Easy Riders

Bombay Bicycle Club/Tantrums, The Rainbow, Digbeth, Birmingham, Saturday April 18 2009, 8.45pm.

In the interests of fairness and accuracy we should report that we attended this gig after a steady day's drinking before and after attendance at the Hammers' valiant draw at Villa Park and thus witnessed the event through an attendant fug of post-match euphoria and stealthily enveloping stupour. So if you're looking for a detailed analysis of chord changes and other such muso musings this review isn't likely to be particularly enlightening. But we enjoyed both bands so some sort of mention of this fact should be recorded, if only to enable the dear reader to look out for the aforementioned groups next time they're in town.

Tantrums are a local Birmingham band and in fact play the This Is Tomorrow all-dayer at The Victoria tomorrow (3rd). They helped stamp out tunelessness with a set drenched in harmonies, sounding a bit Britpop here and there but with vocal stylings perhaps more in keeping with the more radio-friendly end of emo. And yet, as desperate as that reads, it somehow worked, mainly thanks to some better-than-average choons and a healthy down-to-earth attitude ensuring there was no tears before bedtime on this occasion.

Crouch End's Bombay Bicycle Club looked impossibly young for a band who've been knocking around for long enough to be one of our top tips from the beginning of 2008. If theirs has been a slow progress to the point where they're headlining gigs like this, we witnessed first-hand from our unfamiliar stage-front positioning the frenzied excitement they've started eliciting from their peer-group following.

While you couldn't argue that the (lazy acronym alert!) BBC bring anything startlingly original to the table, you can't help but admire the way they mix the ingredients with such confident dexterity they can present a finished product that still feels fresh, vibrant and feelgood. Jack Steadman has the studied cool and easy arrogance to give Alex Turner a run for his money as the bookish fresher's heart-throb of choice, with tremulous vocals that occasionally recall the likes of Brett Anderson and Peter Perrett, while the band even get away with dropping in PV's pet hate (the token laboured ska-inflected song) and just about pulling it off without looking like prats.

Aside from the singles Always Like This and Evening/Morning, our favourites on the night were Ghost and Cancel On Me, and there certainly seemed enough strength in depth to suggest their debut album (due soon, we reckon) will be an impressive calling card. Although future records seemed the last thing on the audience's mind as they lost themselves in the here and now of crowd surges and stage invasions that saw your wobbling webmaster adopt the Bristol Jeff pose of shaking his mane while steadying one hand on the sound monitor throughout. And fashion pundits wouldn't forgive us for not mentioning the drummer's top-notch shiny parka, because surface coating is important, dontcha know.

Pip Pop Don't Stop

Is the new release from Ladyhawke (aka Pip Brown) the third or fourth single to be taken from her self-titled debut? In all the excitement of 'My Delirium' we kind of forget ourselves, but recover our composure quick enough to declare it Parallax View Single Of The Week.

That's The Last Time We Use The Phrase 'Honest, Guv'

Goldfrapp/Eugene McGuinness, Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, Saturday October 25 2008, 8pm.
Fleet Foxes, Space2, Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham, Friday October 31 2008, 9pm.
Aurora Plastic Monster/StRANGEtIME/The Sweethearts/Sweet Talk, 444 Club downstairs at The Sunflower Lounge, off Queensway, Birmingham, Saturday November 8 2008, 8.30pm.
Neon Neon/Yo! Majesty, Glee Club, Hurst Street, Birmingham, Monday November 10 2008, 8.30pm.

Apologies for the recent gap in Parallax View transmission. To get things back started here's a whistlestop runthrough of a few gigs we've been to recently. Starting with Goldfrapp in Wolves, who were supported by Eugene McGuinness who was as personable as his songs were unremarkable, an adequate stopgap mebbe for folk awaiting the new Jeremy Warmsley album, but what's that? There's a new Jeremy Warmsley out? Ah well, Eugene, there's always reality TV. A less modest return is reaped by headliners Goldfrapp, ostensibly here to promote the lovely 'Seventh Tree' collection but mostly getting more reward live from the squelchier dance numbers from their glam stomping mid-period, although 'Caravan Girl' from their latest also travels exceptionally well.

Hallowe'en saw your feeble freak looking pale and ghastly, but we'd left our mask at home, we were just feeling ever so faint from the deadly combination of heavy coat, hot lights and a packed crowd. Bottled water and some fresh air at the back restored our spirits, along with a performance from Fleet Foxes that manage to move less through energy than through a certain transcendence. Overall, they're a bit more jammy, noodly and loquacious compared to their recorded output, but when things click they're genuinely spellbinding.

A week later, a hastily-rearranged line-up sees frequent Parallax View picks StRANGEtIME in lively, rattling form despite arriving with a cymbal short of a drumkit and brandishing some intriguing new songs. Also on the bill were Norwegian rock trio Aurora Plastic Monster who were bold, bruising and Brit-baiting, and The Sweethearts, who perhaps put more effort in their make-up and clothing than in finding genuine musical inspiration. In contrast, local teenagers Sweet Talk were raw and revelatory, with lead singer Amelia proving compulsively watchable working through her range between sex-kitten purr and death-rattle roar, providing perhaps the missing link between Poly Styrene and Courtney Love on songs like 'Pin-Up Girl'.

Two days later, Yo! Majesty nearly have us call the bar staff to get ready with the defribilators when their electronic bass threatens to jumpstart our hearts into the next lifetime. The energy doesn't let up throughout a breakneck set in which they realise their stated intention to get the crowd sweaty and stinky, giving due props to President Elect Obama and exhorting the crowd of anoraked geeks to 'Fuck Dat Shit' to surprisingly little resistance. If they'd have rocked our boat any more we'd have been overboard and swallowing fish.

Main act Neon Neon were relatively sedate, with Gruff Rhys' laconic charm and deadpan placard prompts for 'Applause' easing the audience through a near-chronological rendition of brilliant retro-futurist concept album 'Stainless Style'. Back-projected images of Raquel Welch and cameos from Har Mar Superstar and Yo! Majesty add some kinetic propulsion to the kitsch, with 'Sweat Shop' perhaps working best of all on the night.

Twice Bitten

Fed up of Lykke Li yet? Nope, us neither, which is why we make the re-release of her debut single 'Little Bit' this week's Parallax View Single Of The Week. Turning coy courtship into scintillating sonic splendour, we love it loads.



Further Parallax View content due later in the week, honest guv.

Paris Is Yearning

Great songs about the French capital city are eifell-y rare but like Number 44 buses, when one comes along they tend to come in pairs (no anagram intended). So soon after Ladyhawke's fiery fave 'Paris Is Burning' this week's Single Of The Week from St. Albans' Friendly Fires is entitled simply 'Paris', a lush, plush promise of a tune that transcends the supposed limitations of their Klaxons-meet-The-Rapture template.

When we first encountered Friendly Fires live, it's fair to report we weren't entirely convinced, but having been lured to their debut self-titled album by the temptations of 'Jump In The Pool' we're coming round big time to their epic, seductive soundscapes, ably assisted on 'Paris' by the swooning harmonies of the girls of Au Revoir Simone (and you've gotta love the girls of Au Revoir Simone, right?).

Anyways, decided for yourselves by viewing the promo, which contains more morphing magnificence than a Tony Hart boxset. Not sure about the Nantes-y neckerchief, though.

Pip Matters

Lykke Li/Yoav, Glee Club, Hirst Street, Birmingham, Sunday October 5 2008, 8.30pm.
Ladyhawke/Deluka/Death Ohh Eff/The Electrilickers, 444 Club@The Rainbow, Digbeth, Birmingham, Monday October 6 2008, 8pm.

In the few months since we last saw Lykke Li at Glee, the seated-only studio has made way for a packed standing-room-only show in the bigger room, the crowd here less through curiousity and more from conviction, and the conversion sees the Swede in noticably more relaxed and engaging form. But before all that, we have Yoav, a tidy, bookish young man born in Israel but brought up in South Africa and New York. His music takes on a similarly hybrid form, folk, blues and R&B fused into intriguing songs enhanced by the singer-songwriter fully utilising plentiful effects pedals to create an atmospheric soundscape high on intrigue but a little short on memorable melody.

