Ghost Of Social Networks – If This Isn’t Love

Though being captivated by UK outfit Ghost Of Social Networks is becoming predictable there is nothing feeding expectations when it comes to the songs and invention crafting their appeal. It is a trait just as rampant in new single If This Isn’t Love; a song which holds no surprises in eagerly hungry ears but is a fresh escapade in the adventurous enterprise which has captured the imagination song after song so far.

Ghosts Of Social Networks is the one man project of Manchester based musician/songwriter Nathan Till, though a proposition which expands with the full-time assistance of drummer Ben Dargue and bassist Andrea Gobbi for shows. Early last year, Till released the debut GOSN single in the attention and acclaim grabbing shape of Love Potion/ Mockingbirds; a potent introduction only reinforced and built upon by subsequent singles Comeback Kid, No Going Back, and earlier this year the truly outstanding Outside The Wheel. The last of the releases laid down a new plateau for the sound and imagination of Till, one now magnetically courted by If This Isn’t Love.

Again seeing Till link up with producer Gavin Monaghan (Editors, Robert Plant, The Sherlocks), If This Isn’t Love instantly entices ears with a keen melodic jangle and swiftly entangles them in the following gnarly welcoming hook. As rich bait as they are though, they are the mere key to a surge of infectious temptation driven by boisterous rhythms and the ever alluring tones of Till. Quickly an eighties new wave scented hue emerges; a Paul Haig meets Lloyd Cole air adding extra spice to the track’s tenacious swing. Till is never one to keep things restricted to one line of persuasion though, adding imaginative twists and turns of energy which just add to the song’s boisterous appetite stoking adventure.

Whereas previous single Outside The Wheel slept with darker shadows, If This Isn’t Love sees Till play with openly warmer textures and a pop bred boldness which has hips and feet lustfully engaged even as a lyrical edge teases thoughts. It all makes for another outing with GOSN which leaves pleasure and a hunger for more, rampant…time for an album?

If This Isn’t Love is released 18th August via Integrity Records.

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Pete RingMaster 02/08/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Best Ex – Ice Cream Anti Social

photo by ana massard

Moving from their more bracing pop punk guise of Candy Hearts to a more electro/indie pop natured proposition, Best Ex has just released their first EP under the new moniker. Offering six slices of warm, bubble gum scented catchiness Ice Cream Anti Social is a swiftly engaging encounter which belies the darker lyrical contemplations within.

Consisting of Mariel Loveland, Matthew Ferraro, and John Clifford, Best Ex have taken the poppy aspect of their Candy Hearts exploits full-on with their fresh evolution though as suggested there is still an edge to things if more in word than sound. Talking about their new EP, singer songwriter Loveland said, “Ice Cream Anti Social is sort of an ode to those moments where you’re alone in your room and reflecting on your life. As a whole, it covers those sorts of thoughts you can’t kick when you’re lying in bed about to fall asleep, or its midnight and you’re in your underwear, eating ice cream out of the carton, wondering what the heck happened to you.”

It swiftly has ears and body on board with the single Girlfriend, the song a breeze of infectious warmth and electronic buzzing around the captivating voice of Loveland. Guitars bring a steelier fizz to proceedings, that slight edge courting the unbridled pop heart of the encounter. There is little to not eagerly embrace about the song even if, as its companions, it does not quite venture the realms of uniqueness as boldly as it might have. Nevertheless it is a temptation to greedily devour leading keener intrigue into the synth pop funk of Lonely Life. The eighties tinge of the opener is repeated within its successor, the track like a blend of Bananarama and The Ting Tings and again a captivating invitation on its own to take a lick of  Ice Cream Anti Social.

February 4th is a mellow reflection with poetic strings and melancholic beauty a suggestive charm while the following Someday is another instinctive catchy kiss on the ear, its electronically lined indie pop almost anthemic in its simplicity and organic temptations. It has an increasingly beguiling trait which is emulated by next up See You Again in its rough edged stroll. With a fuzzy hand from the guitars and a Belly-esque lining to the song’s character, it too has feet shuffling and hips swaying with content before Jellyfish brings it all to an appealing close with is ukulele accompanied vocal serenade.

As suggested, Ice Cream Anti Social is not as distinct as it might be or as unpredictable as you may wish but there is no escaping that it is one very flavoursome and easily enjoyable romp to get the era of Best Ex under way.

Ice Cream Anti Social is out now through Alcopop! Records across most online stores and @ https://bestexnj.bandcamp.com/album/ice-cream-anti-social

 

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 Pete RingMaster 19/07/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Tunabunny – PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland Jr

PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland Jr is the new and fifth album from US Transcendental Dance Poppers Tunabunny, a huge adventure which sees the Athens, Georgia hailing quartet at their most poppy, darkest, experimental, and compelling. A double album breaching 28 imagination stoking tracks, it is a kaleidoscope of sound; no track like any other or pretty much any offering from the band to date, and a carousel of creative drama which pushes the listener into places they might not know exist let alone have contemplated.

