Sunday 5 January 2014

TRACKS OF THE WEEK - 05/01/14 - Pional, Wake Owl, Bruce Springsteen, Temples, Knifight

Get back on those treadmills, you maggots! 5 tracks that got us pumped for the New Year!


Flycasual:-
Pional - 'Invisible / Amenaza (2013)


I heard this at the tail end of last year, during simpler times before the excess of Christmas and the musical carnage of Slade. It's a great piece of dark disco and sounds like it's taken from a 'so bad it's good' 80's action flick of bad suits, Uzis and pony tails. Pional is a Spanish singer/producer with a glowing musical CV and invisible/Amenaza is taken from the EP of the same name, out last Oct 13.

Pional on Young Turks Records
http://theyoungturks.co.uk/

Sfw:-
Wake Owl - "Candy" (2013)


I first heard of Wake Owl this time last year with their excellent gold and they are here a year later under the guide of 'super producer' Richard Swift.  It features on their debut LP, The Private World of Paradise, which is due out March 4th, by the way of Vagrant Records. Like it's namesake, Candy is just so good, so do yourself a favour, listen and have a treat!

Shell Hunter:-
Temples - Mesmerise (2013)



You may remember I featured Temples a year ago with their debut single Shelter Song (see the post here). This is their 4th single released in November last year and has just as juicy a 60's feel to it. You can't deny it is very Beatles and is obviously in keeping with their signature psychadelic rock sound. The riff also sounds like The Vaselines song 'Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam'. Perfect listening for shooing away those January blues and this miserable weather we are having.  Thankfully their debut album Sun Structures is out in February so that should nicely pacify me until I get some actual sun at the end of March! If I close my eyes tight enough, I can just picture myself on the beach right now!

London Scouser:-
Knifight - Black Daggers (2013)


For my first TOTW of 2014 I head back to Austin, Texas where Black Books (probably my favourite new band of 2013) also hail from. I came across Knifight after seeing they performed on the same bill as Black Books and decided to give them a try. Musically I would compare to Depeche Mode in their darker times and White Lies. They have a synth backing with a vocal that Ian Curtis would have been proud of. They released their debut album in 2013, 'Dark Voices' and on first listen it's not too shabby. I look forward to more from them.

Old Pa's Corner:-
Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost of Tom Joad (2014)



Well only a week to go before thes Boss' new album is released. I have heard a few tracks and I have been very impressed with this track. The Ghost of Tom Joad has always been one of my favourite Brucie tracks. His ode to the depression era in the late twenties. This is the second track fromk the album we have featured.

The album has a talisman in Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine.  The Rage did a cover of the song (see a post of that here) which I thought was 'just ok' but this new version has both the hallmarks of the slow sparse original and the loud brash Rage version. You might say it is a cross between both and I think it works.

So I am saying this is my track of the year for 2014......so far anyway!. But a great start to the year.


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TRACKS OF THE WEEK - 05/01/14 - Pional, Wake Owl, Bruce Springsteen, Temples, Knifight
4/ 5
Oleh

5 comments

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7 January 2014 at 11:17

FC - This chugs along very nicely, a hypnotic slow head bang...I love it!
SFW - This is nice too! very nice!
SH - I found my mind wandering half way thru...not a good sign...pleasant enough!
LS - This is an interesting one. I would certainly like to hear more by them...reminds me of quite a lot.

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sfw
8 January 2014 at 22:17

FC - Brilliant!
SH - Likey
LS - Interesting
OP - Da Boss

A Good Start to the Year!

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9 January 2014 at 19:48

Flycasual. A very nice insistent, subtle groover.

Sfw. Anything with Richard Swift's name attached to it gets my vote and this is no exception. I'll certainly be checking out the LP in March.

Shell Hunter. I was very disappointed to miss Temples when they played a local small venue a few months back - our car was out of action at the time. I won't get a chance to catch them in a hall that small again. All their singles so far have been great. Another album I'm looking forward to.

London Scouser. Very retro sounding.

Old Pa. I've been listening to the album a lot over the past couple of days and I'm very impressed, although Bruce is sporting a bit of a Shakin' Stevens look on the sleeve!

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13 January 2014 at 12:37

Sfw, this is excellent, right up my street. I will look fwd to the album fo sho'.

Shell Hunter, this isn't bad at all, I was going through it and nothing was really happening then it just hit, I love all that psychedelic ting.

LS, good comparisons, brilliant track will def keep an ear out.

Old pa, Rage did a worthy cover I thought but I suppose it was because i never heard the original. This is excellent though, you get two versions of this song with Tom Morello in it!

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15 January 2014 at 14:52

FC - I love the intro which reminds me of something I can't put my finger on, possibly a Lemon Jelly one ?? I get the 80's vibe too.
SFW - A pleasant track without blowing me away, could be a grower.
SH - Again I love the intro, and the chorus is a bit singalong-ish, but I like that.
OP - RATM's version is awesome, and I have to agree with FC that I prefer their's to The Boss. I never heard his original but this is ok.

And the winner is... Temples
(as I obviously can't choose my own)

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