This week’s Singles Club sees Getintothis’ Liam Fay testify on mismatching underwear, existential cargo transport and a very unwelcome return. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Bill Ryder Jones: Wild Swans – Single of the Week
Beautiful and delicate. I really don’t have enough superlatives for the immensely talented Bill Ryder Jones at the moment but, those are just a couple that spring to mind for the latest single of his sublime second album A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart.
Wild Swans is an aural and ocular treat of gorgeous proportions. It evokes the smell of autumnal mornings while throwing its arms around you and filling your lungs. I’m all over Bill’s scraggly, lazy charm as well.
You won’t stop playing this video back, I promise you.
Getintothis talks to Bill Ryder-Jones.
The Child of Lov: Fly
A bit sweaty. A bit dirty. A bit urggghhhhhh. A naughty little foot stomper of a record…and then there’s the cheeky video.
I won’t give away all of my thoughts about the video, though I will say this: What is she thinking with the non-matching underwear? There was definitely some sort of rule about that sort of attire down my local baths.
PINS: Get With Me
PINS put in a decent, angry, high tempo performance at Sound City this year and their latest single sees the Mancunian girl band aim to keep themselves in everyone’s ears.
Well worth a listen if a touch pedestrian compared to their live shows which are certainly worth a game.
They play Liverpool’s Leaf Tea Shop on Tuesday October 15. So something for you to look forward to there.
So Solid Crew: UK Hot Wid It
They gave the world 21 Seconds To Go and Romeo Dunn (‘Two multiplied by ten plus one equals Romeo Dunn‘ yeah that one, I still use that lyric whenever I’ve completed a task) and then I think they all got arrested for nicking Irn Bru from The Happy Shopper. At different times obviously. it wasn’t one massive raid.
Well, they’re back with UK Hot Wid It and they’re showing just how bad and urban they still are by misspelling the word ‘with’ on purpose. The bunch of try-hards. This got under my nails like sand from the beach so much that the next time I heard someone mention the word UK in a vaguely cockney tone I had to restrain myself from showering them in phlegm.
If you love the sound of children squeaking balloons ad infinitum though then this track could well be for you.
Birdy: Wings
Remember the tender teenage girl that did an equally tender cover of Bon Iver’s Skinny Love? No, well she’s back with something she’s done for herself and she seems to have gone down the Embrace route of stirring anthems.
This would have perfect for the end credits of The Open Championship this year or maybe the final day of The Ashes as a bearded Joe Root dances over the battle torn, weeping figure of Michael Clarke. Just a suggestion.
Oh, and here’s a fun fact; her real name is Jasmine van den Bogaerde. I may well be stealing the surname for my nom de plume.
Ghostpoet: Cold Win
Ghostpoet is all sorts of crazy cool. Though this latest track doesn’t hold a candle to anything he made for his last album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam. While Obaro Ejimiwe’s lyrics are still as tight and as cutting as before, something feels a touch amiss,
Maybe it’s the sinister, clinical backing track he has on the go. This is a definite grower though.
He can be found playing Liverpool’s Summercamp Festival on the weekend of August 25 with some other beasty acts.
It’s sure to be a doozy and I’m a touch devastated not to be going as my beloved Wigan Warriors will be winning the Challenge Cup at Wembley that day and I’ll be there donning the cherry and white in support.
Getintothis on Summercamp.
Pond: XanMan
There hasn’t been enough fuzzy, distorted Aussie rock going around recently. Oh no, wait, there has. There’s been loads. Enough to shake at least three sticks at. And here’s some more.
I’m not complaining though (very rare that, I know) as Pond release XanMan ahead of their fifth album Hobo Rocket which will hit, nay smash, these shores on August 5 and can be heard in full here.
The video is a touch on the snide side but you can discount that as this one and indeed the rest of the album is a bit of a corker.
The Wave Pictures: The Woods
Here’s another release from the Moshi Moshi stable and they’ve given us another worthy of a play or two. At first the rhythm irritated me as it rolls along like a disused coal train that is ashamed of its existence. Then there’s those plaid shirts.
Oh, those plaid shirts that look as though they long for the charity bin in a supermarket car park. If you’re not as superficial as me (which is most likely as I’m a shallow cretin) you’ll not even notice this. I stuck with it though and after a couple of plays I noticed the delightful lyrics and a natty guitar solo around five minutes in. Listen intently and you’ll notice this track’s majesty.
The Wave Pictures play the jewel in Liverpool’s live music crown, The Kazimier, on September 19.
