Track of the Week: Goat Girl – Sad Cowboy
We all love a bit of Goat Girl, and they’ve just announced their new album, On All Fours, along with their newest single, ‘Sad Cowboy’. It’s about losing grip on reality, over and over again. It’s malevolently sweet, bursting with indie charm and a fantastic layering of dreamy melodics upon an upbeat yet fractured percussion, a percussion aided by fragmented electronic samples that tack onto to every beat. It’s where synthpop meets a classic rock n’ roll guitar timbre, and we love it. Yeehaw.
Andy Bell – I Was Alone
Tranquility to a T. The wispy voice of Bell and the atmospheric strings create an almost ethereal setting. Where am I? Who knows. Nothing is real anymore, apart from the talent of Andy Bell.
Kiwi Jr. – Undecided Voters
With a music video that screams Trailer Park Boys meets the Election Debate, Kiwi Jr have released a burst of indie joy. The lyrics take a dip into dadaism, penning abstract pictures about Spartacus and a man named King Crab as if plucked from a bag at random. Personally, I would rent out a kayak to take a trip down the stream of consciousness of Kiwi Jnr.
Hi Frisco – Quiet Lights
Really, this is just your average run-of-the-mill indie rock track. It’s pretty similar to most songs in its genre and it’s not the easiest to differentiate it from the others. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad song, though – it has a groovy bassline and a catchy chorus and carries M83 vibes in a way that I can’t quite explain. There’s enough spice to make it a fun listen, but not enough for it to be anything revolutionary.
Keep Dancing Inc – No Milkshakes in Hell
I didn’t know I needed a surreal tale of a psychopath addicted to milkshakes until now. The absurd nature is only heightened with bouncy synths and colourful new-wave basslines. It’s futuristic. It’s fauvist. It’s fantastic.
merci,mercy – Something You Like
After much deliberation, I think my favourite type of music is the stuff that you can dance-cry to. Maybe it’s just me being overemotional, but it’s just great, isn’t it? 19-year-old merci, mercy, real name Mercedes Thorne, is an absolute wizard at it. ‘Something You Like’ is the perfect example – a steady, infectious beat but with lyrics so brutally honest and raw that I might actually start blubbing at the thought.
PVA – Talks
From the first few seconds, ‘Talks’ feels like it is going to be pure, undiluted funk. And that it is! But unexpectedly, the post punk vocals come in and distort your opinion of the track completely. It’s a surprising mix, but all the more grooveable for it.
SKIA – Pocket
This could be in the running for one of the most feel-good songs of the year. It’s something you could easily find in the opening to a girly coming of age film. So cute and fun to listen to, it’s overall just a great uplifting track. You’ll have it on repeat for days and it’ll be stuck in your head even longer.
The Imbeciles – Yes I Am
If this track has a slogan it’d be ‘Fucking Let Loose’. ‘Yes I Am’ is a fuzzy banger, incorporating the madness of 70s punk with the 90s Foo rock. Let it storm through you while shouting along ‘Yes I Am!’
The Snuts – Always
The Scottish four-piece have blown it out of the water and trust me, after you listen once, the infectious guitar riff of Snut’s ‘Always’ will swirl around your head all day. Jack Cochrane has a hell of a voice, bringing an extra bit of sizzle to the already fiery banger, as he follows the tale of self-love. It’s not your average love song, but it makes your heart melt just the same.
Torture and the Desert Spiders – Money
Personally, I’m a big fan of post-punk, stripped-back tracks with innovatively clever lyrics. And Torture and the Desert Spiders’ ‘Money’ is exactly that. The Liverpool-based garage rockers have created a sublimely visceral three-minute track, driven by a nimble bassline and tight percussion. But in money, it’s vocalist Anna Kunz’ sardonic, tongue-in-cheek lyrics that roll together like percussion themselves that take the limelight. It’s a stunningly original piece of work and just so so fun to listen to. “Just one gal making music in my flat”, Kunz describes herself, and it’s an incredibly simple recipe for success.
TV Priest – Slideshow
Slick lyrics and punchy basslines – TV Priest are giving us punk and poetry on their latest single, ‘Slideshow’. It’s a song about the speed of digital culture, unfiltered images delivered back to back in a superfast algorithmic mixture of pleasure and pain. “It’s a track that acknowledges that I’m a fully culpable participant in a behaviour ‘market’ developed by faceless tech which insists it’s the best thing for all humanity (as long as it can be monetised).” says TV Priest’s Charlie Drinkwater. “most of the time I LIKE IT (or at least tolerate it) while I scroll and scroll and scroll. I suppose all I can do is talk… On to the next one, content consumer…” TV Priest’s debut album, Uppers, arrives on November 13th. Save the date, content consumer.
