10 Tracks You Have To Hear This Week (30/05/09)

1. The Twang - Another Bus
They may have fallen from grace faster than a greased sloth from a glass tree, but we’ve still got a place for The Twang in our hearts. And anyone whose heart has ever ached over the course of a lengthy coach journey (say the Megabus from Aberdeen to London, approximately 12 years in duration) will feel the pain that Phil Etheridge oozes on The Twang’s epically smarting free-download comeback. Gentle and resigned, haunted by a nagging memory of reverb, it’s achingly weary. “I don’t need this rush no more… on and on, on and on”, croons Phil before a sliver of Vervey guitar breaks through the clouds. Oi! No kissing in the back seats.
[Free Download]



2. Manic Street Preachers - Vision Blurred
The Manics’ cover of The Horrors’ non-album track ‘Vision Blurred’ should be of particular interest to those fans who expected ‘Journal For Plague Lovers’ to be ‘The Holy Bible Pt 2’. For while ‘Journal…’ was an unexpectedly subtle record, ‘Vision Blurred’ is a roiling, visceral outpouring which could easily have come from the Manics’ dark masterpiece. “I surrender, my vision has blurred” screams James Dean Bradfield desperately, over a brutal riff, and you’re left thinking a supergroup may not be such a bad idea.
[Listen]

3. Julian Plenti – Fun That We Have
Goat-voiced lord of the gloom that he is, it seems Interpol’s Paul Banks has a shady double life. By day the exponent of epic, sweeping desolation, by night… he’s been writing as Julian Plenti since before Interpol released their debut and the fruits are now ripe. This weird, garagey effort sports raw, Frank Black-ish guitar intercut by incongruous bleeps and odd shifts of rhythm. Mind you, he still sounds like his idea of ‘fun’ involves nylon rope, surgical gloves and sharp implements.
[Free Download]



4. The Joy Formidable – Whirring
The loud/quiet dynamic is a tried and tested method to get people waiting… waiting… then jumping about, yeah! Which doesn't mean it can't feel fresh when done well, and on 'Whirring' The Joy Formidable slowly build an anguished love song until it explodes. If you don't respond to this, you're either dead or chained to the floor.



5. Django Django – Storm
As brooding and brewing as the title might suggest, this odd, echoing little track from London duo Dave and Vinny (OK, they don’t sound very eccentric, but stick with us) will prick up the ears of fans of The Beta Band and The Bees, being a similar blend of psych-folk and dance influences that creates endearing freak-pop. The lyrics describe a road-trip that’s gone horribly wrong. We’ve all been there – that’s why you always buy the Haribo before you set off.




6. Ash - Return Of White Rabbit
Ash’s no-more-albums plan means they’ll instead put out 26 singles over the course of the next 12 months. Sounds like a recipe for some serious mediocrity, but ‘Return Of White Rabbit’, a free download preview of the series, is actually a weirdly effective funk-pop song. It sounds like New Kids On The Block singing with Franz. Looks like these 26 singles will be full of surprises – here’s hoping for at least one full-on Boyz II Men stool-ballad.
[Free Download]