They look scary and have as many tattoos as a Hells Angels annual gathering but if you have ever wondered what My Chemical Romance and Avenged Sevenfold sound like smashed together, just listen to Nevada punks Escape the Fate. It’s either emo with a set of balls or a castrated metal act, but whatever you say about these guys, you have to award credit for the sublime guitar solos, catchy choruses and generally awesome tracks that feature on the new album “This War is Ours.” They bring together big metal-riffed intros, melodic verses and double-bass breakdowns covered in Cookie Monster shouts. It sounds great.

The band met through MySpace and alright, I have never really been an Escape the Fate “fan” but I’d heard a few songs I liked such as Dying is your latest fashion & Situations. I never really cared to listen to the rest of their music though. However, every song is pure genius on the album This War Is Ours (The Guillotine II) which sounds a lot more commercial than the first record.

I will say that I think the band still haven’t peaked and there should be a lot more to come from these guys but at the moment the songs don’t sound like big hits, they still sound like a support act and not the big thing yet. Having said this, there is a bit of me that believes the next album could be the big breakthrough.

See what you think on their MySpace and be sure to check out the track “We won’t back down”.

As someone at work pointed out at the weekend, I’m a big fan of elfin looking girls. You already know that I love synthy pop. So combine the two passions and, well, I need a good lay down to recover my senses.

That’s what happened on Saturday evening - I got home to find La Roux‘ sampler CD on the doormat. I put it on, expecting the usual middle-of-the-road stuff that is alright but nothing to rave about, like most promo CDs. Then I had to lay down. Reminiscent of classic electro-pop pioneers like Eurythmics and Depeche Mode, it is still completely modern and is just perfect for a few remixes which would have the lips of the new school of club goers licking their lips. Really.

Synthy, poppy and catchy, 20 year old Brixtonite Elly Jackson just has a way of making her tunes sound so familiar yet completely original. Forthcoming “Quicksand” manages to combine Annie Lennox’ haunting (at times) vocals with a touch of Human League and Prince, yet manages to sound like it’s some throwback from 2010, rather than a dodgy 80’s revival.

Some tracks like “In for The Kill” have amazing choruses that just yell out for you to start dancing madly with mates… like Alphabeat’s guilty-pleasure quality, but not so guilty.

Thankfully, it’s not just me that’s been raving about La Roux - NME called her “the coolest voice to come out of UK club….’Let’s Dance’ era Bowie meets The Knife”… and bloggers have been having wet dreams over her.

MP3: La Roux - Fascination

The most sickening thing? Elly Jackson is younger than me. God only knows what she’s gonna have come out with by the time she’s 30 - it’s quite scary to think she’s nowhere near her creative best and can still pump out such amazing tunes. And only on a demo.

La Roux’ Quicksand is out on 1st December on uber-cool Kitsune records. Preorder from Rough Trade here.

We’ve recently teamed up with those lovely people over at the 405 and today bring you another in our regular series of guest posts from their team of amazing authors. Below is a quick introduction to Sweep The Leg Johnny by Andy Devine

The first band I would like to write about are an old favourite of mine, Sweep The Leg Johnny. I first became aware of them when I was working in a record shop in Portsmouth and they released a split live ep with a band called Hella, another potential ‘band you should know’, I was intrigued by their name, a reference to the end of the movie The Karate Kid, and seeing as I had carte blanche to listen to whatever I wanted it soon found its way onto the stores stereo.

I was treated to intense, interwoven guitar play, what some people would refer to as ‘mathey’, and an almost free form style of drumming that filled in the spaces of silence left by the stop start nature of the songs. The thing that most caught my attention though was the use of the saxophone. Until this point the sax was an instrument that I associated with two types of music, Jazz, and Ska, neither of which I was particularly enamored with. However in the hands of Steve Sostak, who also sings, it was an instrument that seemed capable of so much. Haunting build ups, violent breakdowns and able to punctuate the breathtaking moments in the songs like nothing I’d ever heard before. Nowhere is this more evident than the, amusingly titled, song ‘Sometimes My Balls Feel Like Tits’ from their final album, I’m saddened to say that Sweep have split up, Going Down Swinging.

Opening with the mournful sound of the Sax the song quickly breaks down into a jagged beast, being powered forward by a galloping bass line that the razorwire riffs wrap themselves around. The Saxaphone acts as an anchoring point for the song to build around. It is a 14 minute epic which contains one of my favourite ’stop-start’ moments within any song of this ilk which happens at around the 10 minute mark, every instrument slamming in and out of the song with such ferocity that it will always send a shiver up my spine when I hear it.

Anyone who is a fan of ‘post-hardcore’ or modern ‘math-roc’k bands like Foals who have taken the math rock template and adapted it, but who have cited Sweep The Leg Johnny as one of their influences, would do well to check them out as they are a force to be reckoned with.

Between 1997 and and 2002 Sweep The Leg Johnny released four albums and one live EP as well as a few split 7″. All of them are a testament to the originality and inventiveness of this band. They hail from Chicago. The broke up in 2002 and members have since gone onto perform in bands such as ZZZZ, Hoover, and June of 44.

