The Soft Pack – The Soft Pack
No hard hits from San Diego's The Soft Pack, just bland indie rock with some scant memorable moments.
Beach House – London – 2 December 2008
Beach House Cargo, London 2nd December 2008 Roughly a year since their last headline show at the Water Rat in Kings Cross, Baltimore’s Beach House have doubled their output and returned to London on the tail end
Who The Hell Are… The Beggar Folk?
Folk bands are slowly going the way of the emo bands -- cookie-cutter, predictable, uninspired, and inevitably becoming a parody of themselves because music is a business and the market dictates that consumers will always want more of what's popular. The Beggar Folk fall nicely into the afore-mentioned folk music genre, however their music doesn't seem to follow suit with the folk status quo. These are ballads and hymns, carved from trees and molded from soil. This music demands your attention and effortlessly passes any authenticity tests. It conjures up what real Americana and country music should conjure.
Spoon – Interview with Britt Daniel and Jim Eno (Static, 2010)
Spoon's latest album, Transference, seemed to show the band finding new ways to tie their own shoelaces, searching out their own "Mystery Zone" or what Britt Daniel will later say in the interview "we gotta try to please ourselves first". Notable for being our first interview where the band asks us the questions, Spoon have perhaps realised there's more to making music than pleasing yourself. You've still got to please your Mom too...
The Besnard Lakes – On the Sydney Shores (2011)
The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horses. A fitting album title for these Montreal, Quebec, Canadians, as much as it was a challenge for a band who've skirted success but in turn garnered acclaim for their lush and psychedelic sound. Their most recent album The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night appeared in early 2010, and once again it was that intimate and expansive sound, coupled with vocalist/guitarist Jace Lacek's Beach Boys-like falsetto that saw the band release their most definitive collection of songs yet. Touring Australia for the very first time, Chris Berkley of Static caught up with Lacek and drummer Kevin Laing of The Besnard Lakes to talk about the slow rise of the band and their move into film scores.
Who The Hell Were… Naomi Hates Humans?
This is a first for Webcuts, in the sense that between asking a band to appear in a future 'Who The Hell Are...?' and publishing said feature, the band broke up. Our recent hiatus, which
Wild Nothing – Interview about Nocturne (2012)
Riding the crest of the dream-pop insurgence that brought with it bands like Beach Fossils, Twin Sister and Still Corners, was that of Jack Tatum and Wild Nothing, who' s debut album of 2010, Gemini
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
Turn left off Apathy Street, hang a right on Take It or Leave It road and there you'll find Ambivalence Avenue the new offering from Bibio.
The Screaming Tribesmen – Igloo
It should be obvious by now, but if you want to sell me your record, couple it with some chiming chords, a memorable lyric and a catchy hook, and I'm all yours for the
Too Pure Singles Club – Interview with Paul Riddlesworth (2011)
For the last three years the Too Pure Singles Club has been releasing monthly 7" singles to subscribers featuring a selection of rising UK and international alternative acts, many of whom are unknown outside their own country (their own town even). The appeal of a singles club is more than just a piece of vinyl every month by a band you're unlikely to have ever heard of. Actually, that is the appeal. Hit or miss as they can be, you never know which one of these limited run singles will turn out to be your next favourite band.
Glasvegas – Glasvegas
Columbia, 2008 [9/10] From the Jesus and Mary Chain through to Franz Ferdinand, every once in a while the sound of Scotland will seemingly unleash an act that will take the music world by storm.
Who The Hell Are… The Fierce & The Dead?
With their debut album If It Carries On Like This We're Moving to Morecombe, London post-rock quartet The Fierce & The Dead left an indelible impression at Webcuts HQ. It was an album that defied categorisation and challenged perceptions of the post-rock genre, not only from the exceptionally long-winded and unselfconscious title, but in the way it fused elements of post-rock with hardcore, ambient soundscapes and jazz/funk experimentation. It was as if The Fierce & The Dead wanted to sound like all bands, and none, which intrigued us enough to want to find out more.
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Can Bon Iver live up to expectation with his self-titled follow-up to the celebrated For Emma, Forever Ago?
Louis XIV – Way Out West Interview (2008)
This August Sweden was graced by a visit from San Diego's finest, Louis XIV, a band that shocked parents groups in Alabama and who have enticed numerous girls with their classic rock'n'roll moves. But behind
Santogold – Santogold
Downtown/Inertia, 2008[rating:7/10] "The rules are...there are no rules" intoned one time (Transvision) vamp Wendy James and is a maxim which Santi White, better known as Santogold, takes to heart. Older and wiser than most of
Mélanie Pain – My Name
Pain by name and by nature? Leaving the confines of Nouvelle Vague, French singer Mélanie Pain releases her debut album sung in both English and French.