There a few people who could get away with making an entrance in a Freddy Parrot hat and shapeless outfit, but Lykke Li is one of the number who can, and it's safe to assume she knows it. The set opens with 'Dance, Dance, Dance' given a louder, squelchier, more 'electro' feel than the recorded version, paving the way for a lively performance aimed at dusting off the 'depression' she senses from the audience. 'I'm Good I'm Gone' and 'Breaking It Up' offer predictably giddy thrills, the soon-to-be-re-released 'Little Bit' is already treated like a greatest hit, the dubby, hypnotic pull of 'Complaints Department' is another winner on the night, and there's even room for a tongue-in-cheek cameo of Duffy's 'Mercy' sneaked into closing cover of 'Can I Kick It?'. There are officially no more excuses left not to invest in her debut album 'Youth Novels'.

Next night, head over to The Rainbow in Digbeth for a special 444 Club gig which sees three local hopefuls supporting touring Kiwi star Pip Brown aka Ladyhawke, here to promote her self-titled debut released the previous week. The cunningly-curated cabaret begins with The Electrilickers who operate at the exact intersection between the homespun lo-fi charm of Kate Nash and the harder-partying nu rave aesthetic, a formula which works on the night for two simple reasons: their tunes are cool and the singer's hot. The ecstasy throes of 'Constant Disco' are a suitable climax to a set that provides more fizz and tingle than licking your way through a battery factory.

Meet up with Kate and Chris from newly-rejuvanated StRANGEtIME as Death Ohh Eff make their entrance. Your crumbling correspondent may be getting old, but do bands have to look so young? These guys don't even look old enough to be policemen, but somewhere along the line they've obviously crammed in some intensive education on how to work a crowd with an energetic, keyboard-led set full of bounce, attitude and harmonies. Tremendous fun, although it was all 'a little bit Nathan Barley' for some.

We haven't seen Deluka for a couple of years, since when they've developed some extra balls, a tune on the soundtrack to Grand Theft Auto IV, and much tippin' and toutin' among the music press. They're tighter and rockier than the preceding acts with a stronger drive towards an anthemic punch, although they only hotwire into our hearts during the closing two numbers before leaving the crowd panting for more.

Headliner Ladyhawke has a different problem, and it's one that similarly affects her debut album. Her songs are consistently strong in terms of memorable tunes and anthemic power, but she operates within such a tight formula and poodle-permed 80s mindset, you feel like you've seen and heard enough about halfway through, even though she saves belters like 'Paris Is Burning' and 'My Delirium' for the concluding double-whammy. Maybe a little more personality in the performance and more depth in the lyrics would help develop a higher-level of emotional engagement to undertow the undoubted heft of the choonage.

With many thanks to Shakeypix for kind permission to use some of his brilliant shots from the night in this review.

Family Valued

Got in from work late last night with a head full of cold, so didn't get the chance to see The Chapman Family in Shrewsbury as planned. Your coughing correspondent is hoping to catch up with their live show soon, though, feverish with anticipation after hearing the brilliant demo 'Sound Of The Radio' on their MySpace page. The Stockton-on-Tees outfit are at pains to insist they're not a cult, but what they are is purveyors of a dark, twisted, pulverising guitar sound, not unlike Interpol injected with a fierce, insistent horniness. Family fun has never before sounded so troubling and loaded with equal measures of threat and promise.

Tues Life

Just a brief bulletin to mention that Elbow won the Mercury Music Prize; introduce you to London's boy/girl arch-angular types Lux Lisbon; point you in the direction of Weebl and Bob destroying everything Ladytron touched in not safe for work adult animation (via Sweeping The Nation) and urge reading of RussL's spectacularly belated Supersonic 08 review.

Oh, and Anja's writing everyday now. You know what to do.

Breaking Muse

For those of you wondering whatever happened to the Lykke Li lass, rest assured she's alive and kicking up a storm, earning herself in the meantime Parallax View Single Of The Week with her new single Breaking It Up (out in stores now). With many middle-aged middle-brow columnists who oughtta know better currently writing Madonna off as she turns 50, it's worth noting that there's something haunted, serious and driven undertowing even the most delirious of Lykke Li's tunes that recall the Queen of Pop in her early striving pomp.

Forward Marches!

You can't beat a bit of bull-y on a Sunday night, so your bovine blogger has decided to investigate the burgeoning indie-rock scene in nearby cattle town Hereford. Last time your carousing correspondent visited there we remember little other than a drab 0-0 draw between the home town and Telford United, and making cows eyes at a phenomenally-racked barmaid with a twin strikeforce that put the then-Conference outfits to shame. There's clearly something they've been putting in the water since, as guitar thrills are currently spreading like anthrax in an area hitherto best known musically for Mott the Hoople and the dead half of The Pretenders.

Our favourite new band name this week belongs to How To Dress For Cricket who deliver hard rock beamers and may yet have some wrong'un's up their sleeves. Even more promisingly, Pencil Toes manage the impressive feat of recalling Lush with their spiky, spidery soundscapes. Meanwhile, Bayonets offer a slightly less subtle form of attack with their post-rock bombast shown to best effect on the atmospheric 'The Battle Of Hand And Heart'.

Of course, no scene would be present and correct without an iconic club night and an all-girl jazz/techno/dutch supergroup who confess to more enthusiasm than talent. But the act with best chance of breaking Hereford into the mainstream moo-sic scene is cheeky acoustic-pop scamps Rupert and the Robbers whose 'Bad Hour' is set to steal hearts with its swoonsome strum lovely enough to give down time a good name.

Nothing lasts for heifer but Hereford certainly seems to be a happening scene in the here and now. Just don't be asking me Wye, Reg!

It's A Fix

No doubt if we describe Essex boys Magistrates as the missing link between Keane and MGMT there will be many of you running to the hills (or at least pushing your back button). The rest of us, however, may decide that 'Make This Work' does the job nicely in terms of a sharp, smart piece of bespoke MOR. The Parallax View County Court Judgement is: Single Of The Week.

Profile Song

Dublin's impressively bolshy Fight Like Apes take on the prettyboys again with 'Lend Me Your Face', purloining physiognomies in a two-minute riot of colourful, snarling strop-pop. The Parallax View Single Of The Week is out this week, but the face facts are that as there's only 500 copies of 7" yellow vinyl been pressed, the chances are if you get one and bust it up they won't replace it.

Closely Observed Pre-Trains

The Autumn Store Presents A Pre-Indietracks Special: The Smittens/The Zebras/Red Pony Clock, The Sunflower Lounge, off Queensway, Birmingham, Tuesday July 22 2008, 9.30pm.

Just get into the venue in time as Red Pony Clock start limbering up, a Tijuana-based octet who sound like a mix between Calexico and all-out chaos. Their van exploded on the way to the venue, but they seem in surprisingly good spirits about it, perhaps because on the plus-side it means you're not short of things to talk about between songs. You know those pictures that look like random dots but if you stare at them for long enough all of a sudden this brilliant 3-D image pops up before your eyes and makes sense of it all? Red Pony Clock are the sonic equivalent, as their seemingly ramshackle material develops into something clever, organic and fun to fully reward the patient, open-minded listener. There's still not enough dancing going on for the band's liking, though, until The Smittens' drummer Holly shows how it's done, leaping around like a frisky kitten ricocheting from furniture, to hugely engaging effect.

The Zebras aren't from South Yorkshire, they're from Rotherham - Rotherham, in Australia, that is, although Northern English influences like The Smiths and The Wedding Present would seem evident in a band with a much more immediate, accessible appeal to an indie crowd than Red Pony Clock. The Zebras are more than the sum of their influences, however, with songs that swoop and soar and stir, destined to go down well with Weddoes fans at this weekend's Indietracks, we feel. Their stage banter needs some work, however, maybe they need to emerge unscathed from a tour vehicle inferno to put some fire in their bellies?

With things running later than planned, your harassed hack needs to make a Last Train to Larksville exit halfway through the headline set from Burlington, Vermont's The Smittens, but what we see/hear is confident, breezy and tuneful, and fully in line with all the good things we've heard about/from them, and we'll look out for them next time they're jingling their jangle back on these shores.

