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Greetings, readers drinking Abuelita chocolate (not Fairtrade) while reading Doctor Who and the Cybermen while the boss is buying a helicopter. Welcome to another edition of our “off again, off again, hey it’s on again!” single reviews column. Granted, some of them aren’t singles, but I liked them and made my stupid human collaborators review ’em. Mahalo. 

This week’s singles come courtesy both of Adi Carter‘s mad remix skills and Rutland Arms, easily the best pub in Sheffield. Yup. Deal with it. And no, they didn’t pay us. Yet. Skint mofos…

Ah, singles, right:

Stalagmites – Rainbow reptile / howling at the moon

‘Rainbow reptile’. Nice and constant riff of drums shaping the whole scenario, covered by a guitar making the same idea of persecution, while the other guitar evokes dreamy sounds insinuating its Shoegaze influence.

This is a track with rock trends tangled in dreams through special guitar pedal effects, like the balance between the organic sound of a band and the soul conveyed through those extended and sharp notes, while vocals are strong and become the anchor to this tune.

An excellent tune to hit the road and start your day in a thoughtful note.

Now, ‘howling at the moon’. The ambient sounds start and float in the air with carefree harmony, like a collection of thoughts long buried. The protagonist of this track is definitely the acoustic guitar processed through reverb, giving a to-and-fro sensation to the structure of this track.

This song definitely invites you to remain in the exact moment between wakefulness and the ethereal life, while the reverberated vocals evoke the image of a musician in the street singing his songs with ultimate nostalgia, night notes that will float in your mind and close with a heartfelt convergence of voice, the ambient and the guitar (got the goose bumps in this part).

Psychic Twin – Deepest Part / I want to forget

The newest project by Champaign-based superheroes Psychic Twin has this lovely number as an introductory lesson. The dreamy, slightly shoegazy beginning is a sneaky way to tell you “welcome back”, but then it turns into a very upbeat song that although still very, very dreamy (love the droning way on the back, creepy but cool) it feels like making you want to bust a move.

B-side ‘I want to forget’ is less on the dreamy side and more on the electronica side. At least for the first 30 seconds, then it goes into that distant, ghostly voice approach that feels like sirens beckoning to get lost (and drown) in many a lucid dream. It’s a nice combination and if this what Psychic Twin are aiming for, it’s promising. -Sam

Silicon Ballet – Sunglasses

An exquisite mix of 60’s styles of blues, almost shaped in the fashion of early rock & roll, with new voices and distortions included, choirs that would evoke the latest horror movie with ghost children of times with matte contrasts.

The sound of violins leaves no room for doubt: this is Chamber Pop, a pretty experimental one I must add, as it includes layers of music that would be the distinctive element of this genre but also presents other incidental sounds that certainly enrich the general idea, giving an interesting depth to this time travel through music.

Wet Nuns – Heavens Below

El par endemoniado Wet Nuns is back with another rocking number (released for free November 11th, 2011). In true fashion from these gents, the song is that wonderful crunchy guitar gliding like sandpaper on the face of your favourite enemy (I’ve got a long list) and the steady drumbeat is your call to action. Whatever action that Wet Nuns inspires you to do.

The single is released for gratis on 11/11/11 and you get a remix by Matt Helders (to hear his previous remix, click here) and you’ll also get to hear some remixes by Sheffield legend Adi Carter (gotta call him that or he’ll chop my head and remix it in dub). – Sam

Dennis Hopper Choppers – Girl walked out of town

Is this time travel Pt. 5? Yes, I assume it is as this band delivers in this single a nice moog synthesizer from the very beginning and offers interesting textures to our senses. The guitar, drums and bass offer a western-like riff combined with analog sounds of the 70’s and I can only think, with this song as background, of a Clint Eastwood movie (punks included) in the middle of a Mexican standoff.

Another highlight is the vocals, they really feel like silk in your ear channels and it’s inviting, delicate in its own way, but never losing a touch to prove its inner strength. Nice!

Loutallica – Our self-indulgence is the way to the door (pt 2: Electric Boogaloo)

God hates us all. – Jonny Sock

Catch us up next week when we slate another shit band (or solo artist – right, Mr. Mars?). Until next time, I’m Orestes Xistos and I rule this dump. See ya and kisses and (((sholay))) (((hugs))). I just wrote that to piss off Onslaught, ’cause he’s a coward, not like our lord Tláloc (who, incidentally, is my PA).

Links: 

Dennis Hopper Choppers Website. Last.fm. Facebook. Myspace. Blog. Youtube.

Silicon Ballet Website. Facebook. Twitter. Bandcamp. Soundcloud. 

Wet Nuns Website. Blawg Blog. Twitter. Soundcloud. Facebook. Nuthin’.

Psychic Twins Facebook. Bandcamp.

Stalagmites Facebook. Bandcamp. Myspace. Soundcloud.