Apparently PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland Jr is “structured as a song-by-song response to The Beatles’ White Album” and through its songs explores themes such as surveillance, futility, alchemy and winter, metamorphosis and anger whilst its fourth side features a twisting song cycle about motherhood; from pregnancy to birth, through postpartum emotional desolation, to the rebirth of self. Whatever their inspiration, the album’s songs challenge and arouse physically, mentally, and emotionally ensuring you get a full and thrilling workout with the foursome of Mary Jane Hassell, Scott Creney, Brigette Adair Herron, and Jesse Stinnard.

Rather than do our usual track by track look, such its bulging size, we are going to pluck the moments which ignited the imagination most forcibly but be assured barely a moment passes within the whole release without making a potent and appealing impact. From the opening atmospherically sinister Cartesian Theater, a track which appears like an intro but is so much more, Tunabunny set the speakers and passions on fire with Incinerate. A recent single, the track is glorious; a slice of indie pop which has the head bobbing, feet shuffling, and ardour brewing within its first round of seduction. Adding one’s own breath is inevitable to a sublime chorus, the vocals a flirtatious beauty matched in temptation by the gentle swing of the sounds cradling their charm.

There is no better moment within the album but plenty of times rival the height of the superb encounter, the following Noise Problems a swift example with its post punk/new wave canter carrying a definite resemblance to eighties UK band The Passions. The stroll of the bass is as deeply appealing as the wiry jangle of the guitars, vocals again an inescapable magnetism in diversity and harmony whilst the song’s emerging discord is simply delicious.

The indie/psych pop of Seek Consequence is another major magnet; the swaying vocals siren-esque as darker hues brew and evolve behind their lyrical wiles until heatedly bubbling up with a drone like fever while Blackwater Homes rises up from a gentle melodic murmur into another virulently infectious and shadowed canter playing like a mix of Stevie Nicks and Pylon. Worryingly easy to be seduced by its haunting lures, and not for the first or last time fiercely tempting post punk bass bait, the track swiftly worms into the psyche.

The bass again grips the instincts within Oracle, its Psycho Killer like coaxing backed by shiny tendrils of guitar as vocals procrastinate; its success followed by the matching triumph of Start It where PiL meets The Breeders is a good hint to the track’s melodic post punk clamour. These tracks alone show the diversity within PCPPAIWJR, The Raincoats tinged pop clang of Nevermind The Cobblestones and the Slits scented monotone shuffle of Yellow Heart Is My Sky Sign further evidence, both tracks bringing fresh greed in a healthy appetite for the release.

A healthy addictiveness is spawned by the raw swing and charm of the boldly infectious The Way The World Works, the song a dulled yet sparkling gem in the album’s jewellery box of sound and another collusion of band and listener rarely matched outside of the album though within, the minimalistic pop of Me And Nancy, a track with an echo of The Cure on their very first outing, and the dark scuzz fuelled post punk of Pretending To Bend as well as the similarly styled but oh so different Count To Ten rise to the challenge.

There are tracks on the album which explore noise and its depths of suggestion, each inciting the imagination even when they barely grasp a handful of seconds in length; times which really test  but reward the listener’s ability to compose and interpret. With further moments of never less than thoroughly enjoyable and provocative adventure across the album, songs like It Could Be Something, the absorbing and inexplicable Shiftchanger featuring Jason Jackson Wellz, and Magic January all tantalising and enthralling, things are brought to a lengthy imposingly and enjoyable close with the fuzz pop clamour of I Thought I Caught It (With You).

As suggested, every track is a fresh and rewarding twist in the landscape of PCPPAIWJR, not one of them merely filling space and all firing up ears and imagination. Not for the first time Tunabunny has provided not only a real treat to mull over and enjoy, but another new plateau in their invention and imagination.

PCP Presents Alice In Wonderland JR is out now via HHBTM Records @ http://hhbtm.com/item.php?item_id=640 and https://tunabunny.bandcamp.com/album/pcp-presents-alice-in-wonderland-jr

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Pete RingMaster 12/07/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Rat Fancy – Suck A Lemon EP

There is nothing artificial about the saccharine sound of Californian trio Rat Fancy or indeed excessively sweet yet a particular tooth is still a requirement for their sugary melodies and the intimate affability of their music. An instinctive almost sour look at life and its fake lures, often found in the Los Angeles climate the band springs from, ensures things never get too sickly and a similar underlying discordance to their music which ensures intrigue and unpredictability is a potent essence.  It all comes nicely together within Suck A Lemon; the band’s new captivating EP.

