Slipped Discs

Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd

Reviews From: Pop
Stricken City - Losing Colour

Stricken City - Losing Colour

Stricken City
Losing Colour
Label: Kora Records

Announcing their demise before releasing their final effort, London-based indie-pop instigators Stricken City insure their underground cult status with nimble middle class narratives marrying sinister riffs and cavernous crescendos to winged deliveries tunneling through riveting rhythms. Posh pariahs stylishly sizing up fleeting scenes, “Losing,” fuses vexing questions and parochial prose to turbulent furnaces stoking fiery choirs and deft, reflective projections.

Stricken City WebsiteStricken City Facebook

Lonely Forest - Arrows

Lonely Forest - Arrows

Lonely Forest
Arrows
Label: Trans Records

Grass-roots minutiae fuel monumental pop as soft-spoken notions build to pouncing indie-rock onslaughts, “Arrows,” targets existential displacement inside self-assured thoughts. Pensive engines drive soul-searching questions, uplifting torrents of shape-shifting sympathies assembling resplendent, compelling parades.  Sailing and skating over breathless rhythms and runaway bass, TLF’s punchy electric strumming quivers in shiny, obliging slip ‘n slide wildness, barely containing contagious, ageless sincerity.

The Lonely Forest WebsiteThe Lonely Forest FacebookThe Lonely Forest Wiki

Erland and the Carnival - Nightingale

Erland and the Carnival - Nightingale

Erland and the Carnival
Nightingale
Label: Yep Roc

Electronic textures scatter among magical, galloping madrigals, swinging, London-based pop and moody, psyche-spooky folk as E&TC’s intricate Wickerman mix of jingling, jittery side-trips dance to arcane but catchy cadences redressed inside modern Sleepy Hollow closets. Bristling, underhanded homage captured in ghoulish studio rapture, “Nightingale,” grooms groovy roots into macabre insinuations, ominous promises lurking in sly, denied smirks and incestuous jests.

Erland and the Carnival WebsiteErland and the Carnival FacebookErland and the Carnival Wiki

Raveonettes - Raven in the Grave

Raveonettes - Raven in the Grave

Raveonettes
Raven in the Grave
Label: Vice Records

Seductive juxtapositions churn bright, blinding riffs from velvety, fuzz-pop melt-downs. Skulking miasmas of scathing, blazing reverb, “Grave,” cultivates dangerous conveyance around heavenly self-possession. Pretty punk defiance abducting prom-dress pledges, pressing crepe-paper hearts between dream-pirate menace dipped in coy, corrosive curtseys and proudly shrouded pastels dressed in rain-gray attitude. The Raveonettes’ fierce, mascara-rimmed melancholy molds vertigo-riddled Valentines into steel-plated, corrugated cool.

Raveonettes WebsiteRaveonettes FacebookRaveonettes Wiki

Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math

Manchester Orchestra
Simple Math
Label: Famous Gentlemen

Weary indie-rock antiheroes compose symphonic underdog uprisings, energized by scorching discourse brimming in frank angst and suburban ennui. Vague prey hunted in restless, impetuous reconnaissance, “Math,” traps sacred aching in sinister hook-filled insurrections and breathless mosh-pit proclamations. Balancing searching grandeur against seething street-wise insecurity, MO’s epic introspection sweeps over tender defenses, bolstered by defiant alliance, minor-key reprieves and cathartic martyrdom.

Manchester Orchestra WebsiteManchester Orchestra FacebookManchester Orchestra Wiki

David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights - Left By Soft

David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights - Left By Soft

David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights
Left By Soft
Label: Merge

Kiwi Merseybeat shaken, tamed and reborn, Kilgour and mates burst with deep-shag majesty, drizzling thunderous blues over braided electric-folk, adding vertigo-inducing transcendence over sturdy, understated song. Compact covenants swimming in shimmering chords, “Soft,” howls, prowls and harmonizes, campfire jangle-rock drifting in placid dappled patterns as level-headed lyrics brave vast swells of multi-layered guitars reaping rippling skiffle sizzling in psychedelic tranquility.

