Single Review: Burnt Island - Hiding Out

Last time I checked in on Burnt Island properly they'd just released debut mini album Music and Maths, which I really quite liked. A new single means it is time to check in again.

Hiding Out comes from Music and Maths and is every bit as gorgeous as it was back in March. What starts out as a very gentle, quiet and stripped back song gains pace around half way through, before exploding in to a fuller sound towards the end. It is one of those moments that catches you off guard and makes for a wonderful, spine tingling little surprise.

B-Side Gambler's Dream doesn't appear on the album, but wouldn't have been out of place. Based entirely around vocals and acoustic guitar it is a soft, laid back, storytelling song, which works to beautiful effect.

Stay tuned for a catch up interview with Burnt Island's Rodge Glass sometime soon too, just as soon as I get my act together.

Burnt Island - MySpace

Hiding Out is available as a free download from Wiseblood Industries on July 12th. Music and Maths is available online and in shops, released by Chaffinch Records. Also, do check out Burnt Island's cover of Elliott Smith's Between the Bars here. It is a great version of a wonderful song, with proceeds going to Depression Alliance UK.

Burnt Island play the Spiegletent at the Edinburgh Book Festival with Adrian Crowley, Alan Bissett, Doug Johnstone, Ryan Van Winkle and a top secret special guest on August 30th.

We Have a Winner

If you missed it, last week I had a wee competion to win the new Cancel The Astronauts EP.
Closing date was last night, and I've now picked a winner.

The original plan was to make a video of me drawing names out of a hat to avoid any accusations of contest rigging, but this plan was scuppered somewhat by my Poundland microphone not working, and my webcam being a bit rubbish. Also, my bedroom is a pure state, so it is probably as well I didn't do that.

Instead, a random number generator was used - twice actually, since he first time I quite brilliantly failed to assign numbers to the names, I'm not very good at this - and the winner was number 6.

After checking the numbers our winner of the CD was Rachel Sermanni.
Thanks to the handful of folk that entered, sorry I couldn't give all of you a CD but I only had one spare.

Funny For A Girl is available to buy from Bandcamp.

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko II Update

A week and a half to go until AVPII, so it is probably time for a wee update on things.

Advance tickets for the gig are now available. As with last time we won't try and charge you any add ons, no booking fees and free postage too (unless you order too late for me to safely post them, then we'll keep one for you to collect). This time we are even throwing in a little download pack, with a song from each of the bands playing on the night.

Tickets are available here. At least they are if I haven't messed up Bandcamp along the line.

So that's We're Only Afraid of NYC, Randolph's Leap and Little Yellow Ukuleles, at The 13th Note, on Saturday July 17th. Doors at 8:30.
See you there? There's a Facebook event page too, for those that like to click things.

Single Review: Skies Fell - Statues

Glasgow four piece Skies Fell came to my attention a little while ago when they made their first single available for free download, which was good enough to make sure I kept an eye out for them.
Now their follow up single is ready for release, and it too is pretty good.

Skies Fell do the same kind of melodic alternative rock that many bands in Glasgow do, which often isn't really up my street. Some bands do it well enough that they stand out from the pack and make music that I enjoy, even when I don't expect to.
Obviously since I'm writing about Skies Fell, they manage to fall into the small bunch that I enjoy. Statues is punchy and short, with a big anthemic chorus and staccato guitar riffs, and does it's job well. I prefer b-side Sharky and George though. It doesn't seem to be related to the crime busters of the sea, but does have a bit of a water theme to the lyrics. It is a wee bit overblown, but entertaining rather than annoyingly so.

Good stuff from a band that have raised the bar for themselves rather high already, fingers crossed they keep living up to the standards they've set themselves.

Skies Fell: Website - MySpace - Bandcamp

Statues is available August 9th from Bandcamp.

The BAMS World Cup

You might have noticed there's been some football on recently, but what you might not have noticed is some of the Scottish Blogs and Music Sites (the BAMS for short) showing a higher than normal desire for a North Korean full back to pick up a clean sheet, a Uruguay striker to net a brace, along with howls of outrage at an unjust booking or an injury time goal.

The reason for all this is simple, we've got a World Cup Fantasy League. With the semi finals a day away now seems a good time to check in, see who has been doing well, and mock those that have underachieved.

The Aye Tunes team has suffered from mixed fortunes. Stays at the top of the table have been sighted, but only briefly. Accidentaly using half of the allotted transfers while drunk one night did us no favours, neither did rash decisions made after a poor afternoon game, inspiring points chasing changes for the evening game which almost never worked well. That being said, team Aye Tunes has for the most part lurked around the higher parts of the table, and with four games to go sits n third place. The final games of the tournament will decide whether I can hold on to that spot, or plummet down the table. With all my transfers used up half my team will only have one meaningful game left, but I will be more interested in Saturday's Third/Forth Place Playoff match than I normally would.

Currently, the league looks a bit like this:

If by the end of the week you find that myself, Dear Scotland, The Tidal Wave of Indifference, Jocknroll, Elba Sessions and Favourite Son aren't talking to each other, or one of us is laughing at all the others, you'll know why.
Additionally Jockrock has an excuse for being bottom, Stuart hasn't been able to access his team since before the World Cup started. Jim Gellatly has no excuse though..

This Week's Records

A few good records out this week.

The Last Battle release their debut single Ruins on 17 Seconds Records.
Endor self release their debut album. To celebrate they are doing a couple of instore gigs, which I forgot to mention on the gig guide. On Monday they'll be in Avalanche in Edinburgh, before heading to LOVEmusic in Glasgow on Thursday. Predictably enough you can get the album on Bandcamp, as well as the usual record & download shops.

Kid Canaveral have their debut out today too. Keen eyed readers will be aware of that already, but there's no harm in reminding you. You can pick up a download here, or buy a CD here. Also, you can read my review of it here.

The Boy Who Trapped The Sun has a new single, called Katy.

The Recovery Club have their debut single out too. Rest And Be Thankful is released today by Antimatter Music. It is quite lovely, as I mentioned during the last Round Up Reviews. You can get hold of it direct from the label, on Bandcamp, or from all the usual download shops.

American Men get in on the debut act too, with the Cool World EP.

droy is a later entry, just coming to my attention on Tuesday afternoon. Probably better know as David Roy from Dananananaykroyd, droy has made an instrumental summery indie pop record called Bird Drums. It is available on Bandcamp, and well worth the £4 asking price.

