WATCH: Roller Derby – ‘Dreams’

‘Dreams’, the latest single from Hamburg-based Roller Derby, is a sparkling, ethereal song about the intensity of relationships. The track is a captivating blend of synth-pop, drawing inspiration from the genre’s early origins, while infusing splashes of a contemporary indie sound.

The track opens sparsely with a vocal line accompanied by a washy synth, until a stirring drum beat and warm synth bass line enters, giving the track a blissful foundation. The highlight musically comes as the swirling guitar licks ooze a captivating New Wave energy, bringing to mind Depeche Mode and The Cure, and giving the track a darker edge. 

Lush harmonies enter, accompanying the well-delivered vocals and melancholic melody as the song grows into something much larger, taking you on its journey, gradually introducing new elements and sounds in the textured and layered soundscape. A real pleasure for the ears; a testament to the slick production style of Moses Schneider. Building from melancholic to euphoric, the lush musicality mirrors the emotive theme of the reflective lyricism.

Since forming in 2020, Roller Derby have swiftly been making waves – having performed at festivals and prominent showcases such as SXSW and Reeperbahn Festival, as well as recently selling out a headline show for us at The Shacklewell Arms; continuing to captivate audiences with their unique blend of synth-pop and indie influences.

The accompanying music video, directed by Stephanie von Beauvais, perfectly visualises the ethereal atmosphere of the track with a trippy, psychedelic allure, vibrant colours and rippling imagery. Roller Derby are clearly a band who have a truly well thought-out vision and know what they want to achieve, and I look forward to hearing more from them throughout 2024.

Ella Patenall
@ella_patenall

Photo Credit: Johann Kressin

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PREMIERE: Dream Phone – ‘fogo’

Having completely won me over playing live for us supporting Me Rex last year, and now fresh from being utterly brilliant once again playing with Ray Aggs last week, Oxford duo Dream Phone are back with a brand new single. With acclaim from the likes of BBC 6Music and BBC Radio Oxford for last year’s eponymous debut EP (which was one of my faves of 2023), Jenny and Hannah have already showcased their ability to create utterly unique glitch-pop soundscapes touching on subjects ranging from social anxiety to Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Reflecting on the fear of going out (rather than the fear of missing out), ‘fogo’ offers a comforting ode to anyone who may not enjoy going out as much as they used to – whether that’s due to age, increased post-pandemic anxiety or simply just relishing being comfy and safe in your own space. Musically perhaps more melodic than previous offerings, this new single loses none of the duo’s vibrant charm and fizzing punk-pop vibes, playfully intertwined with their sugar-sweet augmented vocal harmonies. Of the track, Jenny and Hannah explain:

“‘fogo’ is basically about us not getting as much joy from going out as we used to! What can we say, we’re older and a pandemic changes you. It’s also about the guilt you can feel about seeing your friends less. It’s one of those songs that almost wrote itself – it started with us mucking about on the synth in the rehearsal studio, and coming up with the riff that opens the song. That got stuck in our heads, and everything else came quite naturally from there.“

Delivered with a playful riot grrrl-inspired spirit, ‘fogo’ showcases all there is to love about Dream Phone; listening to its scuzzy layers of shimmering musicality, I feel instantly uplifted by its infectious quirky allure and blissfully danceable energy. And, watching the accompanying video adds even more joy to the experience. Made by Hannah from the band, it quite beautifully highlights the conflicting feelings of wanting to go out but not feeling able to, whilst depicting the simple pleasures of staying in: cats, Green Day, dancing in your dressing gown, what more could you need?

Cementing Dream Phone firmly as one of my most favourite bands, ‘fogo’ is the relatable, euphoric glitch-pop anthem you didn’t know you needed. If you having a bad day, one listen to its swirling cacophony and you’ll feel instantly brighter… And, if you’re having a good day; turn it up loud, put on your dressing gown and dance around your bedroom with your cat.

‘fogo’ will be released on all platforms tomorrow, 1st May, via Divine Schism. Catch Dream Phone live (you must!) on tour with Teenage Sequence throughout May – info here.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

Photo Credit: Agnes Diaconu

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LISTEN: Charley Stone – ‘Better With You’

The PR for the latest Charley Stone single describes her as a ‘scene queen’. Hype, you may well initially think, but Charley’s been more than prolific for a long while. Having played with the likes of Salad, Charley currently plays guitar on tour with both Sleeper and Desperate Journalist. Her tribute band work is almost a Wikipedia page in itself: The Fallen Women (an all-female Fall karaoke band), ABBA Stripes (ABBA played by a White siblings-esque duo), Hive Fives (part of The Hives franchising of their own band) and The Dumb Blondes (a Dolly Parton tribute), to name just a few. Now, after so long playing others’ parts, Charley Stone is prepping to release her debut solo album, with musical support from her group, The Actual Band.

