The Stool Pigeon

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Everybody's trying to make some green singing the blues.

We’ll kick off this issue’s demos with FF’ERS and their EP ‘Naked Cathartic’. A big thumbs up for sneaking in a song called ‘Pussy’ and making it sound like a riot grrrl track fronted by Nick Cave. Loud, noisy, discordant and highly charged. Fans of Melt Banana could do worse than prick up their ears to this lot.
www.myspace.com/weareffers

A DANCING BEGGAR was a MySpace find (yes that’s right, sometimes I do actually do my job properly). It’s just one dude called James Simmons working with a couple of guitars, a battered old microphone and a laptop. Think Remember Remember, only less manic, and Mogwai, only less loud and furious. The EP ‘How They Grow’ is a post rock treat full of warmth and subtlety. ‘This Must Be The Start’ is almost unbearably beautiful with its delicate and melancholic guitars. Gorgeous.
www.myspace.com/adancingbeggar

HE ROLLERCOASTER PROJECT is another random MySpace find. Not much is known about this electro noise pop outfit apart from it being fronted by some mysterious man called Johnny. Check out ‘Hoods Up’ that pushes and pulsates with a heart-aching urgency and ‘Revenge’, which starts off pleasantly enough and then gets hella scary halfway through with weird squelchy synth noises and screams, hardly surprising considering Johnny has listed Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan as an influence.
www.myspace.com/rollercoasterproject

North London quartet NINE ASHES have some minor behavioural issues accompanying their eighties-esque indie guitar rock - more akin to Duran Duran, than the R.E.M. influence they’ve listed. Opening track ‘She’s Rotten’, which possesses the lyric, “Why does she exist? / I want to crush her like a bug in my fist,” sounds a little dangerous. ‘Radar Hill’ is more promising, but this is probably not one for those with a sense of humour.
www.myspace.com/nineashes

HE MAGIC LANTERN are four jazz and classical musicians fusing folk and jazz to make some of the loveliest music I have heard this year. Lead singer Jamie Doe’s vocals sound like a cross between Sufjen Stevens, Jeff Buckley and Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch. Definitely check out their captivating and hazily dreamy ‘Patriots’ EP.
www.myspace.com/themagiclantern

Manchester quintet THIS IS MY LAWNMOWER are purveyors of sincere indie rock’n’roll where you’re supposed to listen to the lyrics and not just shout along to them like some lager-swilling monkey. Oh joy. Their self-titled EP at times borders on the musically adventurous, à la Elbow, but Paul Rawson’s vocals need to sound a little less like an unenthused Guy Garvey or James Skelly from The Coral.
www.myspace.com/thisismylawnmower

n the press release that accompanies RUSTY SHERIFF AND FRIENDS’ demo, ‘All Mouth, No Trousers’, the Portsmouth ensemble claim they formed “in the name of justice”. This is scary because modern political records more often than not sound naff. Thankfully, this lot manage to be both lyrically subtle while ingeniously fusing hip hop with pop and prog. Track ‘Big Bad Motherfucker’ opens up like a rant from a mellowed-out Tricky, while ‘Three Legged Dog’ is a smart, intelligent and socially telling trip hop number punctuated by some interesting jazz drumming reminiscent of UNKLE’S ‘Lonely Souls’. Promising stuff from the less irritating version of Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip.
www.myspace.com/rustysheriff

NOMES OF ZURICH are Ben ‘Eagle’ Walker and Andy ‘Pistola’ Clydesdale, a two-piece who spend all their time packing and moving fine art in a warehouse in Vauxhall, or so says the blurb that’s come with their demo. It’s the kind of existence that will probably send you crazy. Needless to say, this demo is properly bonkers in places. Savage post punk noise, shouts and yelps that make it sounds as if GOZ are the bastard off-spring of The Appleseed Cast and Shellac. Magic.
www.myspace.com/thegnomesofzurich

Despite having a rubbish name which suggests that they belong to the ever-growing list of bands that are obsessed with The Libertines, Wakefield quartet LAPELS’ double A-sided single is a delightful slice of indie pop. Lead singer Tim sounds like a young David Bowie as he slurs and elongates his words on ‘Painted Skeletons’, while ‘Last Great Civilisation’ musically leans towards Sonic Youth’s poppier moments with its scuzzed-up guitars and general raucousness. Awesome.
www.myspace.com/lapels06

I’m not sure what to make of SCRIBBLE, a “feisty, vegan woman” singing in a wistful manner with an acoustic guitar about how much she loves her, erm, bicycle. It’s fair to say that the aptly named ‘I Love My Bicycle’ isn’t the most profound song I’ve ever heard. And if it’s supposed to be a joke, it’s not that funny either. Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for people that don’t eat meat.
www.myspace.com/scribblesings

SDF hail from Newcastle and claim to be an “electronic space disco future pop outfit”. At times they can sound quite inspired and menacing, as ‘Bon Fires’ elucidates. But there are other times when they border on the irritating. On ‘Static’ one of them sings, “I would have happily died for you,” in a rather worrying and melodramatic manner. Like a cross between Kirk Lake and The Beloved, only not as good.
www.myspace.com/sdfcollective

get the impression that London three-piece THE WILD BUNCH have listened to one too many Oasis albums in their time. Lead singer Dave Nichols sings in that same exasperated breathy way that Liam Gallagher is notorious for. Sonically, they lean more in the direction of traditional rock’n’roll in the rhythm and blues vein. Not the most exciting or original material I’ve ever heard, but that hasn’t stopped the Verve from having a number one record, has it?
www.myspace.com/thewildbunchonline

There’s something dark and brooding about THE WOE BETIDES demo. ‘Boredom Is The Killer’ meanders along for too long, though, and the guitars sound a bit out of tune. ‘Road To The Cemetery’ is more interesting and carries with it a sweet, fast-paced chorus, heavy guitars and almost New Romantic-esque vocals. Not too shabby at all.
www.myspace.com/thewoebetides

Our pick for the fat advance: There were a few standout demos this issue, The Rollercoaster Project and The Magic Lantern being two of them. But A Dancing Beggar come out on top. Someone give that kid some cash.

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