14th January 2016
MONEY – ‘I’ll Be The Night’
Britain’s working population now having dragged their cholesterol bloated keisters back to the grim realities of 9 to 5 after the rapacious joys of Jesus week, the new single from Manchester’s MONEY may just be the perfect sonic reflection of the post-Crimbo mood permeating the offices, factories, stores and warehouses of our grey and unpleasant land. There’s something instantly satisfying about the sombre acoustic strum of the song’s intro and the opening couplet “When I was a child, I made a deal against the sun/ That if it died out that I would carry on” casts a striking note of sad resilience.
‘I’ll Be The Night’ is taken from upcoming sophomore record Suicide Songs – a title apparently pilfered from a Tweenies bootleg inspired by the fatal incident where Fizz, unprepared and bereft of the necessary tools to deal with the pressures of Tweenymania, decided to take a bath with a toaster. Released on 29th January, MONEY’s new album is set to be the bleak, but rewarding, sound of winter.
Fossil Collective – ‘Final Call’ (Flux EP)
Rather than a term to describe the wizened clientele of a Darby and Joan Club or a list of Wayne Rooney’s sexual conquests, Fossil Collective are an indie-folk duo from Leeds who hold a unique place in my affections; it was their show at The Louisiana in April 2013 which heralded my beginnings as an amateur music journo – a long and emotional path which has now resulted in the wasting away of uncountable Wednesday night hours listening mostly to the latest releases of commercial pop jizz or dull braggadocio from interchangeable R&B cock rings.
However, far away from the world of dirty fluids or “Prince Alberts”, this song from upcoming EP Flux features the characteristically ethereal and harmony-laden folk of the Yorkshire duo. Owing a debt of influence to Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and the harmonies of Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac, the gentle-earnestness of ‘Final Call’ is possessed of all the hallmarks of the Fossil Collective sound.
Stooshe – ‘Lock Down’
Despite initial impressions of being an American group, Stooshe were actually created by some music industry bods in England looking to manufacture an urban and soulful version of the Spice Girls – although anyone who thought the lyric “zig-a-zig-ah” was lacking in soul is clearly a philistine. It’s another one of those ambitious vids whereby the music is rendered almost secondary; like anything ever done by 2 Live Crew – having such a multitude of female buttocks gyrating under one roof must’ve taken more planning than a battle scene from Lord of the Rings.
‘Lock Down’ begins with the Stooshe gals, for no reason whatsoever, getting arrested and being made to do porridge. Having legged it off in their Guantanamo slacks during the cliché of the prison canteen riot, the girls hit up an L.A laundrette where they fortunately stumble upon a) some unattended clothes and b) three pairs of desert boots of just the right size. What sort of maniac brings three pairs of boots to a laundromat? The girls then flee from police by cleverly laying down on a truck and end up in the desert with an R.V – presumably, at this point, they embark on a career knocking out stinking great wads of “Blue Sky” meth.
Scott Hammond
