NEW #77 - twst

 

I have no idea how you pronounce twst. Is it as it appears or is there a silent vowel making it ‘twist’? Please send help / advise as appropriate. Thanks.

Either way, today I’m featuring this Welsh born artist who has been whacking out some excellent edgy, horizon searching pop music over the last few years with her debut EP TWST0001 dropping in the early months of 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, because twst (real name Chloe Davis) has been around for a while I had to check that I hadn’t already featured Chloe on the blog in the past.

It seems I had, but only in a roundabout way; a number of twst tracks had featured on my monthly playlist in 2020 (which eventually transformed into the New Music Weekly playlist) and I used to post about those playlists here. However, I’ve never fully introduced Chloe and with new material now being released plus some forthcoming live shows, this moment seems a good time to shine the light further.

So where to start with twst? I’d recommend somewhere near the beginning, with Are You Listening? a futuristic, electrifying horror-pop tune full of bassy minimalism, Hitchcock-like Psycho samples and lyrics that centre on problems of the world such as misogyny, climate change and fake news.

From there I’d jump to most recent release Catch Me (Beautiful Fall); twst's most commercial romp through the world of pop so far, if there was an exam in bangers, Catch Me would get a high grade A. Written with long-term writing partner Eden Tredwell, the credits for Catch Me (Beautiful Fall) reveal that one of the producers besides twst was one Clarence Clarity. Remember him? He first featured on this blog about 10 years ago and has subsequently gone on to work with the likes of Rina Sawayama and Sundara Karma. If you’ve never heard his track 4GODSLUV then your homework for tonight is to listen to that.

But before you do so, try twst and keep an eye out for 2^nd EP TWST0002 later this year as well as forthcoming live shows which include Swn Festival in Cardiff later this month and a headline show at The Grace in London on 12^th December.

twst - Are You Listening?

 

 twst - Catch Me (Beautiful Fall)

 

twst · Catch Me (Beautiful Fall)

NEW #76 - Fat Dog

Testing 1, 2, 3. Is anybody there?

It’s been a fair while hasn’t it?

Does anyone even read music blogs anymore? Particularly inactive ones that haven’t posted for a few months. 

There’s only one real way to find out. So here we go. 

Strap yourselves in, I’m grabbing your ears and taking them for a ride. I’ve got some new music to rave about.

Starting with Fat Dog.

Not the most glamourous of names, but with a debut single released in August (which featured on my Spotify New Music Weekly playlist) and critics describing their live shows as ‘unforgettable’ and ‘exceedingly fun…exceedingly strange’ Fat Dog are a name you need to put on your ‘to listen to’ and ‘to see’ lists.

Let’s go to that debut single. King of the Slugs clocks in with a shape shifting, ecstatic, shot of musical hedonism that pumps away for a hefty 7 minutes. How to describe it? Ok I’ll try. There’s some post-punk, some psychedelia, some swirling balladeering theatrics, some rave, some rock ‘n’ roll and some twangy John Wayne cowboy movie soundtrack in the mix. It’s the kind of tune that leave you feeling exhausted but exhilarated at the same time. It’s sort of dirty sounding. It's sort of intense. It’s a musical odyssey. It’s bloody brilliant.

King of the Slugs is also the only song I can think of that mentions washing your clothes and makes it seem cool. Sorry Kate Bush, I love you, but Mrs Bartolozzi is truly terrible.

And that’s it. Fat Dog. Not a band for the faint hearted.

If you want to ride with them, they are on tour in the UK in October.

For the current New Music Weekly Playlist (updated every Friday) click here.

Fat Dog - King of the Slugs

Fat Dog · King of the Slugs

NEW #75 Picture Parlour

 

If you pay even just a passing interest in new music then the chances are you’ll have already come across Picture Parlour. If you haven't, then this post is for you.

