Dirty Dozen: Idlewild review Sleaford Mods, Brogéal & more

The Skinny: Are you ready?
Rod: We'll try to be kind.
Roddy: You’ve got to watch with these kinds of things because years ago I reviewed singles for the NME – it was The Killers' Mr Brightside. Anyway, I didn’t like it.
Rod: You called him the Pete Sampras of indie-rock, which I think was very funny.
Roddy: He didn’t like it. He was like calling me out on stage, saying I was an arsehole.

Sleaford Mods – Megaton

Roddy: It sounded like a lot of their other songs, but that’s not a bad thing because they’ve got a very unique sound.
Rod: Yeah, it sounds very them…
Roddy: They’re very much a band you want to watch live.
Rod: It’s not my favourite Sleaford Mods track – I know their whole thing is kind of minimalism and linearity, but it felt like this one was maybe even slightly too linear for me.
Roddy: I like it, it gets my thumbs up.
Rod: I’m going to give it a 30 degree upward angle thumb.
[Out Now via Rough Trade, 7" due 7 Nov]

Babeheaven – Picture This

Roddy: There were bands called things like this in the 80s, I was thinking is this an old band that’ve come back?
Rod: I thought it was gonna be Eurodisco... It’s sort of trip-hop, indie-folk... I guess I just don't know if it necessarily had much depth to it.
Roddy: It’s from [their EP] Slower Than Sound, which is an interesting concept, because sound travels fast doesn’t it?
Rod: Pretty fast.
Roddy: So to be slower than sound...
Rod: That’s probably average. Not to be mean, but it was a little average... I had a listen to a bunch of their other tracks and thought, actually, some of it was pretty good – this was maybe not their best.
Roddy: I get all the criticisms, but when it’s playing I’m enjoying it – I’ll give it a thumbs up.
Rod: I’m giving this one a side thumb I’m afraid.
[Out Now via Scenic Route; Slower Than Sound due 24 Oct]

Brogéal – Draw the Line

Rod: It’s kind of in that tradition of The Pogues.
Roddy: It reminds me of a cross between The View and The Mary Wallopers.
Rod: It just felt like it was a little more sanitized than The Pogues or The Mary Wallopers, it felt a little over-regimented maybe... It was catchy, well crafted, but it felt like it had a spark that was missing.
Roddy: I guess they’re maybe following that narrative songwriting tradition... which is something I’ve never been able to do... I think it might be quite popular. Good luck to them, I’ll give it a thumbs up.
Rod: Yeah, I’m gonna give it a thumbs up – it’s definitely not the kind of thing I would listen to usually.
[Out now via PIAS; Tuesday Paper Club due 17 Oct]

Home Counties – Meet Me In the Flat Roof

Roddy: What a terrible name for a band – the home counties are maybe the most boring part of Britain.
Rod: It’s got a vibe, I think it’s well put together, it’s not too shiny.
Roddy: It feels like everything’s been done correctly, it sounds good – all the little things that are going on are all kind of really tasteful and working well together, and it’s quite catchy too... I’ll give it a thumbs up.
Rod: I thought this was the catchiest one, in terms of just like melodic songwriting – I’ll give this a thumbs up.
Roddy: Maybe I’ll have to move the thumb slightly down because of their name – thumb down one notch.
[Out Now via Submarine Cat Records; Humdrum due 24 Oct]

Sigrid – Two Years

Rod: I’m a fan of hers. I thought [Sucker Punch] was a really good, interesting debut pop record. This isn’t quite as good as that, unfortunately. It’s catchy and it’s got a bit of a kind of shinier end of Phoenix sort of vibe underneath it, which I quite enjoyed.
Roddy: It’s not the kind of music I can connect to that much... are we gonna be listening to it in two or three years time?
Rod: I think it’s for everyone to listen to it tomorrow.
Roddy: Well, I would definitely give it a thumbs up then.
Rod: Yeah, I’m giving it a thumbs up.
[Out now via Island/EMI; There's Always More That I Could Say due 24 Oct]

Upchuck – New Case

Rod: It’s more my vibe definitely, a bit less quantised, a bit less shiny, DIY punk.
Roddy: I’m not hearing the punk at all.
Rod: It’s sort of like a scuzzy version of the Pixies with a bit of chaos mixed in riff-wise. It’s cool, although not the best version of that I’ve ever heard.
Roddy: When I started listening to music a lot in the early-mid 90s, in the Melody Maker and NME would be bands you couldn't hear, so you were just imagining what they sounded like, and often they sounded like this. I don’t mean that as a negative thing, but if I read about them I’d probably prefer them. It just never gets going to me, but I don’t dislike it.
Rod: The one thing I wrote that was negative – I thought it lacked a bit of dynamic and aggression as a song.
Roddy: I’ll still give it a thumbs up because I’m judging them purely on this one song and that’s unfair for any band.
Rod: It’s a solid seven I’d say.
[Out 1 Oct via Domino Records; I'm Nice Now due 3 Oct]

