Further Listening:

5. Me And The Moon Are Alright

Guildford indie-pop types Me And The Moon are one of 2018’s most hotly tipped acts, or at least they are as far as we’re concerned. This week the band have released It’s Alright, their second single for DIY-label, My Little Empire, following on from last year’s well received debut, Standing Still.

It’s Alright continues on the fine work of their previous release, pairing downbeat, almost melancholic vocals, with shimmering, playful indie-pop. Atop tumbling guitar lines and steady, energetic drums, singer Tamara Grzegorzek debates the relative merits of having the right thing to say and just being there, as she sings, “we’re alright, the nights draw in and I’m here by your side”.  Recalling acts like Night Flowers or Bombay Bicycle Club, It’s Alright adds to the growing evidence that Me And The Moon are a band at the start of something very special.

It’s Alright is out now via My Little Empire. Click HERE for more information on Me And The Moon.

4. Sara Renberg And The Elderly Lesbians

Sara Renberg is a songwriter hailing from Portland and now based out of Pittsburgh. Having recently released her second album, Night Sands, on the excellent Antiquated Future Records, Sara has this week shared the album’s second single, and stand-out track, Elderly Lesbians.

Discussing Night Sands, Sara has suggested it’s a record about being, “thirty-two, gay and single”, the album muses on the theme of simultaneously fearing and craving intimacy. Musically, Elderly Lesbians touches on classic anti-folk heroes from Kimya Dawson to Jeffrey Lewis; jangly lackadaisical guitars drift atop lo-fi, cymbal heavy drum beats, all topped with Sara’s conversational vocal style. Lyrically it really shines, Sara walking thr similarly mundane-surreal tight-rope perfected by the likes of Frankie Cosmos and The Mountain Goats as she comically recalls googling, “elderly lesbians to cheer myself up but all the results were porn”, before hitting straight to the emotional core with the repeated line, “I’m still not sure exactly what it means to be living in exile from old dreams”. A wry observer of the minutiae that make life both crushing and beautiful, Sara Renberg and her elderly lesbians are wonderful.

Night Sands is out now via Antiquated Futures Records. Click HERE for more information on Sara Renberg.

3. The Seven Wonders Of Kacy & Clayton

April will see Canadian-duo Kacy & Clayton release The Siren’s Song, their first new material since their critically acclaimed 2015 debut, Strange Country. This week the band have announced an extensive UK tour for May, as well as sharing their excellent new single, This World Has Seven Wonders.

Hailing from the Wood Mountain uplands of Southern Saskatchewan, Kacy & Clayton are second cousins and tap into the classic world of family country bands. On their second album the band have expanded their sound, adding full band arrangements alongside Kacy’s virtuoso vocals and violin, and Clayton’s perfect, intricate guitar patterns. For all their stunning playing and clever nods to the history of folk music on both sides of the Atlantic, at the heart of everything Kacy & Clayton do is a search for a universal truth, creating something anyone can relate to whether versed in musical history or otherwise.

The Siren’s Song is out April 27th via New West. Click HERE for more information on Kacy & Clayton.

2. The Patron Saint Of Pale Kids

There are more obvious pairings in the world than Father/Daughter, the Miami and San Francisco-based label, and Durham’s own Pale Kids. That said, in a world where increasingly location isn’t everything, the two make a lot of sense together, both deal in the more queer, melodic and intriguing corners of the current punk scene. The collaboration will begin next month with the release of a new EP, Hesitater, and this week the band have shared the first single from it, St Theresa.

The track is classic Pale Kids, barely two minutes long, it ponders the difficultly of pairing a religious upbringing with the person you’ve become as you grow older. Musically, it’s an instantaneous slice of hook-laden punk; equal parts Wolf Parade and Los Campesinos, as rumbling toms collide with jagged-guitars and impassioned vocal howls. St Theresa is ultimately a song about forming your own opinions, about defining your own faith and not letting anyone tell you what is right or wrong; brave, bold and intriguing: the world needs more bands like Pale Kids.

Hesitater is out March 23rd via Father/Daughter Records. Click HERE for more information on Pale Kids.

1. SLUG Makes For A Heavy Pet

On his excellent debut album SLUG, the nom-de-plume of North-East native Ian Black, collaborated with his former Field Music band-mates David & Peter Brewis; on the follow-up, HiggledyPiggledy, he made the decision to go it alone. The record, influenced equally by John Carpenter, The Residents and the Dada art movement, will be revealed to the world in April, and this week SLUG have shared the first single from it, No Heavy Petting.

Lifting its title from the semi-legendary swimming pool rules posters of the 1990’s, No Heavy Petting was inspired by Ian turning on the tv and watching, “videos of weak as piss songs with soft core pornography paraded on them” and deciding to try and write, “a sexy song”, before ultimately concluding at the age of 35, “I’d probably left it a little too late”. Musically, No Heavy Petting is a distinctly different beast to his debut album; rhythms jump to the fore, as weird, warped electronics pulse out John Barry-like melodies, and Ian’s vocals take on a undeniably sultry tone. Discussing the influences of HiggledyPiggledy, Ian has suggested that while it is set against a backdrop of political unrest, largely it’s about the weird life of an autodidact existing in the Weatherspoons of  Sunderland. An already fascinating musician, now doing things entirely on his own terms, SLUG has never sounded better.

HiggledyPiggledy is out April 13th via Memphis Industries. Click HERE for more information on SLUG.

Header photo by Andy Martin – http://martintype.co.uk