Dog Legs
As I sit listening to Brighton duo, Dog Legs’ Awkward EP, my dog is awkwardly trying to carry/attack the basket he used to sleep in when he was little. I have no idea if he’s trying to cling onto his youth, which would be wholly melodramatic as he’s not even one yet, or… or I don’t really know what else, but he just stepped on one side and it flipped up like standing on a rake in slapstick comedy does.
What does this have to do with Dog Legs? Nothing. Anyway, Moe and Liam formed Dog Legs after a Japanese takeaway got away from them somewhat and escalated into violent scenes of chopstick and Tupperware percussion. A damn fine reason to start a band, and if every bad takeaway resulted in bands as good as Dog Legs forming, all would be forgiven – even the day after.
Anyhow, this pair serve up a refreshing mix of lo-fi, indie, punk, and a large helping of humour – these two do not take themselves all that seriously, and they are all the better for it. Musically you can hear early Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the mix, and even pop-punk but it’s even slacker, not-arsed, and just plain messier in the best possible way. Dog Legs can really write a hook though, for instance when listening to the EP for the first time I was singing along by the end of each song.
My dog is currently attacking a fly he hasn’t worked out is on the other side of the glass.
Trwbador
Often described as avantpop, this bilingual duo first met in university a few years back and have been making music ever since. This year saw the release of their second full length, Several Wolves, helping to cement that irresistible ‘avantpop’ of theirs. Which, by the way, if you’re wondering what that sounds like, go and listen to it. Jeez.
Though, I guess it is my job to get you going; imagine warm, ethereal vocals in English and Welsh (in case that pesky w in their name wasn’t clue enough) the variety of which adds a magical, folk quality to them as they glide over instrumentation that encapsulates processed beats, synth textures, and every instrument you ever came across in a music class. The mix of ultramodern electronica, classic instrumentation, and those vocals create a sound that’s at once as contemporary as it is otherworldly old, which makes for a rather futuristic sound on the whole.
Zola Blood
Hackney-based Zola Blood are an enigmatic little collective, and with the tasters they’ve let slip so far from their forthcoming EP, Meridian, they’re a very exciting prospect for the future too. The sound here is icy, night time cool but with the underlying warmth of emotional introspection. Taking elements of electronica, R&B, and indie to create a sparse, ambient, atmosphere that’s wholly absorbing. The instrumentation creating a perfect setting for layered, harmonised vocals that you might normally expect to here on a dream pop or modern folk song.
Zola Blood are altogether cold and distant but warm and alluring, which if played right could see them achieving the kind of success The XX did when they first arrived on similar sentiments, but this is coming from a more leftfield and subversive standpoint.
Graveyard Club
Though they might be called Graveyard Club, cite The Cure as a key influence, and list ‘ghosts’ as a band interest, Graveyard Club don’t sound like that might make you imagine. Don’t get me wrong, it’s goth, Jim, but not as we know it. It’s got all the hallmarks of 80s New Wave and goth, with its synths, jangly guitars, bassy vocals, and you can hear elements of The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, and New Order, but there’s a quality at play that lifts them out of the gothpool while keeping their toes dipped in.
I have listened to their song The Night Is Mine (which wouldn’t sound even slightly out of place on the Donnie Darko soundtrack) on repeat for a little while now, and I’ll press play again when it finishes now. Which it has, and I did. This Minneapolis four-piece hone the underlying pop element of the aforementioned bands and really bring it to the fore (obviously when The Cure wanted to be pop there’s nothing that could be poppier) and create a really infectious sound that’s quite uplifting, but awash with the cinematic and atmospheric qualities of their influences.
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