Their fuzzed-up DIY garage-pop is the talk of every East London bar, and the NME is calling them Europe's most exciting new band. Madrid four-piece Deers are the spunky, hedonistic girl group every woman dreamed of being in back when they were a kid and 'girl power' was the mantra. Most bands who appear to explode on to the music blogosphere overnight actually turn out to have been touring and releasing tracks under the radar for years, but that isn't true for Deers. They say they uploaded two tracks on to Soundcloud one night and then started receiving emails, and it's totally clear why it happened so quickly when you listen to their songs.
Their latest release, 'Castigadas en el Granero’, from the 7" limited-edition debut ‘Barn', is a scuzzy, sugarcoated, reverbed guitar spree. The lo-fi production and accompanying video all ooze a carefree, punk attitude. In typical Deers style, the video is deliberately DIY – get ready for Powerpoint-style editing complete with star-wipe transitions as the girls perform against a spray-painted backdrop. If you wanted to drown in the bubblegum surf of Alvvays, Best Coast and Splashh, a love affair with Deers is imminent.
Barn is out on Lucky Number on 3 November
Read more of Holly Warren’s work here
Listen/Review: Demob Happy – Succubus
If there’s one band in Brighton guaranteed to host the best Great Escape after-party, as well as be a consistent burden to plasterers in the area after causing ceilings to cave in with their uproarious sets, it has to be Demob Happy.
Due to the sheer quantity of bands in the city, you have to be a cut-above to get noticed and Demob have rattled enough cages and massacred enough nights at Brighton’s Late Night Lingerie club to warrant this attention. Grotty, feral and lucid, ‘Succubus’ is the debut single to be released from Milk Parlour Records, the band’s own label, on November 17. These boys are a clan, you can tell they live out of each other’s pockets and this consequent camaraderie and brotherhood brings unmistakable cohesion to their sound and chemistry to their live set, facets that reinforce their ability to carry the same intensity in any live setting. Whether playing live out of the back of their van, at a student party or at Concorde 2, Demob Happy should not be missed.
Starting with the distinctive DH fuzz bass sound, the opening riff makes you feel uneasy but wanting more, like there’s a devil on your shoulder licking your face with its sandpaper tongue. Complemented by ‘Era Vulgaris’-era QOTSA-like guitar tones, ‘Succubus’, dissected by frontman Matt Marcantonio as being a “love-sucking demon who leaves your front door open but your mind on pause" delivers enough promise and excitement to justify Demob as being one of the most lauded new bands in NME recently.
Marcantonio wields his bass with the same vigour and demeanour that would make The Datsuns smile, and this aptitude is backed up with enough songs, in the same calibre as ‘Succubus’, that’ll make you crave their debut LP.
Succubus is a female demon or supernatural entity in folklore and is derived from the late Latin term succub which means to ‘lie under’, the polar opposite of what Demob Happy will be doing next year - they have the potential to be one the best breakthrough bands of 2015.
'Succubus' is out on Milk Parlour Records on November 17
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See Demob Happy live in October
5: Manchester, Eagle Inn
6: York, The Duchess
7: Hull, The Adelphi
8: Sheffield, Southsea Live
9: Guildford, The Boileroom
10: Maidstone, The Rafters
11: Sunderland, Independent
13: Newcastle, Think Tank
15: London, Birthdays
17: Brighton, Bleach
Watch: Happyness - Anything I Do Is All Right
Watch / Review: Mountainear - Distant Camps
‘Distant Camps’ begins in a simple, slow tempo led by the crisp, clean vocals of Becky Brown against a haunting piano melody. You might be forgiven for thinking this is going to be anything but the sound of the twinkliest dream pop you have ever heard, until, about a minute in, you are whipped into a ‘wait, what…’ feeling as the beat slaps against your eardrums. And as the fires burn, a sense of refreshing enthusiasm is injected into the track, driven by deep, raw African beats and an almost choired set of backing vocals. ‘Distant Camps’ is a heady, hearty, multi-layered, enriching blend of inspiration and an invigorating sound for the ages. All three members of Mountainear are professional percussionists and, suffice to say, their rhythmic subtlety and agility have been captured beautifully on this track.
Distant Camps is out now.
Words by Kai Reddy: Follow @flyinglotus49 on Twitter
Watch & Review: Batsch - Celina
Though not without its abstract moments, notably the whimsical breakdown, ‘Celina’ is an obvious call as the leading track from Batsch’s skittish new EP, ‘Collar’, being as close to conventional pop as the band care to venture. Atop a slippery, octave-jumping bassline wriggling in a lo-fi web of art-school funk and pale high-life, singer Mason Le Long’s temperate vocal gives the groove its grip. His “Be gentle as you can be” refrain is apt, as there can’t be many aspiring floor-fillers that sound so polite. Quirky, cool and a little detached, ‘Celina’ belongs in the club, but as more of a glassy reflection of proceedings in the glitterball than hip-grinding on the dancefloor itself.
Elsewhere on the EP, ’22’ is built around Joe Carvell’s gravelly baseline set just awry of a sparse beat, some shrill synth from Andy Whitehead and Le Long’s musings on love gone stale. It’s enjoyably skeletal, lightweight dub, as if Mad Professor set to work on Haircut 100. That percussive bass leads the way again on the darker ‘Did You Here About Argine’, while ‘Mirrorball’ is so pared-down it even dispenses with the trademark bass before its discordant crescendo. EP closer ‘Can’t Tell’ is perhaps the most demented, as each band member packs plenty to the bar, but in such a frantic and featherlight manner it’s like listening to a marching piece for mice. It’s music that tickles. There’s knowledge to Batsch’s experimental mania on ‘Collar’, delivering some fine passages of sound, if no real knockout tunes. Yet the tracks unfold entirely unpredictably, and for that this Midlands four-piece deserve a big hand. Cue the video…
Collar is out now on Tin Angel
Words Nick Mee: Follow @Nickjmee on Twitter
Watch/Download: Kaleida - Think
Kaleida's debut offering 'Think' is the first track to drop from an EP of the same name that will be revealed before the end of the year. Made up of Christina Wood (vocals) & Cicely Goulder (keys / production), the electronic duo are London based and come together via Norway, Germany and the US.
Download 'Think' today for free