What we've been listening to this week...Sorry, Laundromat, Egyptian Blue, Squid, Fuzz Lightyear, Home Counties, the Eskimo Chain

Links to music/articles in blue

We may be in lockdown but that hasn’t stopped this week from being an incredibly fertile one for some really impressive new music.

Brighton based Laundromat released Slow Clap this week, the second single from their forthcoming EP ‘Blue’. Slow Clap is a strutting gem, written about those in power who don’t represent the interests of those that elected them and ‘the maddening dissolution it brings’. As with its predecessor ‘Humans’ which also appears on the EP, it’s an immensely well-written song with lots of clever stuff going on. We’ve had the privilege of listening to the full EP now, and the remaining track ‘Off’ is possibly the pick of the bunch, and one to definitely watch out for. We should have an interview with Toby Hayes who fronts Laundromat in a week or so too.

We’ve been big fans of Egyptian Blue since hearing ‘To be Felt’ last year and they’ve released the second track from their forthcoming EP ‘Body of Itch’ this week. Nylon Wire continues raising the bar in terms of quality for a band whose song-writing seems to just get better and better. You can see footage of the band performing Nylon Wire last year when they supported Yak at ULU here, and our feature on their debut EP here.

If you like your music with a bit of grunge and psych, have a listen to the debut single by Leeds band Fuzz Lightyear, Animal. The vocals are uncannily like Kurt Cobain and the song also bears resemblance to Nirvana albeit it then morphs into psych rock at the end with loads of squalling feedback. Lovely stuff.
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On a quirkier tip Home Counties released Redevelopment this week, a spiky little number and a top tune to boot. Lots of clever guitar work and nervous energy in abundance. Similarly frantic is No Fanfare by Youth Sector, breathlessly steaming along like a cross between Devo and Gang of Four. Loads of bands are putting out playlists at the moment while in isolation to keep themselves (and us) sane and we picked this track up on the Public Body list.

We were due to see Squid play last week but that obviously got kyboshed. Instead the band released their first single for Warp Records Sludge, and it’s another winner. The interesting choice of record label might be an indication of a decent level of experimentation on their debut album, which is likely to be due out early next year. We certainly hope so. As you’d expected with Squid there’s loads going on with ‘Sludge’ further underlying just how important this band are.

Moving on to new albums, the Eskimo Chain released their second album this week, a soundtrack to an imagined sci-fi movie where a perforation in the atmosphere has forced evacuation from earth to a world where all is not what it seems. You can read our review of the album (which also includes a link to listen to it) here.  

The Eskimo Chain’s album was one of 5 that we’d been looking forward hearing in 2020 at the start of the year, and so was the debut album by Sorry, 925, which also came out on Friday. 925 is an excellent album, with lots of interesting musical directions working in tandem. Imagine Madness, Tricky and the Pixies all coming together on one record and you start to just scratch the surface.
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Sorry borrow liberally, for example on opener Right Round the Clock  ‘Right Round the Clock’ where Tears for Fears get pick pocketed, and the sleazy Rock and Roll Star which has a little hint of Girl from Ipanema. They do seem achingly cool, with laconic vocals, clever refrains and borrowed beats aplenty.  Music press like the NME have gushed over them unreservedly, which would ordinarily put one off, but you kind of forgive them as their music is so good.