Deep Cuts #37 Paint Me In Colour, L/zard, The Sewer Rats, Kooba Tercu, The Ominous
It’s our latest Deep Cuts column and Getintothis contributors have a set of new tracks for you to enjoy.
In the last Deep Cuts column, I mentioned that I’d watched Oscar winner Jojo Rabbit last month. The film, which is fantastic if you’re yet to see it, ends with a German version of David Bowie‘s Heroes.
“I can remember / Standing, by the wall / And the guns shot above our heads / And we kissed, as though nothing could fall.”
The song puts us on the faultline of Europe for much of the 20th century, the Berlin Wall. It was the location for much concern, conflict, and chaos.
Yet Bowie and his lover find a space to ignore the world around them, and for a matter of seconds, the carnage around them disappears.
Today, the UK seems a very similar place.
Random acts of kindness, creativity, and downright daftness are lighting up what are dark times that we are facing. We are the midst of a humanitarian crisis many of us have not seen and indeed will never see again.
There is an overwhelming sense of anxiousness, heightened as we are peppered with words like “quarantine” and “lockdown”, which will no doubt have living rooms across the nation feeling worried and under threat.
It is us, therefore, who have the privilege of such platforms at Getintothis to provide relief from such a scenario. Yes, we must report on the news and how it affects the city in which we are based, and the things that make us tick.
But, as many of us sit tight in our homes for a little while, perhaps music consumption has never been so active. We hope that you can find some enjoyment in the music below. – Lewis Ridley
Sound City launch Guest House streaming service with The Lathums and more
Kooba Tercu
Kooba Tercu: Qasan
Web
Web: Haze
The new project of guitarist of Dundee outfit The View, Kieran Webster, has born its first fruit in the form of Haze. A punkish, swaggering track that although evidences the style that made his original band so successful there is elements of his own influences coming through.
There’s jagged rock and roll, as Webster takes the lead of vocals, a role he is more than equipped for. The single is backed by a remix from fellow Scots Beta Max.
Their upcoming tour, to the surprise of nobody, has been postponed due to the ongoing difficulties the country is facing, but the release of their debut single provides solitude in these turbulent times. Indeed, as View colleague Kyle Falconer has done, this is perhaps the first step in a new direction for Webster and his new band. – Lewis Ridley
Visions of Albion: You’re Not Alone
Visions of Albion have been rising in profile over the past year after honing their sweet-sounding folk melodies at Light Night at the Philharmonic Music Room and performances on BBC Merseyside and the renowned Narrowboat sessions.
Their debut EP will be released in the summer with the single You’re Not Alone proving the perfect introduction to their delicate vintage sound. The track opens straight away with a gentle, tepid vocal from one half of the duo, Samantha Shields before she moves into deeper tones with haunting “Hey Yeah’s” assigned as a pleasantly recurring motif.
After effortlessly swapping lead vocal with Shields, Daniel Ryan uses an intricate acoustic finger-picking style to embellish the simple track, resulting in a Lindsey Buckingham meets Emmylou Harris euphoria of modern folk. – Naomi Campbell
MC Nelson
MC Nelson: The People’s Republic of Liverpool
Following his debut album from last year, Anglosfear, local rapper Nelson Adama (MC Nelson) returns with his first new music of 2020, the new Scouse anthem that is People’s Republic of Liverpool.
“Liverpool is a capital of itself,” starts Nelson in a track that’s a soulful form a conscious rap that bursts with civic vitality.
Speaking of the song, Nelson says: “I feel like this is the song about Liverpool that I’ve been trying to write since I was young, but I only now have the language and life experience to really pull it off.”
And pull it off he does, referencing the Docks, the Liver Building and taking aim at the Monarchy while he pieces together a life in a town which he calls our own country.
Perhaps the most poignant part of the track is its ending, with Nelson‘s dose of locality that hits the nail on the head.
“We got lighting in a bottle/that’s why Liverpool’s different/it can make you skint single/It can make a saint sinful/Where the smiles are wistful and the screams are visceral/When you leave they won’t miss you/ But Liverpool’s a place you take with you as you journey on/It’s the country I’m from and you can’t tell me I’m wrong.” – Simon Kirk
Capac: After Lights Out (with Tom Harding)
After Lights Out, the third album from experimental collective Capac, is woven around poet Tom Harding’s Night Work collection, with the writer’s reading of his work (complete with page turns and a creaky chair) featuring on many of the tracks.
Poetry and music can be an uneasy combination – a recitation of words with a musical background can be less than the sum of its parts, music relegated to a soundtrack prompting emotions that the listener should be feeling.
However, in this collaboration the interplay of elements forms an intriguing, unsettling whole.
More than a poetry collection set to music, After Lights Out is a whole new artwork, ambient electronica and language working together to conjure a deeply affecting experience.
