Author Archives: Jo Highfield

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Let us not debate the irrelevance of time. So, we’re a little late to the party with this one. But if digging up gems isn’t a thing, then they’d be a lot of unemployed archaeologists. Think about that.

A song of the ‘sad ilk’, ‘Twin Rivers’ is the spacious and sparse release from Melbourne duo Big Scary. Reiterating the ‘what’s in a name’ sentiment, Big Scary are actually more maturely morose than large or petrifying.

Subdued and emotive, the male/female alternating vocals commentate on the circulating mundanity of a relationships demise and dailyness. The repetitive nature of the motif is reiterated thematically and cleverly mirrored in the cyclic sound; from opening melancholic piano chords to an utterance of ‘nothing ever happens’, both soundscape and lyricism run in circles. There’s a disjunction evidenced in the vocals, as neither party addresses one another, instead offering isolated narratives on the disintegration of love and the lethargy it produces.

It’s perhaps the underplayed elements and spacious effect, that left room for imaginative re-invention. Indie connoisseurs The Antlers offered a vocally distorted and brass-based re-mix, whilst Dan The Automator, settled on a dreamier soundscape: retaining the delicacy of the original offering.

Adopting a less is more approach, Big Scary demonstrate that complexity can take the most minimalist of forms. With slight reminiscence of early XX releases, Big Scary are in possession of some subtle poetry and understated charms.

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‘On This Morning’ is the shape-shifting, unorthodox new track from Bristol based artist Oliver Wilde.

Confidently categorizing Wilde would seem like a reductive and unfair exercise. Whilst ‘On This Morning’ possesses the woozy introspection of shoe gaze and a back bone of laptop-pop, Wilde hasn’t subscribed to any formulaic blueprint. Instrumentalisation is woven and chameleon-esque in its fluid changeability. Analogue recordings and experimental visions are harnessed with the usage of household items and the imagination to assert that what’s more important is the effect created, rather than the component used to make it.

Wilde’s bedroom proves the liberating environment this track pays homage to, in its cerebral escape from generic song structuring. Made for late night musings and moulded from twilight tinklings, this understated record was crafted for keeps.

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In 2011, Yuck‘s penchant for grunge and 90’s nostalgia, saw their debut offering Get Away released to an acclaim so high it was hard not to reach for the bandwagon. Ex-frontman Daniel Blumberg seemed to be steering them back into an age of raw, lo-fi sentiment. The era where abrasive authenticity was aplenty and euphoric indie rock: embraced and prevalent. Yuck’s beginnings were certainly an accolade to grunge times past. Post-Daniel departure, the question on the lips of all anticipatory Yuck fans: have the wheels left the wagon?

The exit of a frontman and co-writer/producer leaves a hole, it also leaves room for reinvention. What better to shovel into this gap than a guitar laden wall of sound, some introspection and a dream-pop, fuzzy soundscape wide enough to once again throw your hopes into.

Following their aptly titled second album Rebirth, Yuck release a preview of surprise spring EP Southern Skies. Far from 2011, fresh track “Athena” continues to evidence the band’s transition into ethereal realms. Yuck look set to front a whole new resurrection, this time turning their attentions to the British mid-nineties movement of shoe gaze. Meeting all specifications, “Athena” embodies the fuzzy form and introspection of My Bloody Valentine circa Loveless. Vocals are softened and often indistinguishable; blending with the noise-pop backdrop, in a non-abrasive and flawless fashion. Dreamy soundscapes eventually leading to a heavier more climactic closure. Whilst retaining elements of their pensive past, Yuck’s last UK tour saw Max Bloom take the wheel, steering in a direction that featured tight live performances, complete composure and a promising new form.

“Athena” can be heard above. Taken from forthcoming Spring EP, Southern Skies.

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Many things get lost across the great pond separating the UK and US: the spelling of doughnut, the ‘z’ for an ‘s’ replacement and the thing called a corn dog. Think it’s a hot dog in cake, never too sure.

Alongside this trivia lies the loose term ‘indie’. Here in the UK we once used it to describe independently produced music, but post semantic shift and many a cup of tea later, indie mainly translates as: something that sounds a bit like The Libertines. Or words to that effect.

Pennsylvanian four-piece Kingsfoil may be self-proclaimed indie rockers, but their new track Brave Love is in fact pure and perfect glistening pop. Don’t let labels fool you, Kingsfoil are recalling the laconic strummings of Jack Johnson, laced with the voice on sleeve sentiments of Coldplay. Their formulaic approach to pop is revived with laid back harmonies, cooly concocted rnb-esque vocals and a laden passion for authenticity. Essentially Brave Love brings the classic ballad into the 21st century, blending the old with the new it’s simultaneously familiar and fresh.

Side stepping the operatic shouting of the 90’s, Kingsfoil’s sighing falsetto and modernistic approach to a conventional pop structure has won them an army of devoted admirers. Brave Love and all its allure will be no deterrent.

Brave Love is out now and is available for listening on both Soundcloud and the bands official website.