Greetings, readers drinking cheap coffee (via Tesco) and sneaking a looksie at Cracked.com while the boss is out for a smoothie (posh idiot). Welcome to another edition of our “off again, off again, hey it’s on again!” single reviews column.

This week’s singles come courtesy of Gilgamesh, who really deserved his reputation, and Goliath, who needed a better PR person, like the one who made people believe that Subway is healthy for you. Fuck that noise. Get a bacon sandwich and make it diet by throwing away the bread (specially the granary one, it sticks to my retainers).

Ah, singles, right:

The Loud – Amy’s gonna get you / Jodie Foster

This band really knows how to honor the name they have chosen: it’s their work with guitars, the dirty effects they use in their vocals, a sound drowned in a slumber. There’s also these vintage textures achieved maybe through engineering similar to that of the 70s.

This 70s genetic engineering band has released two new and amazing tracks, where‘Amy’s gonna get you’ is the first one and is made from one of my favorite harmonies ever, a cool selection of a somewhat intermediate scale dimmed with flat and sharp notes. Dirty guitars with swirling effects, iterative, young and anxious vocals supported by strong bass and drums to make your bones rattle, all together making a song that will automatically bring to your mind images of psychedelic cars, flowers, and matte essences.

The second track is ‘Jodie Foster’ (cool! I just knew of a track called ‘Natalie Portman’). The texture here is exquisite, like listening to this song into the radio, an old one. Even when details in sounds may be a little obscured, the acoustic guitar becomes a bonus and the bright part of this present within the past. Retro organs and saturated guitar distortions, as to insinuate the cutting edge technology that comes in the shape of valve amplifiers. -Tonan

Tamborines – Black & Blue / Indian Hill (out on July 25)

This shoegaze duo brings the reverb and overdrive home with a double A side. ‘Black & Blue’ is a blink and you miss little ditty that’s sweet but dissolves way too fast to enjoy completely (wouldn’t mind another minute of this!). ‘Indian Hill’ is more on the dreamy flavour of the shop, with a slow pace and an infectious chorus (“I turn around / because I don’t belong here). Boo! We all have been there, though, so it’s something easy to relate. ‘Indian Hill’ might be the stronger of the two, but it’s a solid release, fit to that scene that celebrates itself (and is sorely missed, if you ask me). Go Tamborines! -Sam

Silver Tongues – Ketchup (out now)

At this point I’m trying really hard to find thee mystical sense of the word “ketchup” and its relevant implications. This is the name of Kentucky-based The Silver Tongues´ new single, and it is definitely an ephemeral test of 1.49 minutes. It struck me as  a surprise the fact that this is an extremely short track, yet it was considered as a single. I like that.

This track includes dreamy atmospheres, and becomes a constant and experimental assembly where all elements are in unison, and manage perfectly to make guitars and vocals the protagonists of this blue sky. The prolonged bridges coming from guitar distortions and acute vocals are undoubtedly the elements that provide with this: hope, happiness and flying feeling. This is a takeoff, both emotional and physical, like preparing yourself to receive one of all of the greatest joys and hopes of a lifetime. – Tonan

Sad Accordions / Monahans split 12″

Split singles seem to be a trick of the trade as of late and it’s always interesting to see what can be discovered with pairings that sometimes can be odd (but interesting) or blend together perfectly by flowing and complementing what the other band was saying.

Sad Accordions  have this interesting sound, like a road trip through the desert, but instead of melancholy, it’s an “after the fact” situation, just after that proverbial “coming of age” has passed. Well, that’s what I got from ‘Denial takes the train’ (quality title too), the rocky song that works the rocky triceps of Sad Accordions. The band seems more thoughtful and heartfelt (again: melancholy is the name of the game) in ‘Sweet Cocaine’. For a few moments, this alt-country ballad feels like it’s going to explode in your face, but it counts to ten and lets go, disappearing into a lonely path, the one we all will have to take one day.There is  a pay off, though. There’s always one. You just need to prepare to it.

Whoa. Deep shit. But then again, the instrumental rock of Monahans complements the country rock of Sad Accordions with some well-thought choice of notes. ‘Stationed’ gets wet with reverb, with a sweet guitar lick sliding over a meditative drum beat with a mesmerising effect. I like this instrumental ditty that feels like a segue between something else. Which is ‘Bridge commander’, a track that finds Monahans going acoustic, with a strummy guitar and a distant voice that riles us up slowly, ready to jump into the car and drive away (hopefully to play again the songs of this single on the radio). It’s a cyclical single (not by repetition, mind, but by feelings) and a solid starting point to find your way with two very good bands. – Sam

 

Links

The Loud Website. Facebook. Myspace. Last.fm. Bandcamp.

The Tamborines Website. Myspace. Facebook. Twitter. Last.fm.

Silver Tongues   Bandcamp. Facebook. Soundcloud.

Sad Accordions Website. Myspace. Last.fm. Bandcamp. Facebook. Twitter.

Monahans Website. Facebook. Twitter. Myspace.