In what is as close as you're going to get to a theme on a Tuesday night, 'Chemicals For Criminals' had me thinking of another anthem that played the big chords and managed to come out the other side with an egg-free face. Taken from Offspring’s 1994 album ‘Smash’ 'Self Esteem' marked a highpoint before they slowly became a tad flyweight. The song demands audience participation and must rank as the most impressive Nirvana doppleganging tune ever recorded. Boisterous and direct ‘Self Esteem’ reaches for the juggler straight from the off, its lyrics and joyful bombast providing the perfect tonic for teen spirit. KD

Offspring - Self Esteem

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Buy Album: [UK] Smash [US] Smash
Year: 1994

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I’m going on a limb here but I can’t help feeling that this band could one day become the biggest band in the world. Outlandish you might say but you haven’t just spent a great deal of your evening falling head over heals in love with an EP called ‘Floor Boards’. Ok, some context. Manic come from LA and have had in the past the self-confidence to knock back the burgeoning Suretone label (they eventually succumbed) because they felt they weren’t ready to give it their all. The EP is epic in nature, conjuring favourable nods to several Grunge giants, Radiohead and the Trail of Dead. The lead track ‘Chemical For Criminals’ is instantly striking with ravagingly memorable riffs and Paul Gross’s vocal swirls. The video that backs it up just builds on the mystique, revealing little but at the same time stoking the imagination. ‘Chemical For Criminals’ has competition for best track with ‘In A Room On Fire’ with its Halloweenesque piano tinkle and psychotic utterances that pleasingly go on to reveal a warm psyche. This will be firing up mosh pits in indie clubs the world over for years to come. KD

Manic - Chemicals For Criminals

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Buy EP: [UK] Floor Boards [US] Floor Boards
Year: 2007

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Pia Fraus take the ‘Loveless’ template, stir it about and come back with what it would have sounded like if they had been My Bloody Valentine. This might sound like a recipe for disaster considering the legendary status of ‘Loveless’ yet Pia Fraus’ knack for a tasteful presentation of the dynamics means much of what they peddle is hugely entertaining. ‘400 & 57’ is taken from their sophomore album ‘In Solarium’ and encapsulates what the Estonians do best; namely soft, almost dreamy, vocals tethering on the brink of extinction due to a mass of fuzzy chords and otherworldly soundbites. They will always have the tribute act accusations thrown in their direction but there is an awful lot to admire in Pia Fraus’ own pool of creativity. KD

Pia Fraus - 400 & 57

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Buy Album: [UK] In Solarium [US] In Solarium
Year: 2002

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It’s kinda of reassuring to note that Ireland has started to expand its portfolio of breaking acts. No longer the preserve of the acoustic warbler or the straight ahead indie rock band there are signs that a vibrant scene is emerging away from traditional sources. Electronica is well served by the Electric Penguins and Schroedersound while 8 Ball and 22 from Limerick are throwing some nice experimental shapes. ‘The Cultural Coupon’ was 22’s debut release flagging a plethora of influences and a refusal to stand still. ‘I’m Glad I’m Not You’ is a warped tune that resolutely avoids cliché while still attaching fine jangling riffs, creeping basslines, fly buzzing organs and a vocal drenched in enough electricity to power a non energy saving lightbulb for a decade (there are some pleasant 'An Cat Dubh' nods too). While 22 seem to be on temporary hiatus one can only surmise that somewhere on this planet they are cooking up a tasty jamboree aimed at opening the eyes of people who think chasing cars is edgy. KD

22 - I'm Glad I'm Not You

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Buy Album: The Cultural Coupon
Year: 2006

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The Late Cord were one of 2006’s little known joys. Sure, Micah P. Hinson was chattered about in hush tones throughout the web but mostly for his solo material. John-Mark Lapham is the other force behind the Late Cord. Lapham has his hands full at the moment with his transatlantic friends the Earlies whose new album ‘The Enemy Chorus’ is destined to be one of the years finest. The Late Cord chose to record their debut EP in a basement bolthole in Abilene, Texas and one wonders whether the setting was partly responsible for producing such an eerie yet startling work. ‘My Most Meaningful Relationships Are With Dead People’ has been featured here before but the highlight of the album is undoubtedly the opening track ‘Lila Blue’ that plays like the most uplifting funeral lament ever written. Goosebumps are inevitable, this is such a precious piece of music it will likely stay with you forever. If on the other hand it fails to move you I’ll get someone to put some flowers on your plot. KD

The Late Cord - Lila Blue

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Buy Album: [UK] Lights from the Wheelhouse [US] Lights from the Wheelhouse
Year: 2006

