Tweet Tweet!

HOME 
REVIEWS
albums
singles/downloads
gigs
demos
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
FREE MP3s
STREAMED MUSIC
MUSIC VIDEOS
FORUM
LINKS
ABOUT US
CONTACT US
SEARCH
Follow SXP on Twitter
- RSS Feed
 
SoundsXP Presents
Pictures from some recent gigs we've hosted:

29 March 2013 - Brixton, London

Viv Albertine, VuVuVultures, Left Leg, Mickey Gloss, Big Wave, No Cars, Arthur Gunn, Simon Love (Pictures)

8 March 2013 - Lexington, London

R.Ring, Golden Grrrls, Slushy Guts and Equinox (Pictures)
On Our iPod
Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (album)
Antony Harding - Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear (album)
Black Angels - Indigo Meadow (album)
Thee Oh Sees - Floating Coffin (album)
Still Corners - Strange Pleasures (album)
Savages - Silence Yourself (album)
Mikal Cronin - MC II (album)
Can’s Ege Bamyasi played by Stephen Malkmus and Friends(album)
Victoria and Jacob - Festival 7"
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City (album)
Sauna Youth - False Jesii Part II 7”
Lightning Bolt - Oblivion Hunter
Robyn Hitchcock - There Goes The Ice (2x 12")
Latest Forum Posts
Album Review

Violens
True Slumberland Records

Article written by Ged M - Sep 29, 2012

violens_1.jpg
Violens have been around since 2007 and were hailed as one of the “Great New New York Bands” by the Guardian in 2009 but this reported greatness only shows intermittently here. You can hear the influence of the Shins and grandiose 4AD pop bands but there’s also a strong sense of sunshine pop in the harmonies and soaring arrangements – bands like the Association and Free Design come to mind, notably on ‘Der Microarc’.

It’s all light, twangly, shimmery pop, with ethereal vocals and sweeping harmonies, creating a weightless – and fairly insubstantial - feel to the music. The single ‘Totally True’ - which features Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek – has jangly guitars and vocals that dip and swoop like swifts; it’s nice but ephemeral and needs to be weighted down so it doesn’t fly away on the first light gust. It represents the template for the band’s other songs, although they throw in a couple of droney fillers for contrast and even show off a My Bloody Valentine influence on the whooshy pop of ‘All Night Low’. But the most substantial song is ‘Sariza Spring’, which reins in the floatiness and replaces it with a forest of sound, with voices in harmony, percussion gently pattering and guitars chiming and playing an addictive melody. There are some highlights but generally it’s a bit too flimsy for repeated enjoyment – judicious sampling recommended.

Links:
http://violens.net/
http://slumberlandrecords.com/catalog/show/219
http://www.facebook.com/violens

LATEST FEATURES
LATEST NEWS
Looking Good for 60s girl groups
End of the Road for Rough Trade's comp
Khan get no satisfaction? The King returns!
Black Angels aim to be all white on the nights with Euro tour
Liverpool to ferry in more psych acts for festival
Make a pledge to the Future of the Left
Plenty to please your mince pies and jugs of beers at East End Live 2013
Crocodiles shoe in LP and Euro tour
There's no business like Monkee business with new boxset
Phil Chevron of the Pogues makes cancer announcement
LATEST FREE MP3s
Hospital Ships "Come back To Life "
TV Girl "She Smokes In Bed"
The Gloss "Words"
Sans Chateaux "Holy Venus"
Axolotl "Avalanche"
Gil De Ray "Catholic Boy "
Jenny Gabrielsson Mare "The Black Lodge "
Hop Along "Sister Cities"
Oracle O. "Voodoo Walk"
Crushed Out "Push Down & Twist"

 

© Sounds XP Design by Darren O'Connor and Adam Walker