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Welcome, readers regular and brand new, to a succinct round-up of great new bands we’re simply titling DiScover Monthly. Once a month, DiS’s top contributors will select five new bands for your listening pleasure; some, we’ll even be putting on at our DiScover Clubs in London and Sheffield. More bang for next to no buck: brilliant.
We’re keeping things in-house for our first instalment, with choices coming straight from the desks of the central editorial team. We’ve been wearing these MySpaces right out…
Teengirl Fantasy
“Something about that video loop disturbs me to my core.” Teengirl Fantasy may have one of the most ridiculous MySpace pages I’ve ever seen, but that GIF of Van Damme in a lycra one-piece betrays the subtlety of a sherbet-kraut duo. Foaming out of Oberlin College in Ohio, Logan and Nick craft powdery, humming synth lines that wouldn’t sound out of place scything through an M83 track, ‘til they work all manner of midi drum over the top, and the old glitch/pop sod returns to make ‘GasMaskk’ the latest in a long line of brain-blowing tracks put together by the same dead-eyed lad pouring his Mountain Dew over a Casio. It’s ‘Portofino’ that’s the real acher though, slower and oddly majestic, like the mating ritual of a burst beach ball, sedate ‘til the chorus interrupts the lone misanthropy of an idling snare thwack. A third track - called, simply, 'THIEVES' - sounds like John Maus with sand in his cock. Kev Kharas
MySpace
Invisible Conga People
In equal parts Kompakt to Komische, New York duo Invisible Conga People are the next instalment from New Jersey imprint Italians Do It Better. But rather than the Moroder arpeggio flutters that tied the acts on the lauded After Dark compilation together (Glass Candy, Chromatics, Farah), ICP is a far more dark, detached affair, with aborted bass licks quivering like bleak dubstep lines knitted to a new beat. Comprised of beatniks Eric Tsai and Justin Simon, ICP release their debut 12" through IDIB in a few weeks, with ‘Weird Pains’ containing a Turkish dialogue from Tsai amid its slew of Neu-isms, backed by ‘Cable Dazed’’s modest minimal tech swell. With their Kraut-rock claws out, Invisible Conga People are one brilliant Kluster fuck. Samuel Strang
MySpace
Gindrinker
Even a quick glance at Gindrinker’s MySpace influences is enough to make a grown man weep – Suicide (uh-huh), Throbbing Gristle (oof), fecking Whitehouse (eesh, that’s going to hurt...) – and sure enough, the faint of eardrum should probably turn away now. Marrying Sabbath-esque riffs with lurching post-punk and a sense of humour you’d politely describe as ‘savage’, the Cardiff-based outfit sound like the ill-tempered sibling of recent DiScover act One More Grain, ripping the value system from your frightened maw and then leaving it to die in the dirt like the dog it really is. Enchanté. Alex Denney
MySpace
Dinosaur Pile-Up
An ex-Mother Vulpine by the name of Matt teams up with two mates, forming Dinosaur Pile-Up, to play indie-pop that bridges the gulf between The Cribs’ chirpy-chappie sing-alongs and the skewed intellectualism of Let’s Wrestle; compositionally, it’s square between these points – immediate, scratchy, pop to the core but rough enough to sound that little bit more dangerous than standard fare. ‘Loveisaboatandwe’resinking’ (I’m not certain it’s meant to be written as one word, but it is on MySpace) absolutely will bury itself in your head after a single listen, leading one to conclude that if Matt and company refine these raw elements, they’re likely to have a proper crossover success on their hands. Dinosaur Pile-Up play our DiScover Club on May 24 with Sky Larkin and Let’s Wrestle – details HERE. Mike Diver
MySpace
Who Owns Death TV
A pair of former Million Dead musicians, Julia and Tom, get together with a couple of guys intent on screaming the house down with hook-laden and hard-edged rock that’s not exactly a million miles away from the furious bluster Mclusky kicked up back in the day. Who Owns Death TV aren’t out to exclusively please the super-indie sorts populating the clubs they’re presently playing – the four-piece have already supported Future of the Left, Qui and Jubilee; rather, their accessible cacophonies suggest they’ve sights set on conquering audiences most mainstream. Rock Sound has suggested they could be “the next underground sensations”. We say: check them out… Who Owns Death TV play our DiScover Club on March 29 with Lakes and Beestung Lips – details HERE. Mike Diver
MySpace
The next DiScover Monthly will arrive on your monitor the week beginning March 17, and goes monthly ‘proper’ from then onwards. Any band you think we should be checking out: suggest them below (links please).
Remember, remember: every week we're bringing you a standalone DiScover interview with an emerging act worth your immediate attention. This week: El Guincho (next, The Ruby Suns). Also, don't forget our once-monthly Discover: MySpace Trails, the latest can be read HERE.
