Jaguar Love - Hologram Jams


I was pretty distraught when Blood Brothers decided to part, granted their latest record, 'Young Machetes' didn't quite reach the same heights that I enjoyed within the edgy brilliance of 'Crimes' but as a fan, I still felt that sonically, they still had sounds to explore. Jaguar Love, comprising of two members of Blood Brothers, vocalist Johnny Whitney and guitarist Cody Votolato, explore these sounds on their latest record, the second to be released by Jaguar Love and first for new label Fat Possom Records, 'Hologram Jams'.

Jaguar Love and this album are a strange being, Whitney's vocals haven't moved on since his former band and his screechy vocals often bring you back around to reminiscing about Blood Brothers, especially when his trademark screaming comes into the fold, you can't help but wish the deeper vocals of Jordan Billie were around to balance the whine of Whitney like they did previous. Vocals aside, the comparisons with Blood Brothers generally end as Jaguar Love musically approach you from a dance synth direction rather than an alt-punk one. Most notable is the use of drum programming rather than a drummer, often this can lead bands into dangerous places creating over complex loops to compensate for a lack of members but Jaguar Love are extremely reigned in when it comes to percussion and the drums are the driving force on this record, simply making it impossible to not tap your foot along to the album, regardless of whether you like it or not. Guitars are still there but the in your face style of Blood Brothers has been replaced with a subtle approach with guitars often just there to offer something extra to the sickly sweet sound of synthesisers. Lyrically is where I feel Jaguar Love really let me down though, while Whitney once inspired me with his lyrical ideals, I now feel sick to the stomach to hear him sing the line "Everything is rad, everything is awesome, drive a tank through your head that's awesome", a far cry from his Blood Brothers days and while it suits the tone of the music, lyrically it comes across as uninspired and childish.

'Hologram Jams' isn't as I expected, Jaguar Love aren't what I expected, the poppy dance sound of a good alternative punk band stripped of their individuality and shoved into the modern music scene armed with everything needed to be deemed cool. We want Blood Brothers back.

2 / 5

Jaguar Love Myspace

Alt Track Interview

The best part about independent bands for myself, is watching them grow both in performance and also musically. From the moment I heard Alt Track I knew that they had something that could go somewhere. I caught up with Micky shortly after their first UK tour to ask him about the tour, their future European dates, their debut album and his thoughts on politics currently.

Please tell everyone reading who you are and how you came to be...

Hey, I'm Micky and I play in a band called Alt Track with my band mate, Pete. We write political dance music and have been gigging together for three years now. We met after our previous bands disbanded and after a few weeks of jamming and an impromptu gig, we made it come together in the end and here we are!

Pete and yourself seem to have a very different taste in music with you stating influence in more the folk/trip-hop and post-rock field, while Pete on the other hand seems to venture on the heavier side but with touches of hip-hop. How do you feel that eclectic combination of influences works for Alt Track and has it ever caused problems?

If you were to go back two years ago when we first started playing, we were writing pretty dull post-rock, ambient, instrumental, electronica kind of stuff because that's what I was into back then. Since then we've both shared bands and influences with one another and alot of Petes taste in dance music, hip-hop and punk has rubbed off on me. Now we've really started pushing into that heavier direction, but we still try and bring in the elements of melodic post-rock and trip-hop. Having an open mind to one anothers tastes and music in general is really a positive thing for us, while conflicts do still sometimes happen when we're tugging the music in a different direction, it does always seem to work.

What is the routine within the band in terms of songwriting. Is it all down to one of you or both of you?

We both write and on the album, I'd say it's totally fifty fifty as far as content goes. Some songs feature one persons ideas more heavily whilst others are a complete split down the middle.

One of the positive things about working electronically means that you don't need a full band to write and jam through new material, so when we write on our own we can pretty much record and demo a song and then bring it to the table. Most of the time Pete will progam something, some beats or a bass loop and then at practice we'll play it together. I might bring a piano melody into the picture, maybe a lyric or two and we'll spend a long time structuring it. Sometimes I wish we could play more with real instruments though, just to get a better feel for the songs and do more subtle things but programming seems to still work best for us.

You said about wishing there were live instruments more readily available, has there ever been a discussion in moving towards more of a band dynamic?

That's something we're always being asked actually! We've discussed it alot aswell. The short answer is no. We both feel we've got something unique in our creative dynamic as a duo. I know there is nobody I can write music like thiswith other than Pete, and onstage people say that our personalities come across clearly.

