Robyn Writes

Notes from the Keybed – This Month in Synths [May]

Straight Edge Keytar Hero has no time for your bullshit.

Loads of new releases hitting the airwaves this month for synth fans starting with the band that kicked off my own love of the things! Back in 2007 Klaxons came bursting out of nowhere in an explosion of lurid colours, distorted synths, and an indie sensibility that mined everything from 90’s rave to J.G. Ballard. This personally resulted in the mass raiding of my student loan to buy a MicroKorg and a fuzz box (we can pretend that the electric blue skinny jeans and pink bomber jackets never happened though). After under-the-radar second album ‘Surfing The Void’, via a teenage heart crushing marriage to Keira Knightly, the boys are back with new album ‘Love Frequency’ on 9 June. The single releases so far suggest that, although the noisy guitars are not going to be making a return anytime soon, the band’s knack for an infectious pop hook and love of retro keyboard sounds remain firmly at the forefront. The nu-rave pioneers are playing a number of small-venue shows to coincide with the album’s release before hitting the dance stage at the Reading and Leeds festivals.

Other new records to pick up this month include ‘Luminous’ by The Horrors, who move further away from their garage goth roots into psychedelic territory littered with shimmering synth hooks and celestial chords, Imogen Heap’s long-awaited new album ‘Sparks’, and ‘Do It Again’ by everyone’s favourite Swedish synth pop star Robyn, who teams up with production maestros Röyksopp for this saucily-titled mini album.

Continuing the Swedish theme, TBO were sent a smorgasbord of new music from this Scandinavian country this month! Whilst the heavier end of the spectrum was well and truly demolished by Murderofcrows I’ve picked out something a little easier on the ear. Donnie Castle describes himself as a 19-year-old indie-electro producer from Gothenburg. Retaining some of the dark and ominous musical vibes that his hometown is renowned for he delivers a viable alternative to the EDM dominance that has blighted electronic music in recent years. The instrumentals on the record suffer at times from familiar preset reliance but anyone who doesn’t spend their life surrounded by software synths wouldn’t care or notice as the strong melodies shine throughout. The true standout moments are on ‘Stutter’ and the title track where glitchy drum machine rhythms meet Crystal Castles-style vocals. Certainly one to keep an ear out for.

Back over in the UK and I’ve recently returned from The Great Escape, Brighton’s annual weekend of live music and mayhem. Stationed on the Alcopop! / BSM stage at Pav Tav, guitars were clearly the dominant sound of the day but there was still a strong showing of synths including the mighty Fight Like Apes’ contingency of 3 keyboards, numerous sample boxes and an Ableton-running laptop! The Dublin foursome brought all the punk energy and disco swagger of new EP ‘The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner’ to the seaside venue, finishing their set with trampled keys and flailing limbs to rapturous applause. Particular note also needs to go to emotronica three-piece Emperor Yes, who broke the indie mould to deliver a sound akin to a full-band PlayRadioPlay with ludicrously brilliant live vocoder backing vocals. The Londoners even have an 80’s synth strewn Misfits cover on their Soundcloud, which only reinforces their hipster-baiting genius!

Finishing off this month’s column is our Keytar Hero of the month we look back at the leading lady of the shoulder synthesiser Victoria Asher / Vicky T of Cobra Starship who is currently taking a break from music to work on cinematography for coffee adverts featuring George Clooney (naturally), whilst Gabe Saporta revives his own student days with Midtown. A new Starship album may be a little way off but Vicky T rocked the instrument back in 2007 and is thus justly deserving of this month’s award for services to keytardom!

Notes from the Keybed: This Month in Synths

We bloody love synths at TBO. Usually in conjunction with very loud, shouty metal. But if you’ve been clamouring for a handy guide to this month’s electronic action, look no further than Charlie’s new column, Notes from the Keybed.

March was dominated by the somewhat sudden appearance of Skrillex’s debut album Recess. With little warning the US brostep don followed up his four-year run of EPs with a surprisingly diverse ten-tracker, showcasing his uncompromising production style from the mosh pit starting ‘Try It Out’ and ‘Ragga Bomb’ through to the glitch hop of ‘Doompy Poomp’ and the Burial-esque closer ‘Fire Away’. Having been used to the more immediate format of EPs the album does feel a bit disjointed in places, but it will inevitably propel Sonny Moore to even greater commercial success with radio friendly EDM singalong ‘Ease My Mind’ destined to soundtrack the festival fields of Summer 2014.

