Nicola Roberts - Cinderella's Eyes

This album has, admittedly been out for a while, and if I’d been more on the ball I’d have reviewed it sooner - but I forgot. That’s the thing; Nicola Roberts is often seen as the forgettable one of Girls Aloud, now personally, I don’t really care about any members of Girls Aloud. Or I didn’t, until I saw Nicola Roberts doing a documentary on the dangers of tanning for young people, she talked about how determined she became not to allow her record label and management to force her into fake tanning, and she now has her own make-up range for pale skin. Which is all pretty admirable, really and I promised myself I’d keep an eye on what she got up to, but somehow it never happened.

Then I heard ‘Beat Of My Drum’, it’s fun, instant and empowering, Roberts is standing up, telling people she’s in charge now. The video is sadly, not very good, but she’s doing her own thing, so we’ll let her off for that bizarre bending over dance move, and it certainly doesn’t seem to have caught on, which is something of a relief.

‘Cinderella’s Eyes’ is at the very least a good listen because it’s daring. It’s depressingly rare to come across an album that’s likely to chart, which does anything different, but if you listened to this abstractly, it certainly wouldn’t sound like Girls Aloud karaoke with only one member (unlike some people, naming no names…Cheryl Cole). In fact, the opening of ‘Fish Out Of Water’ is reminiscent of Xiu Xiu, it’s treading that beautiful line between great pop and plain weird, which if straddled successfully is often the most rewarding, listens. Although, I’m politely ignoring the cover of ‘Everybody Hurts Sometime’ because, well, it’s a bit rubbish.

 There’s a pervading sense of dark regret throughout, dark nights filled with drink, music and emptiness inside, she lists her fears on ‘i’, telling us she’s “scared of dying…scared of getting old” and “scared of bodies…scared I’ll lose control” and there’s something truly heartbreaking about the way she says “I don’t like nasty words, they hurt me like you’d never know”. She whispers “you’re my childhood sweetheart the one I’ve chased for years”, which sounds lovely until the chilling next line, “feels like you’ve got your hands locked over my lips and ears”. The painfully honest confession, ‘sticks + stones’, with its references to underage drinking, “too young to buy my own bottle of vodka so I beg the driver” and mental health issues “say no to the shrink I can fix me I think, I’ve got friends in my head” never once feels smug. Even though she’s talking about the downsides of famous so young, which such subject matter often leads to, instead it feels truly honest.

The artwork shows Roberts sitting on top of a pile of junk, a surreal Alice in Wonderland, but for all her porcelain skin, and doll like hair, she isn’t taking any nonsense. The idea of her being in a fairytale that turned bad, is clear, she used to “write all her dreams in her storybook”, according to a daring and successful rap on ‘Take A Bite’, but she’s taken this idea and turned it around to her benefit. Which is pretty much what she’s done with all that’s happened to her. How do I know that? How do I know ‘what’s happened to her’? Well I don’t, I haven’t read it in any magazines or anything like that, but that’s the picture ‘Cinderella Builds” and frankly, the potential of an honest, heartbreaking, and frankly, shockingly dark pop album, that really tells a story, is not something I want to explain away. For all the open confessions, I’m not left pitying her, because she comes across strong. It may not be to everyone’s tastes, but then very few things are, and the fact she’s done something different, begins to restore my faith in pop music.

Slow Club - Paradise

Moshi Moshi - 12th September ‘11

I’ve always been a fan of Slow Club, their first album was enjoyable, but really, not anything hugely special.  The reason I think, I’ve still loved them, comes from both members being hugely talented and working together so well - which makes any live performances, recorded, session or otherwise, really enjoyable and interesting…but they’d never really managed to translate this onto any studio recordings I’d heard. They’re obviously something unique when things are stripped back, but in a studio environment it’s never come across immediately. All of this meant I was hugely anticipating the release of their second album, particularly after hearing rumours of a change of sound and approach.

‘Paradise’ opens with the first single, ‘Two Cousins’. It’s a catchy, fun song that makes you feel like dancing and in regard to that is a move away from their original sound. It’s certainly angrier - ending with a rush of fuzz that blends nicely into the opening drums of ‘If We’re Still Alive’, on which Rebecca cries out, heartbreakingly, that, “it’s okay, you’re leaving, and we never even talked about, even thought about it, ever before”. As on their first album ‘Yeah So’, the lyrics can seem a little at odds with the music, often darker than the overall sound might suggest, but it works well here. The harmonics of Charles' and Rebecca’s voices have always been a close blend and at times they use this to great effect, but they also take the chance to show off individually. Lyrically, they’ve made great leaps forward too, clever lines like “It’s hard to be in this together, well we both know that it’s hard apart, and it’s a storm I am willing to weather, but it’s a storm that I…I recognize” show a maturity clearly evident throughout this album. Lyrically, things still sometimes seem a little nonsensical, but there’s some really tender moments of introspection too.

