White Flowers – Day by Day

After three exquisitely crafted single releases in ‘Night Drive’ and ‘Day by Day’ and ‘Within a Dream’, Preston’s White Flowers finally release their debut album, Day by Day.

White Flowers is made up of Katie Drew and Joey Cobb who together weave the most wonderful soundscapes blending post-punk, goth, dreampop and shoegaze in their own unique way. The atmosphere created across these ten tracks is one of sheer escapism and finding wonder in the everyday. The band take pride is keeping tight creative control over the band’s aesthetic. From the black and white imagery on the cover of their records to the striking visuals at their live shows. This commitment to their craft has led to them producing one of 2021’s most cohesive and accomplished albums.  Let me explain why.

The album opens on the appropriately titled “Intro”. Very much setting the mood and sonic palette for the album it’s a short and breathy burst before we are into “Night Drive”.

Those of you familiar with the band will know this as the lead track on their 2020 single. They really have captured the oppressive and paranoid feel of a late-night drive. I can picture myself on a rainy motorway as I listen.

As if flipping to the opposite side of the coin “Daylight” shimmers and sounds like starlight on a rain-soaked pavement. The arpeggio guitar line is just gorgeous, as is Drews vocal. Passionate and committed. You can’t help but stop what you are doing and pay attention.

 “Stars” is a stunning slice of Cocteau Twins like, song writing. The ever-moving guitars play against a heavy programmed drum loop that sounds like something from “Head Over Heels”. It’s a potent track that is equal parts intoxicating and moving.

“Tried to Call” is such a romantic slice of dream pop belying the tragic love story being told. Breathy vocals float over the most spacious guitars and echoing drums. The chorus just grabs you as it lifts and soars. I can see this becoming a big fan favourite.

Following is my album highlight and the oldest track on the album. “Help Me Help Myself” is song writing on a grand scale. From the gentle back and forth of the verses to the stratospheric lift in the chorus this is undoubtedly Drews finest vocal performance on the album and Cobb’s most breath-taking soundtrack.

“Day by Day” their debut single for Tough Love Recordings is up next. A gloriously bleak lyric plays out against a bombastic backdrop of chiming synths and guitars on the edge of feedback. This is truly a northern song.

“Different Time, Different Place” hangs a silvery, gossamer backdrop over a steady and surefooted bassline. As with so many of the tracks on this album there is a theme of being in cars. I love the pre chorus line of “In the summer we are driving in the back of someone’s car”. Such an evocative line which leads to gorgeously sung title.

I was so excited to hear “Portra” as I had missed on grabbing the single at the time. I was also intrigued by the title as I had grown up with a photographer in the house and often seen Kodak Portra film lying about. On face value this song appears to be about a trip. The woozy, out of focus guitars and seductive nature of the lyrics all add up to very heady mix. Thankfully it’s a very pleasant trip we are taken on with “colours everywhere”.

The album closes where we began, at night. “Nightfall” starts a lot more sparsely arranged than the rest of the album. Slowly Cobb weaves in pulsing drums and more guitars before reaching a crescendo. This plays well as the finale. 

White Flowers have crafted a debut album that is indelibly stamped with their identity, with the shadows of their upbringing in the north of England. Every note has been carefully planned and played so as to capture the mood of the lyrics sung by Drew. What I really love about Day By Day is that it instantly won me over yet each time I put the needle on the record I hear something new, feel something different about the songs in those grooves. To achieve that in your career is amazing. To achieve that on your debut? Well, that’s incredibly special.

Day By Day is out now via Tough Love. Alongside digital formats, it has been pressed on a variety of vinyl variants. The blue vinyl variant is currently available from their Bandcamp page.

Beachy Head – Beachy Head

The beautiful Beachy Head cliffs in England are a popular tourist destination as well as a notorious suicide spot. It’s that dichotomy between the joyous and the heart wrenching despair that run up the back bone of Beachy Heads self-titled debut album.

Founded by Slowdive guitarist Christian Savill along with Ryan Graveface of The Casket girls and Graveface Records, Steve Clarke of The Soft Cavalry, Matt Duckworth of The Flaming Lips. If that list of illustrious players wasn’t enough Rachel Goswell of Slowdive and Mojave 3 fame lends her considerable vocal talents to the project too.