All in all, another fine evening of high-quality indie gathering courtesy of those friendly folk from The Autumn Store!

All three bands featured will be playing at Indietracks this weekend (July 26-27, festival fact fans) in deepest Derbyshire.

Half Term Report

The Parallax View pick of the best albums released in the UK for the first time between January 1 and June 30 of the year 2008. To clarify, Yeasayer's mighty 'All Hour Cymbals', which would have been a shoo-in for the Top 10, has not been included because it was released in November 2007, even though it didn't receive wider exposure until it's re-release in Spring. Similarly, new releases in July by the likes of The Hold Steady, Leila and Tricky will have to wait until December's year-end list (we're sure they're all cool about this in their own distinctive ways).

We can't pretend to have heard every single qualifying release, but of those we did, these were the best -

1. VELOCIFERO - LADYTRON
2. Santogold - Santogold
3. Stainless Style - Neon Neon
4. Youth Novels - Lykke Li
5. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
6. Alas I Cannot Swim - Laura Marling
7. Hold On Now, Youngster - Los Campesinos!
8. Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp
9. Neptune - The Duke Spirit
10. For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
11. "Couples" - The Long Blondes
12. El Rey - The Wedding Present
13. Nouns - No Age
14. Waited Up 'Til Light - Johnny Foreigner
15. Falling Off The Lavender Bridge - Lightspeed Champion
16. Reality Check - The Teenagers
17. Box Of Secrets - Blood Red Shoes
18. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
19. X Marks Destination - The Whip
20. We Started Nothing - The Ting Tings

The usual disclaimers apply. Bad luck to some decent albums by the likes of MGMT, The Mae Shi and Isobel Campbell/Mark Lanegan for just missing the cut. Please use the comments box for feedback, vitriol, kudos, whatever.

Gruff Justice

Off out shortly to Brum for the rest of the day, but in the meantime let your eyes have a lunchtime feast over The Mercury Music Prize nominations, which contain few alarms or surprises, and include a couple of top contenders for album of the year to date in our upcoming Half Term Report (due by the weekend) in Neon Neon and Laura Marling. Radiohead and Burial are also worthy choices from 2007 for the MMP, with Burial and Laura Marling probably the best value bets, as genre contenders with broader appeal usually do well in these kind of competitions. A second successive win for a dance-orientated record may be risky, so my money's on Ms Marling for the folkin' good album 'Alas I Cannot Swim'.*

*Remember, pop punters, always gamble responsibly, and with money you can afford to lose.

Because We Say So

Parallax View first encountered Rosie And The Goldbug at this year's Dot-to-Dot festival in Bristol, and we were suitably impressed with their bouncy, colourful choonage to look out for future recordings. The wait is now over, with the release of their War Of The Roses ep, available with immediate effect from iTunes. The title track is a breezy delight, and like so many of this year's best songs is unashamedly pop in the way it alchemises sounds and sentiments into giddy thrills.

We're not sure where the Cornwall/London trio stand when it comes to the Lancashire/Yorkshire divide, so will avoid any white/red rose faux-pas by delivering a fresh, blooming Parallax View Single Of The Week to their doorstep as an alternative garland. You know it makes scents!

Stripped Down Sound

Six weeks after we opined that 'I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked' would prove to be Ida Maria's breakthrough hit, the NME are agreeing with us and Radio 1 are playlisting it. And now you won't need x-ray vision to find out for yourself what the fuss is about as it gets physical release from Monday (21st).

Whether it's Ida's louche delivery, the catchiness of the chorus or the ever-so-slightly dirty good-time feel that drenches proceedings like a midnight sweat, it's not because we're down to the bare bones that 'ILYSMBWYN' gets this week's undressed-to-thrill Parallax View Single Of The Week.

Ten KO

Some debut singles smack you in the face straight away with such a sure, sweet hit it becomes almost impossible to imagine the follow-up can offer anything but a reduced impact. Double A-side 'Bearfight/Y'all Come Back Now' from Toronto's Ten Kens is no such beast, however. It's the sort of debut that's so mysterious and enthralling in the way it alchemises different elements (wistful Americana, scuzzy garage-rock stylings, sludgy metal, spacey Besnard Lakes atmospherics) that it leaves you wanting to hear much more from them so that you can finally pin their sound and mojo down.

A debut album is due for September release, with a European tour to follow. Until then, it took Ten Kens to make 'Bearfight/Y'All Come Back Now' but just one Ken to make it Parallax View Single Of The Week.

School's Clout

The School/Flicklisten/The Puncture Repair Kit, Swiss Concrete @ The Bullingdon Arms, Oxford, Thursday June 19 2008, 8.45pm.

The Bullingdon Arms is a short taxi ride away from Oxford's main rail station, a smallish pub with friendly, fetching bar staff and a big backroom area where the bands play. Ben and your long-distance lurker meet up with a couple of the SWSLer's charming co-workers, and get waylaid watching Germany beat Portugal in the Euro2008 Q-F so only catch the last few songs from The Puncture Repair Kit. Their boisterous, slightly ramshackle take on indie-pop reminds your comparison-crazed correspondent of The Strange Death Of Liberal England, but we hope the rest of the set was less impressive because a) we hate to have missed out on anything and b) we'd just lurve to be able to say The Puncture Repair Kit flat-tyred to deceive.

Flicklisten is a guy who comes from Ohio but has lived in Oxford for four years, a singer/guitarist occasionally accompanied by a young lady who plays a violin shaped like a pair of scissors (a cut above the usual instrument, natch). He has a good voice, knows how to get a meaningful, sombre strum from his guitar, and has a droll line in tinder-dry banter, but his songs, on first listen anyway, are more interesting than truly memorable.

This last charge is certainly something you could never level at our learned friends The School, who've happily mastered the knack of catchy tunes addressing bold sentiments, embellished with 60s girl-pop stylings yet undertowed by savvy indie knowingness. They seem to be a Rosie and at least one Ryan short of the line-up when we last saw them, but Liz is in good, giggly form, describing Oxford as very pretty once you've found it, a reference to the maybe-Multimap-induced mayhem of their journey into the city. Of tonight's set, the songs from last week's Single Of The Week 'Let It Slip' ep prominently feature, there's a mystery cover version that no one gets, and the small matter of a dedication to their 'longest-travelling fan - Ken!' for their closing number 'All I Wanna Do'.

Your marathon-man mitherer hides his blushes for just long enough to grab a few words with Liz at the end of the show, as the band pack away their equipment in readiness for a trip to Spain for a festival performance. She insists the recent departures were amicable and not the result of a Mark E Smith-like hire-em-fire-em ethos, and reveals a new band member is forthcoming who will cover both instruments. Talking of covered instruments, we don't have to get our twelve-inch ruler out as Liz very kindly autographs our copy of the 'Let It Slip' ep before we wave her off to Spain. But not before she reveals an addition to The School timetable: a debut album due early next year!

Slip Hip Hooray!

Dead Kenny's family always wanted him to go to Oxford, but little did they suspect his first venture into the city wouldn't be to university but to go back to The School. The Cardiff popsters are playing at The Bullingdon Arms in two days time, to celebrate the release of their 'Let It Slip' ep this week on Elefant Records, of which we plan to pick up an autographed copy or we'll be waving our twelve-inch ruler around in disgust.

We've heard enough already to make it Parallax View Single Of The Week, however, the kicking intro, doo-wop backing vocals and handclaps making for a slick sonic delight not unlike Camera Obscura as produced by Phil Spector during one of his more coherent moments. Enjoy the video while you await the live review.

Ship Shapes And Bristol Fashion

Dot-to-Dot Festival, Various venues in Bristol, Saturday May 24 2008 and Sunday May 25 2008, 2.45pm-11pm.

This is your erudite explorer's first time at Dot-to-Dot, and on only our second expedition to Brizzle itself, and special thanks are due to new city resident Alison for providing the hospitality, company, laptop access and orienteering skills as we traversed the city in search of indie-rock thrills. Bristol seems almost unfairly blessed with unusual venues, with things kicking off on a moored-boat-cum-nightclub Thekla, and other sites including a converted church (Trinity) and prison (the appropriately named Fiddlers), all adding to the sense of adventure and discovery.

