The Magnetic Fields' Quick is Single of the Month
Also featuring Beth Jeans Houghton and The Hooves Of Destiny
What’s the consensus on imitation to the point that it rivals, perhaps even betters the source? Well, Glasgow’s Marvel Heights almost achieve such an accolade, kicking off this month’s singles run-down with their straight-outta-Paramore, angsty rock gem, ‘Make No Waves’ (●●● Kittiwake).
Fellow city-dwellers, Mummy Short Arms, meanwhile, return with another tattered piece of guitar pop with ‘Silicone Dream’ (●●● Flowers in the Dustbin), while tech-savvy Londoner Seye melds vibrant Afrobeat with guilty-pleasure floor filler on ‘White Noise’ (●●●, Stranger).
North-eastern quartet The Cornshed Sisters pull a heart-melter out of the bag with ‘Dresden’ (●●●●, Memphis Industries), complete with oddly catchy chorus (‘If bombs were love, then you could call me Dresden’). In comparison, Grand Rapids’ ‘It Feels Like a Lifetime’ (●●●, Too Pure) is heinously scrappy and a total comedown, but give it time and it’ll grow on you like a garage-rock abscess.
What’s summer without a top-down, feel-good hip-hop stormer? It’s no ‘Juicy’ but Chiddy Bang and Icona Pop give it a good shot on ‘Mind Your Manners’ (●●●, EMI) with its good vibe guitars and childlike chorus, but Beth Jeans Houghton and The Hooves Of Destiny cast an eccentric shadow over it with the scatterbrained, and infinitely sunny, ‘Atlas’ (●●●●, Mute).
DeRosa man Martin John Henry turns in a solid chunk of Scottish electro-pop with ‘Span’ (●●●, Gargleblast) but Single of the Month goes to the exceptional ‘Quick’ by The Magnetic Fields (●●●●, Domino), a nugget of playful pop that recalls They Might Be Giants. A repeater for sure.