What we've been listening to...Funhaus, Martial Arts, House Arrest, Laughter, Tulpa, Dreamwave, Dactyl Terra

By Jon Milton

And just like that, half the year went by. Is it just me, or is everyone still feeling a bit lethargic post pandemic? 

Moving swiftly on, lets concentrate on 2024's musical highlights so far. Newcomer of the year has to be Funhaus, who released their debut single 'Scene Vulture' in April. I'd seen a lot about them online, so decided to go and see them play Paper Dress Vintage in January and was mightily impressed. Scene Vulture is a great single, but they are something else live. Get along to one of their gigs and find out yourself.

Another band to get excited about are Mancunians Martial Arts. Debut single Warsaw emerged in February, followed by Defector in May. Both are sharp post punk tunes that show a lot of promise from the band. I am getting bored of all these bands shouting and there's a bit of that with this lot, but there's a strong vocal in there too, flanked by some excellent songwriting.  

House Arrest tickled my eardrums last year with their single M.Monroe, and have just released another fine tune in SWANS. They remind me of Warmduscher in their deranged and frankly quite filthy early days. Something about them says they are not taking this band thing too seriously and are mostly out to have fun for now, which is obviously no bad thing.   

If shoe gaze is your bag, you may want to check out Tulpa and Laughter. The spirit of MBV is highly noticeable in both bands, although Tulpa seem closer to MBV's Ecstasy album and Laughter more aligned to Isn't Anything. Each band add something new and fresh to the mix though, and both have released some very good music this year.

The Osees appear to provide the inspiration for two more rather promising emerging bands, Dreamwave and Dactyl Terra. Think 'Mutilator Defeated at Last' through to 'Face Stabber' era Osees / Thee Oh Sees rather than the pretty hit and miss stuff that's followed since. Dreamwave's 'Dreamwave and the Mindcave' six track EP came out in May with a richly eclectic selection of tracks with Mindcave a stand-out. Dactyl Terra released their debut album 'FEE FI FO FUM in June with a fine selection of garage/space rock tunes.