Singles Bar: November 2008

We've listed singles/EPs/demos in order of star rating. Best first. STEEL HORSE Raise Your Fist EP www.myspace.com/steelhorsemetal Spanish based metal band consisting of Jorge (vocals), Ricardo (drums), Willy (guitars) and Javi (bass). They quote Judas Prieat and Iron Maiden as influences and you can certainly hear the mighty Maiden in 'Sons Of Fire' and the EP's title track. Plenty of heavy guitar riffs and whilst the vocals of Jorge are no quite as high as Bruce Dickinson they still pack a mighty powerful punch. 'Winds Of Time' is a slow building number but lacks a real big bombastic ending whilst 'Wild Power' finishes of the EP with some crunching metal. Not a bad band at all and their full debut due sometime next year will be well worth getting based on the songs here. Classic metal played and sung well. ***½ Review by Jason Ritchie FABLES LAST STAND New Breed (EP) www.fableslaststand.com This 4 track EP kicks off with "New Breed", a solid hard rock number verging on metal with a good guitar solo and a nod at punk. A definite step up from all the guitar pop around at the moment. "Stray Dog" is a more melodic number, mixing 80s metal with a touch of a power pop ballad but it still comes off well. There's some good stuff here, with a growing repertoire they should be good live. ***½ Review by Jason Ritchie BAD MOON The Real Sound Of Mooching (EP) www.myspace.com/badmoon69 Mid tempo and non-descript pop/rock from this guitar led 3-piece. Opening track “3” is a basic affair, interesting melody, but the vocals seem unnecessarily rough in trying to over-build things. Touches of Doors, Neil Young, Pearl Jam and U2. *** Review by Joe Geesin TRACY CHAPMAN Sing For You Taken from her new album Our Bright Future, Sing For You is a pleasant little ditty, and unmistakeable Tracy Chapman. Sparse instrumentation and Tracy’s signature vocals make this instantly recognisable. The single and album (her eighth) are released to coincide with a 21 date European tour by a musician who’s now been with us for (unbelievably) 20 years. Enjoyable enough fare and harking back to the simplicity of her debut, but in all honesty, it wouldn’t have made the cut on that album. Probably an album track rather than a lead single. *** Review by Pete Whalley SIGUR ROS Vio spilum endalaust (We play endlessly) Sigur Ross go all Keane. Rounding off a busy year with a new single, a special deluxe dvd edition of their Meo suo i eyrum vio spilum endlalaust album, exclusive screening of 2 new films (which feature on the dvd) and a UK tour, the band have been busy, busy, busy. One of their less sonic soundscapes and more commercial offerings, it does indeed have a ring of Keane to it, despite me not understanding a word. Let’s hope the band haven’t invested the fruits of their labour in Landisbanki. *** Review by Pete Whalley exlovers  Just A Silhouette Introducing exlovers - a gentle indie pop five-piece outfit from London, whose debut single Just A Silhouette is dreamy pop full of jangly guitars and boy-girl vocals. Fitting neatly in the NME indie niche, its light and cheery, while the b-side Clouds is a hushed folk number that conjures images of the sixties West Coast and Simon & Garfunkel. Promising. *** Review by Pete Whalley TOM JONES If He Should Ever Leave You Lead single taken from Sir Tom’s first solo album for 6 years. It harks back to his Sixties big ballads replete with brass section. The album itself is a career retrospective covering the gamut of sweet soul music, to bossa nova, to Latin, to ballads and to rock and should appeal to fans of all ages. *** Review by Pete Whalley QUARTER BLIND Bleeding The Guilty www.myspace.com/quarterblind The title track of the band’s last album is released as a single, and great if you are an extreme metal fan. The guitar work mixes NWoBHM with extreme metal, the vocals (well, growls, screams, a witch casting a final curse as she’s burnt alive) are about an octave above Venom’s Cronos, so fairly mid range. Nice guitar solo towards the end, but this kind of music really doesn’t favour the singles market.  **½ Review by Joe Geesin KONG Leather Penny (Brew Records) www.myspace.com/kongdom 1 track single by handmade CD and download, this track starts off in industrial fashion and moves to experimental programmed punk metal. Some high jangly guitar, pounding rhythms and metal riffs are punctuated by some ridiculous screams and vocal noises. More racket than a tennis equipment retailer. But so different that if you like experimental punk/industrial it's worth checking out. **½ Review by Joe Geesin   Print this page in printer-friendly format Tell a friend about this page

***** Out of this world | **** Pretty damn fine | *** OK, approach with caution unless you are a fan | ** Instant bargain bin fodder | * Ugly. Just ugly