaorock ha titulado mal al primer grupo del viernes, poniéndole el nombre del último…).

Review of Austin duo Damage Pants’ self titled album should be up soon enough, but until then here’s a taste of the band’s insanity.

Austin has cornered the market on indie and bluesy music, but the harder genres often get shoved into obscurity because of lack of venue cooperation and fan-base. Hopefully these guys stick it out; they aren’t as refined as Drive Like Jehu and artists in the same vein, but for a first release, they’re promising great (drunken, stupid, loud) things.

Hello, all. Here’s the November 2009 Mix. This one’s a pretty schizophrenic mix, mostly due to all the free time that I’ve had to investigate new music recently (actually, old music that’s new to me). It’s starts off with the first track, “Military Madness”, Graham Nash’s first solo album. Thanks to my friend Kyle for talking me into giving that record a real listen. I’m generally allergic to anything slightly David Crosby-related, and, admittedly, rather prone to jumping to conclusions.

There’s some new discoveries on here that are really revelatory. Well, they are to me, at least. Hank Ballard’s “Sexy Ways” is a racy and fun doo-wop number that most people of my generation aren’t likely to recognize. Apparently, James Brown was a Ballard devotee, and credited him with many of the idiosyncratic vocal traits that Brown later made his name on. LaVern Baker and Johnny Ace are also new treats of pre-60’s soulful R&B for me. Ace having one of the more tragic, and interesting backstories in rock n’ roll. Really, Google it!

The Jawbox, Home, and Eric’s Trip tracks are old favorites of mine from my exclusively indie-rawk highschool years. Additionally, about once every year I go through a mini-John Cale phase, and “I Keep a Close Watch” is a powerful enough ballad to get you hooked as well. I’ve been arguing for a while that his post-Velvets records are far and away superior to Lou Reed’s output. Any opinions on that? I love to hear any comments, compliments, or even negative muckraking. Again, thanks for reading and listening. Enjoy! (Download Slow, Slow Music’s November 2009 Mix.)

1. Military Madness – Graham Nash
2. Stratosphere Boogie – Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant
3. Burden – Home
4. Voices Carry – ‘Til Tuesday
5. Pledging My Love – Johnny Ace
6. From Here to Eternity – The Only Ones
7. Dumb Blonde – Dolly Parton
8. Behind the Garage – Eric’s Trip
9. Road Without An End – Charles Wright & the 103rd Street Watts Band
10. She’s All I Got – Johnny Paycheck
11. Breezewood, PA – Jenny Toomey
12. All the Way From Memphis – Mott the Hoople
13. Sexy Ways – Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
14. Washing the Dishes – Willie Nelson
15. Poor Girl – X
16. Hey, Western Union Man! – Jerry Butler
17. Soul On Fire – LaVern Baker
18. Jamboree – Guadalcanal Diary
19. A Six Pack to Go – Hank Thompson
20. Iodine – Jawbox
21. I Keep a Close Watch – John Cale
22. Debbie Denise – Blue Oyster Cult
23. Walking Around – The Innocence Mission

Este disco supuesta mente salio a la venta hace ya mas de un mes, ya que salio el 9 de octubre, pero recién ahora, después de tanta busqueda lo e encontrado, les podría decir que es en exclusiva del blog, pero eso no es lo que me importa, lo que me importa es que puedan disfrutar de este disco, que la verdad, esta muy bueno, manteniendo la linea de su debut, y arrasando con las criticas en Irlanda y en toda Europa, disfruten de “You Can Make Sound” el segundo álbum de delorentos, de lo mejor del año…

Track Listing:
1. Sanctuary
2. Secret
3. Hallucinations
4. You Say You’ll Never Love Her
5. Leave Me Alone
6. Editorial
7. Body Cold
8. Let the Light Go Out
9. Soulmate
10. You Can Make Sound
11. I Remember

DELORENTOS – YOU CAN MAKE SOUND(2009)

COMENTAR NO CUESTA NADA MAS QUE TIEMPO!!!COMENTEN!!!

I am still baffled why this style of music never made its way out to Los Angeles. Is it because this city is so big you can’t find three dudes who just want to play the same three parts over and over again in some basements

Holy shit.