Tom Harding’s spoken words interweave with notes, noises, moans, whispers and unclassifiable sonic events in an absorbing nocturnal evocation.
This is music that never settles, always seeming on the verge of spinning out of the frame, with words that drop and glow like glimpses of light in a night-time world.
Not simply an album, After Lights Out can be experienced as a multi-media artwork, with a ‘matchbox player and candle’ edition available as a physical release: “the listener is invited to light their candle and enjoy the album as it was conceived and produced by both Capac and Harding: at night in an otherwise dark room.” – Roy Bayfield
Samurai Kip at Deep Cuts
Samurai Kip: Smoke
The new track from genre-bending Liverpool outfit Samurai Kip sees them release the hazy single Smoke.
A sultry guitar jam that marries up with their satirical fragrance promo of the track, it’s their fourth release and already their second of 2020.
The first, Daybreak, is trademark Kip, but this track moves away from the swagger to engage with heartstring-pulling melodies. It’s made for spring sunshine, so crack a window and turn this one up for your neighbours.
On Friday (March 27), the band released a video of the track “Live from quarantine” on YouTube. It sees each band member play the track from their isolated locations. It is well worth a look if the Kip are your thing. – Lewis Ridley
Paint Me In Colour
Paint Me In Colour: Feel It.
Paint me in Colour’s single, Feel It. is a joyous and fun track. For a debut release, it is very confident with the Liverpool band stamping their identity onto it.
The track appears to take inspiration from many different places and has a carnival feel to it. The vocals on the song certainly add character, as does a range of different sounds.
Paint Me In Colour released the follow-up to their debut single last month, 1968 is a bright, jazzed up tune that pulls influence from disco grooves and exposes the vocals of Olivia Springer with impressive results.
They were due to perform a headline show at EBGBS in Liverpool in September, but due to circumstances, the gig has been put on the back burner. Keep an eye for the rescheduled date, though, and add a splash of colour to your fixture list. – Amos Wynn
L/zard
L/zard: Colour Blind
Here’s a funky little ditty.
Well crafted structure with driving Hammond thrown high into the mix.
Some clever melody links here that stick nice and tight to the keys, L/Zard certainly have the textbook of smooth soul, with a breezy Toploader nod tip-off.
2:30 mins in and the organ goes on a mad free for all, following in hot pursuit by a soaring guitar solo.
Sure, the band will be hitting the road soon. Particularly when they plan to release further new material next month. – Howard Doupe
Pacific Estate
Pacific Estate: She
She is Pacific Estates’ debut single, and it’s a hard-hitting one at that. Reigning from Toronto, Ontario, the bands’ debut is the story of of a man getting to know someone, but just as he starts to fall for her, another woman he’s always longed for starts to pursue him. It feels surreal, almost as if he is being set up. It’s about the struggle of determining if you’re being selfish or putting yourself first.
A steady riff from the offsets the scene, which gradually builds with the additions of drums and a second guitar, before coming together perfectly for the chorus.
The refined and easy to catch chorus reminds me of the Wasting Light era of Foo Fighters, it’s not something you can forget. The kind of song you’d listen to even just once and find yourself humming later on in the day.
The song was recorded with award-winning producer Julius “Juice” Butty who has also worked with the likes of Alexisonfire, and was the first song to be recorded in his new studio. Here’s hoping we’ll hear a lot more from them if it carries on like this. – James Baker
The Sewer Cats
The Sewer Cats: Fool
The ferocity of 90s Riot Grrrl intertwines with the riff-deep roots of Garage Rock in the latest single
Fool From Manchester duo The Sewer Cats.
The caustically playful vocals simultaneously exude reminiscences of Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) and Theo Corgan (Lunachicks) which leaves plenty of adrenalizing energy in the mix. While the punchy instrumentals carve out earworm-worthy rhythms which won’t be shy about sticking around.
Fuzz-laden dexterous licks may introduce the short and not so sweet track, but as the fuzz is slowly stripped back, you’ll be able to appreciate the full extent of the virtuosity found in the blazing guitar progressions.
Fool is the first track from the duo’s debut 6-track EP Zelda which is due for release on April 3, 2020, via Manchester DIY Punk label Hell Hath No Fury Records. – Amelia Vandergast
Charity Shop Pop – Billy Vitch
Charity Shop Pop: Lonely On Sunday
We’re all at home, no gigs to go to, but good music keeps coming to us, thank goodness. Even better if it works well as a soundtrack for some lazy time on the couch, reading a book or just organising our thoughts.
Charity Shop Pop’s Lonely (on Sunday) is one of those tunes, able to make you think “oh, that’s what I needed right now”. It’s a relaxing ballad coloured by David Hughes’ guitar, softly painting it with layers of delicate sounds.