All aboard the good ship Thekla, our first band of the fest were Telepathe (pronounced by the band as telepathy as if spoken in a foreign accent) who featured (running theme alert!) an androgynous lead singer who looked for all the world like a cabin boy until she opened her pipes. Technical difficulties bedevilled the New Yorkers' set, which had something of a shambolic air (the sexy drummer abandoned her instrument for most of the set), but somehow through it all, by combination of sullen cool and some beautiful, fascinating songs, they seem to just about get through it all with their allure intact.

Then caught a couple of songs by serious young men The Detachments, which was enough to make you walk the plank, so headed off to rockpub The Fleece where Dublin's Fight Like Apes turned Bristol into the Wild West for half-an-hour, striding across the bar counter and wrestling each other in the moshpit during a cathartic and hugely enjoyable set, with former Parallax View Single Of The Week 'Jake Summers' the crazed centrepiece amongst their other harder, slightly grungier material. FLA also afforded us our first encounter with Bristol's most noteworthy superfan, a tall ginger bearded fellow called Geoff/Jeff whose propulsive stage-front duracell-dancing antics were a significant ongoing feature during festivities.

Downstairs at local roots venue The Louisiana, Sid Delicious were offering some skewed, off-beat thrills, while upstairs met back up with Alison to catch some of Eugene McGuinness' more traditional folk fayre, which should offer some appeal to fans of the Norwegian troubadour Sondre Lerche. Much more to our liking was Esser back over at Thekla, who looked tetchy and preoccupied during the soundcheck, but with his band got everybody dancing with jerky, infectious, and ever-so-slightly ridiculous pop music all set to create waves everywhere if there was any justice in this world.

We should have followed Geoff/Jeff's purposeful gait towards the Fiddlers, but instead got slightly lost and so despairingly missed Southampton's Thomas Tantrum performing former Parallax View Single Of The Week 'Shake It! Shake It!' (dispatching your most famous song early in the set seems to be another emerging trend) although what remained was nevertheless impressive, albeit more conventionally rockin' than their strop-pop SOTW. Top marks too to the very pretty lead singer for taking the time to publicly thank Geoff/Jeff for his sterling dancefloor exertions, and the dishing out of the free badges afterwards.

We elected to stay in Fiddlers to catch Micachu, who've been recording with Matthew Herbert and are starting to make a noise in London. They make heavy weather of the start of the set, the singer appearing to be in the 'attitude' stage of a day's drinking, and our attention wanders to the consideration of whether the drummer is a boy or girl (the former, if you're interested). Things do improve as the set goes on, and maybe in the studio with a disciplined producer their recorded output might be worth exploring.

Sunday morning was spent trawling MySpace to identify some bands worth catching, and the day eventually took us by surprise in terms of offering an even wider array of thrills, despite getting lost in one of Bristol's less salubrious spots in search of Trinity, where we saw a couple of uninspiring bands kick the day off amidst the anti-climax of Team Waterpolo pulling out. Much better was to follow, however, with Woodbridge's Cheeky Cheeky And The Nosebleeds proving a genuine revelation back at Fiddlers, despatching urgent (East-Angular?) guitar pop with energy, enthusiasm and that raw fearlessness you get from a band that's twigged they're on the cusp of something transformative. Daft name, then, but brilliant choons, particularly the marvellous anthem 'Slow Kids'.

This inspires your adrenaline-rushed arsehole to stuff in quick snatches of bands during an intense period of shuttling between venues and a strict three-songs-and-then-you're-gone policy which we only break for Red Light Company at Fleece, because they are excellent value, because 'With Lights Off' is a majestic classic, because the lead singer looks like an even skinnier Tom Petty, but also because by this stage we're knackered. Bonus points for the ecstatic group hug afterwards, too, which seemed genuine and this gang mentality will serve them well in the music industry travails that are sure to follow.

Around RLC we also found ourselves rattled by the rush of Pack AD's butch, bruising take on modern blues in Louisiana; impressed with the colossal high-energy post-rock guitar squalls of Leicester's Maybeshewill at Fleece; smiling like a silly-'un to the giddy 80's guilty pleasures of Cornwall's Rosie and the Goldbug at Thekla and left feeling slightly cold by moody Swedes Dag for Dag back again in Louisiana.

Things were then topped off in Thekla with The Mae Shi nearly stealing the whole weekend in a suitably scurvied piratical style, their jittery, attention-deficited noise-pop keeping everybody hugely entertained. We've heard of bands canvassing their fans before, but we've never seen it quite so literally demonstrated as when the band haul a sheet of tarpaulin over the moshpit and all dive inside under it, where they find themselves, amongst others, rubbing pneumatic shoulders with the omnipresent Geoff/Jeff. All in all, a wonderfully in-tents performance, then.

Cutting Pink With Knives have the opposite effect to The Mae Shi's inclusive gestures, in one of their last ever live performances, with frightened punters scampering away for safety as the lead singer took off his shirt and attempted to bully those at the bar into the moshpit. The music was slammin' and powerful in a kind of Beestung Lips-with-the-brakes-off intensity, and although we weren't really in the mood for it, it was kind of fascinating to watch as a piece of theatre, even though the search for anything remotely resembling a melody proved a fruitless task.

Then it was back to The Fleece for our last show of the festival: Metronomy, who seemed to be trying to be Klaxons so hard it hertz, wacky light circles emblazoned on their chests, and all. They were OK, to be fair, a reasonable soundtrack to the last few drinks of the weekend, but nothing to write home about in comparison to The Red Light Company, The Mae Shi, Fight Like Apes, Cheeky Cheeky And The Nosebleeds, Esser, Rosie and The Goldbug and Thomas Tantrum, who made up my magnificent seven from this delightfully dotty weekend.

Ida Awe

Ida Maria/Dan Whitehouse, Glee Club, Birmingham, Tuesday May 27 2008, 8.30pm.

There's an urban legend that if you wander the streets of Birmingham for long enough you will invariably chance upon an encounter with the Prykemeister. On the way to Birmingham's Glee Club tonight, our peripheral vision reveals everyone's favourite AI boffin rushing towards your confused correspondent with a bunch of flowers. Fortunately for all concerned, Prykemeister isn't acting on any kind of backcrack-fuelled impulse, and is in fact on his way to present said petals and stems to his girlfriend Huma.

Don't have time to go into detail with him about what he might have done wrong to require flowers (oh come on, they're always a guilt-edged gift, aren't they?) as need to get into Glee before their curfew. Support again tonight comes from Wolverhampton troubadour-type Dan Whitehouse, although unlike his turn before Lykke Li, this time he's unaccompanied by pianist June Mori. Whether it's this, or the fact that, unusually for Glee, it's a standing gig, Dan is strangely subdued between the first few numbers, despite confidently starting the set with his best song 'Somewhere I Don't Want To Go'. Halfway through the set, however, he becomes less preoccupied and refinds his mojo, getting, by the end of the performance, the best crowd reception we've heard for him yet, and plenty of interest at the merch stand after the show, where he's selling sampler CDs ahead of an upcoming album release.

Swedish-based Norwegian Ida Maria acts pretty much the rock star from the outset, wearing a top hat, leather micro-jacket and lairy expression as she wraps her distinctively rasping larynx over a collection of songs that include her three singles to date plus other tasters from her upcoming album (due to ship late June). The standing-only format suits Ida well, because the music is essentially bluesy rock designed to get people moving and having a good time. Few blues-rock outfits have tunes as consistently good as these, however, and the presence and voice of Ida Maria helps the material transcend its' roots in the same way Rod Stewart elevated The Faces four decades ago.

The singles stand out, if on terms of familiarity alone, with the singer giving her all on the desperate denouement to former Parallax View Single Of The Week 'Stella', the feelgood folk fuzz of 'Queen Of The World' ratcheted up a few notches live, and the most punk-rock number 'Oh My God' seeing Ida dive in amongst the moshers for some sweaty catharsis. Of the other songs '(I Like You Better When You're) Naked' may yet be her breakthough hit, given its' catchy refrain complete with saucy sentiment seems destined to be chanted at student discos from here until at least Xmas.