Tina Sandwich – Grit

Rod: I felt like if it was a bit more chaotic and a bit less regimented there would be something there.
Roddy: She sounds like she’s just getting started… listen to early Idlewild stuff and it’s really ropey.
Rod: I’d prefer it if it was a bit ropier... This just feels like what my impression of Garbage was, at the time, and a lot of those bands – sanitised rock music. I think if she was to record it herself on her phone I would probably prefer it, I think I’d like to hear more of her and less of it being produced. Side thumb.
Roddy: My thumbs are up from the side, but not quite to the top.
Rod: I just listened to one of her other songs – I Want – and that’s loads better. That one sounds like I want her to sound, you can kind of hear who she is a bit more... Can I move my thumb up to a 45 degree angle for the fact they’ve maybe just recorded it wrong?
[Out 2 Oct]

Sparks – Fantasize

Rod: It sounds like Sparks doesn’t it? It’s undeniably quite theatrical dance-pop music.
Roddy: It’s not a sound I can connect to emotionally, but it’s a really good Sparks song.
Rod: [It reminded] me of that cat meme – ‘no no no no no no no no no’. I don’t know if maybe that was their reference point? They kind of strike me as cat people, so on that basis I’m giving it a thumbs up.
Roddy: As a Sparks song, I’d say a thumbs up. As something I’d listen to, I’d be more inclined to move my thumb to the more neutral position.[Out 3 Oct via Transgressive]

wojtek the bear – kylie’s put a curse on us

Rod: It's maybe a little too derivatively Belle & Sebastian.
Roddy: The only note I’ve written is – ‘would be interesting if it was actually a bear singing’ which is not very good criticism is it? I like the fact their picture was taken out of the CalMac window...
Rod: The last line was a bit daft – ‘I don’t mean to cause a fuss / Kylie’s put a curse on us’.
Roddy: A lot of Glasgow bands from the last 20 years have done that sort of indie-pop convincingly. It sounds very accomplished, it’s got the Scottish accent up front singing these slightly humorous lyrics I suppose... I’m intrigued... They’re named after a famous bear and they used an interesting photograph so I’m giving it a thumbs up.
Rod: I’m giving this a side thumb I’m afraid.
[Out 17 Oct via Last Night From Glasgow]

Hen Hoose – Out of My Mind

Roddy: Over the years in Scotland there’s always people getting together to make these records and share their creativity and it’s always positive... [This is] really catchy, it’s fun as well, I enjoyed listening to it.
Rod: I concur. I especially liked the Rocky montage section in the middle – a bit of a dancefloor filler.
Roddy: I give this a thumbs up.
Rod: Yeah, thumbs up, it’s really cool what they’re doing.
Roddy: Thumbs up for Hen Hoose!
[Out 14 Oct via Hen Hoose]

Thundermoon – The Spirit, The Law

Rod: There’s a lot of early 90s references in there, a bit of Underworld in the middle, certainly... In that lane it sounded good. I thought maybe the vocals were a little too linear and a bit washed out, it maybe lacked a bit of dynamics.
Roddy: It’s got a sort of new age-y vibe to it. The song’s called The Spirit, The Law – they’re not dealing with minor themes in their music. It says here that ‘their hypnotic vocals guide the listener through a sonic exploration of transcendence'... they’re interested in the big issues of existence.
Rod: It succeeded in that.
Roddy: The only thing I wrote down was new age, a genre that’s always around in the background, the way people live in cafes and pubs and festivals, so ubiquitous, but in a good way. Basically, it’s a thumbs up.
Rod: A diagonal thumb upwards.
[Out 24 Oct via New Teeth Records]

Maz and the Phantasms – Voices In My Head

Roddy: I liked it. When it starts off, you don’t think it’s what it’s going to be like.
Rod: It’s definitely got some unique moments. It goes from old school punk riffs to surf-rock and then there’s cowboys having a circus in the middle.
Roddy: It reminds me a wee bit of [The] Ex, I liked it... I give it a thumbs up.
Rod: I give it a thumbs up. When it started out I thought it was going to be fairly sort of stock, and then, whether I agree with where it went or not, it went to some pretty odd places in the middle.
Roddy: I think that’s a product of now and the way we listen to music. You can’t just be a straightforward punk band anymore. So Maz and the Phantasms, I think they’re doing the right thing.
[Out 24 Oct; Maz and the Phantasms due 14 Nov]

---

Idlewild's latest album, Idlewild, is out now via V2 Records