The Gallaghers
It’s been a seismic month for former Oasis members: the end of October marked not only the start of Noel’s High Flying Birds campaign, but the end of Beady Eye’s career, which was stamped out suddenly in a single tweet. Although fans will have to keep a close eye on his feed to find out in which guise Liam will return (his last tweet reads: Who the fuck are Man Utd LGx) he returns to the public at a special Teenage Cancer Trust charity gig in London this month with the Who. Meanwhile, his brother suppressed any self-satisfied smirks with his moody, unremarkable new single, In the Heat of the Moment.
Desperate Journalist
For those of you who missed Whitby Goth Weekender, not only did you lose out on a battalion of steam punks and men in vicar’s costumes, but a new group named Desperate Journalist, who claim to have a “gothic sensibility” and performed at the event this weekend. Perhaps they just fancied a free ticket, but their debut, which you can stream now, seems to borrow mostly from the Smiths rather than Sisters of Mercy. The combination of Jo Bevan’s flamboyant lyrics (“this voluptuous abyss!”) and Marr-like guitars are utterly indebted to the Manchester group. But it’s the north of London rather than the north of England where they formed, having started their journey at the Negative Creep grunge club night in Finsbury Park. Have a listen to their debut below.
Sleater-Kinney – Bury Our Friends (feat. Miranda July)
Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss prompted a sudden meltdown in certain circles in October when they announced details of a new album, No Cities to Love, Sleater-Kinney’s first in a decade. Bury Our Friends, a one-sided 7-inch that came out alongside their boxset Start Together, is the first taster of their comeback. Churning guitars rage alongside lyrics that take a swipe at the empty gloss of modern life. It also comes with a lyric video, which features Miranda July gently jolting in a delightful costume.
Panda Bear – Mr Noah
Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, the fifth studio album from Animal Collective founding member Noah Lennox, is out in January. Before that, fans of his idiosyncratic melodies were treated to new track Mr Noah. Its rusty, abrasive production (helped by the involvement of Pete “Sonic Boom” Kember) bristles against Lennox’s sweet, Beach Boy-pitched vocals – it’s the kind of trippy, playful inventiveness that Kasabian would kill to create. Watch the excellent AB/CD/CD directed video below: it’s a dizziness-inducing insight into the backstreet of a bleak city building, like a frantic version of Massive Attack’s Protection video.
Ariel Pink – Black Ballerina
Weird pop pioneer and disconcerting outsider artist Ariel Pink whipped up a bit of a media storm in October by claiming Madonna’s label had enlisted him to boost the supposed “downward slide” of the Queen of Pop’s career. Although Madge’s manager has since said that Ariel’s claims are bogus, the prospect of such a collaboration wasn’t exactly unbelievable. After all, if she were up for subverting the norm, he could teach her a few things about imbuing a sense of peculiarity and perverseness into pop. A track from his forthcoming Pom Pom album landed recently, and it tells the age-old tale of a boy named Billy who visits a strip club. It sounds a little like Jackson 5’s Blame It on the Boogie played on a Walkman that’s running out of battery, and it features a sleazy bit of dialogue you wouldn’t want your mum to hear.
