Beat Six
When Chemicals Ignite (With Fuel) (Brass Monkey Music)
Staines based Beat Six were formed in 2005 and consist of 5 members, Rob Williams on vocals, Paul Andrews and Ben Hopper on guitar, James Goodman on bass and Jamie Williams on the drums. Their sound is a little hard to define. If you think of a modern interpretation of early Duran Duran with elements from Echo And The Bunnymen with an art rock slant and you might be getting close, but as mentioned, they are not a straight forward band to categorise so don’t be put off by my attempt. When Chemicals Ignite (With Fuel) is a catchy tune with Williams’ strong vocals taking you on a soulful journey backed up by strong guitar lines that hook you in and don’t let go. Well worth a listen if you fancy something a little different that reminds you of some the classics you grew up with. Dan Skurok
Beat Six Website

Hercules and Love Affair
Self Titled (DFA)
For those that thought the last days of disco occurred when Steve Rubell was jailed for tax evasion signifying the death of Studio 54 in the early eighties, then sashay your way onto the nearest multicoloured spotlight, because something rather authentic has found its way within the debut record from New York DJ/producer Andy Butler. Butler and co-producer Tim Goldsworthy of DFA and LCD Soundsystem have managed to create a genuine portrait of seventies disco without the tailored retro of Madonna or Kylie. Vocal contributions come from Antony Hegarty and anyone expecting the vulnerable bluesy purr and chamber orchestration of I Am A Bird Now or even his duets with Bjork on Volta may wish to wait for his forthcoming record The Crying Light. This is an interesting departure but one that seems to fit so perfectly to the fragility of his Nina Simone evoking vibrato. Elsewhere, late eighties house is mixed with futuristic electronica with blaring horns and electric violins, but the weaker tracks are those when Hegarty is not present. Such as Iris, which starts promising with its ethereal rippled synths and organic beats, but even on repeated listening I couldn’t take to the gynoid monotone of Kim Ann Foxman. Hercules Theme and Blind both play out like vintage underground disco and pitch Hegarty at his best. With every squelching drum and driving bass, so bona fide is the sound, one can almost taste the coke-induced hedonistic pulse and rampant promiscuity. Johnny Royall
Hercules And Love Affair Website

Fabonacci
Exits EP
Boundaries EP
So many young bands with aspirations of record deals often fall into the trap of imitation of their favourite band. Fabonacci website lists their main influences and here could indeed lie the problem. Both EPs almost sound like a cut and paste cover version of all their favourite bands. With each song we can hear the blueprints laid down by the likes of Doves, Coldplay and Elbow. While there is nothing desperately wrong with each of these EPs, there isn’t also a great deal earth shattering to them either. The lead singer certainly has a competent voice but it remains on many of the tracks slightly bland, sometimes veering from pleasant and emotive to slightly irritating. This isn’t helped when lyrically we are looking at the kind of heartfelt introspection of GCSE angst. Undoubtedly, the guitar work is the most interesting thing here and a few songs find moments where they become elevated to something better than what they are trying to be. Just when you are feeling Fabonacci are taking you somewhere with delicate piano and cascading guitars something punctures the flow to bring things back towards the generic. Given a couple of years, Fabonacci could well be a band of some note if they can learn to let go and deliver on the ambition they certainly have. There is definitely potential here but it feels any experimentation has already been done for them by other, better bands. Johnny Royall
Fabonacci Website

Less Than Jake
The People’s History of Less Than Jake (Cooking Vinyl)
Less Than Jake, a brass instrumented ska punk band from Gainesville, America, have re-released a mammoth back catalogue of their music with bonus material. Consisting of three albums Losers, Kings and Things We Don’t Understand, Pezcore and Goodbye Blue and White alongside a DVD, The People’s History Of Less Than Jake packed with live footage and interviews. The 16 year old band, that has recently created their own music label Sleep It Off, is due to release a new, ninth album within the year. The DVD follows the bands tours and portrays their career to date. The group who have stepped out of the lime light over the last couple of years appear to have a great stage presence and energy attracting vast audiences. It is interesting and comical to view ten years of hair styles and colours. Less Than Jake come across well and appear likeable and fun. They constantly involve the audiences and usually experiment with fancy dress. On the other hand, the DVD does get repetitive quickly and the fake interviews and sketches are just not humorous. Less Than Jake are a talented band that can sing and play their instruments to a high standard, although it can be difficult to decipher what they are actually saying. Throughout the features and tours they criticise fellow ska punk bands for selling out. However, re-releasing all your own material in an attempt to make the maximum profit with minimum effort sound suspiciously like selling out to me! All in all, the DVD is a good collector’s item and definitely worth owning if you’re a Less Than Jake fan. Lizzie Goodman
Less Than Jake Website

