So it took Wolfmother a whopping four years to release the follow up to their self-titled 2005 debut. Ok, ok, so I guess some kudos has to go towards frontman Andrew Stockdale, as every single band member did leave him pre-recording Cosmic Egg, which must have proven a little difficult to say the least. But hey, the drummer and bassist did decide to jump off the Wolfmother band-wagon due to those dreaded “irreconcilable personal and musical differences”. AKA, one does wonder, Andrew’s completely annoying inability to progress beyond his obsessively 70’s rock turn outs?

As that’s exactly what Cosmic Egg was. That same old wham-bam mixture of Sabbath riffs and Plant wails. Yeh, it’s freekin’ rock and roll – Guitar Hero come to life – but it’s also pretty out-dated, and alas, the new record has split fans and critics alike. Still, erm, putting all that aside, TGTF recently grabbed hold of Wolfmother’s third single from the new album to see how the track stood out on it’s own.

White Feather kicks off with a riff basically copied and pasted from Rolling Stones’ ‘Start Me Up’, just hidden by some cheeky distortion. Then we have the return of Stockdale’s trademark squall surprisingly being backed by not so crazy, crunchy chops, but instead squeaky guitar licks, which slide around like flying fireworks in the distance. The typically epic drums are similarly lightened by welcomed use of a cowbell. A super huge solo hits midway, which is cheesy but monstrous, before the chorus arrives back for one last time, by which time it’s hook has surprisingly embedded into the mind. The classic rock pastiche is still turned to full volume, but hey, White Feather has certainly proved to be one of Wolfmother’s more bearable tracks.

Check out the official video to White Feather, which is released February 15th, below.

After a 5 year stop gap, Essex quartet Gorillaz are finally back with a brand spanking new album this 2010. Titled ‘Plastic Beach’, the upcoming record is set to feature everyone from Snoop Dog, Lou Reed, Kano to Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash (no doubt Paul’s involvement with Damon’s side-project, The Good, The Bad and the Queen helped this little collaboration). TGTF recently got their mitts on the latest musical slice from 2D, Noodle, Murdoch and Russel, and have since given it a darn good listen or two…

Titled ‘Stylo’, the first Gorillaz single to be released in four years is certainly an electronica sensation, yielding intrigue and discomfort. The track features input from the legendary Bobby Womak, who’s rich, soulful vocals rub perfectly against Albarn’s (or should I say 2D’s..) glacier voice amid the verses. The chorus proves similarly spellbinding with it’s unrelenting drum machine, galvanising synths and Albarn’s dizzy vocals, subtly brainwashing the mind as they circulate mischievously in the distance.

The robotic ‘Stylo’ certainly emits a twisted, sinister atmosphere, almost making for uneasy listening. But that is exactly why I love this track, and why I love Gorillaz. Judging by this digital firework of a number, the cockney cartoons are still well-up for releasing music that’s fantastically curious and entertaining, and alas makes ‘Plastic Beach’ one of my most anticipated albums of 2010.

‘Stylo’ is available digitally now, and ‘Plastic Beach’ is released on March 8th. Pre-order at Amazon now.

Glaswegian alt-rockers Twin Atlantic have had quite a meteoric rise since forming in 2007, having in the space of just a few years gone from practicing in drummer Craig Kneale’s dining room to supporting bands like Biffy Clyro, the Subways and the Smashing Pumpkins. Their fans are so dedicated, they’ve even been known to get tattoos of the band’s lyrics and logo. When you listen to their new single, ‘Lightspeed,’ their continued success and their fans’ adoration seems completely natural.

The song throbs with energy and there’s so much passion behind singer Sam McTrusty’s vocals that it gives the song a defiant edge. What really strikes me about this song is how authentic it feels, due in large part to the “vocals dripping with gorgeous Scottish vowels.” McTrusty says on their website that the song is about “a kind of togetherness, and us being determined not to give up.”  The way each of the parts, from the drums to the vocals to the guitar, is so powerful while at the same time perfectly in balance really adds to this sense of togetherness. It almost feels like a rallying cry for the band. If they were a football club, this is the song they’d blast before heading out onto the pitch. “Together [they] might just move as fast as light,” so consider yourself lucky that you heard of them before they became massive.

Check out the video for ‘Lightspeed’ below:

‘Vivarium,’ the mini-album from which ‘Lightspeed’ is taken, is available now. The ‘Lightspeed’ single will be released on 1st March 2010. Twin Atlantic will be playing a series of dates in the UK (see their website) before embarking on a North American tour in March and April 2010.

Fyfe Dangerfield, the 29-year-old frontman of quirk-pop band The Guillemots has a knack for creating sweeping, unbelievably romantic songs. He did it with the Guillemots’ ‘Made Up Love Song #43′ and has done it again with his new track.