Is it because there are no basements in LA? Is that why this music didn’t take off?

I feel like LA’s music scene is a mix of things that disgust me (Sunset Strip), depress me (anything at The Mint, Ghengis Kahn, the valley, Venice or Santa Monica) or annoy me (eastside, downtown).

Except for that Halloween show buddyhead threw. That was a whole possum of awesome.

This Was Built To Make You Dance(2005)

 http://www.mediafire.com/?eysnxyl591m (42mb)

To retell the story of the band that could have changed popular punk music forever, I’ve created an interactive Google Map that tracks At the Drive-In’s last month together in early 2001. From their performance at Big Day Out in Australia to their last show in the Netherlands, the map gives some insight into how the band started to break down towards the end of their run with pictures, videos and details of each concert. Later today I plan on posting a timeline chronicling the bands entire existence through photos.

View Larger Map

Scarlett O’Hara

Self-Titled EP

2009

Tracklist:

1. You Cant Wrestle Swordfish in Tampa

2. Call It Reckless

3. Nights Torn By Sunset

4. Robots Are Taking Over

5. I Make My Own Karma

6. Where In The World Is Earthworm Jim

320 kbit/sec

47 MB

YES.

Download.

Similar.

Well hey. I’m the new Brian on the block and music is the tits. It’s all I do and all I am, so I’m happy to join this blogical community to share it with you. In my spare time I enjoy a leisurely walk, making electronical music, playing real drums, and generally being awesome.

Afraid! is a post-hardcore band out of Italy. Upon downloading this I had expected a typical dose of 2000s Euro-Screamo, and, upon hearing the first few seconds of Goa I got something more like 70s psych rock than La Quiete. Megaloklift sounds like The Blood Brothers and Crystal Antlers co-writing the soundtrack to an old vampire sock hop movie. Snaking basslines slither around a guitar sound of hardcore punk riffs and walls of sound that blends with the church organs to create a sound at once both creepy and rock and fucking roll. Singing reverbs mystically around it all as yells like knives pierce the mix, the vocalist playing both the killer and the victim. Afraid! have managed to make a sound like none other, frantic, frightening, and rapid. The album’s a rather short affair, lasting a little over 24 minutes over twelve songs. Pay attention and hold on or the flick will leave the screen before you realize it.

-Brian S

If it weren’t for the goddamn Hindenberg there might have been a moment in time when giant iceberg-sized war balloons battled each other like floating pirate ships.

And this song would have played the whole time.

Wish there was a blimp lobby in the Defense Department.

Die Band namens Dominic ist schon länger ein Geheimtipp. Mit ihrem zweiten Album “Nord” scheinen die Norweger endlich die Aufmerksamkeit zu bekommen, die ihnen zusteht. Bezüglich eines Artikels für das neue FUZE, hab ich mich etwas mit Øyvind, dem Drummer von Dominic unterhalten. Das volle Interview gibts wie immer hier!

borderline fuckup: How would you describe your new album? And would you agree that it is a lot more serious and grown up than your old stuff?

Øyvind: I would say that “Nord” is darker than our previous releases. The songs are maybe more heavy on this album, but at the same time I feel that we are still keeping a certain melodic melancholy in the whole shebang. The record is a natural progression over the years we have been functioning as a band, and we feel that the songs represent us very good where we are musically right now. Maybe it sounds more serious and more grown up in a way, sure. But, then again, we are a bit older now…hehe.

The record is called “Nord”. Did your homecountry inspire you somehow?

Norway is way up north for sure, and all four of us grew up pretty far north in this distant country. The sound of the album in many ways portraits the wild nature up there. Heavy mountains, extreme weather and a lot of darkness half of the year.

There was an early artwork for ”Nord” that showed a snowy landscape and now the there’s a more friendly landscape on the cover. What’s the reason for that change?

The LP is a gatefold, and what was originally planned to be the front ended up on the inside of the cover. So that’s the reason why it was another artwork posted early on the net. The guy who did the artwork (our friend Kristoffer) changed his mind about the front during the process of making it. We are really happy with the result of the artwork by the way.

Let’s talk about Norway. As far as i know you are originally from Rognan, a small city who is most famous because of its bands. How was it to grow up there?

Three of us grew up there, yes. It is a small place so if you want something to happen you’ll have to do it yourself. The town had this great house where a lot of bands could rehearse and just create whatever they would like to. We spent our youth skating around in the town centre and afterwards we went to “Smia” to make some songs.

Why did you move to Trondheim a few years ago?

This was the summer of 2003 and at the time we all lived in different places. It was a natural time to move because we were all finished with school and was ready to try something else. Trondheim was an easy choice. Eight hours train-trip from home, and it had a good punk/hardcore-scene at the time. Third biggest city/town in Norway, and at the age of 20-21 you are ready to move away from home and try something new.

As far as I know you also wrote and recorded your last album in your hometown. How did that come? And did this somehow influence the feeling of the record?

Actually we recorded the album in Trondheim but the songs were made back home at our first rehearsal-space “Smia”. This was one summer we all were back home. Maybe it influenced the record in a way. Maybe subconsciously.

The “Smia”– is this place just a normal rehearsal room or more like a music venue for young people where you can hang out and listen to music?

“Smia” is a house where at the time we started hanging out there, we could just get a key and come and go as we felt like it. It was equipment there so we could rehearse, but also a kitchen with coffee and a big couch you know. A place we could hang out too. Normally there were no concerts there, but it was possible to put up stuff there yourself. We arranged a couple of things there. So it is basically the place where Dominic started.

And for which reasons did you go back home to write the new album?

I think we were about to play a show up north somewhere, and we were all just taking a couple of days at home before that show.

Let’s get back to Norway. What is it really like to live in that “wild nature”? I mean, does the darkness depress you sometimes? Or are you used to it? Is it really that “fascinating” or more like the daily grind?

Maybe some gets depressed by it, but for me growing up I was so used to it. So yeah, I guess for me it was more like the daily grind.

Cause what’s really strange is that norwegian (and also swedish) people seem to be really positive and outright. And that is the direct opposite to lets say Germany where people are grim at times. I just can’t understand this. Maybe norwegian people are more familiar with each other.

I think that most Norwegians can seem bit enclosed at first. But ones you get to know them they are very caring and friendly people. But for sure Norwegians can be grim too.

Can you ever imagine to move away from norway? Possibly to Germany or Austria or Switzerland? And how much are you attached to your homecountry?

I guess most of the time you are pretty connected to your home-country because your family and childhood friends are there. Very important things which I guess most people feel a connection to. The feeling of a home or belonging somewhere is important I guess. I can only speak for myself on this though. But I could easily live somewhere else for a period. It is healthy and good to check out other parts of the world, and I love to travel. But I would like to come back home at some time. And to answer your question: Germany, Austria and Switzerland could be nice places to live for sure.

Last not least: are there any hc/punk bands in norway that sing in its national language? At least in the german speaking territories we don’t know such bands.

Most bands sing in English, but I guess there are some (Mørkt Kapittel from Trondheim are one). It is very common to write in English in Norway, and we learn it in school from we are eight years old.

Would it be possible for you to sing and write in your own language? Or why do you prefer english?

I don’t see that happening right now. Not with Dominic. With English you express yourself to a much bigger audience, and can get your lyrics through to more people. Not that many people speak Norwegian you know. But I am not a stranger for doing it with another project.

Topic-switch: DIY! How much are you related to the whole ethic?

We have always done things our way, and the people we have worked with when it comes to releases, artwork and so on have always been people we consider friends. It is good to keep things close. Many of the bands we listened to growing up talked about this ethic, and the same with the scene we were (and still is) a part of in the early years as a band. Closest big town to Rognan is Bodø which had (and has) a big DIY -scene, and from early on we connected with the guys there.

We meet a lot of dedicated and cool people when we are on tour which is damn nice and a big inspiration for us. You have to do things yourself. There is no other way. The bonus is all the great people you get to meet through the scene.

Relating to this ethic: could you ever imagine to sign to a larger label? Like some other scandinavian HC/Punk-bands did.

First of all… if that would happen it would have to be absolutely on our premises. But it is nothing we talk about anyway. We are very happy with how things are at the moment and the labels we are on.

What can we expect from your side-projects? Especially from Catena Collapse and Water Rats.