On the next album we are planning to feature more acoustic instruments though, and some guest vocalists and musicians but I don't think we'll ever be looking for official members, it's just too handy being able to fit us and all our gear into a Renault Clio!

Your EP, 'A Nation Is On Fire' very much owed to the likes of Muse and other grandiose bands whilst on 'Silence Is Approval', you seemed to develop all your influences to move into a genre of your own. How was that achieved, was it discussed and planned or did it naturally occur?

There was a definite point after we did the EP that we wanted to find our own sound. We both like the songs on the EP, some of them I love listening to still but it isn't what we're really about.

In terms of Silence Is Approval, it kind of just fell together. We were both writing and jamming new songs at gigs and were planning to record another EP but one day we kind of just sat down and realised we had enough new songs for an album. So we went into the studio, working with an amazing producer called Simon Mawsom, and he helped us work together alot better than we had been. We ended up writing most of the songs in a short space of time throughout the recording process, and while in hindsight it may have been rushed, it was still really natural.

Looking back, it was definitely the best time either of us have ever had recording and I guess because of the rush, we didn't really think about genres. It was only once we had finished it and listened back for the first time that we realised that we'd written something pretty different.

Both of your releases have received great comments from the music media, myself included. How do you feel as an independent, unsigned band, you can build upon this for the next release?

We have had some lucky breaks in terms of media coverage so far, especially when you take into account how bad at self promotion we are! I think the most exciting comment that we ever received was by Steve Lamacq when he played us last year on prime time Radio 1, that was amazing.

In alot of ways I think our music is taking care of itself, that's what we know how to do, but the other side of music, sending out e-mails, press packs and letters all the time in hope of getting acclaim, that's the hardest thing for us.

Actually getting ourselves out there to badger the more important people in the industry is what we need to improve on for our next release, definitely.

Lyrically, you often move into political territory. Was that always the intention with your music, do you feel that people may be turned away from your music because of this and do you feel that having political views is important in modern music, if so, why?

We always say that lyrics are based upon observations. Right now, the world is in a mess, corrupt politicians, wars, propaganda, lies and injustice. That is something we have to speak out about and music has always been and hopefully will always be, a platform for change.

We're really lucky to have the opportunity to communicate with people in this way, I don't think people are turned away by it, some people may not want to hear the bleak truth but at the same time, we try to remain positive and show that there is a possibility for change, a good change.

I don't think it is crucial to always be ranting about politics in music though, if people want to write about love, drugs, money or war that is up to them. The only thing that I think is important in music, is honesty.

With the UK political battle currently being plastered everywhere, where do you place your music in terms of encouraging young people not only to vote but to vote sensibly?

People have got to come to their own conclusions on the weight of the voting system. I don't really know well enough where I stand to be encouraging other people. I've not met anyone who's got complete, certain, steadfast faith in the way we elect governments, and I don't think anyone's ever been sure.

I think we need some radical change though, and I think a hung parliament is going to be the way to go, even if it's just a foothold on a bigger thing. Keeping the BNP out of any more seats or success is a key part to our message though, no way should those racists be allowed to stand for election.

Back to music now, have you started on a new album yet and if so, any hints on what it will sound like?

We started thinking about a new album straight away, it's there somewhere in our sights but we don't want to rush it.

The first album was exciting, simple and raw to make and I think that comes across. We really want to refine our sound on the next one, input all the details we perhaps neglected on Silence Is Approval.

I don't have too much to say on the sound of the new one yet, I think it will just be bigger, more uplifting, more guitars, more pianos, I don't really know, you'll have to wait and see!

The last few months saw you embark on your first full UK tour, how did it go and also, what do you expect from the European dates you have coming up and what can gig-goers expect from you?

The UK tour was amazing, we played some of the best gigs we've played and met some great people.

It's going to be strange gigging in Europe, I remember a few years back thinking that touring the UK, or playing outside of Bradford was an unreachable, crazy idea, but here we are doing it, and the idea of actually being able to go and play our music on the continent was impossible! We're pretty excited, the anticipation is definitely outweighing the confusion right now.

One thing people have always commented on is how much energy we have on-stage. We try and explore the whole room, not just the stage, and really perform. Every gig counts to us, no matter what the situation, crowd size or sound system. So whether you see us in Bradford or in Belgium, we'll still be giving one hundred and ten percent.

Last question, everything you have done so far has been off your own back from self recording and releasing your album to organising your own tours. Do you think this helps or hinders you and do Alt Track have any aspirations of being signed?