This Week's Gigs 5th - 11th July

I made it Edinburgh and back alive, you'll be pleased to know. My lighter didn't though, as soon as I arrived in Edinburgh the cheap lighter died on me, thankfully that wasn't some kind of omen.
Not much in the way of gigs this week, presumably most promoters reckon that punters will be saving up their money to stand in mud at the weekend. What's on is good though, so think of it more as a quality over quantity week.

Monday:

Scunner, Glasgow Glam Bangers and Creative Martyrs. Spangled Cabaret, Rio Cafe, Partick. Free.
A wee freebie to kick off the week.
The Corleones, A Day Overdue. Classic Grand. £6.

Tuesday:

French Wives and Rachel Sermanni. Brel.
Even though the West End Festival is finished it still manages to get in to the gig guide, with this gig rescheduled from a couple of weeks ago.

Saturday:

Kid Canaveral, Standard Fare and Water Wolves. The Flying Duck. £5.
I'd rather stab myself in the face than go to T In The Park, but happily Half My Heartbeats are providing an alternative for Saturday night. The Kid Canaveral album launch gig was a ton of fun, and this likely will be too.
Also on Saturday, in the Kitchen bit of The Flying Duck is the second Blog Rocking Beats night, where The Vinyl Villain and A North Country Bhoy will be playing some records, so long as they can remember how to work the DJ gear.

COMPETITION - Win the new Cancel The Astronauts EP!

As mentioned, and reviewed, earlier in the week, Cancel The Astronauts have a new EP out now, titled Funny For A Girl. You can buy it here.

To celebrate I'm going to give away a CD of it to one of you lucky people.

To be in with a chance of winning simply email your name and something funny* to competition@ayetunes.org.uk.
Competition closes at 6PM on Wednesday July 7th, at which point I'll pick a winner out of a hat, or other form of answer selecting container.

* Funny ha-ha, funny peculiar, whatever!

Submissions

It occurs to me that I haven't actually mentioned for a while how you can send me music for review or whatever, so this is just a wee quickie to say the best ways to do it, and what to avoid.
it is hardly a complicated process, so don't be put off by the things below, it is just intended to give you an idea of the best way to stand out in a crowded inbox, or at least avoid going straight in the bin.

Things to do:

The best thing to do is send me an email. If you are only sending a couple of songs go ahead and attach them, if there's more than that then upload them somewhere and email over a download link. There's loads of places you can upload a zip file to without much hassle, personally I like Dropbox, but others are fine too. Please don't attach a zip file to your email though, Gmail eats attached zips. I'll never get it, you'll think I just ignored it.

An alternative is Soundcloud, you can upload tracks to my dropbox there.

If you don't want to give me a download for free (which is of course fair enough) then send me somewhere I can stream the songs easily. Again, Soundcloud is good for this, but even better is Bandcamp, where you can try and sell me something too.

CDs. You can offer to send me a CD, but I usually prefer to hear what is on it first. This reduces the chances of you wasting time and money on sending me a CD I don't like, which just lays in a pile somewhere in my house. If you still want to send me a physical copy go ahead and ask for my address.

If you are sending me something for review it is handy, though not essential, to include a wee bit about yourself or your band. A quick bio, any useful links, that kind of thing. Oh, and do try and include details on the release, most importantly the release date and where it will be available from, what format, etc. Don't leave me guessing, I'll just get it wrong, or not get round to checking! MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, all that kind of thing are handy too.

Things not to do:

Be a dick. That should go without saying, but every now and then someone gets the bright idea that I'll pay more attention if they act like an arsehole to me. I won't.

Show a complete lack of research. Half the stuff that clogs up my inbox comes from American PR firms that have missed the point. Others start off with something along the lines of "Hi Ayetunes". Aye Tunes isn't my name, Jim is. It says so on every post. You might be sending the same form email to every blogger around, but at least do a little checking on things like that first.

Send me straight to MySpace. I really don't like using MySpace, if that is the only option I have for listening to tracks from the EP you want me to review I more than likely won't bother. Apart from anything else, have you ever listened to your music on MySpace? It sounds awful!

Likewise, don't send me to straight to iTunes, I don't buy anything from it. Again, if you want to lure me into paying for your new release right away, Bandcamp is your best bet.

That should cover the main things, any questions go ahead and ask.

I do my best to reply to all my emails, but it takes a while sometimes. If you think I've missed something feel free to remind me after a week or so. I can't review everything I'm sent, there aren't enough hours in the day, but I do listen to it at least.
If I don't like something I likely won't review it, unless I can offer constructive criticism. Don't take it personally. Also bear in mind that a lot of the Scottish bloggers talk to each other, if you bitch about us to the others, there's a good chance we'll hear about it!

Kid Canaveral: Shouting At Wildlife - Album Review

I've talked enough about Kid Canaveral enough round here that they probably don't need any introduction by now, but just in case, Kid Canaveral are David, Kate, Rose and Scott. After half a dozen singles and EPs, their debut album Shouting At Wildlife is ready for release. After four 7" singles and a couple of releases on cassette this on is, happily, available on CD rather than, say, 8 Track.

Scottish indie pop isn't the trendiest thing in the World at the moment, but that doesn't prevent it from always having a large place in my heart. Besides, when executed well, who cares if it is trendy? I lack the hairstyle to be a hipster anyway.

How well is the execution then? Well, pretty close to flawless really. The album is a mix between the familiar and the new, most of the previous singles put in an appearance but in new forms, while the majority of the songs are new. A fresh lick of paint takes nothing away from the charm of the older songs, and does save from getting a feeling of "I own this already" that might put some off.

If the opening four tracks of this album don't make you feel happy you were either already delighted when you started listening, or you have a heart of stone. Upbeat, uplifting, occasionally raucous but always melodic doesn't just sum up the opening salvo, but it true for most of the album.
Five tracks in the first old favourite pops up, in the shape of debut single Smash Hits. I've listened to Smash Hits more times than I'd care to count, but its wit, storytelling lyrics and melody never, ever gets old. Also; handclaps. Oh how I love those handclaps.

What would be the end of side 1 and the beginning of side 2 slows things down a bit with Quiet Things Are Quiet Now and And Another Thing!! The slower, less cheery songs provide a nice breather halfway through, and leave no doubt that while Kid Canaveral do upbeat and happy brilliantly, they don't just do that.

From there on the rest of the album does a fine job mixing the unlifting and the melancholy, with Couldn't Dance - the title of which I live up to whenever it is played live and I'm there - popping up amongst the less familiar songs like an old friend, before the tender and reflective Her Hair Hangs Down and a reprise of Good Morning round things off on a beautiful, gentle note.

