The Violets: "Music is a romantic glimpse of another world: OUR world."
London's theatrical punk-delicate practicioners The Violets talk to Holly about style, surrealism, ambiguity and bringing a seaside town feeling to the heart of the city...»
Articles
holliy has written the following articles:
Champion Kickboxer - Perforations
An album of weight and solemnity which repays repeated listenings with a weatlh of complexity leaves our reviewer quite won over.»
Autons - Snakes/Ice Major
Some lyrical confusion doesn't prevent DiS really, really enjoying this space invader-esque, Dr Who referencing electro-rock cut'n'thrust. Get yer ass on the dancefloor already...»
Smokers Die Younger - X Wants the Meat
In which our correspondant falls head over heels in love with a bunch of Yorkshire chaps who display style, originality, eclecticism, anger, wisdom and a collective organ. Could any lady ask for more? »
Oxfam Glamour Models - Kick Out The Grams/Postmodern Stars
The Oxfam Glamour Models have a very good name. They also have a very good - if not quite breathtaking - single which pokes snide fun at the Nihilism Junkies to a background of freewheeling, glittery distortion. We like their style.»
O Fracas - Follow Sue
Northern scratch-punk maraca distributors whose frenzied cumulative art-weirdness is well worth checking out. And maybe even taking to the checkout. And then checking into a hotel room with to checkmate at a game of chess. And... OK, I'll stop now.»
The Horse and His Boy - Relics EP
Ex-Virgin Suicides duo Dickon and Tom change tack and move into acoustic songs with strong tunes and emotional substance aplenty.»
Monkey Swallows the Universe - The Bright Carvings
Monkey Swallows the Universe carve out a niche between Mazzy Star and Belle & Sebastian to create a quirky pop-acoustic sound which feels like coming home.»
Whitey - Wrap It Up
More complex than it appears on first listen, Whitey's cynical and disconcerting electro pop is well worth a listen. But I wouldn't let him get behind me...»
Balor Knights, The Scarlet Tuesday - A Perfect Quarter/Just Cos Keenan Says So
Banana yellow vinyl is a fittingly cheerful colour for this twin-pack of idiosyncratic indie-pop sweetness with bells - and trumpets and pennywhistles and choir-effects... - on.»
The Violets - Carnival/Descend
A chorus defined by feedback and some surprisingly melodic horrible noise make for a disconcerting yet extremely pleasing audio experience.»
Monkey Swallows the Universe - Jimmy Down the Well
Twisted five-piece acoustic rock which claims to put the 'cor' back in recorder - and who am I to doubt them?»
We Start Fires - Hot Metal/Hipshake
We Start Fires produce yet another absolutely cracking slab of pop-infused rock'n'roll; world begged to listen already.»
Zeeb? - MockCockSpockShockRock
Zeeb? are from Ipswich, and are all aliens. This, their first album, is a concept album about assimilating Earth on behalf of their mother-planet as told through the medium of synthesiser, bleeping noises, samples and, above all, grinding rock’n’roll.»
Leaving The Fold - Loading To The Crash/On You
This season, The Fold will mainly be wearing high-pitched hollers, taut and trebley guitars and ominous, pounding drums to give off an overall image of three-minute punk ferocity. They will be accessorising their outfit with howls of feedback, whiplashing dance beats and a hearty dash of withering contempt.»
The Warlocks - Just Like Surgery
Need/hate romantic compliance has never sounded so good – and the B-Sides are cracking, too.»
Negative For Francis - Losing Control/Love Bug
Disco pop punk on the subject of delusional anthropomorphising? YES.»
Le Man Avec Les Lunettes - Saturate It - Then Reverse!
A band with something of a multi-national identity produce a suitably variable EP, which ranges from the Beatles more psychedelic years to The Flaming Lips via cabaret drums and bar piano.»
Black Dice - Smiling Off
The latest single from Black Dice is an eclectic melting pot of different influences and plays to a very specific audience. Those who look for more than beat and atmosphere are advised to look elsewhere, but those who just want something a little different for the dance floor might well get it here...»
Multi Purpose Chemical - Cult EP
Metal with a sense of proportion and humour, mixing the musical gear-changes of System of a Down with the drive of RATM, and adding a bit of funk just to round things off.»
The Beauty Shop - A Desperate Cry For Help
A bucket of cold water poured over the trivial histrionics of emo, in the form of an acoustic country rock jangle which might be serious, but which sure doesn't take itself seriously.»
David Ford - State of the Union
A thoughtful and lucid manifesto set to fine and original songsmithery - it's political music, but not as we stereotype it.»
The Research - The Research
Unsophisticated yet strangely knowing music which Hefner might make were they to hijack the 60s stylings of The Concretes.»
The Honeymoon Machine - Transistor Go Go
3D glasses, red'n'green logos, ambience aplenty and a name which would suggest more rockin' music than is actually delivered fail to make The Honeymoon Machine our reviewer's new favourite band.»
Fickle Public - Kittens Got Claws
Crash in; make jabbing slashing biting nasty noise; shout a lot; crash out. An agressive formula - and a winning one...»
Strange Idols - Doors/Failed Attempt At A Love Song
An imperfect mix means the listener needs to put a bit of effort in - but it can't hide the fact that Strange Idols' jangling indie guitar diva-ing is full of the promise of something pretty special...»
Nakeru - Demo EP
Chirpy tune-heavy summery pop racket, also featuring the most morose voicing of "Hip Hip Hooray" known to man...»
Quit Your Dayjob - Sweden We Have A Problem
Punk-dance-electro songs which last about 30 seconds. From Sweden. With such titles as 'She-Male Godzilla' or 'Sperms Are Germs'. It surely can't be long before this sort of thing becomes forbidden on the grounds of being too silly for words... so if I were you, I'd check it out quickly...»
Centrifuge - Lizard in the Wires EP
Jarring crunching riffs and drawn-out aching interludes make for some pretty special moments. It isn't perfect - but when a demo's weak points only sound as bad as they do because the good points are so ace, you can't complain too loudly.»
Pet Shop Boys - Battleship Potemkin
Pet Shop Boys + the Dresdener Sinfonika Orchestra + Sergei M. Eisenstein + Warships + Russian revolutionaries = a powerful record with a breathstealingly majestic grandeur. Which must be a textbook example of a properly balanced equation.»