I pre ordered this album without hearing a note based on the strength of that line up. I have been so looking forward to hearing it start to finish. Let’s drop the needle and see what they have in store for us.

The album opens on the luscious “Warning Bell”. The verse has a Celtic almost folk vocal feel before erupting into the most euphoric chorus. As an opener I don’t think they could have picked a stronger song. This one hits you right in the feels.

Next up is “Michael”. A song which feels steeped in nostalgia. There is a blend between 80’s synthwave and dream pop pulsing through. The video taps into that nostalgia too with a family playing some VR game that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the TV back in the 90’s.

“Distraction” darkens the tone a little with the band channelling the spirit of Depeche Mode to great effect. Fluttering electronica dances over the sultry bass and echoing synth. I love the dark, almost gothic vibe the band conjure towards the end of the track. Makes you want to skip back and listen again.

But onwards we go.

The darkness remains for “All Gone”. The song opens with Savill, like a troubadour, laying it all out there. The song is swathed in an eerie undulating drone and swelling synths giving it an other-worldly feel. Whilst the listener is left with a feeling of uneasiness, as if having eavesdropped on a deeply personal conversation, it is tempered by the sheer beauty of the vocal delivery.

“Looking for Exits” comes bounding out the gate all happy chords and Duckworth laying down his trademark drum sound. Alas the lyrics tell a more ill-starred tale “I held on to the fragments cause she was only looking for exits”. This is the magic of Beachy Head. Taking the deeply sorrowful and couching it in a killer melody. Coming in at just under three minutes I was crying out for more. Something tells me that was the plan.

This album’s acoustic ballad is up next in the shape of “October”. There is an unmistakable Mojave 3 influence in the delivery of this number. That is then warped as the song progresses as it is slowly overwhelmed and engulfed in a slow building wash of reverb. 

In striking contrast “Hiddensea” is a strident electronic pop smash. It’s like a mash up of Castlebeat and Tubeway Army. This song is my absolute favourite on the album. The simplistic guitar line really appeals to me. Ultimately though, it all comes back the chorus. In “Hiddensea” Beachy Head have the most devastatingly catchy hook. This song alone will keep the album on my turntable for a long time to come.

The closer “Destroy Us” leans into that Tubeway Army vibe instigated on the previous song. The vocals are massive, like medieval castle turrets bearing down on the rest of the song. I love how the synth mirrors the vocal line. It adds that extra texture to lift the song from really good to absolutely exceptional.

What Savill & Co have created in Beachy Head is another world. A place where you can lose yourself for half an hour in the glorious song writing on display. Compound that with stellar performances from all involved and you have a sure-fire hit on your hands.

Beachy Head is available now via Bandcamp and in independent record shops.

Piroshka – V.O.

With their new album Love Drips And Gathers due for release 23rd July via Bella Union, and having previously shared a video to lead track ‘Scratching At The Lid’, today Piroshka share a video to new single ‘V.O.’ The band features members of Lush, Moose, Elastica and Modern English in their line up and had great success with their debut album Brickbat.

Of the track, which is a tribute to Vaughan Oliver, 4AD’s legendary in-house art director who died in late 2019, Piroshka vocalist Miki Berenyi says: “I wrote this originally as an instrumental but the rest of the band convinced me to put a vocal on it. The lyrics are snapshot snippets of Vaughan Oliver’s funeral in January 2020 – lines from the speeches, fleeting impressions of the day. I’m getting to the age where the people I grew up with are dying and I find funerals a comfort in the sadness, formal but emotional, a celebration of a life, a space for the living to reconnect.”

Video director Connor Kinsey adds: “We wanted to put this ominous-being centre frame and allow the viewer to reflect on fear and loss whilst also embracing hope and futurity through its life experiences. Giving the subject no recognisable features meant that it’s emotional journey through the different timelines felt more relatable to a wider audience.”

Here is the video for you to enjoy.

PREMIERE – Go With Strangers – Further

Once again Static Sounds Club are proud to be bringing you another exclusive premiere.

Malaysian multi-instrumentalist Eugene San has created a new musical project called Go With Strangers. Determined to face his social anxiety head-on, and picking up the mic for the first time in his life. Go With Strangers marks Eugene’s first entire solo effort (self-produced, written, and recorded) in a full-band format.