Jive back in time with Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, a soulful young talent hailing from Massachusetts in the U.S. Alongside his band, The True Loves, Eli’s vintage sounds wouldn’t have been out of place on the MoTown roster of the 60’s. Just 24 years old, it is quite amazing to hear such retro tunes coming from such a young man. Heavily educated in, and influenced by music before his day - Eli’s Redding-esque sound is so very authentic in comparison to the modern day soul of Amy Winehouse and Welsh lass Duffy - an artist whom Eli has even bagged support slots for over the pond in America.

You wouldn’t be wrong for thinking you had accidentally clicked onto James Browns’ MySpace when you first check out Eli’s site. The soulful screeches that bound from The Satisfier echo the legendary soul man, while tracks such as Take My Love With You and Doin’ the Boom Boom provide the listener with powerful blasts of energy inclining them to twist ‘n’ shout. Furthermore, tunes such as ‘Am I Just Fooling Myself’ prove Reed is prone to the odd heart wrenching ballad too.

Eli’s album, ‘Roll With You’, is out now. Check out the soulster on Later with Jools Holland on BBC 2 this week, or even better, why not see him live? Eli is currently on tour throughout the U.K and Europe, November to December - catch him if you can and boogey on down!

MP3: Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed and The True Loves - The Satisfier

“I think the sound is never the same twice really,” says Felix of five-piece garage blues revivalists The Wireless. “We like to theme each song we right and give it the appropriate sound pallet. We really try to limit ourselves and not fuck around with too many effects. Its much more important for us to let the song stand up on its own without too much glossy nonsense. ”

It’s been a long journey for The Wireless, experimenting on their sound since 2001, until appointing Joe on keys last year. After shooting a feature for Dazed & Confused magazine the band released He’s So Proud and are set to release their follow up “Been Here Before” later this year.

The band are in “agreement with our blues roots,” drawing inspiration from “Screaming Jay Hawkins and John lee Hooker just for the raw sound they produced.” Vocally Felix admires crooners; “Sinatra, Waits, Nick Cave, Nick Drake, Lou Reed.” And as I question the influences further, Felix tells of the bands philosophy; “we take a lot of influence and ideas from our surroundings and experiences. Places we have been to places we are no longer aloud to go. Anything and everything can become meaningful given the right sort of approach.”

The band are undoubtedly moving to bigger things, already prominent on the live circuit, playing gigs for Artrocker and at the Islington and have launched their own club night with guests from Pete Doherty to Bloc Party. Upcoming gigs include a night at The Amersham Arms on the 16th November, and three days later on the 19th - at Jericho Tavern. Mainstream success should be the next stop on The Wireless tourbus, and plans for the future? - “an album that speaks for a generation and lives on past the sands of time.”

Written by Thom Morgan, all quotes taken from Felix (The Wireless) - Special thanks to Keir Mills (Bloody Awful Poetry PR)

I have been a fan of Florence and the Machine for quite a considerable amount of time now. Thing is, I didn’t actually realise it up until a few weeks ago. Basically, I kept hearing this super catchy tune on the tube about kisses and fists. Intriguing, I know. Anyhow, the other day, I decided to actually look into this track. I discovered the artist was indeed Miss. Florence (and her Machine).

Upon discovering the Machine, I realised this was not actually the first time I’d encountered Florence (who cites Celine Dion and Eva Cassidy as just two of her influences). Infact, Florence first caught my attention many months ago over at MySpace collaborating with her mate, Lightspeed Champion, on some retro Green Day covers. While Dev went on to achieve a considerable amount of success with his debut album, Falling Off the Lavender Bridge, Florence remained contrastingly unfamiliar.

Now, however, it would appear that the London lass is getting quite a name for herself thanks to her contagious indie folk blues - or ‘grindcore’ as her MySpace chooses to label it. Whatever the genre, one thing for sure is that Florence - who this week gained a place on NME’s Cool List - is tipped for big things in the coming months. She already has appearances at Reading, Glastonbury and Austin fest, SXSW, under her (presumably floral vintage) belt. Heck, she even played a gig in Lancaster library the other day!

Combining such antics with her heartfelt, soulful sounds, surely means Florence is imminently set to rival our current (and rather tedious) Lily, Kate and Amys.

Above: Kiss with a Fist video

If you liked that, why not pre-order Florence and the Machines’ upcoming single, Dog Days are Over from Moshi Moshi records.

These lads from Dallas sound like the bee’s knees and that’s obviously what Universal Records thought who signed the band less than a year after the band formed. Forever The Sickest Kids (FTSK) have an early Good Charlotte feel to them and they’re unquestionably gifted, ambitious and hard working but that can’t explain how quickly this band have been able to break into the US charts.

Five days after their official formation, singer Jonathan Cook was flipping through the Pure Volume web site when, with a click of his mouse, he inadvertently spent $350 the band didn’t have on a front page song placement. Worse still, Forever the Sickest Kids didn’t have any songs written yet. So, over the next two days, the band members got together and banged out a track called “Hey Brittany,” then recorded it with their friend/producer Jeff Rockwell.

