THORUN ****
S*M*A*S*H / NXTGEN *
Festival At Fires Peak (self-released)
(I Want To) Kill Somebody 2014 /
CONDEMned (R*E*P*E*A*T)
These guys are Cardiff stoner favourites,
and rightly so given their gig promotions and
dedication to the cause. Their current live
experience is your best bet for the full picture, as
since recording this they have taken on a second
guitarist, but in the meantime here be six tracks
of decent instrumental sludge ranging between
two and 10 minutes. They maintain interest
by displaying groove and (dare I say) soul
throughout, which sets them apart from some of
their gloomier associates. RH
THE UNDIVIDED ****
This New Day (Chaos And Bedlam)
A debut album 18 months in the making, this is
a stellar effort from a Valleys trio who have spent
a good few years building their name via gigs,
festivals and EPs. The press release cites them
as taking inspiration from fellow butties Manic
Street Preachers, but for my ears they are far
more comparable to Foo Fighters, which is clear
from the outset thanks to the stadium anthem
title track which opens proceedings. Props also
to the production, which is faultless. RH
singles
BROKEN RECORDS ***
Toska EP (Jsharp)
These chaps from Edinburgh are all about the
mellower end of the indie spectrum, but deliver
their wares with variance and depth. This
four-track EP comes ahead of their third album
in May, and moves between ethereal balladry
and ambient reflection, all of which is worthy of
your time. RH
COTTON WOLF ***
Cloud City EP (Strangetown)
Cotton Wolf make
melody-orientated
electronica that seems
perpetually just out of
focus. There’s a pleasant
sense of nostalgia here,
especially on closer
Singapura, that invokes early Boards of Canada
without trying to sound like them. DG
ICHI / RACHAEL DADD ***
Split 7” (Tokidoki)
Rachael Dadd, who I associated with Bristol’s
late 00s learned indie set, moved to Japan
some years back, meeting – and eventually
marrying – Ichi, a solo oddbod from Nagoya.
This sickeningly happy tale of domestic bliss
is now compounded by a joint single, of which
Ichi’s insect-buzzy DIY pop eccentrism is the
clear highlight. NG
MAYHEM ****
Psywar (Season Of Mist)
Is this just a lazily inflated score for Norwegian
black metal progenitors Mayhem, rewarding
them for their 30 years in the game? Even if it
is, some greasy-locked blogger will doubtless
badmouth them for the same thing, so fie. This
two-song pre-album 7” sounds like a storm of
ripping guitars, blastbeats and Atilla Csihar’s
crazed vox to me, anyhow. NG
MIRACULOUS MULE *
Evil On My Mind (Bronzerat)
This song was supposedly written after hearing
a story about a man who ripped his eyes out in
a religious fervour. If you’re expecting to hear
anything else apart from Radio 2 blues, then you
may want to avoid this single. Considering the
inspiring subject matter, this is pretty flaccid. GM
Older readers might remember the 1994 version
of this split single’s A-side, where the briefly
hyped S*M*A*S*H advocated murdering John
Major’s Tory cabinet. Was it always as feeble and
sloppy as its logical birthday update suggests?
I genuinely think this is one of the worst punk
rock songs I’ve ever heard. NxtGen’s sub-Akala
rabble-rap is better, but not by much. NG
STARWALKER ***
Losers Can Win (Prototyp)
Guy from Air in soundinga-bit-like-Air shocker.
Jean-Benoit Dunckel
has teamed up with
Icelandic composer Bardi
Johannson for a very
pretty EP of soft, hazy
dreampop. The highlight is the oddly seasonalsounding Moral Sex, which I don’t think is
about Christmas, but as they’re half French it
could well be. SE
THEN THICKENS *****
Tiny Legs (Hatch)
Ex-Kong mainman, Magpie – aka Jon-Lee Martin
– has expanded his home tinkerings with melody
into a fully-fledged band called Then Thickens.
The darker end of the Manchester sound forcibly
sieved through the brain of a kid brought up
on Elliott Smith and Steve Albini, Tiny Legs is
damn near perfect pop. Seriously. GP
demos
MODULA BEATS
www.facebook.com/modulabeats
Quality tackle here from a Cardiff-based
production collective whose roster includes
Dan Marshall, a drum’n’bass rising star almost
a decade ago – although there’s no d’n’b on
Modula FM, a mixtape with a tried’n’true ‘local
radio station’ theme. Marshall, Dave Intex and
Dirty Dice ar