It would be a lie, I think, if any band said they didn't want success in the mainstream. Yeah, it would be nice one day if we had somebody who could do the grinding day-to-day job of e-mailing, photocopying and calling people but right now, I think i'd only ever want to do it ourselves. The longer we remain independent, the longer our music and any success we achieve belongs to us and I hope we'll be able to look back on this time as the important years where we did the practical and mundane things off our own backs.

On the other side of the coin, it means being skint and being abit of a hermit at home when we're not on tour, but for us, it's well worth it. We wouldn't have it any other way!

You can check out Alt Track on their Myspace by clicking here.

The Coffee And TV Wreck - Better Than Your Friends

Thom Crang, the mastermind behind Cornish folk/indie act The Coffee And TV Wreck releases his latest EP, 'Better Than Your Friends' after honing his craft with two downloadable albums available via his myspace.

The five tracks on offer here, don't stray from acoustic territory, with guitar and vocals at the forefront, occassionally with group vocals, the use of tambourine and once or twice, the inclusion of a xylophone and for '44 and counting', drums. That is however, all that is needed for this lo-fi release, with the concentration on the emotion in both the lyrics and the way they are delivered.

'Trouble Adjusting', is a country sing-a-long, sparse and minimal it relies on its ability to make your head bounce from side to side with the rhythmic tambourine use and you singing along to the chorus line of "Threw all my money and my clothes, away". Its strength lies in that lyrically it is emotionally honest and perhaps even depressing, but musically, it doesn't take itself too seriously, touching upon a sound not too dissimilar to Conor Obersts latest works. 'Watching The World End', perhaps my favourite song on the EP, lyrically concentrating on a feeling of hopelessness with the chorus "You and me on a cliffs edge, watching the world end" as the backing vocals sway in and out, feels more diverse than the other tracks upon the EP, more haunting than emotional and very different to the influences Crang wears on his sleeve, freshening this release up nicely.

'Better Than Your Friends' isn't perhaps groundbreaking, treading on an inoffensive acoustic folk country and indie sound but unlike alot of signed acts that NME is currently dribbling over, Crang has managed to channel huge amounts of emotion into his music that we haven't heard since Noah And The Whale's First Spring. This along with a real nous for song writing, puts The Coffee And TV Wreck in a position where it would be a real shame if they were ignored.

4 / 5

The Coffee And TV Wreck

Ólafur Arnalds - ...And They Have Escaped The Weight Of Darkness

Ólafur Arnalds' second full length album '...and they have escaped the weight of darkness' is a credit to the ever growing list of releases that have formed their way from the independent UK label, Erased Tapes, a collective of music lovers and bands that release beautiful pop to instrumental music that perhaps wouldn't be heard otherwise.

'...and they have escaped the weight of darkness' is a Ronseal quick dry advert if ever I have heard one. Beautiful, melodic and light, there are no hints of darkness or a struggle here, just peace. Sparse piano melodies make up the forefront of this collective of tracks, with intelligently composed string movements filling the void. Ocassionally, like in the final track, brass instruments will come out to play, but it is rare that Arnalds strays from the formula of the other tracks. While at times this will alienate the mainstream crowd in terms of buying this record, that is not to say that these tracks couldn't appear in a mainstream setting with adverts or movies that need dare I say it epic background music, could surely do no wrong in picking any track from this gorgeous release.

Intelligent, polished, beautiful yet subtle, Arnalds has created something worth noticing with his second full length. Lets just hope people start to take note not just of his talent but also the hard work of Erased Tapes to discover and release it.

4 / 5

Ólafur Arnalds Myspace

Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can

For most, it was a surprise that Laura Marling and her debut solo album 'Alas I Cannot Swim' was nominated in 2008 for the ever more mainstream Mercury Prize. What surprised me more however, was that Marling wasn't accepted with open arms as much as other folk or solo acoustic acts that have followed. 'Alas I Cannot Swim' was an easy but yet harrowing listen, filled to the brim with infectious folk melodies, so obviously built up through her time with the impressive Noah And The Whale but with an added poetic cynacism, that Noah And The Whale would not yet achieve until their latest album, post Marling. Brilliantly intelligent, the album scoped many emotions we all have to succumb to in our day to day relationships but did so in a tongue in cheek manner. The follow up album 'I Speak Because I Can' holds a huge burden, the burden of following up where 'Alas I Cannot Swim' has left off and the task of propelling Marling even further into the mainstream limelight.