My hopes for this album were high, and happily they weren't just met, but exceeded.

Kid Canaveral serve up more aces than that really long tennis match did in a fraction of the time, and with far more smiles. Or if you want a different tortured metaphor, Shouting At Wildlife doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does remind you why you liked the wheel in the first place.

Need more convincing? Have a little listen to Smash Hits below.

05 Smash Hits by StraightToVideoRecords

Kid Canaveral: Website - Bandcamp - MySpace

Shouting At Wildlife is released on CD and download by Straight To Video Records on July 5th. However, if you pre-order the album you'll get some extra goodies. Get it direct from the band here. Kid Canaveral play an album launch gig at The Roxy Art House on July 3rd, tickets for that can be bought from the same place as the album pre-order. I'm even making a rare Edinburgh trip for it and everything, so I can annoy folk in a whole different city than usual.

Cancel The Astronauts: Funny For A Girl - EP Review

A bit over a year since I babbled incoherently (seriously, you think I'm bad now? Go read posts from a year ago, I made no sense) about their first EP Cancel The Astronauts have finally gone and released another one. What's it like? I'm glad you asked, I'll try and babble a bit more coherently about this one.

Title track Funny For A Girl bubbles along nicely enough, but has its upbeat indie pop rump shaking thunder stolen a bit by the track that follows it, She Said She Loves Somebody Else. Where Funny For A Girl inspires head bobbing She Said... notches things up to full on arm flailing and shape throwing.
So far so good, although the neighbours might confuse the dodgy dancing with some kind of fit, so draw the curtains first. I like a Korg as much as the next man, but there is only so much I can take, so it is no bad thing that it mostly slips into the background for Things I Shouldn't Tell You. The song itself goes through a few changes of pace too, with fast bits, slower bits, and a bit of tenderness all taking turns at the forefront.

Standing Still keeps things slow and tender for the most part, right up until everything kicks off briefly towards the end. Probably my favourite thing on here. What it lacks in sing along and catchiness value it more than makes up for in heart, and goes a long way to showing that Cancel The Astronauts don't just do bubbly indie pop.
Listen rounds out the package by bringing back the catchy melodies and inspiring more shoogling of body parts in a vague impression of dancing, and finishes off the EP nicely.

All good stuff, hopefully we don't have another year for more new material either!

Cancel The Astronauts: Website - MySpace - Facebook - Bandcamp

Cancel The Astronauts - Funny For A Girl is available on CD and download now from Bandcamp.

Storm The Charts

From the people behind Rage Against The Machine for Christmas Number 1 comes Storm The Charts, another Facebook campaign to get certain songs in the charts.
Now, if anyone has ever heard me on the subject they'll know that I can rant for hours about my dislike of these stunts, and of Facebook campaigns in general. Why am I bothering to mention this one then? Well, there's bands I like involved this time round, so I've flipped the hypocrite switch.

All the details can be found here, but what it all boils down to is that 40 independent artists have been picked, 20 by a panel, 20 by public voting, and the plan is to get as many as possible into the charts on Sunday, July 4th, what with it being Independence Day and all.

You can find the full 40 artists selected here, I'll just be concentrating on the Scots.

The ones that interest me, along with a link to buy the relevant song, are:

A Band Called Quinn - D.I.Y.

Ardentjohn - Follow Me

The Banana Sessions - Jukebox

Penny Black - Green

Zoey Van Goey - We Don't Have That Kind Of Bread

This Week's Records (and some from last week)

I half forgot to do one of these last week. I saw half forgot, because by the time I got round to checking I couldn't find much to mention, so I didn't bother.
There's a bit more this week though, so lets have a look.

Any Color Black - Answer EP. Available from all the usual download stores, and Bandcamp.
Ghost Pants - Static Heart. One I should have mentioned last week. Ghost Pants is Paul Carlin, this is his second Ghost Pants EP, and it is available for free, as is the first one, from Bandcamp.
Super Adventure Club - Hip Hop Hot Pot Pot Noodle. Another that never got a mention last week, though I did plug the launch gig for the single. Available at all good records shops, download sites and, you guessed it, Bandcamp.
Paws - Violent Vicky Violet. This came out in the middle of last week, is lovely, and can be had for free from Wiseblood Industries. The Wiseblood site might set off Malware alarms in your browser, it does in mine, but don't worry, it is safe.

Penguins Kill Polar Bears - Dawn EP. CDs available here, downloads from Bandcamp once again. I should get paid to advertise Bandcamp.

Cancel The Astronauts - Funny For A Girl. Long awaited new release from the first band that ever sent me something to review. Obviously, Bandcamp is the place to go to get the new EP.

Julia and the Doogans - Come Home EP. This came out a few weeks ago, I think I gave it a little mention at the time. Anyway, it is now available from iTunes, eMusic et al, in addition to that bloody Bandcamp.
The A Forest - Polar White. And finally, a new single from The A Forest. Available free, from guess where.

Kid Canaveral don't release Shouting At Wildlife, their debut album, until next week, but if you pre-order it from their website you get a bunch of extra swag that you won't get elsewhere. So, y'know, go do that.
Mitchell Museum are a couple of weeks away from releasing their debut album, The Peters Port Memorial Service, but you can get a pre-order in for that too. The album is released on vinyl, the gatefold sleeve looks very pretty, and you'll get a code to download it too.

I think that covers about everything from the last week or two that should have been mentioned. Plenty of stuff around for you to spend your pocket money on then, and I've had to type Bandcamp more times than is strictly healthy.

This Week's Gigs 28th June - 4th July

There seems to be hardly anything on this week, so as well as being a bit later than usual the gig guide will be pretty short this week too. If you've got a gig on this week that you think I should have mentioned but I haven't then you should have told me, I'm not telepathic.

Monday:

Folk The System - Julia Doogan, Shambles Miller, Andrew Lindsay, Martin Docherty and Linky Gray. 13th Note, £5.
The 13th Note plays host to a whole bunch of folkers.

Wednesday:

Pablo Eskimo, probably some others but I'll be buggered if I can find details. Pivo Pivo.

Thursday:
Elba Sessions Presents - Campfires In Winter, Yusuf Azak and RM Hubbert. The Liquid Ship, free.

