News Tracks: Wavves, The Knife, The Strokes And More

January’s over, sweet readers, and what with this being the last week of the month, we’ve got quite the Tracks update for you. Our writers and the radio presenters have spent the last seven days duking it out, deciding which of the week’s new offerings were worth your time. There’s been blood. There’s been sweat. There were a few tears; but more of the frustration kind than the ‘needing to man the eff up’ kind, before you cast any aspersions. And the result of all their efforts? This week’s Tracks.

Wavves – Demon To Lean On

Surf rock duo Wavves return with the lead single from their forthcoming album ‘Afraid of Heights’. Fans of fuzzy guitars and drawling voices will be glad of this new release, as the winter months have seen a dearth of laidback beach music, with Philly band Free Energy being one of the few exceptions. ‘Demon To Lean On’ is a fun return and whilst it’s not breaking any new ground, the lo-fi sound compliments Nathan William’s apathetic declaration that someone is ‘holding a gun to my head, so send me an angel.’ However, this darkness is dealt with in the same sunny tone as lines like ‘You and I pace along the grass’ – so I guess it’s all about being ambivalent, ok? Thankfully though, Wavves penchant for fuzziness is underpinned by the kind of bass line that sort-of-sounds-familiar-but-can’t-quite-place-my-finger-on-it; it’s a head-nodder in other words. (Tom Watts - @thetomwatts)

The Strokes – One Way Trigger

The Strokes familiar New York swagger has been slightly repositioned in favour of synths and an endearing vulnerability on ‘One Way Trigger’. It may have been surprising and a bit baffling on first listen, but upon close inspection, its insidious melodies and copious hooks bore themselves directly into your head. It’s simply a great song.

Lyrically, it is full of intrigue with Casablancas’ new keening falsetto dominating. The changing vocal dynamics offer up new possibilities for the band. For anyone that is too confused there is a typically great guitar solo in the middle to tie things together. If music is built on the shock of the new then The Strokes new track suggests they have had enough of resting on old laurels and are willing to experiment a bit. This new attitude promises much, ahead of fifth album ‘Comedown Machine.’ (Martyn Young)

The Knife – Full Of Fire

To say that ‘Full Of Fire’ is unsettling is like saying that a house fire is a bit of a nuisance. As brutal as it is hypnotic, the Stockholm duo work their machine-made aggression to a suffocating frenzy that builds and builds without release. Indeed, the closest we come to anything resembling a catharsis comes at the halfway point, as the mechanised seams begin to unravel and Olof and Karin Dreijer’s beast spews forth its industrial bile. The beats falter, joined by synthesised record scratches that squawk like post-apocalyptic avians as Karin works her barbed line of questioning into a gruesome chant (“When you’re full of fire, what’s the object of your desire?”). Before she aims her bullets at society and its inherent male chauvinism. As the first piece of the vast, 98-minute ‘Shaking The Habitual’ jigsaw, ‘Full Of Fire’’s foreboding bodes extremely well. (David Zammitt)

Knocking Ghost - Distractions

‘Distractions’ marks the final piece in the puzzle for synth-heavy new boys Knocking Ghost, who released their free-to-download debut EP of the same name earlier this week. Having periodically released four tracks since the start of December 2012, the trio have been beavering away over those cold winter months, carefully pulling together their combination of steely cold synth noise and skilfully channelling them into this impressive five-tracker.

Comprising Rob Taylor on vox and synths, Neil Quinlan on synths/noise and Andy Hobson beefing up the live set-up on drums and percussion duties, it was the throbbing menace of ‘Interlude for the Midweek’ that first caught people’s attention to this London-based band. This track, a sleekly styled piece of intelligent synth-pop is a fitting soundtrack to the hours that precede dawn, its keyboards meander gently in and out throughout its four minutes, with perhaps more than just an affectionate nod to Depeche Mode in the process. (Bevis Man)

Dinosaur Pile-Up – Arizona Waiting

Said it before team and I will say again: Dinosaur Pile-Up are a brilliant rock band. They do riffs, singing, melody, big hooks, sing along choruses and put rock in the big picture. You don’t need to be part of a tattooed, underground crew or be someone with a liking to screamo vocals to appreciate the music. You don’t have to be ‘dad age’ to get it nor are you too old to appreciate a nu wave sound. This is a mass appeal rock anthem, with likeness to Weezer, Pixies / Foos kinda vibe. Vocalist / guitarist / chief songwriter Matt Biggland can easily follow in the footsteps of the greats like Dave Grohl and Josh Homme. Catch them on Alive And Amplified on DIY Radio, Thursday from 7pm. (Elise Cobain – Alive And Amplified)

Listen to Dinosaur Pile-Up’s Arizona Waiting here.

