AN UPDATE

AFTER 8 MONTHS OF ABSENCE I AM BACK, WITH SOMETHING NEW. 

FOR A LONG TIME I'VE CONSIDERED CHANGING THIS BLOG IN ORDER TO MAKE IT INCLUSIVE OF ALL MY INTERESTS, NOT JUST MUSIC. 

EXPECT TO SEE TRAVEL POSTS, FEATURES ON SOME OF MY FAVOURITE UP-AND-COMING ARTISTS/DESIGNERS, PERSONAL STYLE POSTS, MUSIC, AND PERHAPS EVEN MORE.

tracks of the week #12

Tora - Jaigantic

Giraffage - Moments

Chet Faker - 1998

Jai Paul - Str8 Outta Mumbai

(apologies for the shitty sample version)

Toro y Moi - Rose Quartz (Richnuss Edit)

tracks of the week #11

Kaasi - Work With Me

A totally new sound for me, but I've really been enjoying this lately. 

Kaasi's more recent upload of new track 'Lisse' is pretty great too.

Sonder // Feel Me

Again, not my usual go-to 'genre', but very easy listening. 

Credit to Jess for getting me hooked on both of these artists.

Public Access TV // In the Mirror

Another cracking single from these guys. The B-side is brilliant too. 

Read my full review here. 

The 1975 // Medicine

This is the side of The 1975 that I adore. Along the same vein as the pre-album EP tracks, such as 'Undo'/'fallingforyou', which are some of my favourites. 

Beach Fossils // Taking Off

Love this album so much. Love Beach Fossils so much. 

song of the week: public access tv // in the mirror

I've been keeping my eye on New York's latest and greatest, Public Access TV, for a little while now. They've not quite reached the realms of Radio 1 airplay (thankfully), but they're banging out a succession of cracking singles; In the Mirror being the most recent. 

I can't help but compare their evolution to Circa Waves, who've given us a hefty dose of indie-rock anthems in the past six months, and now it's Public Access TV's turn to put a Brooklyn spin on things. To date, the singles have followed a pattern of off-beat riffs, call-and-response choruses, with a sharp attitude laced through the vocals. Unsurprisingly, In the Mirror fits this brief too.

However, what caught my eye was the B-side Hangin' Around, which nods more to a classic rock sound than the early 2000s British indie scene; straying from the offbeat riffs and throwing in a nifty guitar solo or two. The vocals are still cynical as ever though, in the band's true fashion: "four years at college // and all for nothing" "you're never going to get things right". 

But could this be the band asserting themselves as far more than just another run-of-the-mill, indie-rock-anthem-making machine? Or are they simply trying harder to shake off the Strokes comparisons that they overtly despise? Who cares, because it sounds great either way. 


Written for Post Music Depression

interview : hooton tennis club

Hooton Tennis Club are fast becoming regulars to Liverpool's ever-growing music scene. Signing a deal with Heavenly, after almost a year of playing shows under that attention-grabbing moniker is no mean feat, so I wanted to find out just how they did it. 

Ryan (vocals, guitar), Callum (bass) and Harry (drums) kindly agreed to meet me for a chat on a sunny Saturday afternoon - amidst their hectic schedule of signing contracts and going to festivals. Alright for some eh?

photo: twitter

Callum: Hi, we're Hooton Tennis Club!

me: OK, that's a good place to start - tell me about the name.

Ryan: We were making music in Harry's bedroom, and we went to get some chips.. then we walked past the sign for Hooton Tennis Club. We thought "oh, that'd be a good song name!", but it stuck as a band name. And that's how interesting that story is!

Harry: Maybe we need to change it though, because no one ever gets it right. We've had Hootin, Hootun.. someone even did it with an A.

me: I'm not going to ask the typical 'who are your influences' question, so I'll ask you to describe your sound.

Callum: Describe our sound? ..rubbish.

Harry: People trying to play Pavement songs, but they're not quite good enough.

Callum: Sloppy?

Harry: Yeah, people always say 'slacker'.

me: Isn't that an insult?