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Two albums down and Brakes remain a musical spectre scaring wandering ears with their flighty punk infested melodies. ‘Give Blood’ was a huge surprise, full of funny asides and microscopic songs that barely existed long enough to register. Album number two has seen Eamon Hamilton leave his British Sea Power counterparts behind permanently to concentrate on the good ship Brakes. As ever there are also Electric Soft Parade and Tenderfoot parties on hand to dish out gorgeous packages of the scattershot kind. That said ‘The Beatific Visions’ has a softer edge than its predecessor, though the chuckle element remains through Hamilton’s wonderfully realised car crash yelp. They’ve also included a companion piece to ‘You’re So Pretty’ from the first album. This time its ‘Mobile Communication’ that sweeps aside the madcap adventures and plays the sugar coated angle which Brakes have stashed away for future glories. And what a wonderfully realised piece it is, countrified swirls flourish (the album was recorded in ‘Nashville’) while the vocals are delivered so elegantly it’s a wonder they found a chemist with such a large stock of Prozac. A special band. KD

Brakes - Mobile Communication

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Buy Album: [UK] The Beatific Visions [US] Beatific Visions
Year: 2006

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In pretty much every respect this reminds me of distant thrills. Noises that poked their head out for a bit in the early nineties and then retreated back to a warm burrow never to be seen again. Of late musical history has been replaying itself in new and interesting ways. A Sunny Day In Glasgow is a cute name, a knowing wink if hardly based on meteorological fact. To add to the confusion they come from the town that housed Rocky, not that you could imagine the cheaply tracksuited one climbing those steps with the sound of ‘Watery...’ ringing in his ears. This song is so evidently a case of dreampop returning to our senses and it is a magical feeling. The words are shipwrecked, the beat is lopsided and our cheeks are aglow with delight. The somewhat convolutedly (yet entirely appropriate) titled debut from A Sunny Day In Glasgow ‘Scribble Mural Comic Journal’ is released the day before Valentines. It might steal your heart so hold back a card. KD

A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Watery (Drowning is Just Another Word for Being Buried Alive Under Water

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Buy Album: Scribble Mural Comic Journal
Year: 2007

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How about a slice of jangle pop after a day toiling away at the keyboard? Providing said piece of aural velvet is Belgium’s Showstar who recently released their second long player ‘.’ and in the process overhauled Sigur Ros as the holder of the most vague album title ever. ‘Dan’ chimes so sweetly it’s not surprising that French label Le Grandbag has snapped them up. The same label has their grateful mitts on underground sensations the Willow’s and dance duo Ye-Ye who have themselves wooed Sice (The Boo Radley’s) to voice their magical ‘Supa Vixen’ tune. A splendiferous riff propels ‘Dan’ yet it also boasts a not too shabby chorus. Let’s hope they’ll soon be having the Deus of their lives. ‘.’ is released on February 19th through Le Grandbag. KD

Showstar - Dan

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Buy Album: Dot
Year: 2006

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The Bent Pen Project is signed to a Swedish label called Melodrama. So is Diktendo (the games people play, eh), another solo project with one Magnus Wahlström at the helm. Diktendo is only a side project for Magnus as the band Citylights is his day job. This situation could change quite rapidly if the twee pop delights of Diktendo were to catch on the way they deserve to. This is the original of the species, a certainty to be rostered beside the Field Mice were it the early nineties when Sarah Records flourished like giant daisy’s in the warm summer air. ‘The Tune I Call November’ is instantly ear grabbing, softly lilting with gently tugged jangling chords and Wahlström’s fey vocals. It is featured on Diktendo’s current release the ‘Sweet and Tender, As We Are’ EP. You’ll go a long way to find an EP so appropriately titled. KD

Diktendo - The Tune I Call November

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Buy EP: Sweet and Tender, As We Are
Year: 2006

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This blog is rapidly turning into the Swedish music appreciation society because music from that country is all I seem to be listening to lately. Here's another treasure to add to the growing list. Jonas Ståhl, aka the Bent Pen Project, is a student who records his little ditties to a machine called a Boss BR-8. The decidedly lo-fi nature of his music doesn’t detract from the charm, in fact it kinda augments the experience much like those Daniel Johnston recordings. Thankfully Ståhl has a wider range of melodies to choose from as well as beefier musical palette. Despite the Bent Pen Project’s zero budget there is an undeniable richness to tunes like ‘Longing At The Nowhere Station’ wherein Ståhl’s falsetto is suitably aided by the tender instrumentation. If your heart is already broken here is something to help you wallow in your own sorrow. Much like his recording tools it is totally GR-8. KD

The Bent Pen Project - Longing At The Nowhere Station

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Buy Album: The Bent Pen Project
Year: 2006

