Track Review

Biffy Clyro - Whorses

Summer-americana feel to the 3 minutes, soft but loud, Nirvana feel to the track. Backings of punk-rock with clean vocals across the top. The result; leading to a distortion-laden chorus

Ian Drury & + The Blockheads - Aint hast...

Resonates with a very british feel, laces of Ska / Reggae, not dissimilar to madness. Punk, musichall.

Corinne Bailey Rae - The Sea

Emotional, angst-ridden melody which is slow to unfurl, slow-tempo'd pop with lacings of piano. Billy Holiday, Katie Melua, soul and jazz sounds to it.

Virus Syndicate - Hijak

Brooding, vampiric , but introduction of sampling and synths, aggressive MC'ing

New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream

New Order, Blondie. Vocal style similar to Delta Five, Talking Heads, Dresdon Dolls

My Chemical Romance - Helena

Thrash: Slayer, Anthrax, Queen, Black Flag, Garage Punk, Velvet Underground, Goth (Marilyn Manson).

Kanye West - Soul Jazz, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, Chakra Khan, Ray Charles. Graduation-era included Elton John & Daft Punk etc, Strings influence from Portishead, Wu Tang Clan, RZA, U2.

Circa Survive - Beach Boys, Beatles, Nirvana, Zeppelin, Frank Zappa,

Le Martells - One of Those

Very infectious indie-pop, structured with resolutely british lyrics, all encased with an easy to follow melody. A great number which has been well worked on, no part of this song sounds out of place, the pace of the piece serving as both its wit and confidence (sorry, screwed up this last bit)

Apollos Arrows - Start at the End

Electronic Post-rock intro, which all changes 30 seconds in, with a jump into aggressive, sharp, choppy Wombats-esque progressive rock. Despite the lack of distortion, the relentless assault on the rhythm guitars serve their purpose well, strong track whilst rough around the edges.

The Sharps - Midnight State

Solent outfit harnessing a sound not a far cry from the likes of Fleetwood Mac and America, but it is their vocalist which draws the strongest comparison, to Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner. A track which I feel needs improvement; whilst echoing the feel of already-established acts, missing that key lick/melody which would provide that extra kick.

Fly Frankie Fly - We Are One

Bass-laden synthetic grooves, but repetitive verses/chorus transform the track into resembling a dance number. Poor use of distortion. MGMT, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys seem likely candidates for influencing their sound.

The Chromatones - In My Eyes

Striking vocal range, whilst musically very easy to draw comparisons to Manic Street Preachers. Fairly repetitive song structure with a half-hearted use of dual vocals. Despite the strong intro,  the remainder of the track fails to live up the short-lived standard, wellowing in a pool of sub-par rock music for the last 2 minutes.