Make Me King - "The Whisper is the Hint"

Make Me King are a five-piece pop-punk types from Lancashire, whose take on the ubiquitous genre is particularly sharp. Long since a style given up for dead – oh lovely, another hand-clapped chorus – this fresh take should pique the most cynical of interests. It’s the theory of sour milk – everyone loves milk, tea drinkers or not, it’s the threat of the contents being sour which leads us all to give the bottle its surreptitious sniff, however involuntary. These lads are not the bad stuff, they’re fresh from the fridge refreshing.

And so before I hijack any more Rafa Benitez quotes on milk....


....I’ll start with “If You Can’t Be Good, Don’t Get Caught”, zipping and tip-toeing through an interchange between pointed ska and pop-punk, and throughout a variety much more surprising and mature than you’d first expect. The interplay and production quirks sprinkle through “Every Truth or Dare” (with its hint of blues in the vocal melody) and the stripped “Wake The World”.

There is particularly dangerous territory in these parts, because all groups have to do is time-signature-switch once too often and they’re trapped in Lost Prophets Hell; but follow the melody fairies down the lane with too many skips in the step and there’s the Fightstar comparisons hanging off every branch like torn sheep’s wool. Fair play to Make Me King for knowing how much of each influence to hat-tip whilst strutting along with their own confidence. It’s unfortunate that the title track is the weakest here, though with so many reasons to be cheerful it’s likely whispers will become shouts before long.


Make Me King's "The Whisper is the Hint" is available on Riot Pop Records

http://www.myspace.com/makemekinguk
http://www.twitter.com/mmkbaby

Foreign Office - "On Repeat"

Readers of a certain vintage may know Chikinki, bright young things with the sharpest indie-melody ears for some time. From deepest Hackney come the first band of a similar bias who could give the Bristol outfit a run for their money.

Foreign Office is the least search engine friendly band name since The Music but at least the end product is worth the hassle of going beyond the first page of results; “On Repeat” is as much Razorlight as it is 60s soul and MOR classics and for the dangerous proximity towards trendiness it rises above the merely fashionable.

If post-rock ambitions are travelling anywhere, it is slowed down, influenced by funk and disco, an obvious sidestep away from the corner into which the neon kids painted themselves. It’s as sharp and short as a comprehensive spending review, two curiously abrupt verses bookending the most effective repetition since Hall and Oates.

With more smarts than the smack of a wielded passport, Foreign Office could well be guaranteed an income stream far less uncertain than that of their governmental namesakes.

Released 8 November (Quiet Life)


http://www.myspace.com/foreignofficemusic

Karkwa

The Polaris Music Prize is the Canadian version of our Mercury Award, celebrating an album for its merit rather than sales (or, you know, that's how the blurb will always have it).

This year, the Quebecois Karkwa beat, amongst others, Caribou and Broken Social Scene for the top prize. Coming across as a folksy French-tongued Radiohead, Karkwa have a solid back-catalogue in subtlety in the manner of both British Sea Power and newcomers Hares.

They can be found at their MySpace page - http://www.myspace.com/karkwa.

Bikini Black Special : The Bikini Method

Taken from their forthcoming album, "Physioterrorists", this slice of electro goodness from Bikini Black Special is them at their most hypnotic and caustic, how self-help audiobooks might sound in a world in which false advertising is outlawed...

Seek out more of the sharp BBS sound at http://bikiniblackspecial.bandcamp.com

Stephen James Buckley and the Feverdreamers

Look at that band name. Just look at it; six words. SIX. That's the maximum permitted limit for Registered Political Parties in the UK, and by the Heavens you can imagine these Lancashire miserablists coming around at election time to direct undecided voters to the nearest pub to scape all the silliness.

Well, okay, "miserablists" is not entirely accurate, for SJB&TF have a sly wit undercutting their accented blues. With "Cover of the Rolling Stone", the lightest of the tracks on new EP "...have left the building", nevertheless runs along with a style which presumably must be accompanied by video footage of the band nodding their heads to the barman to order extra drinks during the set. The sleazy "Fabulous Club" has a storyteller's charm, albeit the kind with a parental advisory sticker and its own sleek black carrier bag. "Behind The Moon" is something altogether different - it's not 'haunting' in the sense All Saints' "Pure Shores" was 'haunting', it genuinely does unsettle, a lament that is so honest it hurts. Real foot-on-a-plug-socket hurts.

To be absolutely honest - would you want things any other way? - the EP is one of the strongest little (even 'ickle' for those who prefer such linguistic throwaways) collections you are likely to hear, accompanied or not by swigging red wine straight from the bottle.

Stephen James Buckley and The Feverdreamers' "...have left the building" can be found, listened to, and downloaded here

Liam Rhodes

Liam Rhodes is a conservative blogger and social media communicator...During a recent spate of discussions and arguments on Twitter about his personal politics and definition of conservatism in the age of the Coalition.

I offered to ask Liam some questions following on from these discussions. This is what came from the questions...

You can find me on Twitter @doktorb, or Liam at @LiamRhodes.


So, Liam, thanks for this, for those who may not have seen you on Twitter before now, it may be best if we just find out a little about you.....

Well, I'm 21. I've been a member of the Conservative Party since 2005. I sought election in a difficult ward as a borough councillor in 2010. I'm also the blogger behind www.onenationtory.com.

...Good, right, on Twitter you have been taking part in a continuing discussion about whether you are a "capital C" Conservative. How would you describe yourself ?

I'm a liberal one nation Conservative. I have always been a liberal, one nation Conservative.

That is, I am a small 'c' Conservative. I believe in Government providing both a ladder and a safety net whilst the State is smaller than it was in the Labour years to make room for private sector, sustainable growth. I also believe that the State should leave people alone and let them get on with their lives. I am an advocate of equal rights - but also free speech.


One recent tweet from you said you had become more progressive over the years, how would you describe this process?

A very painful personal journey for me resulted in the anti-progressivism to begin with. It's a difficult question for me to answer.


Did the Coalition agreement change your opinion specifically? Or was this a process already in motion before the election?

I support the coalition because it is first and foremost in the national interest, and I believe it is where the Conservative Party has an opportunity to further change.

Would defecting away from the Conservative Party ever be an option for you? What are your opinions of people who do defect parties?

Not unless the Conservative Party took a big turn to the right. My opinions of people who defect are not negative; I understand that in some circumstances, people's hearts change.

In terms of specific policies, the Coalition are accused of slashing spending on public services at the least appropriate time. Are you concerned by the cuts to public services?

I put my faith in the Coalition to protect the front-line services and the most vulnerable.

To what degree is the current Council Tax scheme "fair" ?

I believe Council Tax system is fair because it is progressive in the sense that older people pay less and people who live alone get a discount.

At what level should, for example, Child Tax Credits or Child Benefits be cut? Are you afraid the Labour Government spent too much on such benefits, or is "too much" not a problem when dealing with child and family welfare?

I believe Child Tax Credits and benefits should be means-tested further, and I am disheartened by the fact that we didn't act on this when we had the opportunity. I am very concerned that Labour created a means of Statism whereby people felt they were dependent on the State. They favour State dependence because it results in more votes for them - and they believe in a large State.

Instead of handing out these forms of benefits, it makes much more sense to me to cut tax.

Should there be an English Parliament?

No. I simply don't believe we need one. It would cost a heck of a lot and there is no added value to balance that cost.

What is a "living wage" in your opinion?

I would support an increase in the minimum wage to £6 with inflation, but not during the current economic climate. I would never support a 'living wage' because it would result in economic failure. No business will employ some unskilled workers for £7 or more per hour. It's simply unsustainable.


Which former British Prime Minister do you most admire?

Margaret Thatcher. Not because of her social Conservatism - far from it. Because she fought for what she believed in and she saved the British economy from turmoil.


And finally.....What is it about Twitter you like so much?
I like the fact that you can be in contact people who share common interests. I certainly don't like it when things get personal. For example, I've just been called 'arrogant'. Oh well!


((This interview was carried out by email. Questions and responses have been re-ordered and edited for space))

The Empire State - "There Was A Hero"

Gender testing athletes, pan-Continental legal kerfuffles, banning festival flags, and demonstrations against equality in healthcare; just what on earth is going on in the world these days? Some common sense, that is what we're after, sitting down to observe the world from a sedentary position away from the madcap, the panic of for-the-hell-of-it news print, the rise in unnecessary worries.

And while you're sitting there world-watching, listen to some Empire State, the Lancashire band with a heavy dose of Turin Brakes and unplugged Manics about them. The mood through "There Was A Hero" is essentially contemplative with "Found Me In Your Photographs" a typical example of their mature take on topics so often wrung dry. Your standard indie band the Empire State are not, this EP is sober in all senses of the word. Its title track is a genuine and moving song not too far removed from "Local Boy In The Photograph" for those Stereophonics fans still around to admit such things.