Naming your new band is one of the most difficult things to get done. Sure, getting a drummer who is not a latent psychopath intent on imbibing anything that will take him to whole new vast universes of inebriation is tough, but still nowhere near as hard as finding a name that’s original, memorable, or just acceptable. If you’ve got a great name, like Sufjan Stevens, or have a moment of genius and call yourself Mastodon, then you’re sorted, but some recent names, like Tame Impala or Wavves, are just plain rubbish.

So along come Yuck to join The Morning Benders and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart in the recent pantheon of Crap Band Names. Not that they will care, of course, being as they are about 12¹. To say there’s been a renewal of interest in late ’80’s/early ’90’s shoegazey, grungey music would be understating it somewhat, and for me, listening to new bands is like wandering into the Student Union at Newcastle Poly on a cold evening in 1991.

And so it is with Yuck. I must say I rather like the track I’m posting here, “Georgia” (otherwise I wouldn’t be posting it), all fuzz and melody and yearning. The band definitely have some talent, and the UK hype scene, including live review from Alexis Petridis, is rumbling ominously. You may well be hearing lots more about Yuck, dodgy name or no.

New single “Rubber” is out on the 26th October.

¹ This being, of course, an exaggeration. They are 13.

MP3: Georgia by Yuck

I was having a chat to a lovely work friend today about The Xx. When I’d suggested them to her last year, she wasn’t keen, being even more of a guitar/bass/drums person than I am. Eventually she relented and has been enjoying it; one of the things that struck her was the late night feel of their songs. That 3am feeling, when all is dark and quiet outside and the music can fully envelop you like a warm and cosy duvet, and see you through that long, long night.

You know, like Portishead, or Tindersticks. Elliott Smith, maybe. Which brings me onto Lucy Jane. A singer-songwriter¹ hailing from the North (of England, for you Americans out there), she trades in a smooshed drum and tinkled piano vibe that quite suits sitting up with a friend, drunk, at 3am in the morning, at which point you realise you’ve filled another ashtray and really, really should be going to bed. Except you can’t, because you want to listen to her singing again.

Open? Closed? Only One Way To Sort This Out - FIGHT!

For her voice is a thing of smokey, lovelorn grandeur. If she chose to sing a duet with Stuart Staples, all the romantics in the world would just melt into nothingness with joy. The backing is beautifully judged, delicate and graceful, with just enough clarity to make things interesting.

I’m very much looking forward to the album, ‘The Quicker We Walk, The Faster It Moves Away’, which is out sometime soon. The perfect music for your next late night whiskey, cigs and tears session. Listen to the tracks below and see if I’m wrong.

Mermaid by Lucy Jane by astrogarage

See? Not wrong, am I?

Note: this is a sort-of ongoing series of bands you’ve never heard of, but really should. See Paul Thomas Saunders, Bright Spark Destroyer and Bullets In Madison. Those three really should be topping “Best New Band” lists at the end of the year, but no fucker’s heard of them. But you should.

¹ I have to suppress the Child Of The Punk Wars part of me when writing that, as it threatens to crawl up from the pit of my belly and strange me with my oesophagus. The Punk Wars are over, dammit! I like Dylan now! I play a fucking acoustic guitar!

I can be a right old soppy bugger sometimes. Being reminded of Jenny Lewis’s old band Rilo Kiley one evening last week, I decided to give the opening few tracks of More Adventurous a try on yesterday’s Tube ride to work. And within about three minutes of “Does He Love You?” I was nearly sobbing. Nearly, I said, honestly, what do you take me for?

This tale of friendship, love, and something else entirely may be a cheap shot, but the delivery of the shock is devastating, the song’s crescendo filled out with strings smoothing out the jagged guitar chords and tumbling drums. Rilo Kiley have often been criticised for being a touch too calculating, but when they get it right – such as on this track and “Portions For Foxes”¹ – they hit the power-pop button better than anyone else out there.

Go on, treat yourself to a little cry.

¹ Which will most definitely be on a Pitchfork 500 Missing List.

MP3: Does He Love You? by Rilo Kiley

Buy “More Adventurous” (CD)

It rained last night, although “rain” isn’t really the right word. A thundering torrent of water, bucketing down by the cubic kilometre, as though the gods had scooped up a fair portion of the eastern Atlantic and dumped it directly onto my part of London. The kind of rain to which a second’s exposure would leave you as helpless and shivering as a newborn foal. The kind of rain that made it tough to watch the movie thanks to the noise of the coin-sized drops clattering on the windows (“Sunset Boulevard”, since you ask).

And what’s more, the rain left behind a gift. Not puddles or a flood, but a dead bird on the roof, just out of reach, which will need to be poked and coaxed to fall two floors onto hard paving stone in a crack and a splat. That’s going to be fun to clear up.

In light of all this, the only viable option is to play some old, joyous music. The kind of song that drank from the well of blues and rock and roll and inhaled a magic elixir to send it spinning into the infinite ether of Goddamn fine music.

Take it away, Bo.

MP3: Heart-O-Matic Love by Bo Diddley

The Bo Diddley Store

Note: Why the hell is it nearly impossible to buy this guy’s early recordings? Given that they are 50+ years old now, you’d think someone would package them up and sell them at a decent price, rather than the ridiculous £40 being asked. Crazy. And what’s with the 5,000 copy limited editions? And the record industry wonders why everyone’s downloading now. We’re the consumers, remember? Sell us what we want at a reasonable price and we’ll buy it.