Words: Emma Lawrence

When you first hear Obscure Pleasures it is hard to believe that they are from Birmingham, because they sound like they came straight out of Greenwich Village circa 1986. However, this works for them as they’re new single “Private Peep Show” shows.  Lead singer, Joshua White’s vocals sound like a mix between Ian Curtis of Joy Division and Paul Banks of Interpol.  By the sound of this song both bands are a big influence.

The song starts quietly and gradually builds into a great chorus that any indie kid would dance to at their local disco.  “Private Peep Show” sounds like something that would fit perfectly on a best of the 80′s CD and sounds like its been heavily influenced by Kraftwerk with its electro/computer sounding keyboards and drums. Joshua White’s vocals are haunting and leave an impression on the listener.  The melody is extremely catchy and is one that you’ll be whistling for days after you hear it.

Obscure Pleasures are a band that everyone should be listening to and they have come about at the right time, as 80′s sounding bands have had a sudden resurgence with the likes of White Lies and Hurts.  Obscure Pleasures deserve to be as big, if not bigger, than their already famous counterparts!

Words: Charlie Wallis

It’s been some time since we’ve heard anything from Nofolk’s ‘Holy State’ since their first batch of relatively uninteresting songs, 3 years to be precise. The problem is that when a band is missing in action for three years, when they return there is an exception that what they return with is at the very least an improvement. On this front Holy State deliver and then some.

Dial M for Monolith from the get go displays a mastery of the indie Brit pop genre that could give Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand a real run for their money. It’s bombastic from the outset with big beats underlying the textured guitar fuzz. The sound Holy State are putting out has become much more refined as opposed to a jumble of noise. It seems like this band are now offering something different that’s really their own. This track is more of a taster that grabs you by the throat, screams right in your face, before pushing you to the ground thinking; “what the hell just happened”.

Holy State have had some big opportunities including opening to Biffy Clyro and if Dial M for Monolith is anything to go by this could be an example of a previously mediocre band realising their potential. One to watch for 2012.

Words: Gaz Martinez

So I decided that I would review this single to wake up to…big mistake! From beginning to terminus, my ears are sonically assaulted with hardcore dissonance from Blacklisters. It’s not exactly fast, but it is near unrelenting and gives listeners a solid rhythm to break their necks to, the bass break doesn’t offer any respite it just lets you know your ears are about to bleed in a few seconds.

It’s just a shame the vocals are so low in the mix that the style (ie, screaming and shouting) churns the lyrics up until they are indecipherable, a shame because that aside, this low-fi way of producing this kind of music actually plays in its favour, eschewing the slick and polished production for something that is rawer and much more natural in itself, which is surely one of the foundations for punk and hardcore music in general?

This deserves at least a four, but I can only give Blacklisters a 3/5 purely based on the vocals, nothing wrong with them per se, I just can’t hear what’s being screamed, maybe I’m just growing old (At the ripe old age of 22) On listening to Trickfuck one of the tags I see is ‘noise’ I disagree, it isn’t noise, it’s music at its most aggressive, most primal, most energising.

Words: Charlie Wallis

Reading local ‘Mr Fogg’ has been gradually making a name for himself since first appearing on the scene in 2005 with his own brand of ambient electronic music. This latest offering sees him collaborating with producer Valgeir Sigursson who has worked with the likes of Bjork and Kate Nash. 

Latest single ‘Stay Out of the Sun’ is in itself an interesting beast as I found it hard to know what to make of it at first. What starts out as a fairly generic electronica track, starts to build into something much more satisfying. Whilst musically there’s nothing overwhelmingly impressive the atmosphere is well sculpted and the syncopated rhythms are well thought through.  For me there’s arguably something missing, however.This is clearly a solid track but that left the repetitive melodies did little to leave a lasting impact. 

Words: Gaz Martinez

I cannot possibly think of what Late Night Fiction were thinking when they decided to name this track, that said, with the way the song progresses, the title, Exits, Pursued by a Bear begins to feel like an increasingly adequate name. Late Night Fiction’s newest single does is not frantic or horrifically fast paced, as if you literally are being pursued by a grizzly, it’s something else altogether.

With Phil Morris viscerally shrieking in a way beautifully reminiscent of Simon Neil, I hear subtle hints of early Biffy Clyro (and I mean Vertigo of Bliss early, for those of you that think Puzzle was their debut.) and Exits, Pursued by a Bear does a good job of naturally flowing from one passage into the other, from the soft guitar intro, it takes you where you don’t expect it to, and doesn’t finish where you would expect it to, chopping and changing in the most natural way imaginable. It’s nice to hear that Reece Britton’s bass is not left out, providing a nice pulsing section while the guitars twinkle and dance around it.

Judging from the band’s website, they state that in just under two years they have played with the likes of Sucioperro and Twin Atlantic, in my opinion, good on them! I haven’t heard of these fellows before but if more of their material is on the same level as this frankly quirky, but surprisingly enticing song, then they will be performing with bigger bands before long, and bands may even say they have gigged with Late Night Fiction, as a way of showing off their credentials.