Swim Deep - One Great Song And I Could Change The World (Review)

Swim Deep

One Great Song And I Could Change The World - Review

To be perfectly honest, when I first heard Swim Deep, I didn't think much of them. I mean, they had one or two singles that I thought were pretty catchy and relatively enjoyable, but apart from that they stayed fairly off my radar. I figured after the release of their mediocre first album, 'Where The Heaven Are We', that was the end of them, and they'd disappear into the masses of bland indie bands to come before them.

However, I couldn't have been more wrong.

On their most recent single, One Great Song And I Could Change The World, Swim Deep have swapped their carefree generic indie summer-y sound for a far more mature, synth based sound, sounding more like an amalgamation of Jagwar Ma, Tame Impala and The Horrors than their previous selves. The result is a wonderful concoction of Austin Williams high vocals over a seriously groovy drum beat with an overall more psychedelic feel.

This is a track that truly showcases how much Swim Deep have grown as a band in the past two years, and has successfully managed to make their second album one of the most thoroughly anticipated of the year in my books.

Listen to the single here:

Top 7 BBCR1 Live Lounge Covers

Top 7 BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Covers

I have a deep set love for Live Lounge covers. I've always thought it to be such a genius idea, pushing bands out of their comfort zones by covering songs you'd never think they would. I've often thought pulling off a cover to be an artform in it's own right, setting apart decent bands from those who can make the cover their own, the ones who are truly great. Here are seven of my absolute favourites in no particular order, feel free to agree or disagree. (Click on the links below each song to listen)

1) Arctic Monkeys - Love Machine

A classic really, Arctic Monkeys take on Girls Aloud's Love Machine is a fun, light heart, thoroughly enjoyable listen.

Arctic Monkeys - Love Machine

2) London Grammar - Wrecking Ball

A haunting take on the Miley Cyrus number, Hannah Reid's soaring and pure vocals take this song to a whole new level.

London Grammar - Wrecking Ball

3) The Horrors - Best Thing I Never Had

The Horrors covering Beyonce is something I never believed I'd live to see, but here it is. A strange, synth-y take on the song, you'll either love it or you'll hate it.

The Horrors - Best Thing I Never Had

4) Lana Del Rey - Goodbye Kiss

Lana Del Rey is one of my absolute favourite singers, and Goodbye Kiss one of my absolute favourite Kasabian songs, so I think my love for this one is a given. Lana's deep, haunting vocals suit this song to the core, adding a new dimension to this tune.

Lana Del Rey - Goodbye Kiss

5) Biffy Clyro - Umbrella

Biffy Clyro are the undisputed kings of Live Lounge covers in my humble opinion, with their covers of Diane Young, Love Sex Magic and Take Me Out being particularly noteworthy. However, there's just something about this cover of Rhianna's classic and the way Simon Neil pours his heart into it that puts it above the rest.

Biffy Clyro - Umbrella

6) Peace - Doing It

Even Charli XCX herself admits this cover is better than the original. PEace are at their best covering pop.

Peace - Doing It

7) Foals - Hollaback Girl

Of all Live Lounge covers, this is my number one. Foals covering Gwen Stefani, what's not to love?! Rather a lot of lyrics from the original song missing, but the Oxford boys more than make up for it in pure passion. Yannis ain't no hollaback girl.

Foals - Hollaback Girl

Peace - World Pleasure (Live) / Since I've Been Loving You 12"

Peace - Record Store Day 12"

Review

Packaging looking slightly
worse for wear today...

Having laid my hands on one of the 1,000 copies of Peace's release for Record Store Day yesterday, and having played it nearly to death since, I feel it my solemn duty to review it.

The A side greets the listener with a live performance of World Pleasure - one of the clear standout tracks from Peace's 'Happy People', released earlier this year. Harry Koisser's playful vocals if anything sound better live than any studio recording could have captured. The bass solo outro sounds as funky, groovy and indulgent as ever, solidifying World Pleasure as one of Peace's best tracks, and one that works incredibly well live.