The Elba Sessions gigs do always tend to have good line ups, but this one is particularly eye catching. Campfires In Winter played Peenko Vs Aye Tunes for us, and are pals of the blog, so obviously I'm biased there, but they wouldn't have been asked to do our gig if we didn't also like their music. I've not had a proper listen to Yusuf Azak really, but hear lots of encouraging things about him. RM Hubbert is just plain excellent. I saw Hubby on Friday night, playing a gig in an incredibly warm flat, it was tons of fun. All that for the bargain price of free makes this one look very good indeed.

The Last Battle, Meursault (solo), Jonnie Common. The Wee Red Bar, £5.
One for the Edinburgh people, this is the launch gig for The Last Battle's new single, Ruins. The single is out next Monday, but if you go to the launch gig you can pick one up early.

Friday:

Endor, Over The Wall and Washington Irving. Stereo.
Launch gig for Endor's new album. A good album it is too, I really have to get round to doing a write up on it. Top notch support too.

Ace City Racers. Summer Pool Party, Gourock Outdoor Pool.
I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time that either Gourock or an outdoor pool have featured on Aye Tunes in any way. Anyway, Ace City Racers are playing live, the action kicks off at 6pm, and it is dead cheap.

Saturday:

Kid Canaveral, The Scottish Enlightenment and Come On Gang! plus DJs. The Roxy Room, £5.
It takes something a wee bit special to lure me out of my Glasgow comfort zone to make the road trip to Edinburgh, and this fits the bill. Kid Canaveral are launching their debut album, Shouting At Wildlife, on Saturday. To help they've called in some excellent support acts, and some special guest DJs in the form of Cancel The Astronauts and some guy called Peenko. All of which means I get to make an arse of myself in Edinburgh instead of Glasgow for a nice wee change.
Tickets can be bought in advance at the Kid Canaveral website. While you are there you can pre-order the album, and get all sorts of special extra stuff.

Night Noise Team, Patricia Panther, Digital Dinosaur, 30 Second Wank Line. Box, free.
I've been wanting to see Night Noise Team for a while, so typically they are playing in Glasgow the one time I'm in Edinburgh. If you are in Glasgow in Saturday you should go along though.

Sunday:

It is the first Sunday of the month, that means it is time for Words Per Minute! I'm likely to miss WPM this month, so if some of you can go along in my place for me that would be very nice of you. Performing this month are Simon Sylvester, Jane Flett and Gabriella Bennett, live beatboxing from Bigg Taj, performance poetry from Drew Taylor and his alter ego Markus Makavelian, and a live music from Swimmer One. As usual it takes place at Creation Studios, and all the details and other stuff can be found at the Words Per Minute website.

Round Up Reviews #2

The inbox is starting to overflow again with the wealth of submissions I've had recently, coupled with me being a very bad blogger and not doing nearly enough writing of late, which means it must be time for another installment of Round Up Reviews.
Basically short write ups on stuff I can't or won't have a chance to write about in detail. The first one is here, should you want to read it.

The Recovery Club - Rest And Be Thankful (Single)

So tender and fragile you suspect a strong wind would take it off into the air, this is a pretty gorgeous wee single. Not one to get the blood pumping, but a lovely wee listen. Must stop calling songs lovely, but all three tracks on the single fit the word. Also, hop over to Kowalskiy's blog to read a wee interview with them.
Rest And Be Thankful is released on July 5th by Antimatter Music.

Fiona Soe Paing - Deep Song:

Sort of ethereal electronica. Reminds me a wee bit of Portishead, helped out by Fiona's striking, distinctive vocals. Quite lovely really.
Deep Song is included on Songs From No Man's Land EP, available soon here.

Comma - Comma EP

Intricate math/post-rock that reminds me a bit of the parts of Tortoise that I like? Yeah, I'll have some f that please. If you need vocals with your music then stay away, it is all instrumental. Otherwise, check the EP out, it's a really strong debut.
Comma's self titled debut EP is available as a free download from Black Lantern Music.

Super Adventure Club - Hip Hop Hot Pot Pot Noodle (Single)

Mental. Brilliant. I have almost no idea how to describe Super Adventure Club without using those two words. A-side Hip Hop Hot Pot Pot Noodle sounds like about five different songs stuck together, in a good way. There's a pair of non album b-sides too, which are a bit less manic, but only a bit. Massively entertaining, and highly recommended.
Hip Hop Hot Pot Pot Noodle is out now on CD & download from Armellodie Records, you can buy it here.

The Son(s) - Radar

Light and airy, 60sish, folky pop. They've got a certain knack for luring you in to a song that starts off all nice and gentle before hitting you with something unexpected too, be it crashing drums, a squeal of electric guitar or something else. Cracking vocal harmonies too, I love a harmony. Really good, and also rather lovely.

The Radar EP is available as a free download from Bandcamp.

Dems - Jarndyce Vs Jarndyce

I've been meaning to give this a mention for ages, but as noted at the start, I'm not a very good blogger. Dems is a one man Edinburgh based but not really Scottish outfit. This is a cracking wee electro pop number, with more hooks than a prize fight. Ace wee song, go get it.
Jarndyce Vs Jarndyce can be downloaded free from Soundcloud or Bandcamp.

Mammoeth - LapDog
I'll be getting back to Mammoeth more later, a little closer to the release date of the upcoming Nascent album, but for now here;s a little teaser for that record. Lapdog is the first track on the album, and sets the tone nicely. A slice of gorgeous sun-kissed pop, perfect for the nice sunny weather. Puts me in mind a bit of Super Furry Animals at their poppiest, which is no bad thing at all.
Nascent is released on Juy 26th, you can pre-order and stream the album on Bandcamp.

Xavier and the Bastard - Ask Us About Hip-Hop

Stumbled across this while trawling Bandcamp at 3am one night/morning while bored, something I do too often to really be healthy. First two tracks are alright, but not really my thing, thrashy rock. The closing track, a cover of MIA's Born Free is dumb fun which put a smile on my face though, and so merits a wee mention here at least.

Ask Us About Hip-Hop is available as a free download from Bandcamp.

Nothing really awful seems to have found its way to me recently, or if it has I haven't kept hold of it, so there's nothing for me to slate this time round. That doesn't do any good to my "he likes everything" reputation. Someone send me something rubbish I can rip into please. Preferably by a band who I'll never meet, or who are incapable of giving me a sound beating at some point.

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko II

I let the date slip on my birthday post on Friday, and haven't exactly been secretive about goings on, but now everything has been confirmed I can finally let the whole cat out of the bag.

