Embarrassed Arms

Mike has been a busy boy, and if he keeps this up Slumberland will end up with an even better record than last year. I had been waiting for the first single from The Champagne Socialists since hearing their first four songs on Myspace, and playing my favourite - "Teardrop Tattoo" - on the radio in Auckland. Now, "Blue Genes" c/w "The Young Runaways" is finally here.

Seemingly as fickle as other Royal We off-shoots, they've already changed their name to Neverever. While The Draculas/Veronica Falls have followed up on the more sinister side of The Royal We's repertoire, Jihae's new outfit retains the glam and West Coast elements. The a-side has the reverbed-out guitar-sound so many band have adopted this year and the drumming is just as ramshackle as it should be. I actually prefer the more slow-paced b-side, which also got a spin at the latest DDOMD night. The question is, will Veronica Falls actually release something as well?

SLR have also managed to fit in a single from the prolific Sic Alps, whose singles comp was one of the highlights of last year. Unlike their more experimental U.S. Ez album, new 7" L. Mansion brings them back to catchy, folky pop. You can check out the great a-side here.

While we're waiting for the new Pains 12", Mike is capitalising on the hype (yes, they have been on tv) with a third single from the album. "Come Saturday" has already been on a Slumberland 7" (coupled with Summer Cat's "Let's Go!" in the Searching For the Now series) but this is the newer album version. Might be worth picking up for the exclusive b-side "Side Ponytail", which I have yet to hear. I got to see the band in Stockholm recently, and they definitely seem to have grown. In numbers too, as they now feature a Depreciation Guild guitarist as well - at least live. Open shirts over t-shirts is perhaps a fashion precursor to a grungey slant to the music? We've all heard about the "Creep" cover, and I admit being worried. Sure, it's still a good song (cf the Heartworms version) but they can do better! The gig at Strand was amazing and it was so good to talk to them again. I hope you've all picked up Kurt's amazing white vinyl single as Depreciation Guild from Kanine? The album is coming soon as well.

Last but not least there's a 12" by Brown Recluse Sings. I really loved their track on Matt's comp, and finally got to hear more when Alex played me their first ep in Melbourne. You can probably read more about it here, soon as I've gotten hold of it. Cause you know you must, right?