What a lush affair it is too. A dense wall of sound laced with moments of that glide guitar we all love so much. A powerful rhythm section drives the song forward with real purpose. Meanwhile Eugene provides the gentlest vocal delivery, being both comforting and poignant. Fans of Nothing and Tennis System will find a lot to admire here.

The single is accompanied by stunning video which I am proud to be premiering on Static Sounds Club. I hope you enjoy it.

The single ‘Further’ is available from all usual streaming outlets now.

Un.Real – Islands

Close observers of the shoegaze scene will have picked up the last two singles from Puerto Rico’s Un.Real. “Blue Garden” and “Lovely One” heralded a band arriving fully formed and ready to conquer the world.

The band have had an ever-evolving list of members around main man Gardy Perez-Ruiz. With influences ranging from The Cure to My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive they have forged their own unique brand of dream pop. They now present us with Islands, their debut LP.

The album opens on “Kids are Astronauts”, a swaggering, dreamy opus. This is what you call coming out swinging. This song grabs your attention from the outset with the contrast between the heavy and dreamy guitars, the male and female vocals. There’s some nice dynamic stop/starts as well. This bodes well for the rest of the album.

We segue through a looped guitar riff into the strident intro to “Drones”. I love the vocal melody here. It slip-slides over the fuzz-driven guitars like raspberry sauce over an ice cream cone.  No sooner has the song begun than it is bidding us farewell on a wave of feedback.

Following on is “Lovely One”. This song has fascinated me since I first heard it. It begins with the two contrasting guitar lines that define the song. One shrieking and just holding itself together from the feedback, the other chiming through a warm comforting blanket of lush reverb. Couched in between comes the beautiful vocals of Bernice Cruz lifting the song to another level. Her voice centres the whole track whilst supporting and building on the foundational guitar lines.

The feeling of space is palpable when, by rights, we should be crushed beneath the waves of sonic distortion. And it’s just when we are lifted the highest that the song segues into “Islands”, which is just the most beautiful acoustic and synth-led instrumental. It is so different to the previous track that each time you hear it you are still taken unawares.

The first single for the album is up next. “Blue Garden” is a beautifully textured tone masterclass. Robin Guthrie himself would kill for this song, I should think. As we move into the ascending chord swell of the chorus it gives you goosebumps every time. The guitars compliment the vocal melody so well. This is a very accomplished piece of music.

Like the title says, “Nylon Pop” is a jangly indie pop song couched in the reverbed and tremolo-soaked tones of Perez-Ruiz’ guitar. It’s like a Primitives song performed by My Bloody Valentine.

“Voltaire” enters all brooding and dark. Like a seventies sci-fi theme curling, looping and evolving. Getting steadily more mechanised and intense until it simply evaporates into the ether.

As if to immediately counter the darkness, in comes “You’re Smarter”, full of the rampant joy the early Stone Roses singles had. I love how the band work that early nineties sound and morph it into something unique. Without a doubt my album highlight.

“Sun Like Star” sets us up for the end of the album with a peaceful and gentle intro, leading us into the dreamiest of choruses. There is a really cool drop in the middle of the song where you think it’s all over, only for the guitars to slowly start to build again. I can imagine this will be a huge live favourite when the band are able to get out and gig this album.

The album closes on the sprawling soundscape that is “Space Shore”. Sounding very like some lost Pink Floyd track, the song floats along as though weightless, airborne. I can imagine this is what being in space feels like. As we settle in and get comfortable, the band have a surprise in store for us as a fraught saxophone comes in on the outro. Building to cacophonous crescendo, the song then drifts off into farthest reaches of the cosmos.

The promise of those early singles has well and truly been met and exceeded on Islands. There is a lot to enjoy immediately, as well as repeated listens rewarding you with something new each time.

Islands is available to pre order now on incredibly limited vinyl via Qrates. The back catalogue is available to listen and buy over on the Un.Real Bandcamp page.

PREMIERE: Beatastic – Echoes Through the City

Brighton based Beatastic is the solo project of one Nicholas Wardell. Founder of Shoredive Records, Wardell is a busy fella being a member of Xeresa, Futurafter and numerous other collaborations. I am very grateful and honoured to be have been asked to share with you an exclusive premiere of the video to ‘Echoes Through the City’ from his upcoming Refraction EP.