Consisting of vocalist/guitarist Diana Barraza (ex-Sweater Girls), guitarist/keyboardist Gregory Johnson, and drummer Gavin Glidewell and formed last year, Rat Fancy has already blessed 2017 with a trio of tracks via their Bandcamp. Each has been a fresh breeze of their shoegaze glazed indie pop now blowing even more eventfully within Suck A Lemon. Across the EP, the threesome resemble a fusion of eighties band Weekend and The Pixies with a light Belly-esque scent to it all; a mix emerging as something deceptively familiar yet distinct to Rat Fancy.

The release opens with I Can’t Dance To The Smiths Anymore and swiftly has ears drawn to its guitar jangle and the sweet tones of Barraza. Keys equally cast an amiable lure as the guitar weaves a magnetic twee toned melody; it all uniting in an infectiously lively serenade at times reminding of another British band from times past, The Freshies.

It is a bright and tempting start which is built upon by the more boisterous exploits of Five Fingers. Rhythms are a tenacious guide into the raw melody woven web of the song, everything from voice and sharp words to a wandering keys bred warble offering enticing hooks taking the EP to another level in no time.

It is a height backed up by the title track, the first of two versions found within Suck A Lemon. This first take has an energetic swing to its melodic carousel and bare sonic dance; a rawness which exposes all of their alluring attributes with honesty as Barraza’s vocals again captivate.

Beyond Belief is a gentle frank caress in sound and emotion with a smouldering melancholy in its charm while About You seduces with a Young Marble Giants like minimalism and beauty which with an emerging darker snarl to the guitars, takes best track honours. Both songs leave intrigue with a greedier focus; the second especially memorable even in its brief tenure of ears.

The EP closes with an equally impressive offering in a slower version of Suck A Lemon and boy does the already strong song blossom in this alternative guise. It is a siren of ears and imagination, so much more than simply a tempering of its earlier energy with Rat Fancy finding a richer presence and allure in its slimmer but more radiant variation.

Rat Fancy make a proper introduction to themselves with the Suck A Lemon EP, a thoroughly enjoyable encounter offering the promise of adventurously bright times ahead with the band.

The Suck A Lemon EP is out now through HHBTM Records and available @ https://ratfancy.bandcamp.com/album/suck-a-lemon and http://hhbtm.com/item.php?item_id=639

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Pete RingMaster 12/07/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Mosley Bar – Royalties

Following up their well-received debut EP, Another Record Sleeve, which sparked strong attention the way of the band and airplay from the likes of BBC 6 Music BBC Introducing, Mosley Bar uncage successor Royalities this month to show that the potency of the first was no flash in the pan. Offering four tracks with a fine line in instinctive catchiness and enterprise, the EP reinforces the British North West hailing quartet’s potential of making a real impression on the UK rock scene.

Formed in 2015, Mosley Bar draw on the inspiration of bands such as Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Two Door Cinema Club, and Circa Waves in a sound which has a certain familiarity to it but equally a freshness of youth and imagination. Certainly the first pair of artists in that selection of influences comes to mind easily with the band’s sound but infests without disguising the potential of bolder adventures ahead; a promise which is richer and already more imaginative in their new offering against the strong showing within Another Record Sleeve.

Royalties opens up with a song which has already lured praise carrying attention, Two Apart quickly enticing ears with its initial guitar jangle around the distinctive tones of vocalist/guitarist Ryan Ward. In no time, the swinging lure of Tim Williams’s bass and the melodic enticement of guitarist Adam Eccleston add to the song’s blossoming, the lively beats of Matthew Wright driving things with spirit. It is easy to see why the infectious exploits and dynamic prowess of the track has drawn keen plaudits, its boisterous exploits and web of melodic and sonic enterprise an accomplished and riveting proposal lined by that enjoyable Arctic Monkeys spicing.

With increasing drama and emotive intensity roaring through ears, the excellent opener makes way for the similarly instinctively catchy Wide Awake. Its own line in hooks and flirtatious industry is even swifter in persuasion than that of its virulent predecessor, Eccleston and Wards’ guitars infesting feet and hips as the latter continues to bring his magnetic voice to the rousing mix. For us, the track simply outshines the first and pretty much anything from the band to date; its body boisterous and character a fine blend of recognisable and new essences colluding in one irresistible incitement.

The punchy stroll of next up Philip is aligned to a melodic shimmer and psych pop flavouring, contrasting textures which unite with evocative imagination around the hearty stomp of a song erupting with persuasive zeal. It is another frisky and buoyant landscape of sound which grows listen by listen into a rousing temptation; a growing temptation also emulated in Chasing which brings things to a fine close. The slow burner of the bunch, though its breezy energy and playful nature is a quick success on ears and appetite, the song simmers and shines with increasing potency to provide another highly enjoyable outing with Mosley Bar.