After the success of the first one Aye Tunes Vs Peenko is returning for another gig night.
It'll be taking place at The Thirteenth Note in Glasgow this time, a venue which I often seem to spend more time in than I do at home, and as such a natural choice for somewhere I'd want to do a gig.
The gig is happening on Saturday July 17th, so you only have to listen to me go on about it for a little under a month. But go on about it I shall.

Playing live on the night will be We're Only Afraid of NYC, Randolph's Leap and Little Yellow Ukuleles. You can of course expect me to talk about those three bands a lot more in the coming days and weeks, but in the meantime have a listen to, and help yourself to a free download, a song from each of them.

Unfortunately I don't think the giant from Twin Peaks will be on hand, you'll have to settle for me and Peenko instead.

This Week's Gigs 21st - 27th June

Hello everyone, I'm back from the pub. I've got a massive amount of things to get caught up on this week, so let's hurry up and get the gig guide out of the way first of all.

Monday:

Super Adventure Club, United Fruit and Rodent Emporium. Captain's Rest.
Launch gig for the new SAC single, Hip Hop Hot Pot Pot Noodle. Good single, but the title is a bloody nightmare to say when drunk.

Tuesday:

French Wives, Brel

Aerials Up, Captain's Rest
The West End Festival continues to dominate the gig calendar this week, as you can see already.

Wednesday:

Paws, Adam Stafford and Bronto Skylift. Bloc, free.

Paws play a launch gig for new single Violent Vicky Violet, and rope in label boss Adam Stafford to support, along with the brilliant and noisy as Hell Bronto Skylift. Free entry makes it near impossible to say no to this one.

Washington Irving, Palace Ballet. Brel
Meanwhile, back in the West End...

Thursday:

Silver Shakes Presents: Vendor Defender, Nevada Base, Gdansk, The Cinnamons, White Heath and Little Fire. Captain's Rest.
Blimey, that's quite a line up.

Shambles Miller, Andrew Lindsay. La Cheetah Club, £5.

Lou Hickey, Sean G. ABC2, £6.
Scotland's Most Eligible Woman 2010 (not, as we called her in the pub last night, Most Available Woman, which is a much less prestigious title) takes to the stage in a gig presented by Club Noir to show off her solo material.

Friday:

The Noise Abatement Society, with Yahweh, RM Hubbert, The Japanese War Effort and Field Mouse. Somewhere in the West End of Glasgow.

An intriguing one this. The line up is cracking, but the venue is currently being kept secret, the only hints given are that it will be at "a unique residential venue in the West End of Glasgow", with the location being revealed to ticket holders before the gig (since telling them after the gig would obviously be a bit pointless). Cue me getting hopelessly lost on Friday night, I don't know where anything is in the west end. Tickets are very limited and available here. You'll also get a download of a song by each artist playing, which is arguably worth the £4 alone.

Olympic Swimmers, Make Love, Blue Sky Archives. Captain's Rest.

Pin Up Nights: Foxgang, Little Yellow Ukuleles, Casino Brag. Flying Duck.

It is the end of the month, so it is time for Pinup Nights. In addition to the three bands playing (including future Aye Tunes Vs Peenko co-stars Little Yellow Ukuleles) there's the usual host of DJs too. Head along to the website for all the details, including how to get cut price entry.

Saturday:

Be A Familiar, Galleries, The Void. Stereo.

Penguins Kill Polar Bears, Sound of Guns, Servant. King Tut's.

PKPB launch their new EP, Dawn.

Sunday:

Woodenbox With A Fistful of Fivers, Maple Leaves. Brel.

Final offering from the West End Festival for the week, and it is another tasty one.

Happy Birthday To Me

Aye, 31 today. I don't look a day over 40.

Also, a big happy birthday to the other JC, The Vinyl Villain, who shares the day with me.

I'll be spending much of the day sat in Bloc drinking cheap lager I think, before possibly going to one of the many gigs that are on in Glasgow. Do feel free to send presents, or stop by to buy me a pint. It's ok, I know no one will.

Normal service will be resumed when I sober up. Sunday maybe? After all, on Saturday I have to go back out to this:

So this post isn't just me mentioning how I'm now official Thirty Something, here's a little bit of news too...

Aye Tunes Vs Peenko II will be taking place at The 13th Note, Glasgow, on July 17th. That's all I can say for now, there's a few details still to be sorted out, but it should hopefully be another good one.

This Week's Records

What is there to spend your money on this week then?

Astral Planes (y'know, formerly Paper Planes) have a mini album out. Sit Still Child rounds up a couple of their previous singles, and four new songs. Cracking band, I'll be getting hold of a copy of this ASAP.

Frightened Rabbit release the third single from The Winter of Mixed Drinks. Living in Colour is out today, backed with an alternative version and a remix.

Mitchell Museum warm up for the release of their debut album next month by releasing Warning Bells as a single. If like me you've bought this previously buy it again, it's been rerecorded and sounds a bit different now. The single is available from iTunes, Amazon.co.uk, eMusic and all the other usual suspects. To encourage you to spend a little money there are six FREE remixes available, including ones by We Were Promised Jetpacks and Coach-a-cola, AKA band manager/ex-De Rosa/Aye Tunes cousin Chris Connick, you can find more details on how to get them here.

North Atlantic Oscillation have a new single, Ceiling Poem.

Tommy Reilly releases his second album. HELLO! I'm Tommy Reilly is out now, released by Euphonios.

Maple Leaves released a new single a few weeks ago, but this is the first time I've remembered to plug it. Tapestry is available on download and limited edition CD, the best place to buy it is Bandcamp.

This Week's Gigs 14th - 20th June

A pair of gigs, my Dad's birthday and the start of the World Cup managed to kill my productivity last week, so sorry for the lack of posts. Must try harder. There's a fair amount on this week too, but I'll be forcing myself to skip almost everything, I'm short on money and need cash for Friday.

Monday:

Codes in the Clouds, Barn Owl, The Seventeenth Century and Katerwaul, The 13th Note, £5.
Particularly annoyed I'm missing this one. I really want to catch Barn Owl, and The Seventeenth Century are always great.

Tuesday:

Rick Redbeard and Sunset Song, West End Festival, Brel, £6.
The Phantom Band's frontman dusts off his solo project for a gig in the intimate surroundings of Brel. It likely won't be rowdy, but it should be pretty good.

Thursday:

The Ray Summers, Sonny Marvello, Stevie and the Moon, Captain's Rest, £5, tickets available here.
This is a gig for Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, so if you needed another reason to go, there it is.

