On this five track EP Toronto born, New York based singer-songwriter Jennie Vee is set to melt the hearts and heads of those whose musical tastes hark back to the early-mid nineties. Maybe not those who reminisce about plaid shirts and muddy fields and blonde unshaven men with a glassy stare, but those who hold fond memories of seeing the faces of Tanya Donelly and Miki Berenyi gazing blankly and unobtainably from the pages of NME. Vee’s recordings hark back to a time when Frank Black and Kim Deal liked each other (okay, so maybe there was never such a time); a time when you got excited about that next 12” single from Chapterhouse; when Ride were kings of their own UK kingdom and The Jesus and Mary Chain wanted you to venture under ‘April Skies’.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
THOSE DELTA WOLVES – Auricle EP
Those Delta Wolves are an alternative rock band from Leeds. A city with no shortage of musical talent, The Wolves would already have to work incredibly hard to stand out, but the three tunes on their debut EP ‘Auricle’ suggest that, in the live setting, these guys are already a force of nature, ready to crack to skulls of their awaiting audience.
MEGAGIANT – Today (and every day)
Hailing from the unlikely locale of Billings, Montana, Megagiant aren’t exactly at the heart of a rock ‘n’ roll metropolis. Maybe their fore fathers moved there to raise themselves a lowly crop of dental floss…who knows? Whatever, in association with DIY label Minor Bird Records, their 2014 release brings seven slices of garage pop/indie rock with a definite 90s persuasion. There’s not necessarily a sharp sense of originality within its seven tracks, but the style and influences gathered by this band still holds up on a couple of tracks, even though this release is far from perfect.
THE NEW TROCADEROS – Frenzy In The Hips
The New Trocaderos comprises three very gifted cult musicians, all of whom should be familiar to listeners who closely follow the power pop/retro pop scenes. The project brings together Kurt Baker, Geoff Palmer and Brad Marino, the latter both members of British Invasion obsessives The Connection. The New Trocs doesn’t actually mark the first time Palmer and Baker have worked together, of course, since they had also backed The Queers’ Wimpy Rutherford on an excellent EP in 2012.
EDENTHORN – What’s On Your Mind? EP
Hailing from Durham, alternative rockers Edenthorn mix up a range of styles on their debut EP, ‘What’s On Your Mind?’. While never shy in flaunting a few of the nineties grungy sounds that clearly made them want to become musicians in the first place, some of the material on this release also comes with a surprising amount of melody and occasional funkiness – like Pearl Jam had decided to channel the radio-friendliness of Three Doors Down and Dishwalla.