Harry: A backhanded compliment..

Ryan: Someone called it 'melodic sloppiness'.. so we'll go with that as the tagline.

me: So you've just signed with Heavenly, and you're going to be recording with Bill Ryder-Jones.. is that right? Are you allowed to tell me when you'll be bringing out new stuff, or is that top secret?

Ryan: I have absolutely no idea.. January is when they're aiming for. But it's already been pushed  back twice. All I know is that it's going to be in 3D. With listening glasses.

me: What about gigs for the rest of the year? Or will you just be in the studio?

Callum: No, we're playing Dalston two weeks today, and then the Palm House in Sefton Park.

Ryan: We've got a Halloween show. 

Harry: Me and Ryan made this hidden EP when he got a synth, so we might learn some of those for then.

Ryan: It's like shouty garage, with ghostly overtones. Stories about ghosts and vampires and werewolves.

me: Are you going to dress up?

Ryan: I think we should. Get sheets and cut holes in them for eyes.

me: I've noticed that your song titles all involve names. Is that intentional?

Harry: Yeah, we get a random book and pick a random sentence. Sometimes we change the name though.

me: So they're not actually based on real people? Everyone just thinks you write about mysterious ex-girlfriends.

Harry: Well Jennifer was because we were obsessed with Supergrass when we were like 16, and their band before was called The Jennifers.

Ryan: Some of the girls were real! Camilla was one I met in Copenhagen.

Callum: And she actually drew 14 dots on her knee.

Ryan: *demonstrates the method* 'there were no windows in the little hospital'. 

me: So that's the next single?

Harry: Add a girls name in.

Ryan: Done.

me: Liverpool's music scene is really thriving at the moment - who are you rating?

Callum: Well obviously that's because of us.

Harry: ..or in spite of us. I like Strange Collective. *all agree* Really loud garagey psych. The OC's kind of thing.

Ryan: We listen to Stealing Sheep. *to Callum* I like that thing you say about Liverpool.

Callum: Well, I don't think there is a scene. There's not a sound. There's loads of good bands doing really different things. It's very varied in Liverpool. But at the same time, somehow, it's a scene.

Harry: Liverpool has always been a melting pot of things.

Ryan: I think it's because it's a port. We're lucky to have things like Sound City, Music Week.. that festival thing in Sefton Park. There's always something going on in Liverpool.

Callum: And there are loads of great people working in the music industry here. The press are good guys, and we've got some great promoters too.

me: I feel like Liverpool bands aren't weighed down by a certain 'thing'. Because the Beatles are so big, nobody's going to try and match that.

Callum: Yeah, and they're not just Liverpool's band, they're everybody's band. 

me: And finally, if you could only listen to one band for the rest of your life, who would it be?

Callum: Us.

me: You can't pick yourselves..

Ryan: I'm going to go with Animal Collective. They've got so much music and it's really varied. I'd never get bored.

Harry: I'm going to cheat and say Motown. Rather than one artist, like a 'Best of..' album.

Callum, (after much deliberation):  Beach Fossils.

Ryan: No! Where's the longevity in that?

Callum: Whenever I dont have anything to listen to, I always go back to that first album of theirs.

Ryan: Who would James pick? (the 4th member of Hooton Tennis Club)

Harry: Bullet for my Valentine. But don't put that one in. 

See below for a list of the band's upcoming shows:

review : beverly // honey do

Beverly is ex-Dum Dum Girls Frankie Rose’s latest venture. They formed in 2013, their debut album was released mid-2014; these guys aren’t hanging around.

Combining 60’s girl-group vocals with grungy melodies, they’d fit in amongst Summer Camp and Alvvays in your record collection. ‘Honey Do‘ is a prime example of this; its fuzzy looped guitars provide a heavy contrast from the immaculately polished female vocals.


Written for Post Music Depression

introducing : horsebeach

photo: bandcamp

Horsebeach is the creation of Manchester-born-and-bred Ryan Kennedy. Recording in his flat and self-releasing the debut album earlier this year, his aim was not to sell thousands of records but to put out something he was proud of, for the world to hear - and proud he should be. The album is dream-filled and dazzling, whilst remaining dappled with Manchester's never-shifting drizzle. It's perfect for fans of anything released on Captured Tracks. 