His guitar playing has roots in the 1980s independent scene, nonchalantly floating around our ears like the sounds Viny Reilly produced back then, not bothered if anyone was listening. Perfect for loneliness alternative pop.
“Oh, it’s Sunday / I’m feeling lonely, again / You’re in my head” are the opening verses before Hughes sings “I like having you around”. Those are words about being comfortable with someone, even when that person is not with us. Because being on our own, when having someone in our head, is not complete loneliness, is it?
Hughes says the song: “is about being lonely, but then someone special coming into your life and changing it and making you feel better”. With or without that person, the important thing really is to feel better – and this tune does the trick, soothing the listener in the same way that the presence of that special one would.
Charity Shop Pop’s Lonely (on Sunday) is unpretentious, simple and natural, just like quality time at home should be. Put your feet up and enjoy. – Rogério Simões
Leonie Jakobi
Leonie Jakobi: Are You Lonely Enough
The debut release from Leonie Jakobi promises big things to come, with a suitably epic chorus merging with a gorgeously understated verse to create something very, very promising indeed.
Are You Lonely Enough? boasts a crystal clear production, with amazingly tight drums and crisp guitars providing the backdrop for Jakobi’s ethereal vocals – both powerful and subdued in equal measure.
Jakobi’s vocal really is a superb blend with the production of the track, with the guitars and drums matching the tone of the vocal nicely to create an amazingly coherent sounding song.
The chorus of Are You Lonely Enough? is incredibly mature for a debut release, reminiscent of the signature brand of epic shoegaze indie from acts such as Jaws.
Are You Lonely Enough? is perhaps too complex to be pigeon-holed into a single stylistic comparison. Elements of the aforementioned Jaws merge with dashes of pop-punk acts such as Neck Deep to create a track that’s both unique and strangely familiar.
The LIPA-based songwriter is currently enjoying an upward trajectory, unsurprisingly considering the quality of this release as a debut single.
If this is just the starting point of future things to come from Leonie Jakobi, it’s safe to say that big things can be expected. – Max Richardson
The Ominous (credit: John Lawton)
The Ominous: Lone Wolf
It is strange to think that this is only the second single from Liverpool’s The Ominous. The ferocious foursome has been wrecking neck muscles on the North-West live scene over the last few years with slots supporting the likes of Witch Tripper, as well as organising their Metal on Merseyside shows.
Released earlier this month, latest single, Lone Wolf, is an interesting complement to last year’s debut record, Ragnarok.
On and off stage the band’s easy-going nature shines through. On record, though, The Ominous are a different beast.
It is striking that Ragnarok and Lone Wolf in particular sound nothing short of pissed off.
Both songs display the band’s impressive ability to write immediately memorable, meaty riffs. Yet, Lone Wolf’s hooks come across as more dirty and primal, partly due to their lower pitch and the rumbling rhythm section accompanying them.
Vocalist/guitarist Kieran Martin channels a little of his inner Phil Anselmo (thankfully not too much) in order to imbue the lyrics with a satisfyingly gritty growl. A mournful solo that Ozzy-era Sabbath would be proud of also coheres with the images of isolation and depression that the song conjures up.
With its launch party gig having to be cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, here’s hoping that it won’t be too long before we see The Ominous perform Lone Wolf in all its savage glory in the flesh. – Nedim Hassan
Naeem
Naeem: You and I
Now, this is something exciting that’s dropped in the mailbox.
Think the natural picker-upper of the David McAlmont mantle.
Baltimore-born/Los Angeles based artist Naeem (full name Naeem Juwan) shares his new single as an announcement to signing to 37DO3D.
Offering up a fresh take on this Silver Apples classic, it makes your ears prick, stops you in your tracks and mindbends your audio senses. A deeply textured, emotional and daring tune.
‘The song’s about how we don’t have time for the little things, which feels really heavy and makes so much sense right now.’ Comments Naeem. Truly, get your headphones on for this one. – Howard Doupe
White Tail Falls
White Tail Falls: Fake News
White Tail Falls has shared his new single Fake News, the title track from his newly released debut EP and the latest track to be taken from his upcoming debut album, Age Of Entitlement.
It explores an array of evocative lyrical themes, set against a euphoric and immersive sonic palette touching on influences from the worlds of folk, mellow pop and alternative music.
Having crafted intoxicatingly beautiful soundscapes laden with equally self-reflective and observant lyricism – and with writing informed by the volatility of mental health, dreams becoming spirit-crushing grinds, and an eventual pivot to positivity – White Tail Falls is set to make a beautiful and soul-stirring mark as an exciting new presence.
He’s heading out on a UK tour in September, something good to look forward to! – Howard Doupe
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