Eddy Current Suppression Ring

At every single rock festival, pretty much all the bands you really want to see end up being disappointing, and the bands you've heard of but only go and see because you need a place to sit down end up being rip-snortingly awesome. Case in point are Eddy Current Suppression Ring, who take the stripped back, schizophrenic feel of post-punk (ie- The Birthday Party, The Fall), and give it some real raw, manic rockabilly fever (ie-The Cramps, The Gun Club). But they are a band of the now, and their music reflects this. Stand-out performers at this year's Big Day Out. Loud, attention-grabbing and swaggering, Mess and Noise magazine made a bigger deal out of their last album than Bob Katter makes about sugar-based ethanol.

Rest assured, that joke is funnier if you don't get it.

'Get Up Morning' sums up their sound in a packed-in three minutes of distortion-free hyperactive no-wave punk. Check it.

Get Up Morning-Eddy Current Suppression Ring

And for good measure, another of those wobbly camera-work YouTube clips people have of reunion concerts. This time it's The Gun Club.

She's Like Heroin To Me-The Gun Club (Live)

Too Twee For Thee Part One

Every man and his dog realised how good The Shins were after seeing Garden State. It seems that indie-pop has exploded into the underground with the same impact of disco after Saturday Night Fever. New bands from autumny college towns are filling up the airwaves with clean-toned Telecasters and ironic earnestness, and I couldn't be happier. But with indie-pop comes indie-pop MP3 blogs, many of which I keenly read. They have mushroomed like mono at a late '80s teenage make-out party. The end result is that all these ever so twee rock and roll outfits are now having to compete for clever names with the endless parade of MP3 blogs.

The end result is Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, who aren't that different from the rest of the bunch, only they are talented enough to put them at the front of the pack. It also helps that their website has the coolest aerial photograph ever. It almost makes up for a very obvious lack of any band information whatsoever. So I'm not going to pass anything on, bar the MP3 and the ever so indie-poppish video clip.

Think I Wanna Die- Somebody Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin



Noah and the Whale turns the twee up to eleven. 'Five Years Time' is so pleasant that I'm sure it would go down well at a retirement home. It's all ukuleles and violins and a whistling hook. The videoclip is all matching uniforms and bad choreography. Thoroughly endearing.

Bookends

The other week I was thinking about albums which have their best tracks at the beginning and end of the album, ie-the opener and closer. Usually an artist will put a good track right at the start, and the thoughtful artists will make sure they finish the album well, but it is quite unusual for them to save their best tracks until last. Anyway, here's five albums where the best tracks are the opening and closing songs.

Meat Puppets II- The Meat Puppets (Split Myself In Two & The Whistling Song)



The Whistling Song (Live)

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars- David Bowie (Five Years & Rock and Roll Suicide)



Five Years (TV Performance)

Nashville Skyline- Bob Dylan (Girl From North Country & Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You)



Girl From North Country (TV Performance with Johnny Cash)

Door, Door- The Boys Next Door (The Nightwatchmen & Shivers)



Shivers (Video-clip)

Wait Long By The River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By- The Drones (Sharkfin Blues & This Time)

This Time- The Drones (PBS FM Live Recording)

Happy listening.