Tugboat Captain – ‘Bosch’


Tugboat Captain make a welcome return with ‘Bosch’, the story of a homicide detective who has a horrible realisation about his own actions. It’s delivered against an intro that reminded us of Sneaker Pimps or I Monster’s ‘Daydream’. This soon morphs into the more familiar baroque pop sound – albeit with pleasing jazzy interludes –…

Masca – ‘Sweet Tooth’


Masca have shared ‘Sweet Tooth’ ahead of the release of new EP ‘Teen Dream Dealer’ in June. With angular guitar work and a woozy, wonky melody that falls somewhere between Everything Everything and Anamanaguchi, the song ponders the seemingly perfect nature of AI and how – if you fall madly in love and come to…

Silent Forum – ‘Yes Man’


Silent Forum have shared ‘Yes Man’ ahead of the release of new album ‘Domestic Majestic’ on 23 February. Opening with a group vocal harmonising instructions to ‘keep your head down’, the song – about working under a psychopath – veers into a sound akin to Modest Mouse grappling with Bombay Bicycle Club, over a bed…

Mythical Motors – ‘Court of the Beekeeper’


Released on Repeating Cloud Records ahead of new album ‘Upside Down World’ on 12 April, Mythical Motors new single ‘Court of the Beekeeper’ sits somewhere between Pup, XTC and The Reds, Pinks and Purples. Melodic garage rock that clocks in under two minutes with moments of pure jangle pop joy, there’s also an element of…

Indoor Pets – ‘London (Love to Hate)’


Indoor Pets make a most welcome return – and announce they’ve re-signed to the mighty Alcopop! Records – with the release of ‘London (Love to Hate)’. As fuzzy, crunchy guitar riffs and ferocious drums stop and start behind him, Jamie Glass takes aim at how hard it is to make ends meet in our capital…

My Life Story – ‘Running Out of Heartbeats’


My Life Story have shared ‘Running Out of Heartbeats, the opening track from their forthcoming album ‘Loving You is Killing Me’ (out on 9 February). The song – inspired by a quote from Neil Armstrong about how ‘every human has a finite number of heartbeats’ and his subsequent vow not to waste any of his…

Villagers – ‘That Golden Time’


Villagers have returned with ‘That Golden Time’, the title track from Conor O’Brien’s forthcoming sixth album – out on 10 May via Domino Records. The song – which ‘touches on a theme that keeps cropping up, of romanticism versus realism’ – opens in genteel and sparse fashion as Conor recalls the romantics of a more…

Ducks Ltd. – ‘Train Full of Gasoline’


Ducks Ltd. have shared ‘Train Full of Gasoline’ – the third single to be taken from upcoming album ‘Harm’s Way’ (out on 9 February via Carpark Records). Featuring backing vocals by Ratboys Julia Steiner and Moontype’s Margaret McCarthy, the subject of the song was inspired by a train full of crude oil exploding in a…

Katy Kirby – ‘Hand to Hand’


Katy Kirby had shared ‘Hand to Hand’ ahead of the release of new album ‘Blue Raspberry’ via ANTI- Records on 26 January. The song – written while ‘witnessing the gory breakdown of several relationships/couples at the same time’ – starts in a sparse and evoking fashion that recalls Lomelda or Adrianne Lenker as Katy discusses…