Misun – Battlefields

I couldn’t get enough of the last Misun track on my DIY Radio show. And the Washington DC trio are back with another slice of sexy R&B, produced in the Misun ‘aquawave’ style, complete with bluesy guitar chords and all. Vocalist Misun Wojcik is allowed to flex her vocal muscles a bit more this time round and her sultry, confident voice blends Santigold with Mrs D, one time vocalist for Wiley’s ‘Heatwave’ (remember that?!). Wojcik’s sleek vocals continually wish ‘to be free’ of the ‘something inside of me’, and when combined with the supremely catchy hip-hop-esque beat (courtesy of Nacey, 1/3 of Misun), it soon becomes ironic for listeners as that something inside transpires to be the song itself. I’ve had it on repeat for forty minutes now… (Tom Watts - @thetomwatts)

Colin Stetson - High Above A Grey Green Sea

This is an impossibly dark, dank record, it sounds like it has been exhumed from some unearthly place. It’s a deeply compelling piece of abstract noise from the Michigan born, Montreal based saxophonist.

The emotions Stetson provokes from his distorted and dense saxophone sounds, warped beyond true recognition are overpowering. There’s a sense of desolate despair here amplified by a wailing, shrieking vocal sample akin to noises generated in inhospitable wintry tundra. Without much to this piece beyond horribly distorted low-end sax lines, creaking and wobbling on the point of collapse with those chilling icily frozen vocal samples on top. The result is truly affecting. A natural continuation of Stetson’s experimental approach ahead of the release of his third solo album ‘New History Warfare Vol 3: To See More Light’. (Martyn Young)

Listen to Colin Stetson’s ‘High Above A Grey Green Sea’ here.

Wolf Alice – White Leather

Atmospheric guitars reverberate in and around the ears as the ethereal, waif like vocals of Ellie Rowsell sparkle into life. White Leather is the B-side to Wolf Alice’s forthcoming single Fluffy, and is a very 90s, demure sounding take on indie; full of jangly guitars and lost love laments; ‘I bought you a drink, but you were smoking with your friends outside.’ Wolf Alice are in possession of that rare talent, able to transform the mundane into the transcendental. Dramatic pauses and soaring vocals fall amongst the melancholic guitars, and settle into a rhythm that is one part nostalgia and another part dreamlike. It’s a shame that guitar music has fallen by the wayside in recent years because, although Wolf Alice have yet to release their first single (it drops on the 11th of Feb), it would be nice to hear them tackle a full length effort. Hopefully with bands such as Haim and Pins making it onto the BBC Sound of 2013 list it’ll provide a path for bands like Wolf Alice to follow in. (Tom Watts - @thetomwatts)

Carl Barat - War Of The Roses (Demo)

After the news that Pete Doherty was putting together a new Babyshambles album, Carl Barat clearly felt the need to do something, and to do it quick. So on Monday, after an hour of live-chat with his fans on his Facebook page, Barat unofficially released ‘War Of The Roses’ a ‘bedroom demo’ of a track that will be part of his new solo album which is due out later this year. The song perkily explores a heavier and sharper side of Carl than we saw on his solo debut, and while some people labeled it as a Nirvana rip-off, it’s undeniable that the fuzzy guitar strums, conversational verses and ghostly backing vocals came straight from Barat’s newly acquired theatrical abilities. That is until the sing-along chorus kicks in, and we’re back to stadium chant mode. (Carolina Faruolo)

Jagwar Ma – The Throw

Yet another green shoot in the fertile soils of Antipodean indie, Sydney’s Jagwar Ma cast a longing gaze at the British masters of the final four decades of the last century on ‘The Throw’, traveling from 60s blues pop to 90s acid house in the space of three and a half minutes. Initially channeling ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’-era Lennon, its looped psychedelia and Doppler shifted vocals are jerked forward to the baggy Madchester scene when the warm, bouncing dub-infected bassline kicks in on the minute mark. As the 808 rouses from slumber for a valedictory acid house jam, you’ll feel the perspiring presence of the Hacienda’s multi-coloured spectres. 2013 has so far been set to a backdrop of deference as Foxygen and Dog Bite draw on similar chunks of nostalgia, but Jagwar Ma have taken their influences and synthesised a sound that’s all their own. The 7-minute extended version is a real treat. (David Zammitt)