Continuing the theme of ‘orrible bass noises comes a new single release from Leamington’s finest Girls That Scream, who drop their cover of Labrinth’s Earthquake’. This live favourite has been doing the rounds at their shows for over a year now and has all the bounce of the popstep original countered with the band’s trademark eight string riffery and screaming vocals. It’s available now as a free download from SoundCloud.

Over to the indie world and the fantastic Fight Like Apes released a blinder of a new single in March. ‘Crouching Bees’ advances the Irish quartet’s love of 80’s synth music with a more mainstream pop sheen, which will surely appeal to today’s post-Chrvches hipsters. Although the single hints at a new-found maturity, the video will reassure fans of their earlier more playfully offensive material, ending with what can only be described as a masturbatory paintgasm. New EP Whigfield Sextape is out in May on Alcopop! Records.

More synth-packed new releases to make sure you pick up include wistful English singer-songwriter Paul Thomas Saunders’ debut album Beautiful Desolation. The record is out now and features stunningly heartfelt songwriting combined with shimmering synth sounds. Highlights include the haunting keyboard loops of ‘Kawai Celeste’ and euphoric string sounds of lead single ‘Good Women’.

This month also saw the release of a five-LP box set commemorating much-missed rave rockers LCD Soundsystem. The Long Goodbye is a recording of the band’s four hour long live show at New York’s Madison Square Garden, mixed by founding member James Murphy and featuring hits such as ‘Losing My Edge’, ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ and ‘Dance Yrself Clean’. It was released as part of Record Store Day on 19th April.

Synth punk fans need not despair though as taking up the mantle left by LCD are the frankly aces Heartsrevolution, who released new album Ride Or Die this month on OWSLA. The title track is a distorted riff-out for fans of Crystal Castles and Sleigh Bells. With an abundance of black and pink visuals, riot grrrl vocals and speaker smashing synths, the album is well worth your time.

Finally this month’s Keytar Hero award goes to Ben Rausch, who has been touring the UK with Johnny Foreigner, providing visuals controlled by a wireless Roland AX-7 keytar called Seafox! Tru punx.

Review: Johnny Foreigner – Stop Talking About Ghosts [single]

Fanboy alert! I need to start this review with a confession that Birmingham indie-emo-popsters Johnny Foreigner have been my favourite band since the release of third album Johnny Foreigner Vs Everything in 2011. Therefore it is hard to stay impartial, but let’s be honest, this is JoFo we’re talking about. How could this ever be a bad review?

There had been a lot of hype over the band’s upcoming fourth album You Can Do Better, with fans desperately hoping that it can in some way live up to the perfection of the last one; an expansive 17-track cocktail of beautifully heartbreaking slowies, breakneck indie rock-outs, and everything in between. In many ways the lead single throws off the shackles of that record, from the title ‘Stop Talking About Ghosts’ (srsly, leave the past in the past dudes) to the shout along chorus of ‘the hardest part is letting go’. At just 2 minutes 30 it rips apart any lingering doubts fans may have and replaces them with a back to basics approach fuelled by all the punky powerchords, rapid drum rolls and duelling vocals first heard back on 2008’s debut ‘Waited Up ‘til It Was Light’. That’s not to say that the band hasn’t progressed since those early days though. The addition of second guitarist Lewes Herriot has upped the intensity, matched with a far superior production and more lead vocals by bassist Kelly Southern, who takes a notably more prominent role on these new tracks.

Continuing the theme of drowning ‘…Vs Everything’ in its own reputation and wiping the slate clean is the second track on this digital single, a rousingly noisy reimagining of piano ballad ‘Johnny Foreigner Vs You’. Tagging a defiant ‘…and Everyone You Love’ onto the end of the title and replacing melancholy with melodrama has resulted in something sounding like the Pixies doing a pissed-off waltz with amps cranked to 11. Completing the package is ‘Hit’, a quirky slacker anthem that prove JoFo still know how to make a killer b-side.

Stop Talking About Ghosts is available now as a pay-what-you-can download from Bandcamp with proceeds going to Cavell Nurses Trust, a charity organisation that offers emergency financial support to nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants. The new album You Can Do Better was released on Alcopop! Records on March 10th and the band are currently touring the UK to support it.

5 out of 5 high fives!