Friday:
Friday is my birthday, I'll be going for a pint. Anyone fancy a pint on Friday? I also have this lot to choose from for my evening entertainment. Anyone fancy taking me to a gig on Friday?

Astral Planes, Male Pattern Band, Brel.
Kitty The Lion, The Seventeenth Century, Crow Road. Captain's Rest.
Beerjacket. Oran Mor.
Martin Metcalfe, Cosmopol.

St Deluxe, King Tut's.
!!!, Dam Mantle, The Arches. Free gig, but with a booking fee, tickets from here.
Stop taking the piss, gig promoters.

Saturday:

Glasgow Podcart Presents: Pooch & Tokyo Knife Attack. Stereo, £5.
Another charity gig this one, with proceeds going to Beatson Oncology Centre. With Pooch and Tokyo Knife Attack playing live, and a host of DJs, one thing is for sure: There Will Be Dancing.

Sunday:

Unity Benefit Gig: Second Hand Marching Band, Maple Leaves, Withered Hand. Stereo, £5.
Another charity gig, and another one that is very easy to support on the basis of having a cracking line up.

Kid Canaveral - You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night Single Review

This is one of the things I should have done last week, but ended up shivering, sniffling and coughing instead.
Having the cold was rubbish, the new single from Kid Canaveral isn't.

I'm probably at the point now where I like Kid Canaveral too much to be able to be trusted with an unbiased opinion on them, they did headline our Peenko Vs Aye Tunes gig after all, but I'll try my best.

You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night does pretty much all the things I love about Kid Canaveral. There's a catchy hook from the off, a lush melody, oodles of singalong potential (good for me, not so good for anyone who happens to be near me at their gigs) and it just plain puts a smile on my face.
It is also probably the best I've heard Kid Canaveral on record. All the time locked away in a studio working on upcoming album Shouting At Wildlife has clearly paid off.

The single is filled out with a pair of remixes of You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night, from Kwaing Creasite (how many pseudonyms does Kenny Anderson need anyway?) and Becky Becky Parentheses. Remixes tend to be a bit tricky for me to write anything about, generally they either work for me, or they don't.
The Kwaing Creasite remix answers the first question I ask of remixes - does this do anything worthwhile? - by being a bit less of a remix and more a complete overhaul. It is verging on being a cover version, and is really good, giving a more downbeat take on the song, without removing any of the charm. Lovely.

Becky Becky Parentheses also gives the song a thorough overhaul, which includes slowing down the female la la la parts until they sound considerably more demonic than sweet. The results are somewhat sinister, yet rather compelling. Pass marks all round!

Kid Canaveral: Website - Bandcamp - MySpace

You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night is available now from Bandcamp and all the usual download shops. Kid Canaveral play the Glasgow Slow Club at Bar Bloc on June 8th, before taking a little break before their Shouting At Wildlife album launch gig in Edinburgh's Roxy Room on July 3rd.

We've Moved! (Sort Of)

Technically Aye Tunes was two years old on June 1st. Since we don't count that rubbish first year that I didn't do anything we are more like one year old round about now.

To celebrate, we've splashed out on a fancy proper domain name - ayetunes.org.uk

We picked up web hosting while we were at it, but that doesn't matter right now, until I can work out how to build a website we'll still be on Blogger.

Anyway, ayetunes.org.uk should bring you here quite happily, and blog.ayetunes.org.uk will work nicely -possibly better - too, so do feel free to update any bookmarks or links you might have. The old blogspot address still works, so no one will get left behind if they keep following that instead.

Ideally there'll be a shiny new version of Aye Tunes to look at in the future, but like I say, I need to work out how to make it first, and I've not built a website in about ten years.

This Week's Gigs 7th - 13th June

I ended up missing half of last week's insane number of gigs by being ill. Not a bad way to save some money, but a bit drastic, I think. Still hit two gigs and WPM on Sunday too mind, so it still wasn't a quiet week.

This week looks pretty busy too, as does the whole rest of the month. Fairly sure bands are trying to kill me.

Tuesday:

Tuesday is our first "spoiled for choice" day of the week.
Shambles Miller, Florynce & Lauryn and Andrew Lindsay can all be found playing at Sloans Ballroom at 8pm, for £4. I keep promising to go and see Shambles, then for one reason or another not making it along. I'm keeping that record up this week by missing this.
French Wives, Trapped in Kansas, Emma Curran and Selina Henriquez make quite the line up at The Captains Rest. Any other night attending this would have been a no brainer, but we've got on more gig on the list.

Kid Canaveral and Lovers Turn To Monsters are playing Bloc for Slow Club. My love for these two is well known, so you bet your arse I'll be off to that.

Wednesday:

First of all, it is the delightful Last Year's Girl's birthday. Happy birthday Lis!
Secondly, following the Kid Canaveral gig the night before fellow Peenko Vs Aye Tunes alumni Mitchell Museum launch their new single with a gig at Nice N Sleazy. Support comes from Inspector Tapehead and GRNR. See you there.

Thursday:

goNorth is taking place up in Inverness on Thursday and Friday, before Rockness at the weekend. I'd considered going along for a day or two, but since Thursday is my Dad's birthday, I'd get killed. If you go then as well as checking out all the good bands playing have a look at the seminars Born To Be Wide are running on Thursday and Friday.
Back in Glasgow you've got Q Without U, Endor, Glider and Cruiser playing at The Captain's Rest. I liked q without u's first album, then they vanished for a while. Nice to see them back.
Rounding out Thursday is a charity gig put on by Cold Blooded Clarity. Playing live are State Broadcasters, The Dirty Cuts and Deserters Deserve Death. There's also a raffle, and the gig takes place in The Admiral. Visit the Cold Blooded Clarity website for all the details and to buy tickets.

Friday:

The Halt Bar Hijack returns for another year, taking place over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Find The Halt Bar on Facebook for all the details.
There's an Electric Honey showcase gig on at King Tut's, with White Heath and Woodenbox With a Fistful of Fivers playing. That ought to be a good one.

Saturday:

At The Flying Duck on Saturday you can find the inagural Blog Rocking Beats night. Coming to you "from the folks behind some of Scotland's best music blogs", the first night has JC from The Vinyl Villain and Drew from Across The Kitchen Table as your DJs, playing all sorts. It runs from 7pm until Midnight, entry is free up till 11pm. There will be far fewer mentions of 1966 here than on the TV on Saturday night.

