New music from Ugly, Legss, The Slow Country, Junior Brother, HAAL, Blousey and Pedro Pedro Pedro.
Above: Ugly by Seren Carys | Words: Hazel Blacher, A. L. Noonan, Lloyd Bolton
In a ridiculously busy week for great new singles, we turn our attention to new music from Ugly, Legss, The Slow Country, Junior Brother, HAAL, Blousey and Pedro Pedro Pedro.
Ugly– 'Next To Die'
Though their output thus far has defied any one hardline stylistic definition, Ugly possess a unique quality, rooted in a rousing nostalgia that draws upon an eclectic catalogue of influences ranging from prog all the way through to classical choral music to create something entirely new. On 'Next To Die', their first single this year, the London sextet pull back slightly from the all-out structural maximalism of their debut EP 'Twice Around The Sun', strapping in for a leisurely, sunset-dipped cruise through the gentler avenues of folky soft-rock. With the sunroof wide open, shoulders out and route judiciously planned, here they wed intricate acoustic guitars with rich, swelling vocal harmonies in a neat, elegant package. A self-penned "rejuvenating and transitional" standalone musical entity (in the context of the band's debut album said to be in the works), 'Next To Die' is yet more evidence of their impressive craftsmanship and attention to detail as a collective. Like a well-oiled machine, Ugly are well and truly locked into their craft, and are sharply ascending. (Hazel Blacher)
Legss – 'Gloss'
Legss make their most welcome return, following a handful of exciting new music showcases over the past few months. 'Gloss' is a brilliant mixture of tension and softness, verses crawling through murky drums, a winding bassline and circling thoughts before exploding into crunching noise. Even as the song reaches a moment of respite in the clearing at its centre, we hear in it a kind of anxious anticipation for the inevitable final climax. Legss are masters of dynamics and here they employ the talents of Felix Stephens and Lottie Pendlebury on strings to sharpen the tension for maximum impact, creating a piece that lives, gasping for breath. Judging from their recent live shows, this is just the beginning of a comeback from a group who, at their best, are one of London's most powerful acts. (Lloyd Bolton)
The Slow Country – 'Right There Inside'
The Slow Country's new single 'Right There Inside' is a perfect, rolling, sun-kissed cut of indie gold. Every element is judiciously administered, and the band make the most of their 6-piece setup by decorating the space afforded by the song's meter with trills of sax and fiddle across a hook-filled three minutes. The track's driving, jangling rhythm plays against poetic lyrics delivered with a perfect emotionally grizzled weight, a combination reminiscent of the very best of Lloyd Cole and The Go-Betweens. The arrangement takes us beyond the 80s heritage of indie rock, however, its acoustic instrumentation set against electric guitars to suggest a magpie-like appreciation for Britain's current ongoing folk revival. Taken with debut single 'Walking Song', this new track shows that this London-via-Manchester band have so much to offer, and they are well worthy of the excitement growing all around them. (Lloyd Bolton)
Junior Brother – 'Small Violence'
In recent years Ireland's folk scene has jolted into the mainstream musical consciousness by melding orthodox traditions with burgeoning experimentalism. While releases from Lankum, Lisa O'Neill and John Francis Flynn have garnered broad critical acclaim, County Kerry's Junior Brother preceded this rise in experimental Irish folk, releasing two outstandingly progressive LPs, 'Pull the Right Rope' (2019) and 'The Great Irish Famine' (2022) before the wider celebration of the genre. Ronan Kealy returns to the Junior Brother project with his latest release 'Small Violence'. Pairing hulking bass drones and fairground synths with soaring nasal vocals that speak of beasts crawling underfoot, Kealy steps out further than previously heard. Darker, weirder and entirely more deranged, 'Small Violence' cracks a window to the more warped sides of Junior Brother. Like his peers, Kealy carries forth relics of tradition but on 'Small Violence' they're wholly distorted through a lens of fear and paranoia. (A. L. Noonan)
HAAL - 'Plate 43 (...Or Standing on the Toes of Giants)'
Unfurling like a slow, sweeping crepuscular fog, thick and soupy with a liminal mystique and brooding, avant-grit , 'Plate 43 (...Or Standing on the Toes of Giants)' sees HAAL return with a less lucid, more contemplative and free-flowing compositional approach than their previous output. Inspired by and drawing its title from artist Francisco Goya's ominous, cautionary work 'Plate '43 / 'The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters', the track is a 7-minute long multi-part epic, deconstructing and recontextualising aspects of 90s post-hardcore against a backdrop of ruminative, experimental post-rock. Enlisting guest contributions from members of both Quade and Ex-Agent, here the Bristol 4-piece are decidedly more ambitious both instrumentally and structurally, traversing dynamic and timbral multiplicities that range from intricate interlacing melodic repetitions to wall-to-wall guitar fuzz narcotisation. (Hazel Blacher)
Blousey – 'Chances'
Flouncing into action with an infectious, inebriated moxie, Blousey's 'Chances' revels at the glorious intersection between tipsiness and oblivion, where hearts (and beers) spill into the fortuitous night as it twinkles with magic and possibility. Said to be a "bittersweet song about how friendship is built on chance encounters", the track serves as the second release from the London newcomers, and it also marks the announcement of their debut EP 'The Precipice', due for release in May. 'Chances' combines the sprawling, ramshackle spirit of gothy garage rock with catchy indie rock melodies and a pastiche of folky instrumentation, and Blousey's sense of fun, combined with their youthful flirtation with all things messy and free, shines through like slithers of bright, dusty morning light at the party's triumphant end. (Hazel Blacher)
Pedro Pedro Pedro – '… Your House Down'
The politely titled '… Your House Down' is the brand new single from Pedro Pedro Pedro, a recent staple of the Windmill's schedule. This single shows the band in all their unique glory, composed with a brilliantly fearless disregard for a listener's expectations. Slow spiralling guitars form a backdrop for stream of consciousness lyrics that pun their way between flashes of brilliant association. As the song progresses, the song seems to be dragged forcefully along by these words as they accelerate into chaos before landing on the refrain almost named in the title, "I wanna fuck your house down". (Lloyd Bolton)
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