The Stool Pigeon music newspaper

Send your work of genius through the ears of The Stool Pigeon to the address on the contact page. Please mark the envelope ‘Demo’.

AUTOCOLT are a band that deals with sound only. This is good because sometimes words hurt my head. The trio from London fuse together one Casio “with a bad temperament”, synths and fuzzy guitars in an eighties style which manages to be neither tacky nor derivative. Halfway through song ‘Resonator’, the musical equivalent of Space Invaders kicks in, while ‘The Serpentine’ rocks, rolls and pulsates in the same way that Von Südenfed do. Sounding like a diluted version of Errors, Autocolt has probably become one of my new favourite bands, which is good because I hate everyone.
myspace.com/autocolt

I stopped reading the letter that came with DIRTY FINGERNAILS first long-player halfway through because the handwriting was appalling. But the nice pictures of flowers and the accompanying lyric book for the album were more than enough to make up for that. This brother and sister duo hail from Finland and make sometimes scary, sometimes jauntily catchy synth-driven indie pop. They also have that special knack of mixing depressing, dark lyrical content with uplifting, fleeting lo-fi indie brilliance. At times they sound like the Wannadies, only a little bit angrier.
myspace.com/yourfavouriteband

Usually when Alan McGee has something nice (or bad) to say about a band, it should be taken with a pinch of salt. His glowing endorsement of Colchester quintet THE KNOCK isn’t totally unjustified, but this experimental electro synth racket needs to be plumped up just a tad. References to PiL are obvious but perhaps singer Sam should find his own voice rather than emulating his heroes.
myspace.com/theknock

The opening track on VINCENT BLACK LIGHTNING’s ‘Lay Your Rug EP’ is bonkers. The stark raving kind. ‘Good Job, Proper Job’ is a big joyous fuck you to conformity and mediocrity. Frontman Stephen Hartley sings with the kind of snarl that sounds as if he rocked up to the mic after a week-long drug fuelled bender: “Don’t want a good job / Don’t want a proper job” (surely the mantra of every music journalist in the land). A raucous rock’n’roll trio well worth investigating. Hippy, wishy-washy bullshit this is not.
myspace.com/vincentblacklightning2006

Glasgow-based quintet DANCE LAZARUS DANCE get the thumbs up from the off for seemingly sticking it to the God brigade. ‘Take That, Jesus’ is an exhilarating, frantic tune of epic proportions. Paul McGrath’s Scottish brogue punctuates the urgency of their electro indie meets punk rock sound. There are some definite nods towards The Faint and The Rapture here combined with the band’s own raw energy, sharp guitars and general rambunctiousness. Already receiving praise from the likes of Steve Lamacq, Dance Lazarus Dance seem set to make a lasting impression in 2008.
myspace.com/dancelazarusdance

On paper THE ELIZANS describe themselves as a “blend of rock, swing and world music culminating in sophisticated, catchy tunes”. I probably shouldn’t like this, but there’s something about Will Keel-Stocker’s vocals that reminds me of bands like Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, which makes this demo an intriguing prospect. There are some trumpets soldiering along in there somewhere too, which is never a bad thing. Having said that, sound-wise The Elizans sluggish pace means they don’t quite have the same momentum or bite of Leo. Still, promising stuff.
myspace.com/theelizans

ICH BIN CHIMP is quite possibly the best band name I have ever heard. They’re also the best band I’ve heard all year. ‘Palm To Palm’ is a genius masterstroke of dirgy basslines, fuzzed-up keyboards and far-out lyrical ramblings sometimes reminiscent of Shaun Ryder. And to think I nearly foolishly chucked their CD in the bin because it crashed my computer. Their take on lo-fi indie rock with pulsating electro beats à la Crystal Castles is superbly transfixing. This trio, made up of Dorothy Perkins, Jimmi How and Dr Baby, are like a modern day Vaselines and as such should be embraced and cherished for all time.
myspace.com/ichbinchimp

London quartet EDC probably grew up on a diet of JJ72 and other bands where boys felt like they had to describe their emotions in great detail. Not such a bad bandwagon to jump on; after all, groups like The Feeling have made a pretty penny doing just that. There are some interesting guitar arrangements on this demo, especially on track ‘Lorca’, and they certainly sound expansive and intricate in places. But EDC should be careful that the sentimental spark in their music doesn’t turn into the melodrama that can be heard at times on ‘Beetleboy’.
myspace.com/edcuk

BIG TOES HI-FI is a dub reggae outfit from Edinburgh. Does it even exist up there? Who knew? This 7” gets a spin in these here pages because we didn’t review their first demo so, they sent us a rather lovely note that can be read over on the Letters page. ‘Champion Sound’ is quite good, I think. To be honest I know fuck all about reggae and dub, and I definitely don’t know anything about dub reggae from Scotland. This is probably the best fucking record in the world. EVER. Buy it.
myspace.com/bigtoeshifi

This demo from KITE SEASON is jump up and down, stamp your foot good indie pop that sounds like Rumble Strips by way of The Yummy Fur and the Young Knives. Track ‘Velcro’ rambles and tumbles along chaotically and incoherently and it’s all the more glorious for it. It’s quite easy to make a cock-up of sparse lo-fi with dodgy lyrics and tried and tired guitar riffs. Luckily for Kite Season they’ve got the balance between kitschy and interesting just right.
myspace.com/kiteseason

Our pick for the fat advance: Ich Bin Chimp. It’s fucking criminal that this lot aren’t signed when I am continually being ear-raped by the likes of The Twang and The Enemy. If anyone out there has got a bucket load of cash and a studio then for the love of god bung it in their direction.