Radiation City (photo by Holly Andres)
There’s plenty of gloom and plenty of groove in this week’s new music round-up, lovingly compiled and curated, as ever, by Getintothis’ Patrick Clarke.
The name of a band’s labelmates can sometimes be worth as much to their status as that of the label itself, and though with their recent signature to Polyvinyl they’re now rubbing shoulders with the likes of Alvvays, Of Montreal and Japandroids, Portland five-piece Radiation City show every indication of passing muster by comparison.
New single Juicy floats on a supreme confidence, a composed semi-swagger of modish rhythm, vocals that float into perfect place amid waves and sways of St Vincent tinged weaves of synth and guitar for a truly finished article that builds from one crescendo to another, yet always slips back into a measured, otherworldly cool.
Mute meanwhile, can boast the excellent On Dead Waves as their latest recruits, whose debut album, out next Spring, comes steeped in “dark memories and buried emotions”. It’s one of them, but as evidenced by new single Blackbird it’s in the best possible way, with a noirish gloom of guitars giving way to breathy dual vocals with sumptuous poise.
The accompanying video, directed by award-winning Polish filmaker Lukasz Pytlik, matches the music’s intense, simmering atmospherics in breathtaking style, a subtle psychedelic mini-epic tinged by gorgeous autumnal melancholia.
There’s a tint of sadness to Manchester newcomers Faitala‘s new single Beasts, too. A twisting, morphing six minutes of absorbing long-form pop, there’s hints of LCD Soundsystem at their finest when the trio hit their pacing stride, not least with the astounding, lifting burst of the song’s euphorically groovy second half. Out on December 11 this is as solid as alt-pop gets.