Sunday:

The West End Festival is in full swing by now, and is one of the main contributors to overloading me with gigs throughout June, the first notable one being on Sunday, when Burnt Island and Andrea Marini play Bar Brel.

And a sneak preview of next week, Friday 18th June in particular. Kitty The Lion, Beerjack, St Deluxe and Martin Metcalfe all have gigs on. The reason I mention this is that that day also happens to be my birthday. Thanks a lot for making my night remarkably hard to plan!

Service Interruption

This week I've fallen victim to the dreaded Man Flu. Doing reviews is a bit tricky when everything you listen to sounds like it is underwater.

Normal service will be resumed shortly.

This Week's Records

Quite a lot out this week, so lets get to it.

Tokyo Knife Attack release Cool Kids, it should be available from iTunes by the time you read this. It is a cracking wee tune too.

The Lava Experiments have their Backbody Vol. III EP out today too. I liked it lots. It'll be available from all good download places, or visit the Lava Experiments website to get a CD.

Kid Canaveral release a new single, You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night. I like it too, no surprise there. Backed with remixes by Kwaing Creasite and Becky Becky Parentheses the single is available on cassette or download, visit Bandcamp for a listen and to buy.

Ming Ming and the Ching Chings unleash their new EP, Not In Anyone's Gang. Guess what? Liked that too.

Stanley Odd release their debut album, Oddio. I've not heard this yet, so I've no idea if it will be good or not, but reviews have been good, as have the few Stanley Odd songs I've heard previously.

Silver Columns have their much anticipated debut album out today also. I'm eagerly awaiting my copy arriving in the post.

Meursault's new album, All Creatures Will Make Merry, is now available on general release after being sold at gigs for the last few weeks.

Finally, one of my favourite bands return after five years. Yup, Teenage Fanclub have a new album out! Shadows is released today, and one of the first things I did after getting up today was buying a copy.

Words Per Minute - WPM2

Just a wee reminder that this Sunday - June 6th - sees the second WPM event take place at Creation Studios in Glasgow.

I'm far from the most literary minded of people - normal the phrase "spoken word event" is enough to make me look for a hiding place - So when I tell you that I really enjoyed the first WPM event that should give you a clue about the quality of the performers, and how accessible it is to all. Even people like me that don't read nearly as much as they should and are terrified of poetry.

If you never went to the first one and want to find out what you missed then you are in luck, as thanks to the magic of the internet you can listen to the whole thing, or watch some lovely videos. Videos of the performances can be found on YouTube, and podcasts of the first event are here. You can still read the interview that Kirstin and Anneliese did with me prior to the first event here too.

Performing at this month's event are: Sophie Cooke, Emily Ballou, Craig Lamont, Adrian Searle, Iain Campbell, Adam Stafford and Rodge Glass. If you visit Aye tunes for the music - which I presume you do, since there's not much else - then the last two names should be familiar to you.

Adam Stafford is label boss, film maker, and musician as part of Y'all Is Fantasy Island and more recently on his own. Recent single Shot Down You Summer Wannabes is by far my favourite thing Adam has done, and as it is a free download you could do much worse than check it out.
As well as a musical performance, I believe there might also be a screening of The Shutdown, a multi-award winning short directed by Adam Stafford, novelist Alan Bissett recalls growing up next to one of Europe's largest petrochemical plants and the harrowing experience of an explosion that temporarily deformed his father.

On the subject of Adam Stafford, Euan McMeeken of The Kays Lavelle (whose debut album Be Still This Gentle Morning is out now) recently sent me a track from a covers album that Adam Stafford is making with Emily Scott which I'm allowed to share with you, but hadn't gotten round to fitting in yet, so here's a chance. The song is a cover version of The Twilight Sad's Walking For Two Hours.
Adam Stafford and the Death Bridge Convention - Walking For Two Hours

Rodge Glass is another one of those disgustingly talented people. Having gained attention as a novelist Rodge also has a critically acclaimed biography of Alasdair Gray under his belt. As if that wasn't enough he is currently Writer in Residence at Strathclyde University, where he also teaches Creative Writing. Then there's the song that Rodge wrote for Vashti Bunyan that appeared on Ballads of the Book, and more recently the quite splendid Burnt Island mini album.
Sticking with Burnt Island for a moment, please go here to have a listen to their cover of Elliott Smith's Between The Bars. If you like it, pay the quid to download it, all profits go to Depression Alliance UK.
Rodge, along with Dave Turbitt, will be giving a sneak preview of their new graphic novel Dougie's War at WPM2. Being something of a comics geek, I'm rather looking forward to that.

WPM2 will be starting at 4pm on Sunday, so try and get down a bit before that, maybe for about 3.30pm to get in, grab a drink and a seat and get comfy, and runs till 6pm, followed by a DJ set from Miaoux Miaoux.
Entry is £2, and you can bring your own booze if you buy a food voucher for the Creation Studios cafe.

For lots more details visit the Words Per Minute website.

This Week's Gigs 31st May - 6th June

This week, and most of June, is quite frankly insane for gigs. Look!

Monday:

We Are Jawbone have a free gig at Pivo Pivo, with Mother Midnight, Forgotten Sunday and The Parting also on the bill.

Tuesday:

Scout Niblet plays Stereo, with support coming from The Martial Arts and Donald MacDonald.
Just announced, Remember Remember are playing The 13th Note. They'll be debuting new songs, and a new line up.

Wednesday:

Wednesday appears to mark the start of silly season. Check out this lot, all on one night.
Team Ghost and Deathpodal are playing The 13th Note. Deathpodal's EP is brilliant, and the live show should be pretty memorable too. (Side note: looks like I've got a spare ticket going for this, so holler if you want it...)

Detour move out of Bloc this week, down the street to The Buff Club. Playing for them this month are Song of Return, There Will Be Fireworks, The Second Hand Marching Band and Meursault. Now that is a line-up! Tickets are £5 and available here.

Open Swimmer, Maple Leaves and Kettle of Kites are at The Captain's Rest. We like Maple Leaves a lot round here, even though I'm still waiting on Julian serving up a restraining order on me for stalking him, of which there's plenty chances this week by the look of it.

Since that lot isn't enough, there's also Glissando and Debutant at Bar Brel.

Thursday:

Oh Thursday, you saw there was loads happening on Wednesday and just had to try and keep up, didn't you? You swine.