The song is a slow-burning synth-led ballad with an ecological theme. The organic sound of an acoustic guitar strumming like a ghost of the song is only fully revealed in the closing seconds cleverly.

When the song suddenly blooms into a synthwave anthem it takes your breath away. The sound now augmented with pounding drums and droning guitars.

The video features stunning footage shot by drone photographer Tom Fisk. His unique style of getting his drone close to the subject creates some exceptional and awe-inspiring moments. You can check out more of his work on Instagram.

The Refraction EP is out on 22nd May via the Shoredive Records Bandcamp page. Without any further ado here is the world premiere of ‘Echoes Through The City’

Fallen Arches – Pen to Paper

This is one waaaaay overdue blog. Little over three years ago I promised to meet up with West Coast of Scotland singer songwriter Colin Bell to talk about his album Pen to Paper. That never happened. I still don’t know why to this day but sitting here now listening to the album I am regretting my shoddy memory.

Colin plays under the name Fallen Arches and to date has this, his debut album and the Footprints EP under his belt. Pen to Paper was deservedly nominated for a SAY award at the time and listening now I can see why.

So, lets drop the virtual needle on this album.

The album opens on the delicately picked chords of ‘Burn Bright’. The light and shade on the instrumentation is so well layered. The chorus has this sheen of midi strings and pounding drum. What’s more immediate is Colins lyrics. He has the poetic leanings of a latter day Woomble with a delivery that would have made the late, great Scott Hutchison very proud indeed. It’s obvious we are in for an emotional ride.

The rhythmic strumming of ‘Lost at Sea’ eases us in before the timing is switched up, as if the song itself is having a panic attack. “I can’t help the way I feel, I’m inside out I’m lost at sea” implores Bell. Whilst the song is simplistic (two chords mostly) through manipulating the pace of the song our interest is held firm. This is from the heart stuff.

A Christmas song next. Really cheerful, jaunty chords strummed with attack ushers the song in. Bell is switching up the mood. That is until the end of verse one when the song spins on a penny and we hear about the hardship faced by so many at Christmas. This is so cleverly composed. It also speaks to Colin’s eye for a song fighting with his social conscience.

‘Foreign Noises’ grabs you immediately. Patently written about an experience in an hospital, losing someone, it’s so heartbreakingly relatable. By the time the chorus comes in on the low cello hum we are already emotionally invested. I actually can’t find the words to say how deeply this affected me. ‘Foreign Noises’ is a stunning piece of song writing.

The albums title track comes in at pace lifting the mood. This is a song straining at the leash, dying to stomp on the distortion pedal and rock out. Again, the dynamics make this song a really interesting listen. It also helps there is a killer hook for the chorus.

‘Eggshells’ is perhaps the most complex song on the album so far, musically speaking. From the simplistic opening of picked chords under Bell’s stream of consciousness delivery we double time into a darkly hewn chorus. Out of nowhere the drums suddenly double time again like we are running at speed from some unknown assailant. I would have loved this section to go on a bit longer, perhaps that was the intent.

Nostalgia is always the friend of the songwriter. That said it is incredibly difficult not to sound schmaltzy or to create that picture in the listeners head that you set out to when you first put pen to paper. Oh, that’s a bit meta. Moving on. In ’Seventeen’ Bell paints a vivid picture. He gently takes our hand and leads us through his memory. We walk through reminisces good and bad but no matter how bad that memory may be, he always leads us back to the light. “we were invincible, untouchable and no-one will ever take that away from us”. It is apparent that hope is important to Bell as it should be to us all.

Nowhere on the album is that more obvious than on the epic closing track ‘Let It All Out’. This is one special song. If you forced me to recommend one song to sum up what Fallen Arches is all about, it’s this one. A paean to looking after your mental health for the sake of yourself and those you love. It’s chock full of quotable lines like “Counting blessings and ignoring years, gaining inhibitions and losing friends”. That line floors me every time. It also has a chorus that will be spinning round and round your head for weeks. Isn’t that the sign of a great song?