In-Cistern-ed Rhythm

We've been mentioning it in despatches for a while, so with its physical release in stores now, it seems only fair to bestow the near-mythological Parallax View Single Of The Week status upon 'I'm Good I'm Gone' by Lykke Li. We could bore you with a long post about production techniques or a state-of-the-pop-nation address, but instead we'll just say we like this song because it makes us happy, so maybe there's a chance it'll make you happy too. To help you decide, here's a YouTube vid of La Lykke and chums belting it out in a toilet, complete with spoons and a rad reindeer jumper, and ending with a flush flourish.



And remember, pop pickers, don't forget to wash your hands!

Santi Establishment

Santogold, Bar Academy, Birmingham, Monday May 26 2008, 9pm.

Missed the boat in Bristol when couldn't get into the good ship Thekla to see Santogold at the prior weekend's Dot To Dot, although we did have the pleasure of Santi and her dancers brushing straight across your queuing quizling to get on board. So we're fortunate that just two days later we get to see the girls put on a show in the cosy confines of Bar Academy.

A standard support act is eschewed in favour of a DJ who plays an eclectic mix of dance, pop and indie, which, we suppose, is as good as any entree in terms of getting the palate ready for the live showcasing of the Santogold album, for which the DJ remains on stage behind Santi and her two dancers.

The resulting show has been described elsewhere as glorified karaoke, but your hypnotised hack maintains the sight of an energetic, passionate crowd-pleaser like Santi flanked by two dancers who alternate robotically between standing stock-still and some sizzling dance shapes provides more of an arresting visual spectacle than many a so-called great live act in the indie pantheon.

Santi makes no pretence that tonight's performance is anything other than a small-scale celebration of her debut album before she returns with a full band later in the summer. Her stated objective is getting the Second City's early adopters and prime schmoozers shaking their rump to a set heavy in the dancier numbers like 'CREATOR'; 'Unstoppable' and, of course, former Parallax View Single Of The Week 'L.E.S. Artistes' at the expense of poppier highlights like 'Lights Out' and 'I'm A Lady'. The mission is easily accomplished.

Modest in size and set-up as the gig might be, the mutual goodwill between the artist and crowd, helped by the energy of the performance (Santi's alive eyes and sense of fun owes as much to the likes of Tina Turner and Neneh Cherry than the much-quoted M.I.A.) and the genuine quality of the material makes for a memorable show that leaves no-one going home short-changed.

Gotta Be Startin' Somethin'

The Ting Tings/Modernaire, Irish Centre, Birmingham, Tuesday May 20 2008, 8pm.

This is your curious correspondent's first venture into the Irish Centre, and our findings are mostly favourable. It's just about the only large gig venue in Brum where you can buy draught bitter (and a choice between two or three at that) and the bar staff seem reasonable in number and interested in disposition, another welcome change. There's also the novelty of a carpeted floor, but on the downside the bar side of the auditorium finds the view restricted by the speakers on the right side of the stage, meaning we only get to see two-thirds of support act Modernaire, whose lively and noisy brand of electro-rock seems short of memorable melody until set closer 'Bloodshed In The Woodshed'.

Since booking our ticket for this gig, The Ting Tings have only gorn and re-released 2007 Parallax View Single Of The Week 'That's Not My Name' and gone to Numero One in the real life pop charts, meaning a sell-out (officially, anyway...) gig and a triumphant mood in the air. Wasn't sure how their perky pop would fare in the live area but The Ting Tings soon reveal themselves to be natural performers, confidently getting in their stride with 'We Walk', giving 'Great DJ' an early spin and taking a gamble on 'Fruit Machine' giving them three hits in a row. The only halting moments are provided by ballad 'Traffic Light' which seems a bit pedestrian in comparison to the propulsive pop of the rest of the show.

Singer Katie White makes light of the full house and semi-restricted view by prancing for much of the time on the raised end of the stage where everyone has a decent view (why don't more pop stars take the trouble to do this most obvious of moves?). This allows everyone to share in the triumph of Numero Uno 'That's Not My Name', a strop-pop sensation with more hooks than a Peter Pan convention and one of the most completely satisfying tunes of the decade with its steady build of feelgood tropes spiralling into the giddiest of climaxes. Almost impossible to top, although a belting rendition of album title track 'We Started Nothing' has a damn good try, leaving the crowd to head home with a more pleasing than usual ringing in the ears.

Gotta New Rose, Got It Good

No nearer to clearing the blogging backlog than before, but we interrupt this prevarication to advise that our very favourite Pipette, Rosay by any other name, has left the group to start her own solo career. She's now going by her full name of Rose Elinor Dougall and the first fruits from this venture can be found by having a Rosy Nosey over on her MySpace page which reveals an intriguing new direction of atmospheric, smoky moodpop a la Stereolab, Broadcast and Mazzy Star. Worth keeping an eye on this brand new Rose in town!

In other news, Good Music Is Better Than Crack.

Gig review ketchup (including the Bristol Dot-to-Dot overview) to follow over the course of the next week...

Nice But Dim?

Apologies for the sparsity of updates for the last week or so, although the good news is that this has principally been due to a lot of gigging activity, so you can expect some reviews over the next few days of some of today's hottest up 'n' comin' pop sensations, as well as an overview of last weekend's Dot To Dot Festival in Bristol.

To keep you going 'til then, one of the best bands at Dot to Dot were London's Red Light Company whose debut ep 'With Lights Out' is out on limited CD and 7" as of this week. The title track isn't as gloomy as it sounds, despite being about a childhood friend of the singer who committed suicide, and is in fact a stirring, soaring guitar-pop gem of the highest order, one of our very favourite songs of this increasingly good year, and easily qualifying as Parallax View Single Of The Week. They may be called Red Light Company, but there's no stopping 'em now...

Parallax View Poster Always Tings Twice

Yes, don't call us Stace-eeeeeeee, but you can call us Nostredamus, as The Ting Tings have claimed the Number One slot for 'That's Not My Name' just over one year on from being made Parallax View Single Of The Week! Your tipsy tipster will be on hand to help the Mancunian pop duo celebrate at their Birmingham Irish Centre gig tomorrow night, to be sure.

Specs Mark The Spot

The Autumn Store Presents: The Deirdres/Winston Echo/Amida, Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, Saturday May 10 2008, 8.45pm.

In honour of all things Deirdre, the Autumn Store organisers have put six pictures of Corrie character Deirdre Barlow/Raschid in various places within the venue for customers to take a punt as to how many and enter a prize draw of merchandise from all three bands playing. The correct answer is six, and your short-sighted scribe only found two, so no spotters badge for Dead Kenny tonight. Your concentrating correspondent does, however, manage to catch all three acts and these are our views.

Manchester's Amida are hurried on first on the bill so that they can get the train back home, but with a bit of decent fortune their slightly shambly and properly jangly take on alternative pop will bring in enough moolah to get themselves a van real soon. The band take time to thank the audience for being so polite and paying attention to their tunes before beating a path to New Street station. Overall impression: amiable, humble, could well be worth checking them out again real soon.

Winston Echo is a roundish gentleman from Wellingborough who has his own public transport woes to relate, as well as singing some observational lo-fi pop with a little bit of instrumental assistance from some bloke from The Retro Spankees. The missing link between Johnny Vegas and Billy Bragg, he's a bit different from the usual Autumn Store fayre, and the bill feels all the better for his hugely entertaining turn.

The Deirdres from Derby are huge in number and young of age, and there's too much going on at any one time to take all of it in at first. They start the show with their backs turned to the audience and have their own dance routine before revealing that they're all in character by wearing a pair of big Deirdre specs either on their face, their head or coquettishly tucked into their blouses. There are obvious comparisons to Los Campesinos! and another fashionable twist sees the group swap instruments and vocal turns with dizzying regularity.

Which is all very well, but does it all work? By and large, yes, aside from a slight glitch with that most evil of instruments, the recorder (the distant memories of disinfectant taste and clumsy fingers still bedevil your haunted hack), these precocious upstarts reveal talent, invention and more than decent songwriting skills. One suspects it may have taken years of practice and preparation for them to be this gauche and yet so good and so fun. The Deirdres, then: not a Barlow par performance between them.

