The Dirty Dozen – Phantom Band Takeover

Colourmusic – You For Leaving Me (Memphis Industries, 11 Apr)
Duncan: When this started I immediately thought of the Fiery Furnaces, who I’m very fond of, but that soon stopped. It’s not floating my boat to be honest. It’s got that euphoric, choral sound that you’d associate with the Polyphonic Spree which I find slightly suspect in a cult way. I’d give that a one (out of five).

Snoop Dogg vs. David Guetta – Sweat (Parlophone, 18 Apr)
Duncan: It’s not his finest work, but it’s probably safe to say that he’s not trying to fool anyone – he’s just making some money. It’s honest, cynical music.
Greg: I’d like it if I was on the waltzers. It’s the waltzer song of the week.
Duncan: I’ll give that a three.
Greg: (aghast) What? No, it’s another one!

Deerhunter – Memory Boy (4AD, 11 Apr)
Duncan: Do you think they’ve actually hunted deer? So far I’m not really feeling this.
Greg: It’s a bit anodyne.
Duncan: It doesn’t sound like it could kill a deer.
Greg: I feel like they’re probably capable of better, but you know, who isn’t? Let’s go for a two.

The Domino State – You Are The Winter (Exhibition Records, 4 Apr)
Duncan: It’s making the Editors sound urgent. It mentions ‘shoegaze’ in the press release but I’m just hearing sub-U2.
Greg: Yeah, if you told me this was the new Editors single I would have believed you. It just sounds like so much other stuff around at the moment. That has to be a zero.
Duncan: Nah, I think we should give them one for trying. Or at least existing.

Feldberg – Don’t Be A Stranger (Smalltown America, 28 Feb)
Greg: I just don’t get it. It has that youthful element that I’ve grown out of being able to understand.
Duncan: It’s not that her voice sounds like Björk or Múm or other Icelandic alumni but she’s got that slightly cutesy thing which is getting a bit irritating.
Greg: I’d like it if I was in Tesco. If Dido went raucous this would be the result. One, I’m afraid.

Fenech-Soler – Stop and Stare (B-Unique, 18 Apr)
Duncan: I guess value judgements are relative, but to me I don’t see why this needs to exist.
Greg: I just think it’s cynical music again. I can’t imagine there’s any fun in making it at all and that it’s just an exercise in working out compression techniques so that it sounds good on a club P.A.
Duncan: It’s just noise to try and distract you from the fact that you’re really miserable. Zero points.

The Ezra Beats – Tonic and Gin (iTunes, 18 Apr)
Greg: Well, firstly it says several times in the press release that the band feature Pete Doherty’s sister...
Duncan: I don’t really care (taking a look at said press release) It also says they are ‘anti-folk indie’. What the fuck’s anti-folk?
Greg: (attempting a positive slant) Well, they’re young and (checking photo more closely)...actually, I’m not even sure they are that young. They’re young-ish, it’s skittish and upbeat and it gets...zero. A half if we can give halves then? I don’t want to aggrieve Pete Doherty.

Smith Westerns – Weekend (Domino, 2 May)
Duncan: Do you remember Sleeper? It sounds fairly toothless.
Greg: It’s a good sounding record, I just don’t get it. It sounds like everything else.
Duncan: I’d give this a half-mark again.
Greg: We’re going to look like total dicks. Give them one.

Trogons – Contina (X-Ray Recordings, 25 Apr)
Greg: It sounds like a bit of a trendy genre thing but maybe that’s not fair as I might actually enjoy hearing a bit more of them.
Duncan: I think because of everything we’ve heard so far, the spooky melodies were initially a good change of pace more than anything but in the end it’s still fairly straight forward indie-pop.
Greg: Yeah, I’m getting fed up with it to be honest but I think it’s worth a two.

Nevada Base – Love In My Mind (Flowers In The Dustbin, 18 Apr)
Greg: Lyrically it’s a peculiar record, definitely.
Duncan: It reminds me of The Beloved – but that’s a bit of an insult to The Beloved.
Greg: I’m kinda thinking more 'if Talking Heads were illiterate...'
Duncan: It gets a point for being hard to classify. And for Greg’s reaction to it.
Greg: And I’d give it a two, so it’s a two.

Younger Brother – Shine (Twisted Records, 4 Apr)
Duncan: It says here in the notes that singer Ruu Campbell’s voice is ‘hopelessly soulful’.
Greg: (sarcastically) Sam Cooke stuff, that is.
Duncan: I could see this coming on at an emotional bit of a Channel 4 program for young adults.
Greg: It’s weird that people want to have a band that sounds pretty much the same as Temper Trap. It’d be OK if you said you wanted to have a band that sounded exactly like, say, Jerry Lee Lewis, ‘cos that would be awesome. But this is getting zip.

SINGLE OF THE MONTH
Steve Mason – All Come Down (Domino, 25 Apr)
Duncan: I was just thinking about the first King Biscuit Time EP which was really good. This feels like it’s ploughing the same furrow, but in a good way.
Greg: It definitely sounds like Steve Mason. He has a similar thing in everything he’s done from the Beta Band onwards but I couldn’t get fed up listening to it... his sound is unique.
Duncan: Yeah, it’s miles ahead of anything else here.