The Do - On My Shoulders

The Dø are Finnish/French duo, Olivia Bouyssou Merilahti and Dan Levy, who combine to bring together a quirky Scandinavian pop sensibility with a liberal sprinkling of Paris chic to their songwriting. They had a number one hit in France with 'On My Shoulders' taken from the 2008 debut album 'A Mouthful'. This is one of those songs that creeps up on you on the first few plays and surreptitiously gets under your skin, so that before you know it, you're humming the chorus and pressing repeat on the mp3 player. Olivia's precocious vocals are infectious, as they hook the listener in, with high maintenance mannerisms and Dan is not afraid to push the envelope with his jackdaw like eclectic musical style, but always keeping one eye on a decent melody. It's released in the U.K on Monday 09th February 2009 and is well worth checking out. Enjoy!

The Dø - 'On My Shoulders' from 'A Mouthful'



http://www.myspace.com/thedoband

Built By Snow - Mega

Now, I've never stepped inside an American High School in my entire life, yet I believe that I would be able to get to grips with all the rituals and strange nuances of these education institutions fairly quickly. This is mainly due to regularly digesting many hours of television programmes and films, set in these locations, over the years. A lifetime of absorbing John Hughes films, classics like Pink In Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Clueless, Dazed and Confused (a personal favourite) Schlock Horror movies, My So Called Life, Beverley Hills 901234556789 and ahem High School Musical has equipped me with all the preparation one would need to seamlessly fit in this universal part of the American Dream.

(Full marks for the vinyl copy of 'Back To The Future' Soundtrack)

The concept of parking up at the school gates in an smart open top car with stretched fenders is well within my grasp (a long way off the rusty banger of a V.W Polo with mould growing on the back seats, I used to actually limp into college in, back yonder) A quick dash into lessons via the metal detectors, "Sorry officer, I forgot about the Magnum lurking in my gym bag!" running along those wide polished aisles with hundreds of lockers on either side and saunter into the classroom parking my butt (see, I know the lingo) on one of those single seats, the ones with the funny pull out writing desk attachments, ready to give a quick run through of relative merits of the forty three (four) presidents.

Of course, learning facts is the way down the list of priorities at these places.. everyone knows High School is about learning to being COOL! Getting in with the right crowd is all important and being seen hanging out with the right people is vital. These places are a microcosm of life's big pecking order, packed with enough complex animal groupings, to give a David Attenborough Wildlife Documentary, a run for it's money.

Teenagers instinctively herd together and are acutely aware of the sliding scale of social order, that keeps everyone in their place. The alpha males of the jocks rule the roost, they swagger and bray, knowing they get first dibs on any prey, as they display their physical prowess, by bashing into each other at high speed on the football pitch. The cheerleaders display their physical attributes, in routines designed to remind everyone, that beauty is the major asset in this society. The valley girls know what to wear, how to talk and where to access all the right parties. The alt/emo scene are the flip side of these scenes rejecting accepted conformity and rebelling against the system. Every educational establishment has the stoner scene, who are kept on side by all cliques, because everyone needs their access to the drugs. Halfway down the pecking order are the regular kids, keeping their scores up by actually working, but not standing out too much. Then, there are all the groups based on racial, class and gender lines to tick off. Finally, we have the geeks, at the bottom of the pile, excluded and exiled from most socially inclusive activities, busy doing Spelling Bees, hanging out in the library or sitting in a dank recess of a room, solitary nerds busy typing away at a computer, in the middle of the night (oh hang on, that sounds familia...ahem!) These guys know their place and it doesn't really matter, because in ten years time, they'll have sold some Web 2.0 application for millions, letting them magically rise to the top of the heap.

So, I know the score and I'm ready to assert my place in the pantheon of High School Life. Thirty years of watching films like 'Never Been Kissed' have not been wasted, it's all been usual research and I now know how to high five with the jocks and give a wide berth to the invites to Math Club.

But hold up, Arrrrrghhhh! I'm all confused, Built by Snow have come along, thrown a rock hard snowball in my face and now the consequences are melting down the back of my neck. Why? well they look a bit nerdy, dress a bit square and profess to be interested in computers and retro games and such like. Yet instead of channelling these youthful indiscretions into a project for the science fair, they've formed a band. Not just any old band, one that plays edgy, antsy, synth punk pop. The BBS sound is The Buzzcocks meeting Hot Chip with a cough of Weezer, the towering wit of They Might Be Giants all driven by new wave power pop of The Cars. They also name check Scratchy favourites Tegan and Sara, so all in all they've turned all my stereotypes on my head. What a dilemma, I want to hang with the geeks, they're iglcool..! BBS will get an invite to the High School Prom; they'll go down a (snow) storm.