Antimatter present the second of their Music Box nights at The Universal. Playing live are Call To Mind, Error Response, Cracks In the Concrete, and Nomogram, with visuals courtesy of Ruan Suess, Awai David Wan, Erin Hardee, and Parallax. Visit the Antimatter website for more details, and to buy tickets.
The Last Battle and Yahweh are supporting Peggy Sue at Stereo.
Kochka are playing at Maggie Mays.

Washington Irving launch their debut EP with a gig at Mono, with support from Endor, Randolph's Leap and The Social Services.
Sleepingdog play Brel, with support from Euan McMeeken.

Finally it is the latest Elba Session Presents gig, with acoustic sets from Shambles Miller, Blue Sky Archives and My Cousin I Bid You Farewell. We like all of them round here.

Friday:

Radar are branching out from writing about music to putting on a gig (hey, why didn't I think of that?) at Nice n Sleazy. Miaoux Miaoux is playing live, offering another chance for Julian stalking, and you get another chance to see Blue Sky Archives and My Cousin I Bid You Farewell if you missed them the previous night, but playing louder this time.

Saturday:

The Lava Experiments launch their wonderful Blackbody Vol. III EP with a gig at The 13th Note. Also on the bill are The Hundred Metre Club and Mammals. See The Lava Experiments website for cheap tickets!

Mi Ami, Ultimate Thrush and the brilliantly mental Divorce are at Nice N Sleazy, presumably making lots of noise.

Sunday:

WPM2 takes place at Creation Studios at 4pm on Sunday. There's a post on that coming up tomorrow, needless to say there's a great line-up.

Macabre Scene play King Tut's, supporting Murder by Death.

Little Yellow Ukuleles, Galleries, Pacific Theatre, He Slept on 57 can all be found making noise at The 13th Note.

Spoiled for choice, or taking the piss? You decide.

The Lava Experiments - Blackbody Vol. III EP Review

Roughly a year on from the release of Blackbdy Vol. 1, The Lava Experiments have completed their promised trilogy of EPs with the release of Volume III.
When listened to back to back you can really hear progress with each release. Blackbody I was good, Blackbody II was better generally with a couple of real standout moments and now Blackbody III has arrived and takes another step up.

I love my music to be atmospheric, and The Lava Experiments deliver in spades. They make dark, at times cinematic, shoegazey soundscapes that are just dripping with atmosphere. Like previous releases (and funnily enough The Release from Blackbody II in particular) the songs on this EP draw you in and trap you in their midst as they swirl around and wash over you as you listen.

Atmosphere is all well and good, but of course there needs to be a bit more about songs than just that to hold my attention. Lurking amidst the darkness there's no shortage of hooks and melody, spine tingling riffs and drumkits being beaten into submission, while listening to this EP there's little danger of my mind wandering.

Great stuff, from a band that seemingly keep improving.

Lava Experiments: Website - MySpace

Blackbody Vol III is released on limited edition CD and download on May 31st, with a launch gig at The 13th Note in Glasgow on June 5th.

What's Happening This Week?

Quick answer, not all that much.

No guide gig proper this week, partly due to there not much being on, but mostly down to me being in a bloody horrible mood today. Instead of doing a gig guide, or replying to the pair of ridiculously bitchy emails that put me in a mood today has been spent hanging around in the garden with a couple of beers and cheery tunes.

There's a couple of decent gigs this week, so I'll batter through them quickly.

On Wednesday Kitty The Lion play Stereo, along with The Invisible Republic.
Thursday has Over The Wall, Gdansk and Adam Stafford at Oran Mor, a line up which is quite likely to tempt me out of the house.

Friday (and Saturday) has both a decent gig and worthy cause going for it, in the shape of Dusk To Dawn. This is a two night thing at The Buff Club, presented by TBC (Together Beat Cancer). Friday's line up includes Admiral Fallow and Louise McVey & Cracks In The Concrete, while Saturday has Findlay Napier and Alan McKim, amongst others. Visit the TBC website, and check out our PodcART pals for all the details you need.

Records out this week include singles by Teenage Fanclub and God Help The Girl, a Julia and the Doogans EP, and an album by Jack James.

Next week, and pretty much all of June, promise to have gig guides that will kill me - not to mention going to the gigs themselves - with the amount of stuff that's on, so it is probably a bonus that I can save my energy this week.

Ming Ming and the Ching Chings - Not In Anyone's Gang EP Review

Even though they've been around for ages, honestly, Ming Ming and the Ching Chings are a band I've never really paid much attention to, for the simple reason that their name always makes me think of Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong, and life is too short to spend time thinking about that particular talent vacuum.

However, since their upcoming new EP has made its way to me it would be rude to ignore it just because I dislike their name, not even I am that petty. A quick look at the band's MySpace for a bit of background sees them start their list of influences with "Sergio Leone, Airwolf, Taxi". This could all go horribly wrong, or very, very right then.

First impressions are promising enough, good hooks, scuzzy basslines, fuzzed up guitar, some parping brass, and a breakneck pace (along with my spellcheck screaming at me that many of those aren't real words) and bags of attitude and served up in heaps on opener Season of Horrors. Secrets of Men does similar, but slows the pace enough to catch breath. Well, momentarily at least... This songs puts me in mind of the likes of The Cramps a bit, which is no bad thing.

After that brief breather Creepy Tales ups the pace again, before Punch in the Face verges dangerously close to Fratellis territory, but stays just on the right side of bouncy on fun to avoid making the song title into something you'd like to do to one of the band members.

Throughout the EP there's bags of attitude and swagger about the band, but thankfully they've also remembered the thing that so many others forget, which is to back the cockiness up with bloody good songs.

By the time you've reached the final track of the five it becomes obvious that that short, sharp, infectious, filthy sounding pop is something that Ming Ming and the Ching Chings excell at. Just as you might wonder if there's more to them that than the final track answers a resounding yes. In contrast to the songs before that struggle to average three minutes between them EP closer Straighten Up! comes in a few seconds short of a monstrous eight minutes, and there's never a dull moment during it.

Straighten Up! is frantic, frenetic, and surely destined to cause carnage on dancefloors forever.

So, how did it go? Fears were dismissed early on, it all got very messy but very fun, and everything turned out gloriously right. Can't ask for much more than that really.
I'm not convinced Ming Ming and the Chings Chings bring much new to the table, but when something is this much fun, energetic and charismatic that is quite alright with me. Still don't like the name mind you, but I'll deal with it.

Ming Ming and the Ching Chings - MySpace

Not In Anyone's Gang is launched with a gig at Nice n Sleazy on May 30th, with the EP going on full release on limited edition CD and download on May 31st.