
The Margaret Hooligans – Piety Street Snoball Fight
Genre: Punk, Garage Rock
Do you like disco and pop music? You know, pretty sounds that make you smile and dance? You’ll probably answer that you don’t. Most of us think of ourselves as brave defenders of some kind of obscure music genre that few have the capacity to stomach and even fewer to understand.
However, that’s unlikely the truth. You’re probably listening to ABBA right now. After all, there’s a good reason why a lot of people hate black metal, and it ain’t the spike jewellery. There’s also a good reason why some people like black metal, and it has a lot to do with the folks that hate it.
We naturally gravitate towards harmony, towards fuller tones, towards pretty instrumentation. If you genuinely don’t though, you may have won the war with pleasure and might be ready for something a tad more special. The Margaret Hooligans should play right into your new sonic appreciation with Piety Street Snoball Fight. This is a slap over the head of a punk song where it feels like the engineer accidentally wiped off half of the channels previously recorded. But, it’s more than alright. Lou Reed didn’t make music flower children, and if you’re not one, you may well enjoy this.
Tin Pot Clay Man – Sleepover News
Post-Punk, Surf Rock, Indie Rock
Punk music made by delinquents that you can dance to. That is the holy grail of modern alternative music. Yes, every band is searching for it. But, most of them come out empty-handed. And, what with the need to eat and the desire to get the masses out onto the dance floor, they attempt the incredible. They make pop music.
I don’t just mean pop music in the sense that a lot of the general populous might want to hear it. Bands jump on trends faster than a McBurger turns to rubber. It does fill up the cophers for a while and it leads to plane tickets to exotic destinations. But, it can’t last. Generations of listeners change quickly and the next one will know about these war crimes.
Tin Pot Clay Man may have moved closer than most with their single Sleepover News. This does sound like music made by delinquents with a love for Joy Division bass riffs and Sunday tickets to the dance. But, it’s a swanky, well-crafted dance-punk number. The kids of tomorrow may spare them, and the aeroplane tickets may well end up being bought too.