Not Many Experts

There’s not much to complain about when it comes to Death At Sea. In fact, it’s tough not to agree with the grounded analysis of Bido Lito!, who recently claimed that the band were the best band they’d heard in a long time and predicted that they “will blow a hole in Liverpool’s unsuspecting music community”. Before you’ve heard their two available tracks that may seem like an almost hyperbolic claim. But afterwards, well, it would probably be more controversial to suggest that the Pope is a Catholic (and he almost definitely is).

They’ve got the visceral, gritty appeal of Yuck, but filtered until the sound is slightly purer and more intoxicating, topped up with the yearning drawl of Tokyo Police Club. More importantly, in Kinsella they’ve got a passionate and intensely charismatic front-man, and in “Sea Foam Green” they’ve penned a regrettably rare song; one that simultaneously nails being evocative and poignant, and has a melancholic hook that just makes it impossible not to give in to them. A sturdy beginning, to say the least.

Apparently you will soon be able to catch Death At Sea playing their songs around Liverpool, which will definitely not be one to miss. Not being unafraid of hyperbole as I am, I don’t mind suggesting that it could even be one of those “I was there” moments.

Like an even more spaced-out, blissful Real Estate, Simian Ghost’s recent album “Youth” tugged at the heart in many ways, as they took their simplistically beautiful indie pop songs and reinterpreted them with a slightly more left-field approach that lost none of the songs’ heart or immediacy.

Now they’ve released a couple of acoustic videos of album tracks, including the brilliant “Curtain Call”, with the innovation stripped away, leaving Simian Ghost clad just in their words, emotion and intimacy. I feel like it suits them just as well as their gently-unconventional approach to indie, but to tell the truth I’m so taken by the album they could probably re-interpret the album via the medium of ancient Aztec dance and I’d be won over. Regardless, judge for yourself whether it suits them, and if you’re missing out on this incredible album, then definitely invest some time in it.

UK tour dates were also announced today and although I’m completely jealous that there’s no Liverpool or Bristol dates, I feel almost legally obliged to grudgingly post the tour dates anyway:

April 10 – London, Surya
April 11 – Manchester, The Soup Kitchen
April 12 – Glasgow, The Captain’s rest
April 13 – Southampton, Joiners

It doesn’t always follow that an impressive past makes for a successful future, but there’s something very exciting about new record label Best Fit Recordings, launched by the people behind The Line of Best Fit. The reason why we think the brilliance might translate this time is the web-site’s knack for picking out the most exciting new music, regardless of whether they already have support from the music press or not, which isn’t the worst place to start when you’re running a record label. And if you are wavering and need a bit of solid, aural proof, then have a listen or two to their first release; I Ching.

A couple of nights ago, I Ching had finished playing Best Fit Records launch party, and judging by the endless enthusiasm constantly replicating itself on my twitter timeline, they were pretty damn good. But even if the feedback was horrendous, it wouldn’t make much of a difference; “It’s Me” is simultaneously gently industrial, brooding and melancholic, all wrapped in a tender vocal that lifts itself from dark to evocative seamlessly. The perfect start.

Vinyl will be out on 23rd April.