Curious to see these acts for yourself? All three will be performing at the Indietracks festival in July in The Deirdres' home county of Derbyshire.

Crystal Tips

The NME/Top Man New Noise Tour feat. Crystal Castles/Friendly Fires/Team Waterpolo, Carling Academy 2, Birmingham, Thursday May 8 2008, 8pm.

Due to your tut-tutting tinker's train being delayed by 35 minutes the first act of four tonight is missed. To sum up then - White Lies: don't do it.

Perhaps in deference to the demographic chased by the tour sponsors it's a young crowd tonight, resulting in a weird permeating smell of spearmint and germolene, and a youth behind your Fila-footed faffer stamping his feet in indignation that he's the only one present 'wearing normal Adidas'. Mind, the band's aren't much older these days, judging on Team Waterpolo's appearance, who confidently launch into their own welcoming, self-referencing nu-metal anthem. They prove difficult to pigeon-hole however, with emo, fraggle and sun-kissed pop amongst the strings to their bow. Think PWEI. Think The Wonderstuff. Think Silver Sun. Think The Pigeon Detectives. Then stop thinking for a bit because your head will be hurting, and just smile along to the blissful harmonising.

For those of you who are gnashing at the bit for some new material by The Rapture, Friendly Fires may just be your favourite new band. For the rest of us, their energy, attitude and enthusiasm may only get them so far in persuading us their inspiration is equal to their perspiration. They serve their purpose in generating some heat before the main band comes on, but will need to find some more distinctive tinder in their box if they're to be considered genuinely flamin' groovy.

Crystal Castles have no such difficulty leaving a distinctive mark, lead singer Alice announcing 'We Are The Top Man' before launching herself into the audience and belting out the stand-out numbers from their excellent debut album while lit up by constantly flashing strobe lighting effects. They bring a new musical hybrid to town, with the euphoric rush of rave music blending with anxious jittery post-punk vox from Alice, for all the world looking like a whirling dervish wildchild of Sid Vicious and Gaye Advert. The effect is like Karen O fronting Justice, supplying instant pop thrills and an amphetamine edge but subtly tempered with a fuzz of MDMA wellbeing for a smooth in-built comedown.

Parallax Jukebox

20 tunes to celebrate the fact the sun's not just got its' hat on, but is wearing it at a rather jaunty angle. Number One on the jukebox is released as a single this week, and therefore can be considered Parallax View Single Of The Week, with the artist(e) no doubt celebrating this honour when touring at the end of the month!

1. L.E.S. Artistes - Santogold
2. I'm Good I'm Gone - Lykke Li
3. Homecoming - The Teenagers
4. Black And Gold - Sam Sparro
5. Sirens - The Whip
6. Century - The Long Blondes
7. I Lust U - Neon Neon
8. Alice Practice - Crystal Castles
9. My Sunken Treasure - The Duke Spirit
10. Black Cat - Ladytron
11. Cross My Fingers - Laura Marling
12. Midnight Man - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
13. Cerrone Cologne Houdini - Goldfrapp
14. You're On My Fighting Side - Lacrosse
15. Paper Planes (MIA cover) - Panda Riot
16. Don't Look Down - Flaxenby
17. Profile - StRANGEtIME
18. Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks - Los Campesinos!
19. Clash - Victoria and Jacob
20. I Can't Do Anything - Strawberry Fair

She's Good, She's Gone

Lykke Li/Dan Whitehouse, Glee Club (Studio), Birmingham, Friday April 25 2008, 8.30pm.

With the audience once again at the Glee Club reduced to a catatonic state in the face of the quasi-fascistic tendencies of the PA, local troubadour Dan Whitehouse works hard to get us onside with some upbeat banter and a set of earnest but intriguingly crafted songs. Last time we saw Dan (supporting Maria McKee last year) his microphone drooped spectacularly during the first number, but tonight a pianist extension in the form of June Mori is on hand to provide complement and uplift, raising the singer-songwriter's game to a different level.

Lykke Li is a nineteen year-old Swede who dresses like a bohemian raver and sings dancefloor-friendly pop with a little-girl voice and a sad, haunted facial expression. She has a backing band of three musicians who include a man with a big bad drum and a keyboard player with really nice shoes. Lykke sometimes also helps out with some impromptu and seemingly improvised percussion via her stiletto heels and, once or twice, by striking the pendants hanging from her neck.

These lo-fi, DIY trimmings add inclusive appeal to some sterling pop gems that here and there bring to mind the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Lene Lovich and Lamb. The set includes the hypnotic 'Dance Dance Dance' and her first single (and best known track over here) 'Little Bit' but it's 'I'm Good I'm Gone' (one of the best choons of the year so far, say we) which really brings proceedings to life - kooky charm; defiant sentiments and a contagious rhythm intertwining to devastating effect. But no sooner has she won us over and she's good to her word, dissappearing into the night leaving us after a short set which serves as a 'teaser' before her album hits in June and the touring/festival circuit begins in earnest.

Charmed, we're sure, but how to pronounce her name? Lykke as in lick-y or Lykke as in lick-er or liquor? It's not until we're safely back at the Parallax palatial home and we turn on Later...with Jools Holland that we discover the former Squeeze man introducing the young Swede in a pre-recorded show as Lykke Li as in lucky-Li. Fortune's sometimes hiding in the wee small hours of the night, and good to see we're paying the TV licence for something!

Wanna Takes All

Regular readers will have twigged by now that Parallax View is mad fool for The School, so no alarms or surprises to see their debut release 'All I Wanna Do'/'Valentine' (out on Elefant Records from today) made Single Of The Week. Produced by Ian Catt (most readily associated with Saint Etienne) and described by one of their MySpace fans as sounding 'like Kirsty MacColl's ghost meets Camera Obscura' it's a sweet but vaguely sinister ditty of devotion that recalls 60s girlgroups, Caledonian Indie and a keyboard refrain that threatens to echo the Eastenders theme tune. In short, it's bloody marvellous.

Runner-up goes to It Hugs Back for their single 'Other Cars Go', released on Too Pure Records on light-blue 7". Not sure whether it's meant as a lyrical rejoinder to The Arcade Fire's 'No Cars Go' but can tell you that sonically it resembles a melodic slant on Neil Young-influenced slackers Dinosaur Jr and Swervedriver, a mesmerising post-rock road anthem which builds and swirls to a stunning climax. Worth exploring.

Pringle Serving

Arriving hand-packaged and wrapped in a pink bow, there's little impoverished about the presentation or content of George Pringle's 'Poor EP, poor ep without a name'. It's the way ep's should be, in that each of the four tracks seems like your favourite at the time of listening. 'SW10' is an elegant, sophisticated spoken-word calling card; 'Carte Postale' is shorter, sharper, sexier; 'I'm Very Scared, Buster. Yes, At Last' introduces some disco beats to the mix and the first teasing glimpse of singing, while closer 'We Could Have Been Heroes' initially seems more ordinary before launching orbitwards with a fully-song chorus of 'My Bloody Valentine! My Bloody Valentine!'.

So from the impressive boutique trimmings to the posh-totty-talks-over-electro-beats schtick that recalls at times Saint-Etienne and Lori & The Chameleons amongst others, gorgeous George Pringle announces herself a fresh, vibrant, intelligent new voice on the contemporary music scene. Which is plenty good enough reason to make it Single Of The Week in our Parallax View.

Related link: George Pringle on Blogspot.

Brolly Good Show

Yes, we know, YouTube embeds in blogs are like *so* 2006, but we couldn't resist showing you the official promo for The School's debut single 'All I Wanna Do' (out in stores in April). Stay tuned 'til the twist ending!

Lager Lager Touting

The likes of Adele and Duffy have splendid enough voices, but the really distinctive and iconic vox to emerge so far this year has to belong to Ida Maria. We tipped her as one to watch at the turn of the year and the hard evidence arrives in the form of Stella, out in the shops this week on various formats. The song is a bewitching blend of blues and folk in its own right, but what elevates it into the extraordinary is the rasping, soulful gravitas of Ida Maria's astonishing vocals.

It's not hard to see a time when braying trendies will holler for their favourite brand of reassuringly expensive lager to the tune of this, but until then we add to the chorus of approval and make Stella Parallax View Single Of The Week.