Mr Drastick aka Tha Trak Bully
The Gladiator Anthem (MDM Music)
Mr Drastick a unique and talented underground North West London rapper is due to realise his debut 17 track album. The Gladiators Anthem, which despite its terribly cheesy and egotistical cover proves to be an enjoyable listen. Featuring other skilled and well established hiphop artists such as Yungun, TB and Stylah the album highlights this young rapper’s potential. Mr Drastick’s gruff vocal tones are concise, sharp and clear thus, ultimately easy to decipher. One to watch out for is the track Live my Life. A cleverly written song, criticising the media and corruption in Western society. On the other hand, unfortunately Baby featuring Yungun is a bit of a letdown with an irritating female sample. The album also has four sentimental love songs which in my opinion is far too many for any hiphop album. For now Mr Drastick seems to have successfully and tastefully interlinked the commercial and underground rap style. If he loses his terrible image and concentrates on real issues rather than trying to fight other well established artists in a shameless attempt to get in the media then hopefully Mr Drastick will do great things. Lizzie Goodman
Mr Drastick Website

The Futureheads
This Is Not The World (Nul Records)
Let’s look at the NME Awards Tour 2005 line-up shall we? Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, The Futureheads, and The Killers. All four bands released good debut albums to high critical and public acclaim, but something is amiss. Whereas Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, and The Killers fulfilled their early promise and went on to bigger things, The Futureheads released a lacklustre second album in News And Tributes before being dropped by their record label. So, showing a resourcefulness that a lot of bands should be jealous of, The Futureheads started up their own record label, Nul Records. This Is Not The World is an album full of infectious, tightly wound, new-wave pop, that should make up for lost time and promise. The twelve songs on the album don’t let up once and the band pile through the tracks with such a sense of urgency and passion, it is hard not to get taken in by it. Everything is stripped back, raw, with jagged guitars with an invitation to move your feet. A notable track is Sale Of The Century, where relentless, droning guitars pound away before eventually giving way to a snappy chorus, that has hints of Elvis Costello and The Attractions. Album opener The Beginning Of The Twist starts with the lines, ‘…it's time to wake up, it's time to change, lets get it started, I feel like there's so much to re-arrange…’, which seems to perfectly lay out The Futureheads manifesto for This Is Not The World. Paul Klotschkow
The Futureheads Website

Young Knives
Superabundance (Transgressive Records)
Young Knives, the tweed wearing rockers from Leicestershire, have been performing since 1998 under a variety of guises, finally settling on their current name in 2002. They are well known for their eccentric brand of indie punk rock, with in house jokes mocking Britpop influences featuring heavily in their often melancholy lyrics. With their punchy well crafted hooks their creative style makes repeat listening very easy. Superabundance is the Young Knives third album release after their well received debut The Young Knives…Are Dead and their follow up album Voices Of Animals And Men. At first listening the album represents a slightly more main stream sound then their earlier work, however investing some time in the album pays off with the slightly unconventional nature of the lyrics shining through, well supported by the catchy beats from the guitars and drums. The first two single releases from the album Terra Firma and Light Switch encapsulate this sound perfectly. Up All Night is another stand out track from the album, with Henry lamenting over trendier types making an effort for a night out. If you have any interest in any of Young Knives previous work then Superabundance will definitely be worth buying. However, even if you are simply becoming jaded with the more main stream indie offerings so prolific in the charts right now, then Young Knives will certainly be able to offer you up something different and definitely more enjoyable. Dan Skurok
The Young Knives Website

The Courteeners
St. Jude (Polydor Ltd)
The Courteeners are Manchester’s new musical offering. I’ve no doubt this band will sell and hang around on airplay lists but they are not going to be setting the world alight with originality. Their debut album, St. Jude, is a paint-by-numbers noughties indie album. Comparisons can be easily drawn to The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys and Kaiser Chiefs. You may think this is lazy reviewing but seriously, there is little else to say about their style. They wish they sounded like Morrisey on Not Nineteen Forever but they have missed that mark by a mile. On a more positive note, Please Don’t has the least dull drum beat whereas Bide Your Time is probably the most danceable track if you’re drunk. Oh, and Bono really likes them… Alison Emm
The Courteeners Website

Hadouken!
Music for an Accelerated Culture (Surface Noise Records)
Hadouken! were the NME darlings of 2007, slotting in nicely to their newly dubbed genre of music, new rave. Grindie, new rave, or whatever you call it, its keyboards, computer style sound clips and drum machines that are at the forefront of Hadouken’s sound. Drawing influence from the eighties electronica bands and adding a dash of 2Unlimited in there for good measure (why not, eh?) Music For An Accelerated Culture is their debut album and has been a long time in the making. Their first single, That Boy That Girl, was released over a year ago in a storm of publicity with a limited edition release on 7” in hand-coloured covers. This is probably the stand out track with lyrics that take a swipe at the indie kid club culture. The majority of the album is chanting club tunes with only Declaration Of War and Driving Nowhere being a bit more pop orientated. This is never going to be everyone’s cup of tea and can be a touch on the repetitive side but there are signs that they might mature into a great dance band. Alison Emm
Hadouken! Website

Jamie Lidell
JIM (Warp Records)
Once upon a time, Warp Record used to be home to some of the best cutting edge music around. It may have been the move to London from Sheffield that has messed with their ears, but more recently Warp Records have been dealing in some of the most numbing music ever created. Judging by JIM by Jamie Lidell, nothing much has changed around the record label recently. JIM is a hard album to describe, except that if you are a fan of music, you probably won’t like it. This is ten tracks of what must be some of the worse examples of funk and RnB. Granted, Jamie Lidell must have some talent, considering he wrote, co-produced, and played instruments on the majority of JIM. But, the album falls down, as it is resolutely pedestrian. The music is so middle of the road that it completely fails to elicit any sort of emotion; a shrug of the shoulders is the most if will get. Songs such as Wait For Me and Figured Me Out are typical of this album’s sound. Jamie Lidell seems happy to peddle the sort of music that Daniel Beddingfield would only consider as his B-Sides. Paul Klotschkow
Jamie Lidell Website

Frank Turner
Love, Ire And Songs (Xtra Mile Recordings)
You would be forgiven for thinking that the music world needs another folk/rock singer songwriter with acoustic guitar, like it needs another angst ridden cockney woman doing spoken word numbers over watered down hiphop beats. However i’d give Frank Turner more than a couple of listens and you may well be proved wrong. Many of his songs touch upon the banality of existence and of the everyday yearning for something more from life, but what sets him apart from all the other existential troubadours of our time is that his songs are underlined with a spirited cry to make the most of what’s best about life. He also sings about celebrating love and making the most of every interaction. Turner’s lyrics reflect life as it is, but do so without self pity. Instead tapping into the spirit of optimism that makes life bearable, at times his songs can make your spirit soar. Definitely the best singer/songwriter talent I’ve heard in ages. Murray Brown
Frank Turner Website

The Accidental
There Were Wolves (Full Time Hobby)
The Accidental comprise of Stephen Cracknell, co-founder of Trunk Records, Sam Genders the songwriter from Tunng and who, incidentally, hails from Matlock, Derbyshire, Hannah Caughlin from The Bicycle Thieves and singer/songwriter Liam Bailey. This is their debut album, which, on first listen seems to trundle along quite inconspicuously with an unobtrusive department-store background music sort of ambience. However, give it a couple of listens and certain qualities seem to rear their heads. Firstly the singer’s softly sung almost spoken and faintly northern vocal have a hypnotising and unearthly quality. An interesting nugget of information is that the first track Knock Knock is mixed by Joe Goddard from Hot Chip, and is actually quite good, if a little repetitive. The melodies do become intensely captivating after a time, particularly on Wolves and Illuminated Red. Wolves is full of pretty harmonies and both this track along with Illuminated Red, are wonderfully cyclical and hazy with a beautiful string section. This album for me has been a grower, I wasn’t impressed at first but a faint edgy darkness seems to emerge after a few listens, however I’d still put this in my ‘something to listen to on a Sunday morning with a hangover’ category. Lis Haslam
The Accidental Website

The Recovery
Self Titled (Retarded Records)
Nottingham based guitar band The Recovery consist of Lee Rickers on guitar and vocals, Al Watson on guitar, Peter Banks on vocals and bass and Paul Hautenne on the drums. The band has been playing together in one form or another since the start of 2005. They have been supporting a variety of bands including The Raveonettes and Morning Runner around the more prominent live music venues in Nottingham. They are currently pursuing an active gig line up taking in trips to Cambridge, Northampton and Manchester over the coming month. There are shades of the Delays and Mogwai in their music. This is underlined with much heavier guitar work epitomised in Sleepwalkers which would guarantee to get any crowd bouncing with the fantastic crescendo of guitar noise in the track. Singling out any one track from this album would be doing the other songs a serious injustice, every track is a mini masterpiece combining soulful lyrics and powerful guitar and drum work. The running theme of the album is volume, the guitars provide plenty of tuneful ammunition backed up by the purposeful drumming of Hautenne. Each track definitely deserves to be played as loud as possible to be fully appreciated. This coupled with Rickers’s distinctive vocal style gives The Recovery a thoroughly unique sound which deserves to be investigated further. Dan Skurok
The Recovery Website

Vincent Vincent And The Villains
Gospel Bombs (EMI)
In the spirit of rock and roll there are quiffs, Teddy boy jackets and jolly guitar riffs that make you shake, rattle and stroll to the record shop to buy Gospel Bombs, the new creation from Vincent Vincent And The Villains. Gospel Bombs attracted me by its colourful album cover of four happy laddos singing along to some jolly japer of a song, invoking and image of blues and folk, which is partly what you get. However, on listening to the album, you soon realise this music is rock n’ roll as it was in the fifties. It has a huge collection of funky riffs and classic stories that wouldn’t be out of place in a Tarantino classic! Showmanship galore in the Bad Seeds styled Cinema, followed by the jiving Pretty Girl make this album part of that jovial trend of new, high spirited music, with a strange twist. Telephone’s intro sounds strangely similar to a famous song by The Knack, however that too stands alone as a promising track! It is easy to get lost in the short, quippie songs. Just as one ends, and disappointment sets in, the pounding drums and smashing cymbals, together with the treblesome guitars and harmonising, sets those feet back on the dance floor. Gospel Bombs will have you and your mates clicking in sync, twisting along that sticky club floor and bopping all night long! Jack Tunnecliff
Vincent Vincent And The Villains Website

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