Listening to Royalities, it feels like now is the time for Mosley Bar to add bolder, more unpredictable elements to their music. Their new release does have a whiff of that evolution to be fair and added to the band’s natural weaving of infectious music around insightful words, there is no reason that the journey ahead for band and fan will not be eventful and thoroughly enjoyable.

Royalties is out now across  most online stores.

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Pete RingMaster 16/05/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Son of Skooshny – Confection

Three years on from releasing the Mid Cent Mod EP, US band Son of Skooshny returns with its successor Confection and another collection of melodic rock/pop tracks simply warranting attention.  Admittedly, three of the songs making up the encounter were released as singles along the way but it is as part of Confection that they really blossom, each adding a magnetic aspect to its engaging whole.

Son of Skooshny is the creation of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Mark Breyer, a project evolving out of acclaimed seventies band Skooshny who despite eventually breaking up found their releases still becoming collector items around Europe. Reforming in the nineties, they soon released a new EP with an album and compilation following, the latter in 2004. Six years later Son of Skooshny stepped forward, Breyer uniting with producer/collaborator Steve Refling, before unveiling debut album Lovers Leap of Faith. Its magnetic melodic pop sound further evolved within the 2013 Mid Cent Mod EP, a mellower blossom of imagination with a country/folk rock twist now pushed on again, while embracing the band’s pop instincts, by Confection.

The EP opens with Just a Test, a track swiftly seducing ears and attention with its tangy melodies and gently nagging stride. Equally a sixties pop air nuzzles song and imagination as Breyer’s expressive tones and suggestive melodies spread through the heart and body of the richly enticing encounter. As catchy as it is sultry, the song continues to coax body and appetite, its sound not a major leap from the last EP but richer in the weave of flavours and seductive prowess it bears.

That mentioned country scent spices the following No Ho, a slower gaited song which saunters with creative confidence as suggestive keys wrap Breyer’s words and the sonic romancing of the guitars. A melodic shimmer also lines the song replacing the snappier touch of its predecessor with its alluring presence and though it does not quite spark the appetite as forcibly, the track grows into a similarly potent proposal over time.

A similar design of flavours and textures shape the melodic caress of Cloud Cover straight after, a soft slice of catchy mellow pop deceptively low key as tempting harmonies cuddle and melodies conjure. Within this tranquil serenading though, an orchestral scented theatre rises within the song’s multi-layered landscape which only draws the imagination deeper into its beauty.

Half of the World is next, a melodic rock ‘n’ pop croon with its own adventure in catchiness draped in sixties inspired melodic flames and vocal smooching, before The Subtle Eye closes up the release with its smouldering country twanged caress. Both tracks have a XTC Oranges & Lemons / Elvis Costello Almost Blue like fusion to them, a flavouring adding to the sixties and melodic pop invention Son of Skooshny persistently show themselves so adept at casting.

Released earlier this year on Bandcamp but now being given a broad release through CD Baby on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and other stores by the band itself, Confection is a warm melodic snug with Son of Skooshny deserving of greater attention.

The Confection EP is out now across most stores and @ https://sonofskooshny.bandcamp.com/album/confection

http://www.skooshny.com/

Pete RingMaster 13/12/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Of Kings and Captains – Ain’t Got The Heart

Swiftly proving they are no one hit wonders, British pop rockers Of Kings and Captains follow up the rousing exploits and success of recent single Jack My Boy with another spirit stoking, body exciting exploit going by the name of Ain’t Got The Heart. As its predecessor, the new single is taken from the equally impressing Give ‘Em Hell Son EP, itself evidence that the Stourbridge outfit’s sound is loaded with infectious hooks and instinctive imagination.

Sprung and driven by the enterprise of lead vocalist/guitarist Luke Wassell, guitarist JD Lomas, and bassist Dean Greatbatch, Ain’t Got The Heart quickly entangles ears in its opening melody, it the seed to an energetic and accomplished stroll ripe with power pop energy and indie pop hookery. Recorded with producers Gavin Monaghan (The Twang, Editors, Nizlopi) and Joseph Murray, the song swiftly has feet shuffling, hips swinging, and ears hungry as its Fall Out Boy meets The Fratellis revelry consumes all before.

The song continues to infest and thrill body and spirit, cementing the promise and growing uniqueness of a sound which has quickly come over as a freshly discovered old friend with each and every song, especially in the two singles from Of Kings and Captains providing 2016 with two of its brightest moments.

With new sounds in the works and an appearance at Glastonbudget   2017 confirmed, it is easy to suggest that Of Kings and Captains are about to really explode upon the Uk rock scene.

Ain’t Got The Heart is out now.

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Pete RingMaster 06/12/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright