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Single Review

Beat the Radar / Minisnap / Signed Papercuts / Socialist Leisure Party / Mildred and the Mice / Rachelle Garniez
Singles round-up

Article written by Ged M - Jul 4, 2009

You’re sat on a train suppressing the urge to ram that mobile phone up the fundament of the twat in the carriage who is discussing, at volume, all the irrelevant details of a humdrum life, what time his train arrives at his home station (as if he doesn’t make the same journey every day) and what he’d like for tea. Beat the Radar, a Lancaster-now-Manchester band, have captured those frustrations in ‘Telephone Conversation’ (Akoustik Anarkhy), a brilliant stab of tight, fast, euphoric indie-pop, that stands comparison with the Cribs. Myspace

Cloudberry Records have been very active recently. The oldest of the singles trio reviewed now is by Minisnap, the band that’s the Bats minus Bob Scott. Their ‘Whistler’ (Cloudberry Records 1007) is the best of the bunch, pure Antipodean pop honey that soars and jangles seductively while ‘Human Error’ is all strummy guitars and recorder, a feast of minor-chord melancholy. Myspace

The sleeve of Signed Papercuts’ ‘Of My Heart’ (Cloudberry Records 1011) shows a superhero in less-than-super terms. The single is extremely lo-fi and tentative – underpowered, even - nestling on the brink of shoegaze and sounding like something you’d hear on Peel in the late 80s (a more ethereal Sundays perhaps). ‘Sound of Silence Pt 2’ is trebly indiepop where the guitars struggle manfully against the piss-weak vocals. As unhappy and out-of-date as the superhero looks on the cover. Myspace

Kevin House and Andrew Hitchcock of Socialist Leisure Party are veterans of Sarah Records’ Action Painting!. ‘Turktown Saints’ (Cloudberry Records 1012) has a faraway feel, with lashings of flute that give it an air of West Coast psychedelia (the Great Society in particular). ‘Vulnerable Adults’ has more lyrical punch than most indiepop (are they really singing “Je suis Satan”?) and the 80s-style jangly guitars give it a Monochrome Set feel. A lovely grown up piece, with amazing artwork, and a long way from the shamaturism of Sarah. Myspace

Not limiting himself to his three bands, Jack White is running Third Man Records in Memphis and releasing limited edition vinyl pressings, two of which are here. Mildred and the Mice are led by a goth from Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. ‘I Like My Mice (Dead)’ (Third Man Records 7") is shouty garage rock with a primitive beat strongly influenced by the Monks and could almost be a trailer park Billy Childish while ‘Spider Bite’ is a nursery rhyme sung at half-speed by a half-cut Headcoatees. It seems to fit the original, raw White Stripes ethos: maybe Jack hears something of his old band here. Webpage

Rachelle Garniez is a different proposition. A singer-songwriter from New York, she plays piano and wurlitzer and seems a strange release. She's joined by Jack White on drums and Little Jack Laurence on bass for the one-sided single ‘My House of Peace’ (Third Man Records 7"). She has two voices: a delicate, filgreed whisper for the solo part and then a vicious growl when the band kick in. At that point it gains a New Orleans groove and becomes quite funky – imagine Kate Bush on Stars in their Eyes as Dr John - but the Jack connection makes it more interesting than it should be. Myspace

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