Things get rhythmic again on ‘Beginners’, one of the standout best tracks on ‘Paradise’, where the raw talent they give live feels more evident. It’s tight, the vocals are perhaps a little buried, but it still remains energetic and passionate, with some more smart phrases; “you know you haven’t got all the answers, if you did you would be screaming them out”. The final ‘secret’ track, ‘Paradise’, is a reworking of an old song. The added guitar fuzz and clattering drums aren’t actually necessary to make this a great listen but it fits well on the closing track. The idea of wanting to “live in paradise” is quite a thematic one, their lyrics often noting the intricacies and difficulties of relationships, especially those that are breaking down. On first listen ‘Paradise’ is a pretty good album. After a few more listens, it gets addictive and soon you’re listening to songs that are a world away from ‘Yeah So, an album that has led to them (much to their disgust) being labelled as ‘twee’. Sure to remain circling in your head, ‘Paradise’ shows a band that’s grown into their talents,  a superb listen.

Johnny Foreigner vs Everything

Johnny Foreigner have been pretty quiet lately and it seems that’s been with reason. They’ve posted details of their new record, ‘Johnny Foreigner vs Everything’, which will be available in some sort of exciting two cover format, as yet not properly revealed, there’s information on some competitions to win stuff too, their new stingle (that isn’t a typo) and how they’ve been getting on with Alcopop! Records.

(Don’t) Show Us Your Fangs


…is the title of their first single. Opening with a simple guitar melody and gradually building from there, this feels more similar to the ‘You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star….’ EP, rather than their previous material. Which is good, because there was always the slight concern that the progress to sounding a more mature band made on that EP, might be lost a little.
This track is filled with hope and standout lines like “we caught fire, but fire burns bridges best”. It would be easy to say that the subtle, but important changes in Johnny Foreigner’s sound are a result of their move away from Best Before Records to Alcopop! Records. Which is probably true, they say on their website ““it felt like we took a massive gamble leaving our old label” and in typical Johny Foreigner fashion, with their personable sense of humour, “we’ve never had this much control over recording, or been able to take so long, or had a producer that grew up with us buying the same records at the same time and whose mother constantly fed us square and balanced meals. This record is us, made by us. this record is us, made by us. it doesn’t feel like a gamble anymore”. The prospect of a Johnny Foreigner record they believe in so whole heartedly? An exciting prospect indeed.

Hello Sadness

After much teasing and tantalising Los Campesinos! have finally released details of their fourth album (or arguably third, but we’re not going down that one). It’ll be called ‘Hello Sadness’ and paired with the gloomy artwork, melancholy song titles and Gareth’s mentions of it on twitter, it’s already clearly not going to be the most cheerful of listens, but then you should expect no less from these guys, dealing with misery is something they do brilliantly.

Described on the website as dealing with, “love, loss and heartbreak nail-gunned to a back-drop of broken, tangled bodies, creeping, dead-eyed animals, suffocating, looming shadows and World Cup exits” there are serveral pre-order bundles, including vinyl, a ltd edition t-shirt and demo CD from their ‘HONY’ days.
Eloquent as ever the description of it as a, “documentation of breaking up and trying not to break up in the process”, seems like one that’ll stick, as well as building up the excitement for its release on 14th November.

Copy Haho

“The opening track on Copy Haho’s self-titled debut, Factory Floor, is a glorious, euphoric start. The first line “I’m feeling bitter but I dunno what I’m bitter ‘bout”, seems a coquettish confession and there’s something a little charming about the delivery”
You can read my review of Copy Haho’s amazing debut album here, on Goldflakepaint.

Yeah, Yeah

Dylan Moran

Yeah, Yeah

Dylan Moran is perhaps most well known for his comedy series Black Books, which he wrote and starred in, as misanthropic bookshop owner, Bernard Black. For several years his talent for stand-up has been one of the hidden highlights of British comedy. Shunning panel shows, Moran is not quite a household name - unless you happen to be in a house with excellent taste in comedy, in which case the mention of his name is likely to release a torrent of compliments about this Irish comedian. On top of this, he's appeared in many films, the brilliant dark comedy of 'A Film With Me In It' (one of my favourite films, everyone should go and watch it immediately) and as unrecognisably different characters in 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Run Fat Boy Run'. Clearly broadly talented (he's also writing a book) his stand-up is a real treat.

Looking around me, the audience members are from a variety of different demographics; largely it seems young students, but also some middle aged ex- students. It is perhaps a cliché to say that the atmosphere at the Bristol Hippodrome is one of palpable excitement, yet the hold Dylan Moran has on his fans is evident.

The stage is the same set up as on Moran's previous tours, a chair, a table with a wine glass, a screen with his drawings projected on and a microphone. As he walks on stage we all cheer, smiling, he waves and grabs the microphone; the loud "hello!" causes the audience to suddenly fall quiet, expectantly.

