1. Moats – ‘Skin’
‘Skin’ is a progressive track, with a cacophony of short, soft, yet snappy drum beats and math-rock inspired riffs and it made us feel maybe we’d heard it before and then gone on to discard it. However, the reason for this was fairly simple; doing some digging we found that actually they were formed from Kenetics, a band previous featured in this very series. Besides this, there’s remarkably little to say about them other than that they have a number of distinctive tracks on their Soundcloud page.
2. Capybara – ‘Neighbour Crimes’
Here’s another band which aren’t strictly new; ‘Neighbor Crimes’ comes from their second album Dave Drusky, but they are still a relative enigma. The Kansas City group have produced a serene, yet catchy song with ‘Neighbor Crimes’. The sharp guitar strokes, twinged with reverb provide you with a welcome introduction while the cool air of Joel Wrolstad’s hover as a gentle cloud, guiding the track. The slower elements of the track put them on par with Local Natives, while the hint of electro-pop sees them as something more diverse. Dave Drusky is available to buy now.
3. Palma Violets – ‘Last Of The Summer Wine’
‘Last Of The Summer Wine’ is the B-side to the recently released, hotly tipped ‘Best of Friends’, and the London four-piece continue to show why so many are causing such a fuss about them. The track starts off sounding like a strange tape recording with keys warbling up-and-down the scale at free will, and those with little patience may feel the intro drags on, but its artful and when the track really kicks in ‘Last Of The Summer Wine’ is a tight and well executed indie guitar number. It sounds like something you could’ve heard coming out of the peak of the era. And it’s great in the fact that once you get in to it, it just stops and disappears leaving you needing more.
4. Ghost Beach – ‘Tear Us Apart’
A duo from New York City, Ghost Beach would seem at first to be natives to the other coast, given their sun-kissed name and their summer rhythms. Describing their sound as ‘tropical grit pop’, the band are a synth-pop revelation having already been hailed by Neon Records. ‘Tear Us Apart’ – their newest single – features guitars that flux and bounce in a similar way to contemporaries Strange Talk and Passion Pit, whilst the almost tortured and somewhat caged vocals surrounded by swirling keys invoke the same sort of production values that have brought St. Lucia recognition.
5. Fenech Soler – ‘All I Know’
The electro-pop band have returned but their newest track sees them take a new direction which has the club clientèle clearly in focus. ‘All I Know’ is a pacey affair, building to a deep chorus stuffed full of catchy synths, as the repetitive tones work to add a whole new atmosphere to the track instead of being simply a drag. After lead singer Ben Tuffy’s scare with testicular cancer in 2011, Fenech Soler have come back stronger than ever, and have managed to reinvent a sound which already sounded fresh. ‘All I Know’ is available now.
Contributions from David Martin and Nátt Day.
