Previous Reviews

By David Lloyd (Alternative Gubbins) 26/11/00

All tracks are graded with marks out of 10, with 10 being the dogs' bollocks.

My Astro Lover, Hastings, England. Track: Backseat Lover.

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Starts off promising, with a fuzztastic drum blast which would get the Jesus and Mary Chain checking their stereo was working. It goes rapidly downhill from there though, forced Cockney vocals, and plastic instrumentation that would make Gay Dad seem sincere. Catchy, but ultimately lacking substance. (5/10).

Supercoolwater, London, England Track: Caged and Sold.

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Kicking sample leads into scratchy art school guitars. These guys sound more like Sonic Youth than Sonic Youth. Not that its a problem, they have enough of their own style in there to keep it from being merely plagiarism. I'll be E mailing this one too my friends. (8/10)

Streetcrab, Shannon, Ireland. Track: Between the Lies.

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This track has its moments, but it goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. Bits of it have some lovely grinding guitars, but then some of this song stinks of Fish (of the Marillion variety, not the salty kind.) Musically competent and polished, but unfortunately, some of the lyrics and vocal phrasing turns me off. (4/10)

Mad Chihuahuas, York, England. Track: Black Mariah.

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About 20 years out of fashion, but then again, who ever followed fashion? Punk, drunk and full of spunk. This one takes me back to my teenage years, whacked on snake bite and black, pogoing at the local alternative club. Full of energy, indignation, and fiery thrashing guitars. No prizes for originality mind. (6/10)

Naked Sushi, Falmouth, England. Track: Carnivorous Girl.

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Yawn. Space should have been shot at birth. Anyone aspiring to sound like them need their testicles wrapped tightly around their throats (I think you can see where I'm going with this one). For f***s sake, they started out playing at Butlins. This cabaret band should shortly be seen wearing hairy dice around their necks. (1/10)

Swurveland, Indiana, USA. Track: Flicker and Fade.

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Simple and lovely, nice. Slacker music with a strong soul, builds up in intensity, and is cooled off with a lovely sax solo. Out of left field comes a strange vocal sample to finish it of. Sounds warm and familiar, and then sticks with you till your mind hurts from singing it over and over to yourself. Recommended. (7/10)

Umbah, Inverness, Scotland. Track: Ice Flowers.

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Was there ever a genre known as dub acid Goth? This would be a prime contender should there ever have been or ever will be. Strange, spacey, compelling, dark and sinister. Sounds like a creeping sore, repulsive, but ultimately fascinating and worth a good pick. Top stuff (8/10)

Love You Dead, Devizes, England. Track: M&B Girls.

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Nice vocals, somewhere between Nico and The Young Marble Giants. But, and its unfortunately a big but, what utter dross the music. Cheesy synth pop, hideous mechanical drum rolls and hand claps, someone please take their synths of them, reprogram them with modern sounds and give them to someone with talent. Did you ever see that episode of friends, where Ross played his musical composition? You get the Picture? (3/10)

Gary Flanagan, Silver Springs, USA. Track: Written on a Napkin.

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This is going downhill fast. How much money did this download cost me. I could have saved it to buy some cotton wool buds for my ears. Or paid for a good syringing. Pap pop a la B 52's (circa Rock Lobster). Go away. Leave me alone. I'm struggling to find something positive to say here. (1/10)

Grayman Jam, Newcastle, England. Track: We Got Cocaine and Coffee Here.

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Strange and eclectic, with the sort of mixed bag of samples the Beta Band like to use. Good repetitive vocal loop interspersed with strange My Bloody Valentine rumblings. Throw in some in your face horns, and the mix is chaotic. Interesting more than enjoyable, but definitely worth a listen. (6/10)

Previous Reviews

By David Lloyd (Various Gubbins) 07/11/00

All tracks are graded with marks out of 10, with 10 being the dogs' bollocks.

Pan, Chicago, USA. Track: Radiowave Swoon V 1.0 (Raw Transmission)

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Lurching, slow and deep drums mix gently with an epic soundtrack piano in this slow and ponderous piece of bubbling electronic music. Echoes of DJ Shadow meeting the Exorcist in the chill out room. Quite minimal and restrained in its execution and structure, which makes it all the more enjoyable. Finished off with a great skid of a dub ending. This guy is promising, and I will be going back for more. (7/10) 

Dark UFO, London, UK. Track: Crash Landing.

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Kicking Techno track with such an eerie menace that my cat went and hid in the next room. A real head thumping attack is maintained through out this piece with wibbles and wobbles from all sorts of undisclosed areas of the musical spectrum. Makes me want to get a glow stick and GO! (7/10)

12 Horse, Philadelphia, USA. Track: Monster

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Stealth metal with some of the throatiest male vocals heard since Lemmy had a sore throat after gargling razors. Creeping, heavy fuzz blues guitar kicks in half way through and adds just the right edge to make this the good side of memorable. Makes a strong presence and a commanding mark without resorting to the histrionics of many rock bands. Like it. (6/10) 

The Ataris, California, USA. Track: Summer Wind Was Always Our Song.

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Pumping piece of emo punk, with some great hooks and pace changes. Colourful and sing along with a lot of tune. Slightly disappointing second half which drags the song out to an unsatisfactory and overlong instrumental end, after being so snappy and in your face for the first half.  But hell! What a great start though! (5/10)

The Allsorts, Toronto, Canada. Track: Superhero

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Great dissonant track this, with more than a shade of the best in American art school rock, a la the Youth or Pavement. Cheesy keyboards and off centered drumming add interest to this track, where each layer of music seems to be running at different tempos, adding no end of enjoyment and depth to the proceedings. Lovely in a rain drenched summer day kind of way. (7/10)

Mick OD, Ontario, Canada. Track: Despair.

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If angels existed, then here is one of the fallen. Quite simply one of the best tracks I have heard in my life, and as such, it is completely impossible to put ones finger on what makes it so great! Is it the angelic, pleading, honey soaked male vocals, or is it the crisp and pure drum sound? Could it be the evil grunge guitar that pounds in and out at will, or the structure which sounds different and more beguiling every time you hear it? I dunno, but this has to be the musical equivalent of Peter Falk in 'Wings of Desire'. (10/10)

Kicking Howard, Florida, USA. Track: Thirty - Three

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Chirpy piece of American college indie pop, with plenty of earnest, edgy vocals with depth. Lovely guitars, thumping changes, and enough tasty hooks to string up a school of kippers. More pleasurable than running naked through the office with a cut out picture of George W Bush on the front and Al Gore behind, just to cover your modesty! (8/10)

Real Life, Liverpool, UK. Track: Spin you round.

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Great balls of hi energy. Sassy piece of pounding, indie dance pop, with more than a telling nod of any number of great British Indie dance pop maestros. With nods to and echoes of such a diverse range as the Shaman, The Charlatans, Black Grape, Gaye Bykers, New Order and the Spiral Tribe. This is about 10 years out of its time, but good honest, get jiggy with it, no nonsense, dance music for a Saturday night. Popper heaven. (7/10)