Clearly at ease, he begins. Everything he says immediately feels fresh and as though it's just occurring to him - joking about Bristol being a great place because it feels like it's "run by 23 year old Rastafarians", and his knowledge of the area and its stereotypes, traditions and habits is refreshing, he clearly knows where he is.

Moran tackles similar subjects to his past comedy shows. Middle age, love, youth, ageing, death, sex, politics and society in general, all fall prey to his razor sharp observations. It never once becomes a rant, his voice rises at times, increasing in volume until it seems that he can't possibly be following a pre-written script, he must be making it up on the spot....and then, with a disarming grin, he almost starts to whisper, as the previous point links beautifully to his theme. His bizarre analogies and quotable comparisons on DVD are certainly funny, but the clinical atmosphere of a recorded live show makes them seem perhaps less brilliant. Live however, it's clear that this humour is genuine, nothing he says is there to make us laugh for the sake of it, and every sentence carries a hidden weight.

Which brings me onto my favourite thing about Dylan Moran: he jokes about women and men, and not always in a particularly complementary way. He asks the audience with a small frown "who wrote Frankenstein?" and it's difficult to be sure if he's really forgotten, or is just making us feel more involved (the latter being more likely). The quick echoed reply of "Mary Shelley" perhaps proving something about the type of people that enjoy his comedy. This leads him onto a routine in which he compares men to The Creature and women to Dr Frankenstein/Mary Shelley. Such a comparison could easily alienate either all the men, or all the women in the audience but at the bottom of it all, a question remains about our society and the roles of gender within it. Not the easiest thing to do in comedy without being 'offensive'. It's unbelievably uplifting to spend about two hours in the power of such an intelligent comedian, and at no point feel uncomfortable, particularly when he by no means steers away from topics that could lead to offence. Instead, his disarming charm and perfect delivery mean that the audience are completely within his power and as it ends, it feels like barely ten minutes have gone past.

He ends saying, "the thing is....I don't know what the thing is" , apologizing for not having any more to say, although whether that's because he has forgotten to say something, or because the audience are so clearly hungry for more, is difficult to say, he wanders off with another wave, glass of wine in hand, leaving a projection of his unusual and amusing drawings and one of his silhouette alone on the stage.

Fight Like Apes - The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner

Fight Like Apes - The Body Of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner

I’ve been a fan of Fight Like Apes for a while now; their first album ‘Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion’ was one of my favourites of 2008. Its mixture of synth hooks, fuzzy guitars and lead singer May Kay’s wonderful ability to switch from huskily whispering her words to screaming. It’s endearing, enjoyable - and there’s something sincere about them that makes the refrain of “and did you fuck her? and did you stick things up her?” (from ‘Digifucker’) enjoyable for more than its barefaced rudeness.

So when I discovered they had another album due out, I wasn’t really sure what to think…the energy from their first album might well have petered out by now, three years after their first full album. Luckily, however, Fight Like Apes far from disappoint.

The first single, Hoo Ha Henry maintains the sense of comedy FLA are renowned for, particularly through their use of samples, but it manages this without losing the quality of the song. The contrast of the ‘traditional views’ in these samples and the attitude of Fight Like Apes makes for even more enjoyable listening. The same technique is used to great effect on the next track ‘Pull Off Your Arms and Let’s Play In Your Blood’ which I’ve already seen quoted in several reviews: the line “my well read friends inform me that I was a cunt” seems to be striking a chord with people.

‘Thank God You Weren’t Thirsty (Lightbulb)’ is a brief pause, it’s a genuinely beautiful track and May Kay does something a little different with her voice, making it softer. She begs, “my heart is all grey, please, please stay away, from anyone’s heart or their brain…would that be okay?” and even after the screams and almost indistinguishable swear words towards the end (well, it is Fight Like Apes, let’s not get too sentimental) there’s something tender here and another side is shown. A welcome change from the anger and elements of triviality normally seen, not a criticism as they do it well, but it would certainly be interesting to see them try this on a couple more tracks.

On ‘Poached Eggs’ (released before the album as a free download as well) FLA are masking their rudeness and behaving with more subtlety (but only a little bit). May Kay’s coquettish way of singing “I’m sorry for being so incredibly gay, the day you spilt your poached efforts, all over my duvet” means it takes a couple of listens to be certain what she’s singing about. . ‘Indie Monster’ gifts another lyrical gem, the repetition of “you look like a hairstyle” and ‘Ice Cream Apple Fuck’ sums up the band’s approach simply, with the line “I will not take your shit”

’The Body Of Christ…’ is a glorious mix of Riot Grrl, pop, punk, humour and authenticity. It’s messy at times, but that adds to its charm and there’s a little more cohesion than on the first album. Its difficult to shake the feeling that no matter how you feel, Fight Like Apes like what they’ve done and (I’m hoping at least) will continue to do what they do, and frankly won’t give a damn.