‘She Needs Me’ is taken from Fyfe’s first solo album, ‘Fly Yellow Moon,’ and will be released 11th January on Geffen Records. Hailed by Zane Lowe as the Hottest Record in the World on 18th November, the track is said to be the most pop-sounding song on the album – it’s certainly more pop-sounding than ‘When She Walks in the Room,’ the free download you get for signing up to his mailing list (trust me, it’s well worth it). But while it may be conventional compared to his usual sound, the track is anything but boring. It perfectly combines strings, horns, pounding piano and powerful vocals (even falsetto at times) – a combination that could easily come out as a jumbled mess. It’s the little touches, like the tinkling piano about 2 minutes in, that really take the song to another level. This is the genius of Fyfe Dangerfield – he somehow manages to be the kind of pop star you can take home to your parents while still being pretty damn cool.

If the music itself doesn’t make you fall in love with the song, then the lyrics will. Sung with such honesty and emotion that it saves them from sounding clichéd or cheesy, the lyrics are simple and romantic: “you pull another blanket ’round me / this is where I want to be / she needs me, and it’s ok”. On his website, Dangerfield says “I’ll always, whether or not I actually want to, be drawn more than anything to emotions rather than the mathematics of music”. And that is why this single is just as genius as any of the Guillemots’ tracks. It’s the pure musical representation of a simple feeling: “I am yours, you can do what you like with me.”

‘She Needs Me’ will be released 11th January on Geffen Records. The album ‘Fly Yellow Moon’ will be released on 18th January, and is available for presale on fyfedangerfield.com in both standard and deluxe editions.

Fyfe will be playing four gigs in the UK around the release of the album:

Mon 18th January 2010 – Birmingham, Glee Club
Tues 19th January 2010 – Manchester, Deaf Institute
Wed 20th January 2010 – Glasgow, ABC
Thurs 21st January 2010 – London, Scala

Electro-pop pioneers, Hot Chip, will be returning to your radios next February with their forthcoming, er, forth album, One Life Stand. There Goes The Fear were recently sent the first single from said album of the same name. I suppose you are wondering, is it ready, is it ready for the floor?

Well, yes, yes it is. I mean come on, I think it’s now fact that Hot Chip are completely incapable of producing a song that isn’t at least a little infectious. The combination of synthetically growling zigzag synths and seamless, tap tap tap drum machine, is a hands-down winning formula at inducing indie dance movement. The reverb vocals evident among the trance-like chorus throw in a nice dash of melancholic modern-day electro ala Delphic. But, honestly, One Life Stand is not particularly innovative in comparison to the recent digital pop of said Manc lads, or, say, Everything Everything. Hot Chip are choosing to stick to their nostalgic guns, and I suppose you can’t blame them, being nominated for all those Grammys and all. But, really, this song would have quite happily slipped on their 2006 album, The Warning or 2008’s Made in the Dark. You know, while being super catchy, it’s just not all that exciting, and I would have liked to have heard something a little more interesting from the London synth quintet this 2010.

Watch the video to ‘One Life Stand’ below, and tell us what you think.
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=101286758

TGTF have been fans of Marina and the Diamonds for quite some time now. I even prefer her, quite frankly, to Florence and Machine, the fellow fiery-voiced female getting all the attention at the moment.

However, Miss. Marina hasn’t been doing too bad for herself of late. Live, she’s been spotted everywhere from Glastonbury to Reading festival, and she’s literally just got off the road from NME’S Radar Tour alongside Golden Silvers, Local Natives and Yes Giantess. On top of all that, next month shall see the Welsh singer release her first single with a major label, Warner Music Groups’ 679 Recordings.

Titled ‘Mowgli’s Road’, Marina’s upcoming offering is a 3 minute shot of kooky pop, filled with mystical ‘cuckoos!’, whistles, and creepy vocals. Zig-zagging synths gyrate in the distance of the verses, as Marina’s velvety rich voice recites fantastically odd lyrics over the top (“Ten silver spoons coming after me/One life with one dream on repeat/I’ll escape if I try hard enough/Till King of Jungle calls my bluff.”). The bridge slash chorus is similarly zany – a primitive soundscape of excitable harmonies and pounding drums. Think tribal-chant come soulful-electro. Yes, quite a combination – and quite a song!

Check out a live rendition of Marina and the Diamonds’ ‘Mowgli’s Road’ at the BBC, below:

MP3: Marina & The Diamonds – Mowgli’s Road
MP3: Marina and the Diamonds – I Am Not A Robot

MP3: Marina & The Diamonds – Obsessions

You can pre-order a limited edition deluxe, signed 7” copy of Mowgli’s Road now over at Pure Groove

I first introduced The Chapman Family way back in November of last year. I loved their energetic post-punk, tainted by a distinctive graveyard gloom which had Joy Division stamped all over it, It’s great to see that, one year on, the Teeside quartet are doing super well for themselves, with next week bringing about the release of second single, ‘Virgins’.

The Chapman Family continue to wreak audio darkness with their latest musical slice. Wavey guitars, thrashing drums and throbbing bass lines make up the melody to the monstrous ‘Virgins’. The sullen vocals are a little White Lies, while the poppy chorus hooks are uber Maximo Park. However, The Chapman Family add their own distinctively dark layer, which makes for excitingly intimidating listening. Indeed, ‘Virgins’ has an undoubted air of infectious passion. Frontman, Kingsley Chapman rigidly sings “Please don’t let us hold you back!”, over the thundering, gyrating bass, before a combustion of guitars and tom-tom thrashes bring about the musical climax at the end of the track. You must check out the official video to ‘Virgins’, below, to hear more of this super sinister stuff.