“Buying that Pure Volume spot was an amazingly great mistake,” laughs guitarist Caleb Turman, noting how “Hey Brittney” quickly became the band’s first big break. “The song just took off and after that everyone was suddenly interested in us.” Since it was first posted, “Hey Brittany” has garnered over 2.5 million Internet plays and triggered a bidding war between eight major labels.

The band’s sound can give something to please everyone’s ears and although many will say they are a guilty pleasure, there is nothing to regret when bellowing out an FTSK chorus. I dare you to visit their MySpace and leave without wanting to buy an album.

This is one for all you Joy Division fans to check out. Before you’ve even listened to The Chapman Family, it’s clear to all they’re influenced by the Manc band – they’ve placed them as their top friend on MySpace, for starters. Distorted guitars, heavy basslines and dark vocals – The Chapman Family have already gained an ickle bit of a reputation thanks to their support slots alongside bands such as We Are Scientists and Reverend and the Makers.

Their edgy tunes echo those of Maximo Park, with a great deal more grit and a lot less commercialism. The Chapmans are pure energetic gloom, guaranteed to get your pace beating a little faster thanks to their hardcore, surrealist sounds that wouldn’t be out of place in a sweaty club deep underground.

Now, however, the band are rising, ready to spread their strangeness on a riotous trip across the U.K, starting out in November at Cardiff and coming to an end in their hometown of Stockton on Tees mid December. If you can catch them live, be prepared for a chaotic bash - the band are currently filing a request for donations of old guitars which they’ll happily destroy on stage for you (really!).

Want to download just one track to get a feel for them? We suggest ‘Sounds of the Radio‘ - go on, give it a listen!

It’s been a while since I proclaimed my love of Trespassers William, the understated Seattle ambient gurus, and of Zero7,  the London downtempo kids. So imagine my excitement when I was sent an album by Anomie Belle which features TW’s Anna-Lynne Williams on guest vocals and sounds just like Zero7 gone American with the amience of TW. Yes, I almost had a baby I was that excited.

Anomie Belle is the project of composer, producer, audio programmer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, Toby Campbell. Originally a classical violinist and songwriter, she released multiple solo records before creating her own beats and making her way into electronic, experimental, trip-hop music. A Portland, Oregon native, Campbell has performed at top venues throughout the Pacific Northwest, and has worked as a musician and producer in Madrid, Glasgow, Amsterdam, New York, Buenos Aires, and London.

Dreamy like Zero 7, Anomie Belle has a smoother sound than Trespassers William, and whilst at times the subject matter is rather dark and deep (throughout the collection American political apathy, suburban alienation, passive media spectatorship, social injustice, and consumerism are all tackedled) the music just washes over you in such a gloriously smooth way you can’t help but almost fall asleep in bliss. This isn’t a insult - very few bands and artists can be as gentle and relaxing after just a few listens as Anomie Belle is to me.

Almost every track on the new album, Sleeping Patterns, features lush strings and multilayered effects, which gives you something different everytime you hear it - different instruments, different words, different meanings. My only complaint? Sometimes the vocals are a little too buried down in the mix for my liking, however that’s more of a personal preference, and I have a feeling that if they were higher up the mix they would be distracting and lose some of the dreamyness of the collection.

Although she’s based in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, make sure that if you’re over there anytime soon, or if she make it over to the UK, be sure to catch her live. Hell, if I have to, I’ll pay for your ticket!

MP3: Anomie Belle - Down

Anomie Belle’s new album, Sleeping Patterns is released on 2nd November.

Team Waterpolo are the best thing to come out of Lancashire since the hotpot. And the two are strikingly similar, I’ll have you know.

Take the humble hotpot: Dice some lamb, add a couple of spuds and an onion for a taste sensation.

Take our Preston lads: Throw in some Wu Tang Clan, a pinch of Muddy Waters and a dash of The Beach Boys. This too gives an explosion for the senses.

But unlike this age-old pub grub, these lads are fresh, they’re funky and man do they have some killer tunes.

The school friends have been busy bees since they formed in 2007. A whirlwind of gigs, Radio One airplays and an NME soft spot for the hot pot foursome have brought them crashing down onto the radar.

All this attention would be meaningless if the music wasn’t up to scratch. But it’s supported by an invigorating sound that you won’t find in today’s culture of generic artists and 3-minute wonders.

It is hip hop, dance, punk, indie, new wave and a lot of pop. The music does not take itself too seriously but still manages to sound rich and inspired.

“Team Waterpolo will be splashing around in the mainstream by the end of the year,” say The Guardian.

“A youthful, eight-legged pop machine running on pure enthusiasm,” say NME.

Team Waterpolo have yet to release an album but can be found touring their way around the clubs of Blighty.

Be there or be square.

New single, So Called Summer is released on 27th October. We caught Team Waterpolo at Oxford Academy the other week - have a read of our review here.