Swim Deep - King City

Released June 16th 2013

Another review, another band from Birmingham; the city to the north that seems to bleed out quality band after quality band making the rest of the country seem lazy by comparison. Today’s review is from alternative indie rock band Swim Deep with King City, taken from their debut album ‘Where in Heaven are we’ and re-released from 2012.

To begin with let’s state that before hearing this track I’d never listened to anything by the band, I’d heard about them but never their music; cue kicking one’s self for missing out on what could be one of the best finds of their year. The song has an otherworldly and dreamlike tone and sound; the inclusion of having the entire band as backing singers really adds to this and makes it something totally unique, building a haunting sound and delivering atmosphere to the music in heaps.

 The lyricism of the piece is another thing to be marvelled, the overall theme being pretending and living in your own ‘King City’, with the main vocalist, Austin Williams informing the listener he wants to pretend he’s in a relationship with Warpaint’s bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg.

“Fuck your romance, I wanna pretend that Jenny Lee Lindberg is my girlfriend”

With the sheer quality the band displays with this track you can see the massive amount of passion and enthusiasm the they have for the music they’re producing; couple this up with the massive interest surrounding them and you can safely assume they’re going to be around for a long time to come. This is a well-executed and gracefully performed piece from one of tomorrows biggest acts.

The Virginmarys - Just a Ride

Video released February 21st 2013 

Macclesfield rockers The Virginmarys seem to have been working nonstop for the last couple of years, I remember first hearing about them a couple of years back but have never really kept up with them, after listening to this I’m pretty disappointed in myself because they’ve just gone from strength to strength. Taken from their debut album King of Conflict, Just a Ride is an energetic alternative rock track showing just what the three piece are capable of. To draw a comparison with other bands I’d compare them to Biffy Clyro if Simon Neil was to be replaced by a very pissed off Alex Turner, it may sound like a weird combination but it really works. The band is touring a lot of festivals this year so be sure to catch them if you’re at one they’re playing.

Weatherbird - Johnny Strange

Video released April 29th 2013

Telford alternate rockers Weatherbird’s track ‘Johnny Strange’ is a perfect example of the exciting new indie scene currently appearing throughout the UK. The band has swagger, attitude and a lot of creativity which is creating a lot of buzz with indie music blogs recently, as well as causing a stir on the British festival scene. I’d seen a lot of very positive reviews about this track before actually listening and decided I couldn't be swayed by what I’d read, that being said I loved the track, the band have a great heavy indie sound. The lead singer, Jacob Bell has the perfect attitude to front the band, moody and focussed while performing in the video, instrumentals provided by the rest of the band are tight and work perfectly with the vocals. This is a great track by a band who seem to be falling from one positive review to the next, and rightly so.