Check out The Chapman Family’s MySpace page.

‘Virgins’ is released October 19th. Pre-order it over at Rough Trade now.

Back in May, Biffy Clyro hit the same L.A studio where Frank Sinatra recorded the legendary ‘My Way’ in order to start work on their new album. Titled ‘Only Revolutions’, the Scottish trio’s fifth record is set to be released next month. On top of recording in the spiritual destination of ol’ blue eyes, Biffy have spent the past few years touring with the likes of The Who, The Rolling Stones and Muse. So, has being in the presence of such musical superstars rubbed off on the band’s music?

Well, Biffy’s new track, ‘The Captain’, certainly showcases an epic new sound to the band. Tumbling, overly dramatic brass open up the track, before Simon Neil’s summery vocals proceed to glide above a gyrating distorted guitar. Horns provide a jazzy back beat throughout the song – giving ‘The Captain’ quite a cinematic soundscape. The whole track has quite a commercialised, radio-friendly vibe to it – noticeably lacking the raw, edgy madness of earlier Biffy material. The lyrics, too, are a little cliché (“I am the son of God/Somebody help me sing/Can anybody hear me?”). Really, the whole song is pretty O.T.T, but it’s still crazily catchy. Admittedly, I’m not sure what old-school Clyro fans will think of the new, softer material (“OMG, DEY SOLD OUT!!” is already making a regular appearance across online forums), but I’m sure this new track will please mass musical audiences.

Watch the official video to ‘The Captain’, below (which features newly bred teenage pin-up icon, Simon Neil) :

‘The Captain’ is released October 26th. Biffy Clyro’s new album, ‘Only Revolutions’, is released November 9th. Pre-order it here

The Cinematics are a Glaswegian quartet who released their debut album, ‘A Strange Education’, a couple of years ago back in 2007. Following the release, the band proceeded to take on a monstrous tour schedule which saw them supporting the likes of The Editors, Snow Patrol and We Are Scientists. Still, it was a rocky road for the Scots. Along the way, the band managed in losing both a departed band member and a demised record company. However, The Cinematics defied their troubles and are back at long last this September with their second full-length record, ‘Love and Terror’.

The first single off the album of the same name is a certainly a dalliance with deliciously dark indie. A prickly psychedelic guitar riff tickles at the underbelly of the song, while crunchy drums and swampy bass lines add further to the musical monster. The apt words of “You give me love and terror” are repeated throughout the chorus by frontman Scott Rinning – who spreads his buttery soft voice over the contrastingly murky sounds. ‘Love and Terror’ certainly manages in retaining an air of mystery about it, however, it cleverly strays from being overly dark. The song concludes itself with a mighty explosion of shiney riffs perfectly fit for a Mystery Jets indie-pop gem, ending ‘Love and Terror’ on a lighter, yet undeniably less exciting note.

Check out the video to the ‘Love and Terror’, below :

I first heard of Portland new wave band Hockey through their single ‘Too Fake’ that got a lot of play on BBC 6music, back when the Mid-Atlantic air was still cold and snow was on the ground. (Admittedly, my ears perked up further when I heard they were the support act for a Friendly Fires UK headlining tour.) It’s only now, in the middle of the sweltering summer, that they’ve started to make waves in America – oddly enough, in a television advert for J.C. Penney (an American department store), in which the Shoes remix of ‘Too Fake’ plays while high school students turn the school cafeteria into their own fashion catwalk dressed in supposedly ’school hip’ duds from the store. I’m too old and cynical to buy into this but to young, impressionable teens of America, good tunes usually translate to thoughts of, ‘oh yeah? This song is cool! I need those clothes!’ Leading to the sounds of ringing cash registers all over the nation. (Isn’t capitalism grand?)

I’m really excited that an indie band I only knew about from a radio station across the pond is finally getting some love in our own country. Whether mainstream exposure and association with a middle America department store will help or hurt the band’s profile is unclear. But one thing’s for sure: the adverts are certainly getting the band noticed stateside, and for an indie band, that is always a good thing. And hopefully it won’t take too long for the next single to show up on American radio.

‘Song Away’ is the third single from their forthcoming debut album ‘Mind Chaos’. It’s bouncy and bright upon the first listen, just as fresh as ‘Too Fake’ was to my Hockey-virgin ears back in the winter. Listen to a couple more times, and the lyrics are humourous as they are memorable: “this is believe me music / this is forget me music / this is who can love me you know / this ain’t no Roxy Music“. I give props to any band who can crowbar the name of Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno’s old band into a song, because you know if the song gets popular, kids will inevitably investigate who that Roxy Music is (which I think you will agree is better than kids not ever hearing ‘Love is the Drug’ or ‘Virginia Plain’.) If the official video can be believed (see it below), this song should be tearing up homecoming dances this autumn.

Hockey’s debut album ‘Mind Chaos’ will be released on 24 August in the UK. Hockey’s ‘Song Away’ single drops on 14 September.