However, the real highlight of this album is its B side, a live cover of Led Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You. A Led Zeppelin cover is always a pretty daring thing to do, as nothing will ever really compare to the original, but Peace manage to pull it off with great success. Whilst shorter than the original, the cover really shows off Peace at their best, with Harry Koisser's singing  doing justice to Robert Plant's in the original, and brother Sam Koisser providing utterly excellent work on bass. The true highlight of this track however is the unexpectedly soulful guitar solo. This is a cover that truly shows off Peace's talents.

Record Store Day

Record Store Day 2015

This year marks my second year traversing into Dublin city in the early hours of the morning for Record Store Day. The build up to it is excruciating, dissecting impossibly long lists of releases to figure out:
1) What records I want
2) What records I desperately want
3) What records I will actually be able to afford

Starting off with a wishlist of thirty records I felt I needed in my life, I eventually managed to narrow it down to three - Temples/Fever The Ghost split 7", The Wytches/Hooton Tennis Club split 7" and whatever it was Peace were releasing. I really knew nothing about what Peace had decided to put forward for RSD, but Peace are Peace so I knew it was a necessary purchase.

I had my alarm set for 6am, yet managed to wake up a whole half hour earlier than that. I downed a cup of coffee before running to the bus stop, with only my iPod and a biography of Leon Trotsky to keep me company for the hour or so I knew I was going to be queuing.

I had decided that Freebird Records was to be my record store of choice this year, having made the mistake of queuing outside Tower Records last year, only to find by the time I got in that everything I wanted was already sold out. Upon arriving outside Freebird, I found myself to be the seventh person in the queue, and a good ten years younger than everyone there, not to mention the only female. With only a denim jacket to shield me from the cold, I set in for the long wait.

It was whilst I was reading of Trotsky being sent off to Siberia when a certain frenzy grew in those queuing alongside me, as doors were finally opened at 8am. Upon entering the shop, I had to fight my way through a group of middle aged men squabbling over the only two copies of U2's Songs of Innocence in stock to get to the 7"s. After hurriedly flicking through just about every 7" on display, I finally located the Temples/Fever The Ghost single, as well as The Wytches/Hooton Tennis Club one. Empowered by my success in locating two out of three of my desired purchases, I  wrangled my way back through the pandemonium over to the 12"s, determined to locate whatever it was Peace had released.

It was with a sense of pride and glee I lay my hands upon the last copy of Peace's picture disk, with two live recordings - World Pleasure on the A side, and their superb cover of Led Zeppelin's Since I've Been Loving You residing on the B Side. Overjoyed at finding the final copy inside Freebird, I ducked through the masses to the counter, ecstatic to have somehow succeeded in securing all three of the records I desired.

Record Store Day has proved to be an interesting, if slightly stressful experience both times I've engaged in it. Whilst the records are definitely on the overpriced side of things,  I still find the novelty of the whole thing to be thoroughly worth while, and the ridiculously early morning worth it.

Undertow Review

Album Review

Drenge - Undertow

I fell in love with Drenge's debut album upon first listen. Nothing quite appealed to my fifteen year old self as the unbridled angst and anger of it. With two years elapsed since then, I must admit I had developed some skepticism regarding Drenge. I was worried they'd be a one trick pony, but to say Undertow did a away with my fears is an understatement.

Opening with the slow building Introduction leading up into the growling unbridled beast of Running Wild, this is an album that is a new breed of animal. Highlights of the album definitely include the impossibly fast and rowdy Favourite Son, as well as the drudgy, heavy The Woods. Standing In The Cold's air of desperation crafts it into a perfect ode to messed up love. Eoin Loveless' vocals have never been more on point, and the addition of Rob Graham on bass has pushed Drenge to unparalleled levels of excellence. While there may be no single song to rival, say, the majesty of Let's Pretend, the album as a whole works far better as a unit than Drenge's debut.

On the whole, I'd give this album a solid and well-deserved 10/10.