New Music Monday - April 20 2009

Welcome once again to another New Music Monday where we let you know all about our new favourite acts, read on...

Detachments
Remember Myspace? Logging on nowadays is a bit like walking around school when everyone has left- it's familiar but really creepy and you half suspect you'll get caught at any moment. As one of the remaining fans of the site (it's still a great music resource) I think you can tell a lot about a band through their top friends. So when I saw Detachments align themselves with Crystal Castles, Telepathe, Metronomy and The Big Pink I knew they were worth waiting around for the pesky music player to load up. At first they sound like another in the great Joy Division lineage of recent times but repeat listens bring a myriad of influences with them. Like last weeks NMM pick, Delphic, a tight minimal electronic background is used to great effect however unlike Delphic Detachments build on top of this with bombastic guitars and a huge rhythm section. For example, 'Messages' sounds like Interpol covering the Mission Impossible theme tune. The bands debut single 'The Flowers That Fell' is a jerky post-punk anthem that brings to mind the DFA back catalogue alongside Gang Of Four and Wire- you do need to check it's no longer 2005 when you listen to it (Myspace being empty helps there) but it's the sound of a confident and infectious new band.

Detachments@ Myspace

Friendship

Imagine a cross between Death From Above 1979 and Hot Club De Paris- a string of jangly and angular intricacies interspersed with huge distorted riffs- and a drummer who sings. This band is Friendship, the London based two-piece who juxtapose math rock rhythms with sleazy walls of sound. Their debut single 'The Graveyard Shift' is released today (April 20th) and is typical of their sound- hyper and excitable but controlled throughout and most importantly, really really fun. If you need further recommendation Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw (Grimmy to his friends) says of the single, "Stupidly big hype tune" and if you can find a more respected and knowledgeable voice than his then I will stand corrected. Friendship are playing a ludicrously huge show this week on Wednesday supporting Yeah Yeah Yeah's at the Manchester Academy. Presumably they will gather a tiny audience with those ignoring them in favour of the bar no doubt attempting to drop the bands name in 6 months time.

Friendship@ Myspace

5 to download

Pulled Apart By Horses- E=MC Hammer. Another huge slice of thrash pop from the Leeds four piece. Currently on tour with Rolo Tomassi E=MC Hammer is no doubt tearing venues apart at the skirting boards every night.

Discover- Orange Shirt. If like me you can't decide who is better: Vampire Weekend or Ra Ra Riot (It's obviously VW but bear with me...) then fear no more as they have formed a super group! Discover is Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra's main man Wes Miles and together they make emotive and electronic beauties like 'Orange Shirt'. Sounding at times like The Postal Service and at others like that Calvin Harris single it's a heady and exciting project to keep your eyes and ears on.

MEN- Credit Card Babie$. Le Tigre side project courtesy of JD Samson this is exactly how CSS would sound if they were no longer sadly irrelevant.

Local Natives- Airplanes.Ignoring the horrible American spelling of the song title this is a heart swelling and melodic moment of perfection from one of the US's most exciting new bands. Like Fleet Foxes with more oomph.

Internet Forever- Break Bones. The only thing more twee than 'Break Bones' would be Stuart Murdoch playing hopscotch in the sunshine and even that would not be as idyllic. Short, sweet and bursting with melody this is pretty much perfect.

Debut Albums Out This Week

The new Eminem say the lazy critics, the new Vanilla Ice say the fools. Asher Roth drops his debut album 'Asleep In The Bread Aisle' this week, go see what all the fuss is about. Similarly hyped but actually a bit rubbish The Virgins release their self titled LP. It's ten tracks of shallow and desperate Strokes meets Duran Duran rock-pop not worthy of half the hype.

Hot Gigs:

Last weeks NMM stars Delphic play in Manchester on Saturday. The Virgins and The Big Pink continue their tours, Chew Lips and Amazing Baby support The Virgins whilst The XX are with The Big Pink. Similarly Rolo Tomassi's tour with Grammatics carries on with the newly renewed Pulled Apart By Horses re-joining the tour now that guitarist James Brown has recovered from his dodgy leg. Esser continues to try and convince us he's worth caring about with dates in Manchester, Wolverhampton, Bristol, Southampton and Exeter. NMM favourites Golden Silvers are in Bristol, Glasgow, Sheffield and London ahead of their debut album release next week, support comes from Exlovers. The week is rounded off with the Camden Crawl on Friday and Saturday. Every new and exciting band who play the toilet circuit every week gather in North London with people queuing to see the bands who played the same venue 3 months earlier to half the crowd- it's great. If you're there do try check out Bleech, Copy Haho, Drums Of Death, S.C.U.M and Televised Crimewave.

Video Of The Week: