Features

The Screenbeats, Veronica Falls, The Dum Dum Girls, Hello January, Nephu Huzzband - NOW HEAR THIS #6

Clark Summers 07/04/2010

In this special edition of NOW HEAR THIS, GIITTV's very own irregular new music feature. Leicester writer and fine promoter of Twesta nights in the midlands Clark Summers, takes the reins to select some of his favourite up and coming acts to please your ears! Enjoy!

Spirited purveyors of effortlessly cool punk 'n' roll The Screenbeats have certainly got us hot under the collar. Imagine the sprightly new-wave of debut album Long Blondes filtered through a sixties pop lens and you're half-way close to picturing the full potential of these young pups. Their debut E.P. doesn't appear to have artwork or a title yet but you can get a taster over at the band's myspace page. We're loving the four tracks we've heard so far and are eager to get our hands on some more as we're bloody greedy (hint, hint).

Anyone who knows the reviewing entity that is Clark Summers TM should already be well aware of my penchant for female fronted bands. Let's face it - grrrls tend to rock just that little bit harder than boys. Veronica Falls are certainly the pick of the lo-fi/indie pop crop at the minute, marrying the urgency of Brooklyn broads The Vivian Girls to something vaguely gothic . I'd try and book them for a gig at my regular Twesta night in cultural mecca Leicester but by the time you read this they'll probably be headlining some corporate rock-fest in London and will be “out of my league”. On a related note you should totally download The Dum Dum Girls (who they've supported) splendid cover of The Raveonettes 'Heart Of Stone' as it's *almost* as good as the original (the link is here: raveonettes cover)

Pretty much everyone I know is totally in love with Emmy The Great - it stands to reason really. So while we wait for her to grace us with album numero deux I've been crushing hard on Laura Hocking. Nine truly gorgeous slices of acoustic folk-pop are available for free download via last.fm so jump to it kids. Hello January (aka the name for Jennie Mahood's latest project) is also worth a quick check if you dig the icy coolness of Imogen Heap. There's some splendid videos up at Vimeo ( here ) which suggest a talent that's about to blossom.

Closer to home (well the East Midlands to be precise) I've been riffing hard on Nottingham's Nephu Huzzband who are, to put it quite bluntly, astonishing live. Their debut album is up for streaming via Spotify but it barely does justice to their spiky brand of heavy post-punk (think more Sonic Youth, less Joy Division). I recommend catching these guys live as they really know how to put on a show. Leicester's great young hopes (the wheat amongst a load of post-Libs chaff) meanwhile are Junior Fencing Club. These guys rock out to a vague math-pop vibe, the guitar playing's never dull, they're infinitely likeable and there's something about them that suggests they could be the next big thing in the region.

Anyway that's all for now - I'm off for a cuppa and my daily medication (a near non-stop diet of music). You can check on my listening habits at last.fm (http://www.last.fm/user/mellowdoubt) in the vague hope of getting more new tips.