Club Class

MGMT/Virgin Passages, Bar Academy, Birmingham, Monday March 3 2008, 8.45pm.
Yeasayer/Everett, Bar Academy, Birmingham, Wednesday March 5 2008, 8.15pm.

Two hotly-tipped Brooklyn bands on the brink of success with their newly-released debut albums touring the same level of venues at exactly the same time in the UK - did they not think about a co-headlining tour in bigger venues and thus bigger payola? Maybe they don't get on, or perhaps they do and it's just record/management company politics that prevented this good idea happening, and thus they're pining for each other as they plot parallel paths up and down the country?

Still, with the two gigs separated by two days we do get the bonus of additional support bands. Getting things warmed up for MGMT are Staffordshire's Virgin Passages whose strange, hypnotic take on alt.folk may find favour with fans of The Besnard Lakes and Low. Their songs rustle with rustic charm but with sufficient undertow of weirdness and menace to keep things interesting, even if your drooling diarist finds himself distracted by the delightful Davina Stevens' O-face as she coos her backing vox. It's perhaps not the right crowd tonight to fully appreciate the subtleties of what Virgin Passages are doing, but 'This Is Not The End Of The World' particularly impresses, their new ep 'Distances' (out now on Fire Records) is a keeper, and Davina and Kate are charming, engaging company from our brief conversation at the end of the night.

Meanwhile, Yeasayer's planned support, all-girl goth-poppers Ipso Facto, cancel on the night and local lads Everett from nearby Dudley are drafted in at the last minute. Their polite keyboard-driven pop-rock will draw obvious comparisons with the likes of Coldplay and Keane, and while it's tempting to suggest that times have moved on since those bands were in their pomp, their tunes are strong enough that given sufficient airplay they might just have a chance, particularly if they focus on the more energetic numbers which give them more opportunity to transcend their antecedents.

With brilliant new single 'Time To Pretend' (a Parallax Jukebox favourite for weeks now) out in the shops on the day of the gig and accumulating airplay as fast as Dead Kenny develops rockstar crushes MGMT are already too big a proposition for the Bar Academy, evidenced by the fact there seems twice as many people here than is usual for sell-out shows. Surprisingly, live the duo are augmented to a fairly standard band set-up, but while there's nothing particularly remarkable about their presentation, the confidence with which they drop the huge breakthrough bomb that's 'Time To Pretend' just second track in does indeed signpost exceptional belief.

Curiously, the tactic works, because it releases the tension that otherwise builds up to the song everyone knows, and also gives the crowd no other option but to give some time and attention to the rest of the band's tunes. Having snagged an import copy of 'Oracular Spectacular' in HMV Reading the prior weekend, your calm correspondent knows the cockiness isn't misplaced, the first five tracks on the album being one of the strongest sequence of tunes released this decade, two of those tracks - 'The Youth' and 'Kids' providing the encores which finally allow band and audience alike to drop their cool and start to party.

On Wednesday, Yeasayer have the advantage of their debut platter 'All Hour Cymbals' being in circulation for a few months now, meaning more people are likely to be here for the music than the buzz alone, and their dress sense of vests, ponytails and straggly beards is likely to scare away the fickle fashionista. All the better for the rest of us to lock into their groove-based rock which is difficult to describe without sounding wanky, but trust your happy hack when he says it just simply works. At once mellow and urgent, the music has the soothing qualities of feelgood muzak without ever lapsing into smugness, complacency or schmaltz, and never forgets to keep you moving, 'Wait For The Summer' particularly standing out on the night.

The lead singer convulses as if the tunes are being wrenched from deep inside his gut, as if exorcised by Max Von Sydow or something. This is more remarkable when you consider that rather than howls of angst, he's producing something so melodic that it's as if he's suffering from a kind of tuneful Tourette's. It's an impassioned, exhausting performance all-round from the band, and while MGMT execute drop-dead tunes with remarkable precision, you don't have to be a yes-man to concur that Yeasayer possess something even more precious: they're simply made of the right stuff.

Songs To Learn And Sing

The School/Somebody's Mind/The Screenbeats, Oakford Social Club, Reading, Saturday March 1 2008, 8.30pm.

Your carousing correspondent has visited Oakford Social Club before, but this is the first time, in the company of Raimundo, that we've seen bands here. It's an unusual set-up, in that rather than playing in upstairs or downstairs areas, the groups play on a bandstand centre-pub with general drinking/eating areas either side. With this being a free gig, the benefits to the bands are that they have the incentive of drawing in passing punters who've just popped in for a pint.

You couldn't blame Newbury's The Screenbeats for wanting to partake in some alcoholic sustenance themselves, given the technical glitches that bedevil and foreshorten their set. Vocalist Faye has a fashionably big, bold voice which drives forward songs of a definite 60s-leaning sound and we certainly heard enough to make us want to re-investigate them at a happier time. Tilehill's Somebody's Mind also owe something of a debt to the 60s, but their psychedelic rock takes us on a much wilder ride, albeit with a sound sense of melody intact. Raimundo definitely approves.

Without wishing to sound like Teacher's Pet, however, we're only really here for The School, who, despite being a guitarist down due to transport snafus, chalk up another brief but successful showcase for their spangly pop gems. In contrast to their Autumn Store show last November, Liz is centre-stage where she should be, but also the whole band seem to be operating with an extra sheen of polish and confidence despite the unplanned axeman absence.

Although their songs have an undeniable 60s girl-group feel it's not just nostalgia that's at the heart of The School's appeal. Tracks like Summer's Here and All I Wanna Do have the delicious soft, sweet texture but added zing and sharpness of the perfect lemon mousse, with the robust quality of the songcraft providing the biscuit base, the structure that holds everything together and prevents what otherwise could be a gooey mess in less expert hands. Like the Oliver we are, we cry for more, but for now we must settle for this tantalising aperatif before we receive our just desserts of record releases and a full tour in the spring and summer. But we do get a quick chat with Liz herself, and co-organiser Dawn, who are as glamorous, friendly, and downright lovely as you could wish for, before the Newcastle Browns finally kick in for your tipsy tipster and hometime beckons.

Also, thanks to Painterman DJs for spinning the discs between bands, and Sam Dinsmore for taking some great gig photos.

Gig Review Ketchup

Blood Red Shoes/Lovvers, Little Civic, Wolverhampton, Monday February 4 2008, 8.30pm.
Betty & The Id/Liechtenstein/Horowitz , The Autumn Store, Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, Thursday February 7 2008, 9pm.
Los Campesinos!/Johnny Foreigner, Carling Academy 2, Birmingham, Wednesday February 13 2008, 8.45pm.

Worcester-sourced Lovvers offer a grunge-flavoured brand of post-punk with plenty of energy, noise, attitude and charisma, but not much in the way of memorable tunes, though their champions would no doubt argue melodies aren't exactly their point. As for the main band, it's a case of Blood Red A-tishoos rather than Blood Red Shoes as Laura-Mary has a terrible cold and has lost her voice, leaving the drummer Steven to carry out all the vocal chores. Given that a large part of the bands' appeal is the vocal interplay between the two it says a lot for the quality of their pop hooks that the gig remains a success despite this aspect being muted. And rumours that your cold remedy-carrying correspondent was found wandering the backstage area looking for Laura-Mary while lugging a lorryload of Vicks will remain unconfirmed.

Another band who've taken so long to get their debut album out that a backlash has started before it comes out (common factor: the stewardship of V2 Records) are Cardiff's Los Campesinos!. Said record Hold On Now, Youngster! has been slated in some parts for it's one (helter-skelter) pace, but live, that's a big part of the fun, and that criticism seems as harsh as Gareth's new haircut. 'You! Me! Dancing!' remains as exhilarating as ever, although perhaps it's a sign of our increasing old age that as we look on at all the crowdsurfing (Gareth, at one point, included) the security guy looks so much cooler in his disaffected manner than the giddy youths he's trying to control and protect.

