This week's stars-in-the-making come from as far apart as South Wales, Spain and Sweden, while there's a new song from a returning giant of mid-nineties American rock.
Prosperina - Cult Leader’s Handbook Just like Amen Corner and Man, Prosperina are from South Wales. But that’s where the connection ends, because Prosperina make the kind of glorious racket that’s more likely to appeal to fans of Kyuss or Mastodon. More fun than a freshly-laundered pair of clown pants. Great video, too.
Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band - I Ain’t Waiting We’ve been listening to the Chris Forsyth album all week when we’ve not been listening to other things. The obvious comparison is with Tom Verlaine, but even more soaring and glistening and twinkling and sparkling. And if you didn’t like Television because of the vocals, you’ll like this, because there are none.
**77 _- **Stay Away From Water_ What can we tell you about 77? They’re from Barcelona, they’re named after the year Let There Be Rock was released, and they make a big, crouching boogie noise just like Bon and the boys. In this video, they drink some drink they should not drink, and the Grim Reaper appears in the back of their car. Oh no!
Spiders - Shake Electric Don’t worry, they’re not real spiders. They’re a hard-rocking quartet from Sweden, where singer Ann-Sofie Hoyle says, “Shake Electric is about me and my old friends who I had so much fun with, partying until the break of dawn.” Then, just like the hero of Judas Priest’s Living After Midnight, she’s gone, presumably.
Wild Smiles - Girlfriend This is great, in a Ramones-meets-Beach-Boys kind of way, a bit like those Australian bands like The Eastern Dark and Radio Birdman. What’s more, Wild Smiles really are wild, boasting that their music will make you “want to guzzle beer and rage with your friends”. With this kind of approach to life, they should probably go on tour with Spiders (the band, above, not actual arthropods).
Haken - Darkest Light Cripes! Look at Haken, with their finger-tapping and their complicated time-signatures and their extra-stringed guitars and their lofty prog ambitions and their stop-start-stop-start songs. We’d laugh if we weren’t so impressed. It’s like being in the presence of a brilliant maths teacher who’s also a really good magician. Zing! Zang! Abracadabra!
Flesh For Lulu - Black Tattoo After spending the early part of the summer being treated for cancer, Flesh for Lulu’s singer Nick Marsh is back on his feet, and the band are currently running an online campaign to raise money to go on an American tour. We encourage all fans to dig deep, especially the rich ones, who might wish to consider the $5000 “concert in your home” option.
Live - _The Way Around Is Through _ Remember Live? We’d almost forgotten, but I Alone was a magnificently tasty slice of the great cake of post-grunge, and Lightning Crashes was quite nice too, and now they’re back back BACK with a new singer and an even newer single. You can decide whether you like it or not by listening to it with your ears.