I caught up with Ryan himself to find out more about this still largely secretive project of his, which - just to warn you - won't be a secret for much longer once people catch a glimpse of the album's sheer beauty from start to finish.

I've got to ask you about the name.. Your music definitely falls into in the same bracket as that of Beach Fossils / Real Estate / Wild Nothing who all have a 'beachy' vibe. So did your sound play a part in choosing an appropriate name for the band?

I think our sound at the beginning definitely influenced the name... right at the start I wanted to have a more surfy sound but yes, we also listened to Beach Fossils, Beach House..that sort of thing, so it seemed right to have 'beach' in the name. The 'horse' part just came out of nowhere, but I guess if you say a band name enough it starts to sound right no matter what it is. Horsebeach just stuck.

Rather than me continuing to speculate about influences, how would you describe your sound?

It's difficult for me to describe my own sound without explaining the influence behind it but I'll have a go. It's a distorted reflection of all the American, sunny-guitar/dream-pop, but instead of chiming through the streets of Brooklyn it echoes through the rainy, red-bricked alleyways of Manchester, which brings a slight morbidness.  

What inspired you to start the band, or to start making music in the first place?

I started messing about with making music when I was around 14. Me and a few school mates got together, wrote some songs and played them to our friends for a while. We had a few gigs, nothing big, but it was fun. I didn't write anything for a long time after that. I carried on playing my guitar and joining bands but didn't really take it seriously. As time went on I started getting interested in recording music and the whole recording process, so I ended up building up a little system using a cassette recorder where I could layer up the guitar and create repetitive loops. The point where I decided to start writing Horsebeach material was when I stumbled across Ducktails' album 'S/T' and thought "wow, this is great, and this guy is just doing it on a small four track or something, so maybe I should try that". As I was writing the songs I would send them over to Matt, who wasn't the drummer at this point, and he would let me know what he thought of them. Matt suggested I try doing it live, so that's how we ended up forming the band. Matt recruited his brother Dan for guitar and I enlisted our school friend Tom to play bass. I showed everybody which parts they needed to play, and Horsebeach finally materialised.

Releasing your debut LP earlier this summer was a pretty brave move for a band that are still very much 'under-the-radar', but what made you do it?

I've always enjoyed the whole do-it-yourself ethos, and from the beginning I kept myself as independent as I could. I think being a part of an album from writing the songs, to the cover design, allows you to stay 100% genuine. I was just writing stuff and releasing it off my own back. We had two singles to start out with; the first one sold out straight away, and the second started to gather some interest, so I just decided I would get an album out before the year was over. I was doing this all for personal reasons anyway, I didn't think about whether there was enough promo, or whether it was the right time, I just wanted to capture this particular moment of my songwriting. So I re-recorded it all properly in my flat and got it pressed. I was happy just selling records in Manchester and never expected it to get very far, so it's great that people have started to pick up on it, and word seems to be spreading. I'm so happy with the reception it's had and people's feedback so far!

Whilst the majority of your material sounds as though it's been created in the (sunnier) States, there are definitely elements of your music that could only come from a band out of Manchester. Do you think location plays a part on the way a band sounds? 

I guess it does, yes. The sunny side comes from listening to all the American guitar bands, but I never intended on giving the music a Manchester tinge, it seems to have crept in there on it's own. Maybe it's a combination of the weather, the people and the heritage. I did grow up listening to The Smiths after all.

And finally, what's next for Horsebeach?

We've got a few shows coming up to finish the year with; we're supporting Lust For Youth on 27th September at Soup Kitchen (Manchester) and we're playing Primavera Club in Barcelona on 2nd November, which I'm excited about. As far as releases go, I'm already working on new stuff for the next album and I'm looking at getting a new single out at the beginning of next year.


Horsebeach's self-titled debut album is out now. 
Visit their bandcamp page to download it.