Single Review: Alan Pownall – Clara

“Clara” is Alan Pownall’s debut single, and what a debut it is. The jangly guitars and cheeky bass note are instantly catchy features and ensure you’ll spend the next 3 minutes with a big smile on your face. And whilst the music is cheerful, the lyrics show this cheeriness may be something more deceptive. Clara herself seems to be a runaway renegade, something Pownall will sadly never catch up with. The song perseveres however, and becomes something so infectious you’ll find it hard to deny yourself this treat in the summer months.

Album Review: Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards – Saltwater

Saltwater is the debut solo album from Absentee frontman Dan Michaelson. The songs which he originally wrote after the release of the critically acclaimed Schmotime, were rejected by the band because they didn’t fit the Absentee sound. It has become one of those stories passed so freely between reviewers, you wonder if there isn’t some myth-making going on, accidental or otherwise. But there is every chance the decision may yet prove to be a defining moment in both of their careers.

FFS Interview: Malcolm Middleton

Malcolm Middleton, once half of Arab Strap along with Aiden Moffat, denies being a grump, but his website is adorned with wee unhappy faces and he wants to start a miserabilist girl band in which “a bunch of young lookers with great voices sing all the black shit that comes out of me during my worst depression”. Sounds pretty good actually… here he answers our “above average bunch of questions”.