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Weird Dreams - Choreography (album)

Crocodiles - Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9) 7”

The Hairs - I’ve Been Working Out 7”

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - Third Swan single

Cate Le Bon - Cyrk (album)

Tashaki Miyaki - sings the Everly Brothers 7”

Antony Harding - The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me (album)

Veronica Falls - My Heart Beats 7”

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Gig Review

Tennis/ Swanton Bombs/ Planet Earth
London, Madame JoJos

Article written by Ged M - Jan 26, 2011

When Tennis turn up with keyboard and drumkit, for a second I suspect that they’ve been on a massive cruise ship round the Caribbean, entertaining overweight Floridian retirees with calypso and crooning, rather than sailing two-handed up and down the Atlantic seaboard gaining musical inspiration from coves, creeks and shearwaters. Then they play and my fears are largely allayed, although some songs have quite a tropical lilt and the new one about rescuing a seabird on their yacht and delivering it to land, is more than a little twee.

There’s a strong old-fashioned feel to their music, deriving from 50s and 60s pop radio and cabaret tunes (the set includes a cover of 50s singer Brenda Lee’s ‘Is It True?’), while Patrick Riley’s guitar clearly owes a debt to the surf-rock pioneers. The best elements are Aliana Moore’s captivating, characterful voice and some of their songs - ‘South Carolina’ and ‘Baltimore’ sound a million times better live after only hearing the crackly singles. And ‘Marathon’ is by far the best thing they’ve done, a sailing lesson set to a swoony girl group rhythm. On the downside, they’re pretty static on stage and Alaina’s Stevie Nicks ’82 hairstyle and her marionette-ish pixie dancing are pretty un-rock'n'roll. Overall, it’s good but not great, fun but not the future and curiously lacking the adventure they showed at sea.

In support, Swanton Bombs are a terrible indie three-piece with loads of front, who probably only possess the first Libertines and Clash CDs. They’ve been only going 2008 which they seem to think is a good thing but, in this case, shows they haven’t learned to play or write decent songs yet. Pay your dues! Planet Earth are a London four piece who’ve played with Noah & The Whale, Laura Marling, the Wave Pictures and others. My memory goes a bit weird here; I recall them as a four piece with a dense, slowbuilding guitar sound that gets better as the set progresses. But hear them online and they’re a different, more delicate band entirely. The louder version was OK but the other one is much more satisfying.

Links:
http://www.myspace.com/tennisinc
http://www.myspace.com/planetearthsongs
http://www.myspace.com/swantonbombs