What can I say about Wild Beasts that have not been said already? This is a band that has taken us all by surprise. They are teasers and challengers to and of the senses and the preconceptual ideas of the laws of anticipation and music formulas of best practice. ‘All the Kings Men’ is a supreme delight – it is like the cherry on the cake, like the feeling you get when getting a shy kiss on the cheek from that beautiful girl at high school or like the giggles of a baby when it’s being tickled.
Album: The Young Republic – Balletesque
End Of The Road Records’ flagship band, The Young Republic, have returned with their second album. Stuffed full with virtuoso performances and the kind of epic orchestral arrangements not seen since The Arcade Fire’s debut. Balletesque has all of the hard-hitting edge of their debut 12 Tales From Winter City but is even more glorious for its complexity and softness.
This Sunday: London Communion hosts The Vanguard’s first UK show
Regular London, Brighton and Leeds clubnight Communion has lined up another set of treats for Londoners this Sunday.
Album: Boo Hewerdine – God Bless the Pretty Things
Firmly grounded in folk and country, with harmonies that would be perfectly at home on a porch swing in the deep south, Boo Hewerdine’s latest album is a sweet stroll through life, love and the like. That said, this dude doesn’t sit comfortably in a musical box. He’s a wanderer when it comes to musical styles, and that makes for an album of kaleidoscopic shade and tone.
Come to The Allotment TODAY: Broadcast 2000, I Said Yes and Al Lewis and Sarah Howells
FFS has teamed up with Anika in London to bring you The Allotment this Wednesday – the first of many London band nights characterised by excellent music, a DIY attitude and, most importantly, free cake.
Album: A.A. Bondy – When the Devil’s Loose
Ten years since Scott Bondy and his band Verbena caught the eye of grunge legend Dave Grohl, who then produced their second album (the averagely received Into the Pink), an older and (perhaps) more mature Bondy has released his second album under the name A.A. Bondy, When the Devil’s Loose.