Built By Snow - Mega nine tracks, twenty two minutes. released on January 20th 2009
As they sing "I'm a weird kid so come with me let's go!"

Built By Snow - Underneath directed by Matt Murray and Andy Garibay



Built By Snow -All The Weird Kids Know - Directed by a Fan?



Usually, when I'm drop one of these band big ups, as the youth of today tend to say these days (I'm down wid da kidz, daddio) I tend to cherry pick the interesting parts of a band's press bumph and fill in the gaps with my personal slant on the proceedings. However, BBS have produced a rather wonderful press release done in the style of a Golden Age comic, so I might as well reproduce this as it has all the relevant information on, it's the bees knees.

Live Events..
18 Jan 2009 22:00 KVRX Local Live-STREAM THE SHOW-http://listen.kvrx.org/ The entire world!

24 Jan 2009 21:00 Club DeVille - Built By Snow, "MEGA" CD Release Party! Austin, Texas

4 Feb 2009 21:00 Creekside Lounge - 101x Homegrown Live Show Austin, Texas

25 Feb 2009 21:00 at Emos w/ The Authors Austin, Texas

http://www.builtbysnow.com/

www.myspace.com/builtbysnow

Small Feral Token - Twelve Grooves of Christmas Part 11

Small Feral Token unleashed a corker of an album this year called 'Digipop' which popped out back in October. They were favourably featured in the national press in their native Sweden, but mystifyingly have barely registered in the U.K music press so far, thus I'm determined rectify the error of music blogland's ways and correct this oversight.

The 'Feral' sound could be pigeon holed as 'electronica pop' chirping from the same perch as highly commercial acts, like Kylie Minogue and Robyn. Yet they also have some of the musical magpie tendencies of Gwen Stefani and soar amongst the experimental clouds of Björk or Kraftwerk. All the while, lurking beneath the beats, is a brooding undercurrent of foreboding and implied menace, a la Portishead, so whilst all of these elements combine to produce a sumptuous mainstream peacock, concealed beneath the fine drapery, lies the heartbeat of an avant-garde Hitchcockian crow, slyly feathering the nest.

Small Feral Token is made up of the creative partnership between Lotta Westholm and Natalie Sjölund, who are based in Stockholm. Song writing duties are divided up with Lotta composing the foundations of the songs and Natalie writing the lyrics. Together they self produced their debut album 'Digipop' with some collaborative input from Aron Lamm. It was released via mondonuevorecords and is well worth checking out.

Here is the fantastic but spooky new video for the song 'Passionate Glue' It peeks into a nightmarish world, set within a padded cell, trapped within a German Expressionist painting. Lotta and Natalie play 'Alice in Wonderland' type characters, partaking in a nutty knotty knitting circle. Nurse, more meds please, I've dropped a stitch! It was filmed in collaboration with author & director Sandra Nilsen and the crew from Branbomm Film.

Small Feral Token - 'Passionate Glue'



http://www.smallferaltoken.com/

http://www.myspace.com/smallferaltoken

http://mondonuevo.se/

Fight Like Apes and The Chalets

I had every intention of going to catch Dublin's finest Fight Like Apes play live, a couple of days ago, but things got in the way like life and stuff. This was a shame because I bet they put on a cracker of a show, full of snap, crackle and punk pop, all bouncing off the walls like a kid who has gone hyper on too many e-numbers in sherbet fizz bombs. However, I thought I could still give them a mention, as they make a very appealing racket and are obviously destined for a bigger stage.

Fight Like Apes have enjoyed a meteoric rise throughout 2008 gaining plaudits from many music biz insiders and gaining that all important Steve Lamacq thumbs up. They were one of the buzz bands at this years SXSW festival and have recently completed successful support slot tours with We Are Scientists, Kasabian and The Ting Tings.They have a prodigious support slot with The Prodigy lined up for December and have now been signed to Sony Music Japan; with that pedigree behind them, a rapid crawl up the the music biz evolutionary chain surely beckons.

The debut album, produced by John Goodmanson in Seattle, is called 'Fight Like Apes And The Mystery Of The Golden Medallion' It just gone top ten in their native Ireland. The rest of us will have to wait a bit longer, early 2009? and will have to make do with the second single 'Jake Summers' which is now available on iTunes. It is also on a limited edition 7" vinyl, a mere 500 copies pressed and the vinyl version of the album promises to include a bonus track 'You Are The Hat' so rush down to your nearest stockist, if any are still open for business, and place an order now.