In Pen to Paper Bell has created a portal into his reality, his existence. There is no filter and we take him as we find him. All these songs are intensely personal and we feel fortunate to have been allowed to visit and spend time there. What is left is an image of a humble man with an incredible talent for weaving these melodies from the threads of his own life.

Keep your eyes peeled for more music coming soon from Fallen Arches, I can exclusively reveal his new album Passing Disaster will be out later in the year with another album to follow this in 2022. Before lockdown Bell was one of Scotland’s hardest working musicians out gigging most weekends. Thankfully with things easing he will be back on stage in Glasgow at The Hug and Pint on November 7th 2021 with more gigs to be announced.

Meanwhile you can find Pen to Paper on his Bandcamp page as well as streaming in all the usual places.

Tennis System – Truth Hurts

As a huge fan, I was thrilled to receive the latest single from LA’s Tennis System.

San Francisco based label, Quiet Panic have picked the band up and are unveiling the new single and music video ‘Truth Hurts’, the first track off the forthcoming release Autophobia, scheduled for release in late-summer 2021.

Written and recorded entirely during the pandemic, Autophobia is the first new full-length since 2019’s Lovesick and marks a thrilling new chapter and a logical shift in sound for, the now solo project of, guitarist/vocalist Matty Taylor.

Though minimalism reigns on Autophobia, the chorus-heavy anthems Tennis System are known for bleed into the first single, ‘Truth Hurts,’ in which Taylor lays out an argument that being alone is not necessarily being weak.

The trademark Tennis System modulated glide guitar ushers in Taylors vocal. A vocal that has been given a more prominent role in the mix than any of his previous work, and it’s a revelation. This is by far the best performance I have heard from Taylor, poised and in control. the whole song hangs around it like a new suit.

Something else that is refreshing and new is the pace. It has been dialled down to a more sedate and leisurely stroll as opposed to the frenetic dash of the tracks on Lovesick. This gives Taylor room to explore his new sound. Synths now envelope his fuzzed-out riffs creating a beautiful glass like sheen to the overall sound. Something fans of the genre will fall for immediately.

It’s so great to have new material from Tennis System. I’ll be back with a full review of Autophobia nearer its release date. Meanwhile you can pre order your copy on the Quiet Panic Webstore in the US or if you are in the EU/U.K. you can grab a copy from Through Love Records.

Kali Ma and the Garland of Arms – Notions

I’m a huge fan of the comforting sounds of dreampop, the hypnotic drone of psych and the driving rhythm of space rock. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if I could find a band who deliver on all those points?

Enter Kali Ma and the Garland of Arms.  This amazing band hail from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and formed back in 2017. Their music encompasses elements of rhythmic, psychedelic minimalism as well as the swoon-some sounds of dream pop.

This week they released their latest single ‘Notions’ and I was immediately struck by the complexity of its composition. Building on a foundation of drums with a real swing and driving bass we have fuzzed guitar and soaring synths. Atop all of this leading the way with her stellar vocals is Jami Kali. Kali’s vocal style is hard to pin down. I think that’s why I took to the band so quickly. Fans have compared them to Cranes and Mira but I think they sound more like if Medicine met Tanya Donelly.

‘Notions’ is out now and you can check it out over on their Bandcamp page. In the meantime, here’s the video for the single.

Hadda Be – Wait in the Dark

Ahead of the April release of their debut album Brighton’s Hadda Be are back with an incendiary new single and video. Last month we looked at their ‘Another Life’ single which we loved. This track ratchets the tension and pace up another level.

‘Wait in the Dark’ really lives up to the title. It is a dark, frenetic rush of grunge laden adrenalin. Whilst their previous single touched on the more anthemic Brit Pop this one digs into that US Seattle sound. Guitar’s thrash and wail but it’s the sheer explosive nature of the drums that frame this whole song. There is a real anger in singer Amber Oliver’s delivery but at the same time you can hear she is having fun playing with spoken word delivery in the chorus.

This is post punk grunge with a twist in that it’s seriously hooky. You’ll find yourself singing the chorus to yourself for days after hearing it. I can just imagine this being played live and the whole place going off. It’s an anthem for the mosh pit for sure.

You can stream the single right now and pre order the album over at Last Night From Glasgow.