This is a post about singles that I got because of the
Slumberland Records spring/summer 2013 sampler. There will be other album
reviews that I got for the same reason.
On with the show...
This is the first single from their second album. It was
released in March of 2012. The group hails from London England. They have a
female pop style that was popular in the mid 90s. They remind me of The Sundays
or Heavenly but happier. It is a two track single that was pressed on solid
yellow vinyl.
The A side track is called Capricornia. The vocals are
double tracked female vocals and sound very cool. The guitar is kind of jangly.
It is an easy song to groove to. It is not a fast song but certainly fast
enough. I did not know this myself but the song title references the regions of
Australia in the tropic of Capricorn.
The B side is called When You Were Mine. It is another sweet
track about an ex-relationship. She sings about the things they use to do when
they were together. The song uses that slightly jangly, picked guitar.
Allo Darlin’ – Europe (Single)
This is the second in a three single set in support of their
second full length album called Europe. This is the single for the title track
of the album. This single was released on solid blue vinyl and has two tracks
on it. It was released in June of 2012.
The A side of the single is, obviously, Europe. The song
starts off with just the female vocals and an electric guitar slowly strummed.
Once the song starts the guitar goes into a picked style for the most part. but
the vocals stay as sweet as ever. I like the chorus where she sings, “This is
life, this is livin’” as she is singing about sharing life with a friend at key
points in ones life. It is a very cool song.
The B side is called Some People Say (Alternate Version).
This is a slow track that would be easy to dance really close to. Some people
call this slow dancing. I have not yet
heard the standard version of this track that is on the second full length
album called Europe. The drums on this one use brushes giving a more personal
sound or organic sound in the rhythm section of the song. It is a good version
of the song.
This is the third and last single from the album Europe.
This was released on solid orange vinyl. It was released in late summer of
2012.
The A side of the record is called Northern Lights. This
song used some type of a xylophone. It made the track stand out for me. The
juxtaposition of the female vocals with this instrument works very well.
The B side of the record is called Golden Age. I think that
this song could have been on the full length album. I liked the breakdown in
the song too. It is all long notes and cymbals on the drums with her vocals.
This song sits well with me.
All three of these single are very excellent. If you are
interested in them Slumberland records has a deal right now to get all three as
one unit.
This is the second release from the group. Their first
release was an EP called We Love You So Bad (to be reviewed at a later date). This
single was released in April of 2013. The single was pressed on no fuss black
vinyl.
The A side track, Creep The Creeps, is a clap driven
pop/rock song. The vocals are drenched in reverb and sound like when you yell
in the mountains. There are two guitars on the track one sounds like heavy
distorted guitars you hear in metal songs the other sounds like the popular
jangle guitars from the 90s. they sound very cool overlapped on each other. I
don’t really care what is being sung on this song the music sounds so cool.
The B side track is called New Ex-Boyfriend. This song
sounds so much like some classic surf music that I have from the 60s. This is a
great song that would work on an album if they ever put one out.
This is the first single from their third album of the same
title (The New Life). It was released as a 12” single on white vinyl. The
single was released in the US in March of 2013 and February of 2013 in Europe.
The A side is the album version of The New Life. It is a very
long song clocking in at 7:36. The song does seem to go on for ever but if
you’re not paying attention it becomes kind of comforting. It reminds me of
some of the stuff that Pink Floyd has done in the past but not quite as long.
The bass guitar stands out with a cool beat. The lead guitar floats over all
the other instruments with the rhythm guitar hovering between the bass and lead
guitar. It is a very cool stereo image when you pay attention to the song.
The B side track is a remix of the A side called The New Life (A JD Twitch Optimo Mix). This version changes
the drums to be more electronic. It is a bit more bass heavy in the bass drum.
The bass guitar is also changed for a synth key bass. It sounds kind of rubbery
and not exactly what I would have used for the bass sound. There is also some
extra percussion sounds mixed into the new version of the song. Because it is a
remix the song goes through some sonic changes to keep the listener interested.
The song uses a phaser on the whole track at one point. It also modifies the
bass sound through similar effect. I can’t say that it keeps me all that
interested but the song is not really that different from the studio version so
my attention is really the same either way.
This is a split single that the two groups were a part of.
The record was pressed on translucent purple. It was released in July of 2012.
I remembered seeing this release when it was new on the Slumberland Records web
page but couldn’t afford it at the time. It looked like an interesting pair of
songs.
The A side track from Girls Names is called A Troubled See.
It has a cool mid 80s style sound to it, especially with the 80s synth keys.
The guitar is drenched in echo again with this track. It sounds really spacy.
The bass stands out clear as the rock that it should be. It is a really cool
track.
The B side track is from Weird Dreams and is called House Of Secrets. The song is slower than the track from Girls Names and has a slow surf
sound that is super smooth. They have been compared to The Beach Boys in the
past so I can see the slight resemblance. The track also comes off kind of
spooky too. It is a very cool track and I am glad that I have a copy of the
song.
Remember that every thing on this post can be purchased through Slumberland Records web page. That is all I have for now...
No comments:
Post a Comment