The Dirty Dozen – September 2012

We Are Augustines – Book of James/Philadelphia  (Oxcart Records, 3 Sep)
Amanda: They’re American, eh? That’s a good start already. I’m just waiting for the chorus now [which doesn’t arrive]. I like it; it’s an anti-chorus song. Anti-chorus gets my vote every time. It sounds like a beautiful blend of rock ‘n’ roll and heart-breaking, screechy vocals that boys seem to be doing lately. But I’m actually a fan of emotional boys. It also sounds like it’s beautifully produced. I’ll give them a seven.

Knife Party – Centipede (Big Beat, 10 Sep)
Amanda: [Upon hearing the narrative opening which references centipedes and tarantulas] OK, well they’re dorks. We just have to decide which kind of dorks, the good kind or the bad kind. [Later] I feel like I was waiting just to see what was going to happen and now I feel like I’m in the nineties. I’m kind of allergic to music that is meant to be played loud and danced to. For its genre it sounds pretty good though.
The Skinny: What genre would that be?
Amanda: Nuevo techno? I’ll give that a five.

Mumiy Troll – Hey Tovarish! (Mumiy Troll Music, 3 Sep)
Amanda: The singer sounds as though he thinks he’s sexy. It’s a cross between Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, the voice, but not the music. He sounds kinda wanky. Russians are weird. I maybe shouldn’t say he’s wanky, just in case he likes me. Sounds standard – move on. I’ll give that a four.

Hot Chip – How Do You Do? (Domino, 10 Sep)
Amanda: This is kind of boring. I feel like if I’m going to listen to music like this, then I’d rather just listen to New Order. Can we skip it? I’ll give that a four as well. I give them a four for not being New Order.

Blood Red Shoes – In Time To Voices (V2, 3 Sep)
Amanda: They’re from Brighton. From the beach. The beach of rocks. I think it’s OK. I can’t really make out the lyrics, which always pisses me off. It’s kind of Elastica-y, as her voice reminds me of Justine Frischmann. They sound like they’d either be really great or really disappointing to watch live. It’s music that promises a really intense live show. I’d give that a seven. A seven is my ambivalently approving score.

TOY – Lose My Way (Heavenly, 3 Sep)
Amanda: It sounds nice. I find this music inoffensive. It sounds pretty and it reminds me of The Shins a little bit. It has that sixties slap-back reverb thing going on. It’s bland, but not necessarily in a bad way. I genuinely like The Shins. If I were sitting in a cafe and it came on I might ask what it was. From what I’ve been able to make out of the lyrics, they don’t sound incredible though, so I’ll give this one a six.

Vision – Orbit Motherfucker Part 1.0 (Big Dada, 3 Sep)
Amanda: The press release says it makes you feel like you want to go “a little wild”.
The Skinny: Do you?
Amanda: Just a bit. A little wild like I might go over to the refrigerator and get that second box of strawberries. Once again, this is so outside my genre. I just never listen to music like this so I’ll give it an ambivalent five.
The Skinny: I thought seven was your ambivalent score...
Amanda: I have a few.

Fans of Faye – Paint The Sun (Little Windmill Records, 3 Sep)
Amanda: I bet they’re cute. They just sing like they’re really cute. And I bet they wear ironic clothing. They sound like they’re serious about rocking. I’ll give them another ambivalent five. Not really my thing.

The Heartbreaks – Polly (Nusic Sounds, 3 Sep)
Amanda: They’re playing the Burberry in-store in Japan. That’s quite a show. I’m trying to picture them playing this song in there. They’re also playing the Fuji Rock Festival and I’ve played there.
The Skinny: Would you be happy playing next to these guys?
Amanda: I’d be happy having sex with all of them, as long as they didn’t sing. They get a five as well. I just hate music, it seems.

Single of the Month: Woodpecker Wooliams – Sparrow (Robot Elephant, 3 Sep)
Amanda: I like her already. On her twentieth birthday she was initiated on a shamanic path which included an overnight earth burial. I feel the same with this as I did with the last song, in that I’d like to make passionate love to her. But this isn’t boring rock music like most of the others. Again, I’d love to see this played live and I think I’d be really impressed. I’ll give this one an eight.

Dinosaur Jr. – Watch The Corners (Play It Again Sam, 3 Aug)
Amanda: I definitely don’t want to make love to J Mascis! This makes me very nostalgic for the early nineties. This gets a seven for sounding classically early-nineties but no more because, essentially, it just sounds like a Dinosaur Jr. song.

Lorn – Weigh Me Down (Ninja Tune, 10 Sep)
Amanda: [reading the press release] Where’s the “driving beat and waves of falling chords”?

The Skinny: This might be them now.
Amanda: It’s good, but here’s the thing; I’d need to be dancing and on drugs to appreciate this. And right now, I’m so far from ‘on drugs’ and I’m not dancing at all. This is the wrong atmosphere to be listening to this kind of music. So let’s close our eyes, pretend we’re on ecstasy, we’ve also had four drinks, we’re naked in someone’s basement, we’re loving this, right?
The Skinny: Um...
Amanda: I’ll give it a six.