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I know this song is going to annoy me some day but for now it’s the catchiest piece of indie rock I’ve heard so far this year. Featuring the recently revitalised Iggy Pop ‘Punkrocker’ thankfully decides not to invite Sandi Thom along. Instead it’s left to the Swedish combo Teddybears to recall the Cars at their most illuminating. Teddybears have good form appearing alongside the unheralded yet devastating Annie on an earlier release called ‘Yours To Keep’ (from their current album ‘Soft Machine’). They’ve also had their ‘Cobrastyle’ soundtrack a Heineken ad. Not bad for a band named after a Phil Spector band from the 1950’s. Their shapeshifting musical style reigns in elements of electronic, rock and even reggae and one of the band even plays in the group that made the iPod famous (the Caesars). So when ‘Punkrocker’ starts to get on your nerves tuck into ‘Soft Machine’ for some pleasant alternatives. KD

Teddybears - Punkrocker

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Buy Album: [UK] Soft Machine [US] Soft Machine
Year: 2006

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Karl Bushby

Budapest - Walking On Water

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Martin Strel

Summer Hymns - Start Swimming

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Michael Perham

Pants Yell! - Onward, Sailboat

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As inventive as the gadget king of the same name ‘Q’ came courtesy of one of Future Sound of London’s many guises Mental Cube. Given its age it’s remarkable that ‘Q’ doesn’t exist purely as a period piece. The tune must have seemed futuristic back in 1990, yet even in 2007 it remains cutting edge. Surprising it is, considering the dynamics are drawn from the base materials of most electronic journeys. The central beat is primeval, almost ‘Positive Education’ in its nature and the drum beats are hardly revolutionary. What makes this a great record though is the spectral additions, drifting ice caps grafted from solid banks of synths and the dainty shudderings that flit in and out of earshot. This is music to immerse oneself in, psychedelia for humanoids that have to get up for work the next morning. KD

Mental Cube - Q

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Buy FSOL's: [UK] Lifeforms [US] Lifeforms
Year: 1994

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Another gem crafted from the loins of the majestic Labrador label. And while we’re on the subject the same label has just released a retrospective of their first 100 releases. If pristine pop is your bag then this will go some way to packing it. Somewhat surprisingly Acid House Kings have been around since 1991 but have flown under the radar despite some admirable promotional campaigns such as the Acid House Kings karaoke DVD! Listening to their music it’s obvious all AHK’s need is a marketing agency to append their sunshine pop to any TV advert they have planned. The sound reminds of Camera Obscura, the Legends (which shares some members), early St. Etienne and there are even some shades of the Carpenters. ‘Do What You Wanna Do’ is a faultless tune from the bands 5th album ‘Sing Along With Acid House Kings’. Here you'll find cascading vocal melodies, sixties soundscapes and the most finely tuned handclaps this side of Gypsy Kings. Acid House Kings have contributed 7 songs to the aforementioned Labrador 100 compilation, enuff said. KD

Acid House Kings - Do Want You Wanna Do

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Buy Album: [UK] Sing Along With Acid House Kings [US] Sing Along With Acid House Kings
Year: 2005

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It’ll play a few times before you realise it’s been in your head before. Bib the self confessed future of music with no future are from London and could do a smashing job supporting Klaxons on their next all conquering tour. The Bib (up there with the worst names in the history of music, infantile really) story is an altogether fascinating one if it’s actually the truth. Two suspected layabouts used to drink in the same pub as a freshly off the wagon George Best. Noting that both had similar musical tastes Best suggested they form a band. They took his advice and Bib was born. Thus far they have released 2 singles on different labels (Big Billy and Adult Baby (!)) and put out ‘I Wanna Be A Better’ as a free download on their website. Synth heavy Depeche Mode obviously makes its presence known but the soft twee vocals lend the song a fascinating sub plot. I Just Can’t Get Enough (of this). KD

Bib - I Wanna Be A Better

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Buy Bib's: Tear Up The Streets
Year: 2006

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Right before they were inventing a great new band for every day of the year Sweden produced the Wannadies from Skelleftea. With their origins stretching as far back as 1988 the Wannadies have gone from obscurity to popularity and back again. Fame visited them briefly in 1997 when their single ‘You & Me Song’ (from the ‘Be A Girl’ album) was featured on the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack. ‘Hit’ came out that same year and although it may have lacked the rich sheen of ‘You & Me Song’ it is hard to resist the giddy charm and the helter skelter velocity. Originally planned as a b-side it not only made its way on the ‘Bagsy Me’ album but became a UK top 20 HIT. The tune was backed up by a fetching video (see below) that involved band members in various stages of gymnastic falls. The Wannadies have had a very rocky relationship with their chosen labels which certainly hasn’t helped their cause. Thankfully they are still on the go and are currently writing material for their 7th album. KD

The Wannadies - Hit

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Buy Album: [UK] Bagsy Me [US] Bagsy Me
Year: 1997

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