Earlier, Johnny Foreigner hardly put a foot wrong musically with scorching guitar and rat-a-tat vocal interplay we've become accustomed to from their brilliant 'Arcs Across The City' mini-album, tonight's show also including the currently-fashionable Pavement cover. But as The Prykemeister has noted, their banter needs a bit of work, with the entreaty to buy enough merchandise to help get them out of Birmingham destined to work anywhere but the Second City itself. Then again, maybe that was their joke.

In between these gigs, ventured into a packed-out Autumn Store night at the Sunflower Lounge. Stoke-On-Trent's Horowitz are a little odd-looking and have their technical difficulties, but neither factor can detract from the simple pop beauty of their tunes, with an extra layer of guitar fuzz live adding to the lovely warmth of gems like 'Pop Kids Of The World Unite!'. Sweden's Liechtenstein were one of our Music Tips of 2008, and the all-girl group from Gothenburg don't disappoint, entrancing the audience with their shiny-eyed charm and intricate, engaging songcraft. We recommend that you track down debut single 'Stalking Skills' with immediate and stealthy effect. Local band Betty & The Id were late additions to the bill, and not what you might call traditional Autumn Store fayre, but with the drinks starting to kick in, their driven brand of drone-rock gave the evening a happy head-nodding finish.

Feb And Groovy

In which we empty our pockets of loose change. Spend it wisely, readers!

In response to a request from Ben as to where you can get hands on a copy of David Byrne's cover of The Fiery Furnaces' 'Ex-Guru' here's a link to the mp3 and also details on how you can buy a copy of this goofy goodness.

Sweetness And Light:The Miki Berenyi Interview 2008. Miki's still so fine at 40, and contributing to a couple of new records (via Sweeping The Nation).

Steel yourself for the Iron Man trailer.

Yow, that's gotta hurt: Qui frontman David Yow hospitalised with collapsed lung.

Jack Nicholson on seduction:: 'I don't do any tricks. It's just animal magnetism.'

Chris Cleave's excellent novel Incendiary which features a troubled young woman learning to cope with losing her husband and child in a terrorist atrocity at an Arsenal game, has been made into a feature film starring Michelle Williams and Ewan McGregor that premiered at last month's Sundance Film Festival.

The Constantines release a new album Kensington Heights through Arts & Crafts on April 15.

Sad news emerging this month that the great J G Ballard has advanced prostate cancer.

This sad, too: Roy Scheider RIP.

RussL re-designed.

Health Warning: Don't Try This At Home.

Birmingham-based circus artiste Emilia Arata (picture borderline safe for work) supplied the eye candy for last month's Big Brother Celebrity Takeover yawnfest.

A cautious recommendation to What I Killed Today, in which a vet eulogises the animals he's euthanised. (via LMG)

On a much happier note it's full speed ahead for a new Ladytron album, entitled Velocifero, due out on Nettwerks Records on June 3.

And finally, a new music tip for 2008, in the shape of Laura Groves. Missed the 20-year-old Shipley lass's show last night at the Bearded Magazine launch party in Birmingham's Sunflower Lounge, but these songs on her MySpace page are striking and distinctive. The Kate Bush comparisons are inevitable, but, for once, pertinent.

Gig review ketchup soon, you saucy devils.

The Keys To 2008

22 days into the New Year, Parallax View presents 21 bands to unlock sonic delights in 2008.

We start in an appropriately biblical sense with an Adam. Adam Kesher that is, a French band whose gallic drone-pop deserves some cross-channel contemplation.

If Beestung Lips can translate half the energy and spite they mustered live at Supersonic last year into their recorded output they'll be one of the bands of the year, for sure.

Emerging from Crouch End, Highgate and Tufnell Park, young Londoners Bombay Bicycle Club are similar enough to what's going around to ride the charts high, but have a lead singer with distinctive enough vocals to make us care.

Bugners Eye is urban slang for flapless female genitalia but you wouldn't go round calling this ferocious Birmingham blues band pussies as their pulsating pubrock takes no prisoners.

Gorgeous Emmy The Great seems to have been around for ages now, but her guest backing turns on the raved-about Lightspeed Champion record may sufficiently raise her profile for deserved success when her debut album finally surfaces later this year.

We saw Johnny Foreigner support Los Campesinos! last March, and will do so again this February, because we liked what we saw and their mini-LP 'Arcs Across The City' has whetted our appetites for more of their stroppy, sarky take on US alt.rock.

Another band to leave their calling card late last year were Montreal's Land Of Talk whose 'Applause Cheer Boo Hiss' channelled the sounds of Howling Bells and Metric into something sleeker, sexier but equally demanding of attention.

Leila isn't exactly a new name, but since it's been eight years since her last record, news of an imminent release in 2008 is worth flagging up for your attention.

Gothenbourg's Liechtenstein are an all-girl pop group who hail The Modettes as a primary influence, what's not to like?

Brooklyn's MGMT administer surprisingly thoughtful electropop that's smart enough to make you want to dress to impress. Album 'Oracular Spectacular' is due out in the UK this week.

Californians The Mae Shi have been around for a few years but a new poppier sound sees them sounding like The Go! Team trying on The Polyphonic Spree's tunics for size and having a lot of demented fun in the process.

Make Model seem to have been overlooked by the pundits for this year's predictions, but the anthemic punch of last autumn's single 'The Was' suggested the Glaswegians have what it takes to construct a viable future.

Cardiff's The School bring a DIY aesthetic to some zinging pop choons for adorable results. Recently signed to Elefant Records this is a group you'll never want to forget.

StrangeTime won't be new names to Parallax View readers either, but the spiky threesome who were too sexy/scary for Walsall look destined to rattle cages further afield with a new ep out soon and Sky TV starting to pay attention.

The Ting Tings won a coveted Parallax View Single Of The Week last May with 'That's Not My Name' and things are continuing to ring loudly for the Salford songsmiths as they've gotten themselves a slot on next month's NME tour supporting The Cribs, Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong and Does It Offend You, Yeah?.

Back in the West Midlands The Voluntary Butler Scheme looks set to put Stourbridge back on the map serving up his eccentric but decidely dreamy folk-pop ditties.

Manchester's The Whip should have a cracking start to 2008 unless their fun brand of danceable electro-pop suffers as a result of the inevitable nu-rave backlash, of course...

Thomas Tantrum are another band who emerged last Autumn with spiky pop splendour and a Parallax View Single Of The Week (for 'Shake It! Shake It!') and our expectations for further brilliant output has yet to be tempered.

Imagine TV On The Radio if they decided to just sit back and relax in the sun for a while and you get somewhere near the sound of Brooklyn's Yeasayer whose 'All Hour Cymbals' came out the back end of last year and looks set to be one of this year's sleeper breakouts.

If 2007's taste for genre fusions continues in the New Year then Telford's You And What Army? look set to profit with their rap/trance/prog/metal shenanigans regularly causing a live stir.

Finally, it's back up to Glasgow for Zoey Van Goey whose offbeat take on West Coast pop could charm the scarves and knives off an Old Firm derby crowd.

That should keep you going for a while, but remember you can use the comments to register your outrage, point out the glaring omissions and broken links, and hawk your band or blog.

Blast Off

Happy New Year to all Parallax View readers everywhere. Yeah, even you.

Out with the old and all that, so let's get this party started with a crudely ripped linkdump.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, Robyn's back for another Wilder reunion with the internetwhatnot.

Here's something to put a lightbulb in your milkglass: Hitchcock Blonde. Writer/actress, yeah we know.

Live recordings from Supersonic 07 includes our pick of Gig Of The Year, Beestung Lips!

Kevin Greening RIP.

Steve Gerrard Rock Photographer. He shoots bands for three score.

Simon has again lovingly compiled the UK Blogger Poll of Polls for Albums of 2007. 7 of our top 10 made the 50.

Still feeling listless? The Top 10 Celebrity Sex Moments of 2007 are unsurprisingly NOT SAFE FOR WORK.

On a similar UNSAFE FOR WORK tip here's the list you've really been waiting for: The Top 20 Nude Scenes of 2007 with pictures and movie clips attached to get your boss hot under the collar.

Another blog of note: Thomas Moronic.

And finally, the first of our music tips for 2008: Ida Maria a Swedish-based Norwegian with a distinctive rockchick rawr, who's playing a couple of gigs in London later this month.