Backstabber!

Joe 90 gets the knives out for another batch of sounds ...

The Dresden Dolls - BackStabber (single)
After the last disapointing single 'Sing', The Dresden Dolls really hit top form with latest single 'Backstabber'.
With this latest realease The Dresden Dolls really live up to their punk rock caberet tag, the song is bursting with energy and bitter lyrics that make this a real gem.
The true art to The Dresden Dolls is that they can make only a Keyboard and Drums sound so huge and epic, and theres not a band around at the minute that can do the same.
8/10

Zox - Can't Look Down (single)
When i first put this CD on i instantly recognised Zox to be an indie band of The Killers proportions, but as the song develops it becomes more and more difficult to pigeonhole this band to a certain genre.
Main track 'Cant Look Down' is outclassed by the two bonus tracks 'Thirsty' and an absolutely genius cover of the Pixies 'Where Is My Mind?'.
Expect to hear from this band in the near future.
9/10

Scissors For Lefty - Underhanded Romance
Scissors For Lefty bring their razorlight-esqe sound to the UK for the first time with their highly anticipated first album, but thats the problem, they may as well BE Razorlight..
You could fool someone into thinking that Johnny Burrel had found himself a new band with this album, with the vocalist impersonating him to the extreme.
This matter aside though, Scissors For Lefty have produced a good album here, the pace never slows and the 12 tracks never grow dull.
Once this band find their niche they can fully grow and perhaps offer us something of outstanding quality.
6/10

The Noisettes - Scratch Your Name (single)
Raw, Rauncy, Powerful, Melodic, Brutal, all of these could be used to describe The Noisettes, the noise blasting out of my stereo right now is incredible, the mix of scratchy guitars mixing with the howls of the female vocalist creates indie-punk perfection.
Ignore at your peril, the charts ain't gonna know whats hit them.
10/10

Lovemat - The Fearless Hair Days Of Youth
The first riff to hit your ears at the start of this album is an absolute blinder, which is the same for the rest of the CD.
Lovemat have produced an album with all the sleaze of Motley Crue but with the rock credibility of the (old.. ahem) Guns and Roses, but also the raw energy of Nirvana. Sound good? It is.
Although the mix sometimes leaves parts a lot quieter than they should be, this is still loud, brash rock 'n' roll experience.
8/10

Zeeb? - The Battle For Zeeb? Beta
Indie/Punk/Thrash/Rock, dont hear that as a genre all that often do you?
But thats the only category you can place Zeeb? under, and theres still the element of electronica that you need to consider.



Zeeb? are a blast of guitars and drums that are fast enough for Slayer to be scared, but the way the quitars are set to an indie crunch distortion stop the sound from straying into just another dull metal mix.
7/10

Ben Marwood - Hold You Breath (single)
Ben Marwood joins the recent flurry of solo acoustic male artists coming through at the minute (James Blunt, Jack Johnson, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly etc.), but he's different, because he's actually pretty good.
'Hold You Breath' is 3 minutes of laid back acoustic perfection, but despite being laid back, the minor key riff always gives the song a sense of negativity.
7/10

Knights - 3 track demo
Knights are a female/male duo who are churning out backstreet boys-esqe electro-pop for the braindead chart cult, which of course means, theres not a lot here worth commenting on.
The background music is very weak, with the drums being nothing but a mere click, and the fact that its hard to distinguish the difference between the female and male vocalists is a huge worry.
2/10

The Hungry I - Birthday (single)
This dark and atmospheric single is an excellent slice of lo-fi with an almost ghostly presence to it.
Mixing muse-esqe vocals with atmospheric break-beats, The Hungry I are putting out very well excecuted songs, with track number two 'Jaws Of Love' creating the same kind of effect as the main track, a huge dark presence that sends shivers down the spine.
The Hungry I are one of the few bands truely capable of sparking emotions in a world of overproduced, polished expenisve albums.
All it takes, is one man and his laptop.
8/10

Breed 77 - In My Blood (en mi sangre)
On a first listen, you could be fooled into thinking that Breed 77 were a flamenco, right up to the point, of course, when they explode into full-blown metal fury.
After a summer of wowing UK audiences with appearances at Download Festival and riding off the success of mega-hit 'The River', Breed 77 bring us this new album, and they're just as brutal as last time.

The musicianship on display here is truely outstanding, with technical flamenco riffs mixing superbly with crushing overdriven guitars.
It is essential that you catch this band on their upcoming UK tour, prepare your ears for a thorough beating though.
9/10

Bill Madden - Gone
Acoustic music is usually very raw and heartfelt, but Bill Madden struggles to make either of these things come across in this music, but he dont half try, at one point sounding as if he's about to burst into tears.
Sadly, it doesnt have the same effect on the listener.
If you're after run-of-the-mill acoustic folk music, then look no further than Bill Madden.
3/10

The Longcut - A Tried And Tested Method
A tried and tested method sums up The Longcut, with them reminding you of U2 at their most epic, Snow Patrol at their best, and Athlete during their most emotional songs (basically, they have made an album full of rock ballads)
With the lack of originality aside, these are extremely good rock ballads, with the opening track souring into epic chorus's of huge proportions.
Its not ground-breaking, but its not bad either, give it a few albums before they really find their sound and come into their own.
5/10

Joe 90

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