Round-up Tracks: Charli XCX, Eagulls, and more

Any pop song that begins life with a robotic version of Mia Wallace’s Pulp Fiction declaration - “I wanna win, I want that trophy” - is already half-way to top of the podium. A juddering, fidgeting onslaught of euphoria-inducing euro-synth slams, and synthetic vocals, Charli XCX’s new ‘un couldn’t be further away from the bratty riffery of her last album ‘Sucker’. Its weirdness is central to its appeal. Odd though ‘Trophy’ may be - distinctly coloured by all the usual hallmarks of SOPHIE’s production - it’s kind of a total banger, in its own unique, off-the-wall way. (El Hunt)

Eagulls’ self-titled debut was one of Britain’s most gripping in years - a throat-grabbing exercise in snarling, spitting catharsis, it took everyday sickness and nailed it to a cross; blood, sweat and all accompanying gore were part and parcel. Between ‘My Life In Rewind’ and the previously-unveiled ‘Lemontrees’, though, Eagulls’ new album ‘Ullages’ looks dead-set on proving there’s more than one shade of black.

Cavernous and echoing, the moody Leeds lot’s newest guise revels in gloom. Where once, saw-blade guitars cut their path, ‘Ullages’ sees Eagulls swathe everything in smoke, disappearing into the ether. Every instrument sounds like it was recorded in the deepest, darkest corner of the Yorkshire moors, every note echoing across that empty expanse. George Mitchell’s newfound crooning vocal is loneliness incarnate, ‘My Life In Rewind’ finding him yearning for another shot at pretty much any turning point in his life.

A ullage is defined as “the amount by which a container falls short of being full.” An anagram of the band name itself, in this bleaker-than-ever depiction of modern anxiety, ‘Ullages’ looks set to prove that there’s more sides to Eagulls’ darkness than how hard they can hit. (Tom Connick)

Don’t think for one second that London dance thrillseekers Kero Kero Bonito are hopping on someone else’s bus. Two years back they emerged with an N64-meets-gobstopper slant on pop, tightly linked to the PC Music bridage. ‘Lipslap’, however, is the surest sign yet that they possess their own distinct ambitions. The trio’s latest single doesn’t burn previously sturdy bridges, it just takes its own route down to the dancefloor. A bell-clanging, finger-whistling conga into berserk club territory, this is KKB at their bonkers best. (Jamie Milton)

Punk’s not exactly renowned for re-invention - three chords and a fast beat and you’ve got yourself a discography and a sea of stage-diving fans. White Lung take a different tack though. On ‘Hungry’, they’re vaporising the rulebook.”Baby you’re weak, baby you’re starving, the sky will melt and we’re all hungry for it,” chime a thousand layered voices of Mish Way atop a guitar tone that could soundtrack the Northern Lights. Half forward-thinking, almost space-age punk, half fighting game soundtrack turned up so loud your neighbours are banging on the wall, it’s a hurricane from start to finish.

‘Hookworms frontman’ and ‘mega producer of all the best bands in the country’ might lead MJ’s CV, but he’s a dab hand at anything else he puts his mind to as well. On ‘It Follows’, the first hint at a solo EP that’s coming “as soon as [he] can get studio time to finish it”, he proves himself master of a whole new world. Twinkling college emo leads the charge, before the morose tale takes a left turn into gut-wrenching churns of electronics more reminiscent of that Hookworms day-job. Uncontainable, shape-shifting and utterly devastating in its delivery, it’s yet another bullseye.

Tags: Charli XCX, Eagulls, Features