They’re a band that have been gaining traction through a number of well received live shows played over the past year or so. This week, after releasing their debut single and getting plenty of press coverage, they have found themselves at a bit of a storm centred around arguments of being ‘industry plants’, the increased visibility big management and a label backing can bring you over others that don’t, tastemaker hype, the systemic problems of the music industry favouring white artists, stereotypes, judging artists purely by their online statistics / data and misogynistic attacks on female artists. The Last Dinner Party and Wet Leg have also been used as examples in many of these debates. 

Some of these arguments are easy to debunk. For example, there’s been criticism of all of these bands seemingly ‘coming from nowhere’, which is frankly a load of uninformed tosh. Take Wet Leg for example. Lead vocalist Rhian had been treading the boards for some time (I posted one of her tracks on the blog here back in 2016) and co-founder Hester had also played in other bands such as Maybe Tuesday before Wet Leg was formed. Wet Leg  had released a DIY song Girlfriend on Soundcloud in 2019 which was removed, probably when they got signed. 

Likewise, arguments that Picture Parlour have hardly any listeners on Spotify being held up as the fact they are ‘Industry Plants’. Well, you can’t expect a band to have listeners before they have released anything. That’s just ridiculous. And the term ‘Industry Plants’ is utterly meaningless anyway. I'm not even sure if most music listeners care about where artists came from - they just want tunes they like. 'Authenticity' is something that seems to exist in certain rock / indie circles in the same way as the term 'real music' does. 

However, some of the arguments that have been put forward online are certainly worthy of further discussion. For example, conversations around the systemic issues in the music industry and the lack of inclusion of persons of colour are very valid. However, unfortunately some of the people I’ve seen online who are trying to address these issues are probably not taken as seriously as they should be because of the way they put forward their arguments, which to an observer such as myself can be interpreted as aggressive, unkind and with a lack of nuance. 

The argument that is the silliest of all though is the ‘they won’t last’ argument, because for anyone who knows anything about pop music will tell you, nobody has a crystal ball that works 100% correctly 100% of the time. That’s the nature of the beast. Remember Suede? Back in the day they were on the cover of Melody Maker under the slogan “The Best New Band In Britain” before they had even released a single. 30 years on they’re still going strong, selling out big venues and releasing excellent records. But then does anyone remember Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong? They were another press acclaimed band that released 3 singles that didn’t connect with the public before disbanding. Pop is a funny old game.

So back to Picture Parlour. Yes, they are getting ‘tastemaker’ attention. Yes, they are all white. But let’s give them a chance. Just as we should give any artist that makes you sit up and go ‘that sounds good’ a chance. And if you don’t think they do sound good, why not spend your time finding something else to celebrate rather than trying to kick a band down before they have even had the chance to prove themselves?

For the record, Picture Parlour sound like they would be great live. Their debut single is raw, rasping and reaches for the sky. No wonder Courtney Love has already given them the rock royalty thumbs-up. And no it’s not a cover of The Beatles song of the same name.

You can find the song below and on the Breaking More Waves New Music Weekly playlist (here)

Picture Parlour - Norwegian Wood

Picture Parlour · Norwegian Wood

NEW #74 Fizz

Time for another new band on Breaking More Waves. If you follow the Breaking More Waves New Music Weekly Playlist (here) on Spotify you will of course have already heard them, but in case you haven’t, here’s the shortest of posts to bring you up to speed.

Introducing: Fizz. An ‘indie’ super group of sorts consisting of Orla Gartland, Greta Isaac, Dodie and Martin Luke Brown, (alas the dogs pictured do not feature)  and they make their debut with High In Brighton, which I can only assume is about chartering an air balloon over the south coast city or just having a grand old time, rather than smoking any illicit substances.

Whatever it’s about, it’s a joyous opening shot with a big shout / sing a long chorus ready for punch the air festival fun, which is just as well as they’ve already played Great Escape (in Brighton obviously) and have dates at the likes of Barn on the Farm and Latitude coming up in the near future. Throw the windows open wide, turn up the stereo to maximum and blast this giddy piece of music out to make your neighbours smile,

There’s an album to follow and if it’s anything as good as the single they might just have to ditch their solo careers.

Fizz - High In Brighton

FIZZ · High In Brighton