Gazelle - Clementine

GAZELLE - TAKIN CARE OF BUSINESS!

You have to love a band that releases videos weeks in advance of dropping a new single, considering they've stared the brilliant actors Stephen Graham and Danielle James, you might actually call them mini films for the journey they take you on, and the emotions they conjure.   The best rock n roll band in Leicester returns with a new video staring this time, themselves, in Clementine! Front and center and  oozing effortless confidence, they really look like their truly enjoying the place they're in now, and the space they occupy.    

Gazelle are a leading light in the scene with a "new indie" sound, despite reportedly still not having a contract - WTF.  What they do have is style, swagger and an unmistakable, inimitable sound! Building on their catalogue after the soulie mod inspired Magic Carpet Ride, Clementine roars in with a refined take on the jangle beat, which will have you smiling and singing along while you hit the repeat button, the track is definitely anthem bound thanks to Ryan's incredibly unique vocal style. 

So "when the world has got you down" grab a pint, put your arm around a mate, and sing this out as loud as you can.  This is what Gazelle is about, making music that just sticks with you and leaves you wanting more. And with two more unreleased tracks, yea yea yea we can't wait.  

Gazelle are the real deal and "nobodies foolin my eyes" - CLEMENTINE 

 

  

The Shed Project - If You Know You Know

BOLTON CALLING, DO YOU ACCEPT THE CHARGES?

After an amazing reception to their first album release "The Curious Mind of a Common Man", and an incredible show at the Manchester Academy in June, The Shed Project have released their follow up Summer single "If You Know You Know" to resounding acclaim. 

The single explodes out of the gate with heavy electro blues riffs and a hard driving beat, reminiscent of the Roses Driving South intro, but geared up into overdrive.  This isn't a take off, this is the indie sound today, pushed to the edge and over. 

Lyrically, Roy continues their signature style of an independent, inclusive and community driven message; "we all have our memories, we all have our minds, but it's all about the feelings that we have inside, if you know you know".  These aren't pretentious ideas, The Shed Project is absolutely focused fostering and growing the love of the community inside the scene.  It's all about that one shot.

The second half of the track sees the band keeping the pace and overdubing a layer of keys, only adding to the jangly groove, and keepin our heads bobbin.  

There is no fading outro for this song, oh no, the band cranks up the volume and the tempo into a high pitched cyclone of sound, leaving you completely burned out after.  As I said to Roy earlier this month after first hearing it, sounds like you've written a TNT laden explosive ending to your show!    

With the band back in the shed recording tracks for album two, and a rumored further collaboration with MC Tunes, The Shed Project aren't resting on their laurels, or melting in the heat.  No, they're dropping the hammer and shifting into high gear, Phase 2 of the masterplan starts NOW!

  

Ollie Winder - Heart Shaped Tambourines

Hot off the release of the ep "Jacqueline", and collaborations with Sean Buckley  "Revelation" and Greencircles "Shelly Gold", Ollie Winder keeps up the pace with a stunning new three track ep "Heart Shaped Tambourines".  

With a voice eerily familiar, yet confident and refreshingly new at the same time, Ollie is singularly connected with the musical and cultural experience of Madchester, that many of us can still remember being a part of today!  His musical kaleidoscope reminds us of where we have been, while at the same time pointing us forward in new directions. 

The ep opens with Manchester You're My Heaven, a bombastic swirling love letter of uptempo jangly riffs and a solid beat, that could easily have you out on the floor on any late night.  Beyond being an incredibly catchy vibe, the song brings us on a lyrical tour of a city front and center in the lexicon of indie music.  Ollie's lush lyrics; "your face is a work of art like the angel in my dream" gives flesh and form to the mythical image of the mecca that is Manchester! 

Candy Floss Girl follows the opener, and dials back the tempo ever so, to envelop us in Ollie's sundrenched lyrical vocal harmony; "Your my candy floss girl, oh you are my world".  Creating an ethereal soundscape of shoegazing rhythm guitar riffs, the song holds the unbounding promise that comes from new love, however fleeting it may sometimes be.   

The ep closes fittingly with Memory Lane, a song filled with bittersweet love and loss, "I took a trip down memory lane lookin for someone to blame, there's only you".  Ollie's tambourine takes the lead from the opening, keeping time on the beat, while backing up the haunting guitar riffs, and Ollie's complex vocal arrangement.  The memory fades away into a feedback laden guitar fuzz outro, leaving us wanting more, and feeling somehow it was all the stuff of dreams. 

Overall the beauty of Heart Shaped Tambourines rests in the sublime perfection of the songs, and the cultural context they provide to indie music today.  While the scene is arguably stronger and more diverse than ever, it's relevance exists in the music it creates, and the emotion it conjures.  Ollie Winder and his tambourine have carved out a unique space in Northern indie, imprinting his signature vocal style across a scene seemingly ready to explode again!