Motor Tapes are a Cambridge quartet who mostly specialise in guitar-based
indie/rock. Recorded at the city’s very own Half Ton studios
by Neil ‘Bugs’ Rogers, I believe, the sound is nice and
poppy on the whole, a bit grittier on the EP’s title track, which
is not unlike The Rolling Stones for its bluesy feel. The vocals sound
more like Bono here but the ethic is the same- classic performance
and songwriting, with a decent rhythm section.
The rest of the EP is melodic, generic really, but still not offensive
in any way. The band try their hand at an electro style on ‘Worm’
but it is definitely in the rockier arrangements that they seem comfortable,
sunny little pieces, particularly on, er, ‘Sun’, with a
style dating back generally about 30 years but still not necessarily
dated. I quite like it. Why haven’t I heard of them before though?*
I love this song and I love this video. Like a cross between the theme
tune from Grease and some amazing New York disco, this is a departure
from Har Mar’s usually quite odd yet comedic music, though still
with the heavy R and B flavour, and I defy you not to crack a smile
at it’s emergence into your life. The latest track taken from
his new(ish) album, ‘Bye bye 17’ (available now on Cult
Records), ‘Prisoner’ is warm and wonderful, like every soul
artist’s best tunes should be.
Super cool brass and horn sections merge with funky bass in a tune
about, unsurprisingly, being a ‘prisoner of love’ and, while
there is nothing new about it, the track is absolutely classic, someone
that doesn’t take himself seriously making some seriously good
music. With the stunningly beautiful Fabrizio Moretti
from The Strokes on drums no less, the video features Juliette
Lewis and Mr Superstar in a BMX-off, riding with no hands high above
their little bikes. It is absurd and kitsch but absolutely the best
thing I have seen/heard for a while. I listened to it again and again.
Just buy it. I can’t wait to hear the whole album.
The Wife Beaters apparently started out in Burgerville, AKA Plymouth
if their gigs listings are anything to go by. The four-piece market
themselves as a dangerous load of trailer-trash reprobates playing
redneck garage punk rock. They broke into a recording studio to record
their first LP, even though they didn’t know how to play- they
just knew how to make noise. Their ethos hasn’t changed with
practice. They still play Ramone-inspired punk- not a bad thing if
they did it well. I know that punk isn’t meant to be tuneful
but, if they are as rowdy as they claim to be, they need to tie their
singer/guitarist, Vic Vitol, to a chair with a gag, not to hurt him
but just to shut him up. Because he can’t sing for toffee. I
mean, he really can’t.
Since 2011, they have been inflicting their brand of ‘comedy’
punk on the South West, releasing their second album ‘Hit ‘em
again’ in October 2012. Their alter egos were raised by wolves,
heavily involved in Thai drug trafficking and they have supported
The Beatles and Elvis Presley. I don’t know whether they are
slightly schizophrenic but with tracks like ‘Granny get your
gun’ and ‘Scumbag blues’ you get the idea that their
tongues are in their cheeks- I just don’t see the point of it.
Their sound as bad as their taste, The Wife Beaters can’t play
and they can’t really write songs but if you fancy wasting a
fiver, you can purchase ‘The beat goes on!’.