Before the album is released next month, Charley brings us its second single – ‘Better With You‘, the follow-up to last month’s ‘A Scream’.  But where the latter was spacey and darkly psychedelic, ‘Better With You’ finds us very much at the kitchen-sink, with Charley’s lyrics outlining the image of a couple making the misstep of travelling to a wedding. Musically, it’s more raw too; the association with The White Stripes is apparent here, with the guitars stripped back and fuzzy and drums way up in the mix, and there’s a resemblance to The Lovely Eggs in there – no great surprise given Holly Ross’ own Britpop to neo-garage trajectory. In addition, with the lyrical evocation of chaotic people combined with lo-fi guitar, there’s also an echo of Wild Billy Childish’s work from the noughties, albeit with vocals that sound somewhat akin to Lush’s Miki Berenyi. That’s not to say that this has been simply slung together, even if – as Charley herself describes it – the track was virtually recorded as live, “guitar solo and all”.

Lyrically, the track heads in one direction, indicating that the pair it depicts are simply “better with” each other, before its spoken-word middle eight undoes all of our understanding. And that’s sort of the rub; Charley Stone clearly has lyrical and musical chops, and ideas for what she wants to do, it’s just (as she said in a recent interview), “all my experiences with bands…were synthesising into something inside me that I now need to do”. And it’s to our benefit that she has: as all her various bands already know, everything’s better with Charley.

Here Comes The Actual Band, the debut album from Charley Stone, is out on 29th May.

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

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LISTEN: BCOS RSNS – ‘Turn It Off’

The second single from their upcoming debut album, ‘Turn It Off‘ by BCOS RSNS turns the post-punk band’s attention to conspiracy theories and capitalism. The song uses scuzzy guitars and dry, deadpan wit to draw a profound parallel between the ridiculous and the real, highlighting how easy it is to begin investigating genuinely dangerous societal concerns and end up diverted into truly absurd territory by conspiracists profiting off your concern.

The early verses start off with obviously silly theories that no one really believes – that Neil Armstrong was an actor, but that the moon landing was shot on location. Then the song escalates down that all-too-slippery slope to ideas you hear parroted by otherwise sensible, intelligent people. It’s a pattern you’ll be familiar with if you paid attention to the number of smart people echoing life-threatening anti-vax logic during the height of the Covid pandemic, for example.

The chorus hammers home the crucial point at the core of the track perfectly. It starts with fairly good advice, beginning “turn off your tv”, up to “turn off your smart home” (do you really trust what privately owned energy companies are doing with your data? They’re raising prices and announcing record profits, so it really doesn’t feel all that much like they’re passing on the benefit of that information to the consumer…), and finally pivots to “turn off your kettle” and “pull down your blinds”, which (unless you have a smart kettle and blinds that channel data back to the 1%, which thankfully is yet part of a dystopian future I personally am very relieved to have not yet seen first-hand) is a foray into paranoia. But the steps that take you there aren’t that illogical. In a few relatively short (and honestly very catchy lines), the song demonstrates how easily someone could be persuaded to veer off course from sensible precautions to wild speculation.

‘Turn It Off’ culminates in the direct, straight-faced third verse, where the character is dropped and the mission statement presented clearly and unambiguously. In a song about the way mis-information snowballs into tangible harm, the directness here becomes all the more profound. The verse describes the song itself as a “distraction”, and they’re not wrong. Satisfying the frustration of life on a dying planet with the temporary catharsis of a fun song doesn’t make any difference to the situation. The track doesn’t hide how difficult it is to even envision how to turn back the death clock at this late stage of the game. The singer herself, Abi Brady, even says of the song’s thesis,  “I don’t have any answers to any of it. It’s frustrating.“

But art doesn’t need to have all the answers, and with this release BCOS RSNS process the trauma of existing as a single powerless individual under the tyranny of late stage capitalism through an upbeat and playfully intelligent song, and invite you to purge your shared frustrations with them.

The eponymous debut album from BCOS RSNS is set for release on 22nd May – pre-order here. Catch the band live celebrating its release at The Cavendish Arms on 25th May.

Kirstie Summers
@ActuallyKurt

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