David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights WebsiteDavid Kilgour and the Heavy Eights FacebookDavid Kilgour and the Heavy Eights Wiki

Secret Cities - Strange Hearts

Secret Cities - Strange Hearts

Secret Cities
Strange Hearts
Label: Western Vinyl

Love children from Brill Building refugees, S C mastermind lo-fi, reverb-addled shin-digs; muffled scuffles baked inside grandly bandied jukebox soufflés whose gentle persuasions with twilight choirs shiver behind fading AM beach-party bingo.  Swooning and canoodling through retroactive odysseys, “Strange,” hosts idyllic misfit idolizers worshipping vintage pop thoughts, ghostly baroque smokescreens soaked in rainy-day dreams, fab nostalgia and timeless adolescent appetites. 

Secret Cities WebsiteSecret Cities Facebook

Tom Vek - Leisure Seizure

Tom Vek - Leisure Seizure

Tom Vek
Leisure Seizure
Label: Cooperative Music USA

Hard-wired, pneumatic-addled New Wave statements invade unbraided electro-clash abrasions set to tarnished tempos, droll factory-fashioned funk and slinky syncopated synthesizers; Vek’s clattering malice and energetic menace coil around coarse torque constructing post-industrial petulance via sermons on the dance floor. Suspicious and ambitious, “Leisure,” tumbles wonderfully, trigger-happy slap-shots aimed at callously cool feigned disdain, fabulously retro-fitted fits equipped with post-modern imaginations.

Tom Vek WebsiteTom Vek FacebookTom Vek Wiki

Elysian Fields - Last Night On Earth

Elysian Fields - Last Night On Earth

Elysian Fields
Last Night On Earth
Label: Ojet

Wickedly blissful whisperings slide between sumptuous chamber-folk symphonies , bluesy goth-rock siroccos and coy, alt-pop ballets, “Earth,” works sensual memories beneath placid passions toppling headlong down mesmerizing torch songs, potent potions quenching thirsty bursts from dream-laden maidens. Stirring purrs and banshee sweetness catapult EF’s mythological waltzes into melodic exotica, an embroidered fairy-tale cabaret pried from childhood fears and sentimental tension.

Elysian Fields WebsiteElysian Fields FacebookElysian Fields Wiki

The Wooden Birds - Two Matchsticks

The Wooden Birds - Two Matchsticks

The Wooden Birds
Two Matchsticks
Label: Barsuk

American Analog Set’s Andrew Kenny’s new band retains AAS’s laidback outlook compiling crisp wisdom inside colorful cooing and modest acoustic musings. Cozy, folk-pop breeziness fortified by shimmering marimbas, soft strumming and horse-drawn rhythms, “Matchsticks,” glows in deceptively demure assurances churning patient complacence from twilight insights and lively shyness, inviting politeness channeling sly, bouncy foxtrots, cantering ballads dispensing love-sick riffs .

The Wooden Birds WebsiteThe Wooden Birds FacebookThe Wooden Birds Wiki

Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!

Art Brut - Brilliant! Tragic!

Art Brut
Brilliant! Tragic!
Label: Cooking Vinyl

Clever condescension rocks around hell-bent expressions as, “Brilliant,” rips through half-rapped narratives combining insolent wit dipped in irony, sputtering bluster outsmarting intellect and bristling against convention. Revealing and rebellious, post-punk apostles Art Brut’s blunt frustrations corral rough and tumble rhetoric whose cheeky reasons begat tender second-guessing amid cut-throat couplets whose deafening deliberateness clamor for conclusions colliding with middle-class conceits .

Art Brut WebsiteArt Brut FacebookArt Brut Wiki

Dawes - Nothing is Wrong

Dawes - Nothing is Wrong

Dawes
Nothing is Wrong
Label: ATO

Centered lessons season solemn solace; load-bearing laments serve thoughtful folk-rock fodder surrounded by cowboy hooks and slow-burning solos.  Dawes’ perceptive interventions weave nature’s metaphors between common sense and candid humanity. Estranged and tamed, tangled in twang, “Nothing,” inserts humbled hopes washed in honesty, crafting affable parables swimming through level-headed measures, street-corner troubadours versed in stoic weariness wound around fleeting days

Dawes WebsiteDawes FacebookDawes Wiki

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