I have been grooming their songs for a few days now, loving the lead tracks like 'Something Global' and 'Lend Me Your Face' These have an intense fresh energy about them with pulsating synths, frenetic bass and guitars all combining to provide an exhilarating backdrop to Maykay's lush bratty vocals, leaves me joyfully swinging through the jungle. It's like Babes In Toyland doing the theme tune to 'The Banana Splits' The only fleas I have picked out of their shiny coat, are that when Pockets interjects with overly gruff vocals on 'Knucklehead' it reminds me of that horrible/twisted work of genius song Barbie Girl by Aqua YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! OH, DAMN YOU! GODDAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!

They also remind me of another long lost band of whom I was rather fond of, The Chalets, who co-incidentally were also from Dublin, Ireland, who produced a poppier sound but still had that ability to craft a catchy tune, with a full frontal assault on the earlobes, using grungy girl vocals. Whatever happened to them? I'd like to know. They released a solitary album Check In in 2005 and then vamoose nothing! aborted take off, they broke up, which is a crying shame and have unfortunately permanently checked out.

Oct 30th Thu : Ruskin Academy, Thursday Night Live, Anglia, UK
Oct 31st Fri: The Boiler Room, Guilford, London, UK November
Nov13th Thur : JD Set support Sam Isaac @ The Cluny, Newcastle, UK
Nov 19th Wed : 'Levi ones to watch' tour @ Audio, Brighton, UK
Nov 20th Thur : 'Levi ones to watch' tour @ Barfly, Camden, London, UK
Nov 21st Fri : 'Levi ones to watch' tour @ Barfly Dragon Bar, Birmingham, UK
Nov 22nd Sat : 'Levi ones to watch' tour @ Barfly, Liverpool, UK
Nov 24th Mon : 'Levi ones to watch' tour @ Barfly, Glasgow, UK
Nov 25th Tue : 'Levi ones to watch' tour @ Moshulu, Aberdeen, UK
Nov 27th Thu : Roadhouse, Manchester, UK
Nov 28th Fri : 'Levi ones to watch' tour @ Barfly, Cardiff, UK
Nov 29th Sat : 'Levi ones to watch' tour @ Fibbers, York, UK

http://www.fightlikeapesmusic.com/

http://www.myspace.com/fightlikeapesmusic

http://uk.youtube.com/fightlikeapesmusic

http://www.myspace.com/modelcitizenrecords

http://www.myspace.com/thechalets

http://www.thechalets.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_Splits

Small Feral Token

Let me introduce a bit of glamour to your life during these grim times of austerity and bring to your attention Lotta Westholm and Natalie Sjölund, who look like they've walked straight off the cover of an early Roxy Music album. Together, they create an intoxicating mixture of hypnotic electronic pop and go under the slightly less alluring moniker of Small Feral Token, which sounds like a type of fresh roadkill currency, used by Cleatus out there in the hillbilly hinterland. These ladies have been making music from their Stockholm base since 2003, though they have known each other from schooldays, their official debut album 'Digipop' comes out on 13th October 2008, more info at http://www.mondonuevo.se/

SFT's music is distinctly tinged with an Eighties New-Wave vibe and hints of Voice Of The Beehive and Alisha's Attic are audible in the vocals, yet the sound has a malevolent beat with claustrophobic sequences giving an ever present threat of something more sinister going on beneath the lip gloss and legwarmers. The lead track 'I am Entertainer' has a sunny girl group disposition about it and is probably the most obviously commercial tune, yet 'A Girl's Best Friend' is probably a better signature tune to sum up the territory SFT are lurking in. It takes a few listens to connect, but slowly yet assuredly, it will creep up and pounce on you, and the song 'Passionate Glue' squeezes into Aphex Twin's minimal experimental musings. The formula of David Cronenberg does eurosynthpop, set to the backdrop of a plush gentleman's club is a heady mix.



http://www.myspace.com/smallferaltoken

http://www.smallferaltoken.com/

Modern Eon - Fiction Tales

This one is excellent. A true find in the Scratchy tradition. Even I lost my nerve when first confronted with it's scary Orwellian post-punk cover. Such ugliness! But do not fear, my friends of broad and somewhat forgiving taste, for this is a minor gem.

An angular but spacious guitar sound and clear, prominent bass jell seamlessly. Breathy vocals, often multi-tracked, add an ethereality that is almost comforting, almost. The drums stand out as the band's signature; driving tom-toms with a touch of machine-gun snare and very little cymbal. And, hark! Is that a saxophone? Odd production touches and synth weirdness jump out now and again, just to keep you off-balance.

A friend of mine was a figure in the Liverpool scene of this period and I excitedly asked him if he knew of Modern Eon. "Yeah, I auditioned to be their drummer once. But they wanted all sorts of breaks and fancy shamncy stuff so I thought bollux to it. They were nice lads, but moody; specially the bass player." Ah, bass players, isn't it always thus? This link is to a wonderful blog, dedicated to a wonderful city at a wonderful point in its history.

http://music-isms.blogspot.com/