REVIEW// Savages/ The Answer

Savages are back and they're not leading us in gently 

On their second album Savages aim was simply to write "the loudest songs ever", no mean feat for a band who's already raucous debut drew comparisons to Joy Division and Siouxsie Sioux.
But, The Answer, the first track to be taken from new album Adore Life, released on January 22nd, is an all together more punishing affair.

Abrasive guitars cut through frontwoman Jhenny Beth's shrill cry of "If you don't love me you don't love anybody", underpinned by thundering drums, as though they are declaring sonic war on the world.

It's a sound that veers on the edge on violent, suggesting the band have taken more than a few cues from last year's collaboration with Japanese psych-rockers Bo Ningen on Words To The Blind.
It's what makes The Answer less of a statement of intent as a bombastic rallying call to post-punk arms.

Prepare your eardrums, Adore Life is gonna be loud.

REVIEW// Static Animal/ Majorca

Blissed-out bedroom pop from Melbourne mysteries

There's something alluring about an enigma and right now no one is more of a mystery than Static Animal.

Hailing from a bedroom somewhere in Melbourne they are practically unknown save for the fact that they make beautiful blissed-out dream pop.

"I'm so tired but I still find time" they sing on debut track Majorca, perhaps an ode to their bedroom beginnings. All hazy, reverb-drenched vocals that recall early Jaws, underpinned by breezy guitars that shimmer and swirl like the sea of the coastal scape they beg to soundtrack.

One would be mistaken for thinking Mac DeMarco had upped sticks and moved to the beach in the chorus' slacker-esque lament of "It's alright/ let's go", perhaps for giving it all up and doing that yourself.

And DIY is exactly what Stactic Animal does, Majorca's kaleidoscopic home production already bursting out of the four walls it was created in, and you can expect the band to do the same. They might just be known in their bedroom now, but don't bet on them remaining a mystery much longer.

REVIEW// Smashing Lights/ Sounds Different Feels The Same

On their debut single Smashing Lights stake a claim to the teenage population

Earlier this year the teenage population went into meltdown after the members of The 1975 deleted their social media accounts in a flurry of ambiguous messages, leading to rumours about the band's possible demise. As it turns out it was all a publicity stunt to announce their forthcoming album, but had the rumours been true it wouldn't have mattered, not now Smashing Lights have dropped their new single.

Entitled Sounds Different Feels The Same, it draws obvious comparisons to the Manchester quartet thanks to it's fidgety guitars, shimmering synths and pulsing bassline that underpin frontman Jack's falsetto. But equally wouldn't sound out of place next to some of Two Door Cinema Club's more electronic moments.

With debut EP 1 on the horizon, you can bet your black skinny jeans that the teenage population will soon be having a very different kind of meltdown. 

REVIEW// Boys/ Ocean

West London boys may have just written the soundtrack to your summer

Ever since Daft Punk dominated the airways with Get Lucky back in 2013 critics and fans alike have begun an annual search for the song of the summer. Something that will be blasted from every corner of a festival, from the PA between bands, to a shitty speaker in the campsite- even the portaloos. 

So, who should provide this year's inescapable summer anthem? The answer comes in the form of West London quartet Boys. Their recent single Ocean is all dreamy guitar and reverb-drenched vocals, reminiscent of DIIV or Jaws at their most shoegazy, creating the kind of blissed-out, hazy atmosphere you'll want to spend long summer evenings getting lost in.

Daft Who?