The Best of This Week’s Singles: St. Vincent, Cloud Nothings, Free Swim and more!
Published on February 5th, 2014 | Jonny Abrams
It’s the Best of This Week’s Singles, punkasses! Who have we got for you this week? Well, we’ll tell you right now: Cloud Nothings, Bombay Bicycle Club, Max Cooper, Pusha T featuring Kendrick Lamar, The Family Rain, St. Vincent, The Correspondents, and Free Swim.
That’s who.
Bombay Bicycle Club – “Luna”
A bit like Foals, except with a lightness of touch that saves Rocksucker from boredom.
Jack Steadman’s vocals strike as a little too on the ‘identikit’ side at first but go on to swoop gracefully amidst the layers of juddering, chattering sounds that may come as a pleasant surprise if like us you hadn’t been paying all that much attention to them.
We once had a rubbish curry at one of the Bombay Bicycle Club chain of restaurants, but we shan’t hold that against their popular beat combo namesake.
Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!
Cloud Nothings – “I’m Not Part of Me”
Feels at first like a return to poppier climes following 2012’s explosive Attack on Memory, but let it play out and it’s really only the hummable melody creating this impression.
Whacking great rhythm section and a Dinosaur Jr.-like abandon with scuzzy guitar and grittily yelping vocals make up the rest of it, and as long as it’s accompanied on their forthcoming new album by more cerebral moments then it bodes well.
Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!
Max Cooper – “Impacts”
Whirring, clacking, banging and flickering network of percussive elements that somehow work in unison despite making no apparent attempts to do so.
Pure rhythmic architecture of a considered nature, making for strangely effective ‘working’ music. A snatch of melody might have been nice, though.
Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!
Pusha T feat. Kendrick Lamar – “Nosetalgia”
Another quite staggering verse from Kendrick Lamar. The man’s on flames, literally.
Not sure why writing in manner of gaffe-prone sport commentator.
Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!
The Family Rain – “Trust Me…I’m a Genius”
Reminds us of Longpigs, which is only a good thing – a touch of recent-vintage Arctic Moneys about it, too.
Though it may feel a touch pedestrian to anyone who recoils at the merest hint of Britpop, there’s not much to fault about the songwriting, lyrics and enthusiasm.
Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!
St. Vincent – “Digital Witness”
More of the rubbery, eccentric funk that lit up her album with David Byrne, done up all nice like with some snappy lyrics about the rampant pervasiveness of personal technology.
Old school Gary Numan kind of chorus, to boot. How thoroughly, thoroughly ace St. Vincent continues to be.
Rocksucker says: Four out of Five!
The Correspondents – “Alarm Call”
Bit of everything going on in here. We’re not overly taken with the yelping Everything Everything-esque lead vocal, so it’s a testament to “Alarm Call” that we find it jolly entertaining nonetheless.
Rocksucker says: Four Quails out of Five!
Free Swim – “Transatlantic Tumnus”
This is how good Los Campesinos! could sound if they had original and fresh-sounding melodies swimming freely about their characterful lyrics.
An absolute blast, this one, spiky and unusual and so damn catchy.
Rocksucker says: Four and a Half Quails out of Five!
Those were the Best of This Week’s Singles! Join us tomorrow for the Worst of This Week’s Singles…
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