Well, two of  the members from Catena Collapse no longer live in Trondheim. They moved to  Oslo a couple of years ago. Some babies have been born and so the story goes..hehe.  Last thing we said was that we would tour and record every other year, but we blew that last year. Maybe there will be a tour sometime in the future. I don’t know.

Regarding Water Rats it was just a one time thing, and only one song. But the band has not split officially, so it is still open I guess.

There are a couple of other side-projects too, and there might be some releases coming up at some time. But we take those things as they come.

When will you hit the german and austrian stages next time? I couldn’t find anything on your myspace!

Maybe next spring (2010). But nothing is decided yet. We will probably start writing some new stuff pretty soon too.

Anmerkung zum Video: der Song heißt natürlich “Red Lights“.

Dominic auf Denovali
“Nord”-Review

Tusen Takk, Øyvind!

City Escape

Avalanches

2009

Австралия

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37,3 MB

<333333 AWESOME!

so the gentleman of fear before (the march of flames) have decided to make their entire discography available at a pay-what-you-want kind of deal. you buy the album, you decide how much you pay. all money made from the sales will go towards helping to pay the medical bills of their friend trent jacobi, who was injured on fear before’s recent australian tour. you can read more details about the severity of his injuries and the story behind the incident at the band’s website. show some support and pick up a few albums. this band has made nothing but amazing music in the past 5 years, and now’s a great time to take advantage and show some support. i’m going include some videos after the cut for those of you unfamiliar with the band. you can purchase their music at whatever price you choose by visiting the link below.

fear before -discography @ bandcamp.com.

- panda

“fear before doesn’t listen to people who don’t like them”, from fear before:

“taking cassandra to the end of the world party”, from the always open mouth:

“should have stayed in the shallows”, from art damage:

“the 20th century was entirely mine”, from odd how people shake:

The Forgotten Secret

Another Night On The Road (Single)

2009

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After Toby Hayes left Judy Garland-inspired, post hardcore math-peddlers, Meet Me in St Louis, in 2007, you may have been forgiven for fearing the worst upon hearing he had a new musical venture.

The scenario of ‘singer-dumbs-down-previous-band’s-less-accessible-sound-in-bid-to-get-rich-and-laid-lots’ is not new. Just ask Chris Carrabba or Chad Gilbert.

However, Hayes’ solo project, Shoes and Socks Off, carries forward much of MMISL’s unique musical outlook into an arguably more mature musical direction.

His 2008 low-fi debut, From the Muddy Banks of the Melitzer, was a one voice plus one guitar affair. It showed a brave willingness to experiment with discords and unconventional melody. It is the perfect repost to every run-of-the-mill, heat broken, one man and his guitar: it marries lyrical thoughtfulness and sonic maturity with honesty and accessibility.

SASO’s sophomore release of earlier this year, Hand Reared Suburban Piglet, takes the exact track-lising from the debut and transforms each song in a daringly individual way.

The result is honestly the best solo album I’ve heard since Thom York’s Eraser. Really.

Stand-out track, I’m a World Class Assassin, showed substantial songwriting talent on the first record, willing to forego standard chord sequences and timing; the schizophrenic, violin-driven arrangement on Hand Reared… is an utter joy.

Here is a live version of the original:

Similarly, the restrained digital atmosphere on Yeah, But is a perfect progression from the original’s raw materials.

This kind of direct translation is risky and any wrong moves would have surely been scorned by fans of the original.

There are many examples of when the raw honesty of a band’s first, low-budget release has been destroyed by a glitzy make-over (Fake Sound of Progress being one of the first memories for me).

This album’s sheer innovation, and the tastefulness of the rework, protects it from such worries. There is inspired and varied instrumentation at every juncture. From the  xylophone of Butterfingers to the organ/radio-static combo of Raphael, Hayes never feels like he’s trying to hard or being at all over-blown.

From someone who was in Meet Me in St Louis, a band who, let’s not forgot, where once being heralded by the NME of all people as the saviors of indie (not that that’s any kind of ringing endorsement!), we shouldn’t be surprised.

Shoes and Socks Off are supporting Kevin Devine on the Big Scary Monsters Xmas tour at Clwb Ifor Bach on December 2^nd.

You can, and should, buy both albums here.