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Single Review

Help Stamp Out Loneliness/ Play People/ Crystal Stilts/ Kevin Boyer/ Hjaltalin/ Seeland
Singles round-up

Article written by Ged M - Apr 17, 2009

Help Stamp Out Loneliness make reserved indiepop that includes all the standard indiepop themes (broken hearts and record shops) and reminds you of Belle & Sebastian and the Smiths when you first hear it. But ‘Torvill & Dean’ (Disques Papillons Noire 7”) has a naggingly addictive charm that transcends its inspirations in a way that the more whimsical ‘Record Shop’ doesn’t quite. The potential is there though. Myspace

There’s an essay from the label included within the Play People single (Cloudberry Records 7”) about the virtues of indiepop but the only thing making this single “indiepop” is its release on a non-affiliated label. ‘Goes Out’ is bog standard pop on the subject of, err, going out on a Friday night, and sounds a little like the Lilac Time and the Smiths but is painfully average. I played it a few times to see if it was a grower; it isn’t. Santa Dog do something similar but sound a hundred times better. Myspace

Crystal Stilts’ new single ‘Love Is A Wave’ (Slumberland Records 7”) is full of great pop moments. It sounds like the Jesus and Mary Chain covering rockabilly and Brad Hargett’s echoey 1950s-channeling voice sounds like prime Alan Vega. Equally brilliant is ‘Sugar Baby’ on the flipside, a relentless keyboard-driven rhythm robot, which you’re powerless to resist. Myspace

I love the What’s Your Rupture? label. There’s no grand plan, just a succession of incredible records (Love Is All, Tyvek, Fucked Up, Cause Co-Motion) coming out of New York. It’s the one label I’d buy without hearing the music first, because I know it will be good. As is this. Kevin Boyer is the lead singer of Tyvek and ‘Something’s Gonna Come Up’ was recorded about 2003 but its super-lo-fi fuzzpop is the sound of now. It’s thrashy and indistinct, all trebly and no bottom end, but the melody shines through. He even comes over a bit Jonathan Richman on ‘Good Friday’ on the b-side. If you like Wavves and similar, this will be right up your distorted street. An outstanding record. label homepage

Hjaltalin’s ‘Traffic Music’ (self-released download-only single) is dreamy orchestral pop from Iceland. It’s the opposite of Sigur Ros, say, with a rousing pop song drenched in brass, strings and, even better, a bassoon. They’re on a UK tour in May and at Latitude in July, and on this form would be worth seeing if you’re into ‘big pop’ sounds. Myspace

‘Goodbye’ by Seeland (Loaf Recordings) is radio-friendly electronica-based (but not over-poweringly so) pop. It kicks off like Kraftwerk and goes in to a soaring chorus that reminds me of Maps. The B-side, ‘Tears of An Architect’ is ten-and-a-half-minutes of experimental pop that goes from BBC Radiophonic Workshop to weird folk and all sorts of strangeness. It’s all accessible and very non-nerdish. Myspace

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