She And Him - Volume 2

Sweet music. Even sweeter Zooey. Ahhh.

As actors-turned-singers albums go this is pretty sharp. It's not trying to be something so new and cutting edge that it faces ridicule or failure in any great way. She & Him - the aforementioned Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward hook up again to give indie pop-folk another airing following their successful first collab back in 2007.

What Volume 2 brings is a sense of comfortableness (not boring) and tradition, some of the cover choices for instance, that give the listener a ward fuzzy glow. You can pick out some tunes here and they'd happily sit on the soundtrack of a Zooey film with just the correct amount of twee-irony-wonky humour whatever...but the truth is these simple ditties are a breath of fresh air in otherwise cynical world.

www.sheandhim.com/
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

The National - High Violet

As a fellow beard wearer I can empathize with Matt Berninger's ponderous, whisker-stroking take on life, love and all likely absurdities in between. And whilst it's also true that I was a bit late to worship at the The National alter (previous album The Boxer being my personal introduction!) I've since immersed myself fully in the bands back catalogue and can rightfully claim that High Violet is where cult following and critical acclaim will take a back seat to TV fame, radio airplay and bigger touring venues.

Not that this 'material' stuff might mean too much, but they are the deserved rewards of producing an album like 'High Violet' that touches on familiar beguiling, atmospheric folk moments but that also bites back in places with a fervour and glee that sets the band up for all the accolades due to come their way.

And while Berninger's doleful vocals chime at the forefront it's still the skittering drumming of Bryan Devendorf which gels the whole thing together - perhaps the most compelling drummer around right now (I'd say). In isololation The National's parts may not possess the drama and vigour of the whole but it's on High Violet that this whole excells itself finally.

Lead single 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' is possessed of a simmering energy which seemingly doesn't know whether to fuck or fight whereas 'Terrible Love' and 'Conversation 16' probably deal with weightier themes but feel less likely to pull you under as the band wallow in their collective despair.

If this sounds a bit dreary and portentous and not at all uplifting then you should maybe take some time to listen to the album yourself as at some point during High Violet's 50 minutes it is all of these things and much more, including wry humour and sarcastic asides aplenty. Trust me they now hold the spot as album of the year contenders - without doubt!

www.americanmary.com
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

PLANK! - EP

PLANK! are a three piece who play (mostly) instrumental music. Repetitive, hypnotic music which flirts with Krautrock and in particular stalwarts of that 'genre' Neu! and Amon Duul II. They've even nicked Neu!'s punctuation.

It's within this context of heavily patterned drumming and bass melodies, of trance-like grooves and repeating loops, that each song finds its own heartbeat and forms a structure out of seemingly nothing. There's a buoyant but melancholic arc to the (bad)punningly entitled 'Arse Nick' whereas '1001 Nacht' toys with 'kosmische' avant-gardist psychedelia by throwing a bit of experimentalism the listeners way.

Once 'Phlaa' gets going the song's similarities to Neu!'s seminal 'Hallogallo' are too obvious to be coincidental. They clearly have an affection and appreciation of the musical legacy to which they are adding their own stamp.

Personally I could do with more, a lot more, the songs on the EP are way too short and at an average of four minutes that's a rare thing indeed. The impetus just about begins before the music levels off and ends with an often abrupt flourish. Sadly. I'd happily take a full length album of this music if they're willing to spend time putting one together. EP closer 'La Luna' is a beautiful example of spaced ambiance that is treated with the throwaway frivolity of a band easily bored with the rhythms they've discovered. Pity.

The musical interplay throughout comes from the synchronous drumming and bass although the occasional guitar riff gets a look in particularly on 'Arse Nick' which creates musical spirals which reach into each other and draw out some interesting results.

It's arguable where PLANK!'s music sits within the current musical context, it's certainly not populist and deliberately so but it's also drawn aside from the plethora of post-rock, psyche-rock bands of the last ten years or so. PLANK! could be viewed as custodians to this marginal sound and one which is much deserving of rediscovery. Bloody good ones too.

www.myspace.com/plankuk
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

GY!BE - play, tour, curate, exist

www.1119732.net
www.atpfestival.com

Dum Dum Girls

Okay forget everything you've been fed over the last year or so about the return of electro and synths and girls with their machines and disco voices clogging up the pop charts because Dum Dum Girls are leading the migration well away from that kind of thing. Completely.

They're the bad influence your momma done told you about and if you ain't careful they're gonna land you in a whole heap o'trouble.

Kicking back the years to revel in 60's soaked fuzz beats and menacing bubblegum pop Dum Dum Girls lift off where girl groups like The Shangri-Las gave up the ghost.

Soundtracking their own Beyond the Valley of the Dolls-style movie with a rip roaring Runaways vibe they blister through a host of luridly familiar sounding and maddening catchy songs 'Bhang Bhang, I'm a Burnout', 'Jail La La', 'I Will Be' and 'Everybody's Out' and despite the retro feel this is definitely going to be the music of the very near future.

Hey, that sulky chick from the Twilight flicks is playing Joan Jett (you know from The Runaways) in a movie real soon and that kind of thing is just gonna make girls step away from their keyboards, strap on a geetar and rock like lady-bastards, whilst singing about boys, booze and bad behaviour!

Mark my words.

www.www.myspace.com/dumdumgirls
www.mekongdelta.co.uk