Curly Hair - The Ivy League

Putting on a Curly Hair song has the same rejuvenating effect as taking a midday walk in the park. There’s no disturbances, no irritating twats hurling their egotistical chants at you, just time allocated to wandering about and collecting your thoughts. The duo’s first release, a six track EP entitled The Ivy League, has some organic, flowery illustrations on its cover and is refreshingly real and honest.

The twee, sing a’ long nature of their music belies the confidence and serious intent underneath. Curly Hair are not to be underestimated. Having set up their own label in Brighton, Toy Soldiers (which has incidentally signed Jonquil), recording their own songs and designing CD covers, they seem keen to keep control over their art. As a first for Curly Hair, the record avoids making a bathetic entrance or flogging a pointless statement; it’s satisfied in its handmade process, in the pleasure of playing and recording.

Comparisons to Belle and Sebastian have already been drawn in the press, as is typical with this kind of light song writing. After a short opening, we hear the first of two standout tracks: “Let’s Get Cleany”, a smiling ode to rough living that slows to a gradual halt and, to finish, “The Bus Song”, an upbeat affair which provokes me to use the ‘infectious’ adjective… regrettably. Some minor problems include “Hully Gully” - an out of place acapella vignette. The duo’s voice doubling displays a strong musical bond, but in the mix it’s muddy and cluttered.

Even with synth organ, glockenspiel and trumpet, The Ivy League is unlikely to give you anything unpredictable. Its play count might also be short lived, or at least infrequent. None-the-less, Curly Hair set a resonant tone for themselves and their prospective label. If you see them busking somewhere around the country be sure to buy them a cup of tea and a sandwich.

(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)

The Smittens / The Just Loans Split Single

In just cause, Twee Pop and DIY ethics promote an inspiring idea that anyone can pick up an instrument and write songs. Nobody said however that all this music will be ‘good’. This release from WeePOP! is a prime example; it means well but fails to convey anything beyond the simple joy of being in a band. Seriously guys, it’s time to grow up and let Belle and Sebastian go.

You may get two bands for the price of one (two tracks by each) but like Tesco or an unfamiliar drug dealer, it pushes something of dubious quality. About halfway through The Smittens’ ‘Summer Sunshine’ you realise you’ve been burned. Lines like “cause we’re bands and we’re fans / and we like to have fun and we like making friends” don’t do much for me; neither does the irritatingly jolly backing band and tired clichés of mix tapes and cute musings. Beat Happening made an art form out of being sad and child-like; few get close to replicating it.

The Just Loans are more accomplished musically – “I hear you’re the man now, John” is a bitter and jangly bit of folk with a grumpy accordion – but again the lyrics let them down. Both bands need a dramatic change of subject matter and musical prospects – maybe a turn to The Mouldy Peaches’ sarcasm for inspiration? The rest of you keep away, there’s better stuff coming from Scotland.

(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)

Fryars - Dark Young Hearts

Our interest in the past is getting pretty obsessive isn’t it? Think of some classic old band and there’ll be a contemporary equivalent for sure. Shit, the band you’re thinking of is probably imminently reforming due to their own retro addiction, an obsession with their own past. Fryars, a solo project by one Ben Garrett, has a specific intention: 80’s art electro. It achieves it too, spot on, but don’t worry. Dark Young Hearts is fortunately more than just market filler.

Straight off, Ben’s voice style is a dead ringer for Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos. Certain tracks, such as “The Ides” with its club indie rhythm, even sound like the group too. Ben is 19, self taught and has a fascination with the subconscious and the fictional. “A Last Result” feels very Syd Barrett with its silly song structure, particular English insanity and surreal, Louis Carroll-like imagery. No arguments, “when the mind is a mushroom, but the words come easily” is a damn good line and the track is definitely Ben’s best.

We have the masterful Steven Hague (producer of The Pet Shop Boys and New Order) to blame for its electro-glam tendencies. “Lakehouse” and “Visitors” sees Hague slap on the emotion: Casio synthesiser leads over rolling electro drum pads. Trouble is, it reeks of sweaty shoulder pads, pot noodle and Tears For Fears. The cracks do give way thankfully, and we catch glimpses of substance behind the yuppie disco fest. The final track “Morning” is a warm and sumptuous, symphonic anthem that leaves you on a reassuring farewell.

While on the support circuit, Ben had received seductive winks from the top labels. Yes, the big guys in the big suits had got down from their big, spinney chairs to extend him a hand. Don’t do it Ben! Give the Music Industry the finger and stay independent. Admittedly, this is all too easy to say and, like so many others before him, it’ll be hard to hold against them forever. Fryars’ catchy, naturally cool idiom and breezy energy could see the dark ones returning again and again.

(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)

New Singles: Black Moth Super Rainbow's The Sticky and Randan Discotheque's Daily Record and Time To Waste

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW - THE STICKY
Come, come let The Black Moth Super Rainbow screw about with your childhood memories. The BBC workshop synths and vocoder rambling may evoke a carefree response but instead of transporting you back to the comforting days of long summers and peanut butter sandwiches, its affect simulates being trapped in a creepy kids TV show.

Very few of us would be able to keep a grip on their sanity while inescapably stuck in the world of The Magic Roundabout. This is precisely the reason why we don't give children acid. For sure, the reoccurring phrase "you and me, we're going to melt away like apples in the ground" holds anything but Disney schmaltz. The humid, electronic psychedelia suggests Lemon Jelly or Caribou, putting on masks made of wax and acting out German Fairytales.

At just over two minutes long, it's a short and simplistic release containing nothing overtly new (in fact, dangerously close to their classic 'Sun Lips'). Ideally, their newest album Eating Us where this record is plucked from will expose them to a wider audience. It is now that Black Moth Super Rainbow can begin to test their fans patience and drive their unique Halloween road show to more sublime destinations.


RANDAN DISCOTHEQUE - DAILY RECORD MAY 18TH 1993 and TIME TO WASTE
I wouldn't be the first of Bearded's writers to notice that there's something going on up in the cold and crazy Scottish hills. Randan Discotheque, the baby of songsmith Craig Coulthard, belt out two marvellous tunes on this double sided single and make a name for themselves.

In the catchy electro vein of the early 90's, 'Daily Record' is a window into one day in the Daily Record paper. Frankly, it's a cheap attempt to revive the by-gone era (also particularly strange when Craig says in a perky voice "a friend's legs were blown off by an IRA bomb") But despite this behaviour, it manages to come through after a couple of listens.

'Time To Waste' begins like a long lost Television track. A groovy bass riff punctuated by scratchy guitar frets. Damn cool. I'd bet you've always wondered what Jefferson Airplane would sound like if they came from a New York art school? Of course you have - Craig's echoing vocals over rolling blues answer your question.

Incorporating all sorts of ideas, Randan Discotheque's range may be broad but it still presents them with the problem of what exactly to rest on. It would be easy to label them as purveyors of Scottish indie charm but I doubt that would go down too well.

(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)