Round-up This Week In New Music (1st November 2014)

DIY rounds up the best premieres, tracks and discoveries from the past seven days.

1st November 2014

Today marks the biggest new music celebration we’ve ever put on. Eleven bands, ten hours of music, all showcased by the groups who’ve defined 2014 and have every intention of doing the same for 2015. All eyes have been on the DIY London all-dayer for the past few weeks, but in the last few days attention’s been stolen by a select few individuals. TALA’s ascent shows no signs of stopping - she can remove the giddy ridiculous fun out of an ‘80s pop hit and still pull it off. JUCE’s slick glossy pop is turning heads en masse. Lapsley’s inked a record deal with XL. Coasts continue to aim for stadiums. A Swedish group called MOURN stole the focus by signing to Captured Tracks and putting out a flooring debut LP, all PJ Harvey-isms and bitter lack of restraint. And then there was Deers, Madrid’s most talked-about newcomers in years, backing up the hype with ‘Between Cans’. They’ll be appearing later today at The Laundry, with their boozy, ragged anthem soundtracking the night.

Here’s the best of what happened this week in new music:

This Week In DIY Premieres:
Tuff Love, Hey Elbow, Gulf, Tyrannosaurus Dead, Cristobal and the Sea, Bosco Rogers

In a week of debut’s, nothing arrived sounding quite like Tuff Love. This Scottish group with an instant charm stole hearts months back, feasting on emotions with complete freedom. It all started when their label manager from Lost Map sent a hand-written note, going old-school, stating in layman’s terms that “YOU MUST HEAR THIS BAND”. We did. As did several others. From scrawled sentences to the web, their follow-up in ‘Slammer’ sees the pair refining their immediate approach, penning sweet ditties in a flash.

Working in slightly more mysterious corners, Cristobal and the Sea are a London group dosed up on every speck of world music they can get their hands on. Members come from across the globe, and on their debut EP life stirs at double speed, circuiting at a maddening, intoxicating rate. Liverpool’s Gulf operate in quiet corners, bit-by-bit adding to the notion that there’s something in the water up North, the likes of Outfit and Dutch Uncles being similarly capable of making gorgeous alt-pop.

Elsewhere, fans of Tuff Love won’t find it tuff to love Tyrannosaurus Dead. And a new South Coast duo wearing dodgy leather jackets but making perfectly great pop songs - Bosco Rogers - landed with the superb ‘The Middle’. It’s all about pets, which is a bonus.

Track of the week:
Shamir - On the Regular

“But really how long ’til the world realise / Yes, yes, I’m the best, haven’t you heard?” Nothing - not one tiny speck - of Shamir’s new single screams “duuuuull.” This is fresh-faced, forward-thinking pop in its purest form. The production looks ahead, trying new things, but never is ‘On the Regular’’s “massive tune alert” sacrificed. Los Angeles born and bred, Shamir Bailey’s a star arrived in full form. He even makes cowbell out to be some masterful, cool invention of pop perfection. The cowbell. Consider that for a second. The world’s realised - yes, yes, he’s the best. Shamir’s future is sealed.

Discovery of the week:
Ex’s

It takes just one attention-seizing guitar line to kickstart a career. With ‘Oh, Boy’, the first take from London band Ex’s, this group might have just stumbled upon one first time round. Jammy sods, landing a gem like that on a whim. What’s special about ‘Oh, Boy’ though is where they take this guitar line, sending it into a pit of frenzied destruction, like hearing early Peace given a deadly dose of poison. A special debut.

Tags: Shamir, Listen, Features, Neu