As is the case with many follow up albums, 'I Speak Because I Can' is more mature. Gone are the tongue in cheek lyrical quips that I once heavily admired and into the fold come intelligent and dare I say it, more mainstream lyrics. Lead single 'Goodbye England' has been receiving an overly annoying amount of play on Radio One and while it isn't perhaps the catchiest number that you would expect to hear on daytime radio, it is a beautiful piece of music adorned in orchaestral instruments and accompanied by minimal piano melodies and Marlings simple guitar work, that fits perfectly for the song. Lyrically, Marling is in mourningfully good form and while you perhaps don't have the ability to quote the lyrics as much as the singles from her albums predecessor, the emotion strikes you more than anything she has previously released. Opening track 'Devil's Spoke', my personal favourite from the album, is an upbeat hint towards old Americano music and starts off the record in foot tapping fashion, encouraging you to listen further unlike many other solo acoustic artists who are happy to comotose you from the first second. 'Hope In The Air' is bitterly sad, opening with the line "There is a man I know, seventeen years he never spoke, guess he had nothing to say, he opened his mouth on judgement day" and slowly building from a single guitar melody into big haunting piano bass lines and then drums and group vocals before the track falls back for Marling to sing the best lyric of the album perhaps, "A friend is a friend forever and a good one will never leave, never".

There is no doubt that 'I Speak Because I Can' is a different being than 'Alas I Cannot Swim' and in many ways, this will alienate previous fans as Marling blatantly tries to push from her underground success and ride the wave of money that folk artists Mumford & Sons have created and in all honesty, I was alienated until I really paid attention to the album. 'I Speak Because I Can' is keeping to what we expect from Marling, but building on it three fold and there is no way that this won't make it onto every journalists album of the year list come the end of 2010. It will make it onto mine, that is for sure.

4.5 / 5

Laura Marling Myspace

Draw Me Stories - Becomes The Hunted/Oars

On latest double side single 'Become The Hunted/On The Galley', Draw Me Stories sound like the folk/indie monster their previous publications have hinted at. 'Become The Hunted' is drum driven, the frenzied, snare friendly drums of Samuel Souter pushing the song through all of its structures perfectly. Guitar and bass wise, the song perhaps suits its name perfectly, sounding dark and eerie but crashing down into a flurry as vocalist Carl Hodgetts sings "the hunter becomes the hunted" in a Bjórk like fashion somehow. Its more arty indie than folk but it is original and it works, hugely.

'Oars', much like 'Become The Hunted' is driven by the drums again but has more emphasis built around a folkier sounding guitar melody accompanied by intelligent bass playing. What really pulls Draw Me Stories away from the possible folk contemporaries that they may be compared to is their structure use, 'Oars' is particularly strange in its almost Youthmovies or Foals esque oxford guitar work mid song and also the wah wah pedal build up in the middle eight, it sounds like it shouldn't work and perhaps in many ways, it really shouldn't, but here, it really sounds fantastic.

On the strength of these two tracks alone, I am baffled that Draw Me Stories are unsigned. Sure, they perhaps wouldn't reach the dizzying heights of the nu-folk that is Mumford & Sons but I am pretty sure they'd give it a damn good try and wouldn't come far off. All we need from this three piece now, is a full length album as good as this to back me up!

Draw Me Stories Myspace

4 / 5

Bunny And The Bull - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

This is possibly the strangest sensation I have had. A soundtrack for the movie Bunny And The Bull infront of me, composed and performed by Ralfe Band and I am expected to form an opinion of it. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of soundtracks and have bought and listened to many in my life so far but it genuinely seems strange to me because I have yet to see the movie.

Strangely enough, if I were to not know it were a soundtrack to an independent movie, I would guess it within the first 'song' anyway. Beautiful but haunting piano melodies are generally the focus here, violins beautifully move into the fold and often instruments like accordians are brought in aswell often to accent the piano sections more so. It feels emotional at times, particularly towards the end of the release with songs like 'Stephen' but on the whole, it has a gypsy folk feel to it, that makes you want to smile, particularly within the early tracks. On the whole, the soundtrack is vocal-less as you would expect but when the vocals do make an appearance on 'Attila The Dog Man', 'Stephens Finale' and 'Fairground Waltz', they sound somewhere inbetween the great Beirut and perhaps Devotchka.

Overall, a strange listen without knowing the film but an interesting and entertaining one at least. On the strength of this soundtrack, I shall be trying to get my hands on the film, so in many ways, this soundtrack has done its job perfectly.

Bunny And The Bull Official Website

4 / 5