Track Of The Day: Boarder – ‘Strangers’

A riotous garage-rock tune inspired by the characters frontwoman Lucie Blair encountered while working behind a busy city-centre bar, Boarder have shared their latest single ‘Strangers’. Released via Amateur Pop Incorporated, the track probes at the way strangers often use bar staff as unofficial therapists after they’ve had a few too many, and how female staff are more prone to taking on this emotional labour.

“‘Strangers’ feels almost symbolic of the times we’re living in” explains Blair, even though the track was penned before the current covid-19 pandemic. “It’s a song I wrote while working in a bar on minimum wage & contemplating what it really means to be alive.” The Leicester-based band explore these contemplations via distorted riffs and crashing percussion, with Blair venting her frustrations through her sardonic vocals.

‘Strangers’ is the first track Boarder have produced by themselves, with the swaggering guitars and pounding drums reflecting the shifting moods of the drunken characters the song is based on. As Blair notes, it’s hard to feel “alive” or even nostalgic for this old way of life in 2020, when leaving the house “could mean the difference between life and death.” Let’s hope when things are genuinely safe again, bar staff won’t have to keep mopping up after customers who continuously spill their thoughts.

Listen to ‘Strangers’ below and follow Boarder on bandcamp, Spotify & Facebook for more updates.

Photo Credit: Shyla Rose

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: ARXX – ‘Call Me Crazy’

Following the release of last year’s EP Wrong Girl Honey, and 2018’s debut Daughters Of Daughters, total faves ARXX are back with a poignant new offering. 

Whilst ‘Call Me Crazy’ may be a bit of a change in tone for the Brighton duo, it loses none of the emotion-strewn power we’ve come to know and love. Showcasing Hanni and Clara’s more reflective side, it offers a heartfelt offering reflecting on mental health struggles, at a time when this topic is more resonant than ever before. 

Whilst dealing with an affecting subject, however, ARXX manage to create a truly uplifting and instantly catchy empowering anthem. Propelled by the gritty, soulful drive of Hanni’s vocals, sweeping, twinkling hooks shine through, as it builds in emotive splendour to an epic, pop-strewn ballad. Of the track, Hanni explains:

“It’s a happy pop song about the trials and tribulations of living with depression. The chorus is an internal dialogue about getting stuck in your head and forgetting to enjoy life. It’s a very personal insight into my experiences with mental health.”

Showcasing their refusal to be pigeon-holed into one genre, here ARXX prove that they’re just as skilled at creating exquisite, heart-string-tugging alt-pop as they are ferocious grunge-fuelled bangers. ‘Call Me Crazy’ is testament to a band forever evolving, honing their craft to develop a rich and eclectic back-catalogue; continuously refining their sound and, in the process, consistently continuing to win my heart, retaining their position as the most impressive power duo around.

 

‘Call Me Crazy’ is out now.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

Photo Credit: Kaleido Shoots

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Track Of The Day: Opal Onyx – ‘Lover’s Toil’

A cinematic reflection about the risks we take when trying to find love, Brooklyn-based duo Opal Onyx have shared their latest single ‘Lover’s Toil’. Taken from their upcoming album Vessel, which is set for release on 4th December, the track blends trip-hop beats, sweeping electronics and emotive vocals to enrapture listeners.

Formed of Sarah Nowicki and Matthew Robinson, Opal Onyx take their name from the shiny opal gemstone and the opaque darkness of onyx, exploring the light and the dark that balances our world. On ‘Lover’s Toil’, the duo navigate the cautious yet unpredictable nature of love, urging listeners to take a chance on it when it comes their way, and throw themeselves in head first.

Speaking about their upcoming album, the duo explain: “It’s our therapeutic vessel we can put everything in to, a form of therapy that means we can transcend everything and see our creative vision more clearly.” This cathartic outlook and willingness to open up is what makes tracks like ‘Lover’s Toil’ so tender and captivating. Listen to the track below, and follow Opal Onyx on bandcamp, Spotify and Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Hannah’s Little Sister – ‘Gum’

Counter-intuitively, the PR for ‘Gum’ – the latest single from off-beat Liverpool quartet, Hannah’s Little Sister includes the instruction from lead singer, Meg: “Go pirate our single!”. Alternative music abounds with contrary positions but perhaps, in an era where the concept of ‘selling out’ has largely been forgotten, displaying a disaffection for the commercial feels radical once again.

For Hannah’s Little Sister themselves, the last two years have been a period of change: with one bassist departing and another arriving, during a ‘lofi gap year’ in which the band honed their sound and live performances. Given the ferocity of the HLS live show circa 2018, and their Pixies via East Lancs stylings, it’s hard to see where the improvements could be made – until the band came storming back post-lockdown, freshly signed to Heist or Hit, with the playground alt-rock hi-jinx of ‘Bin Mouth’, their first release since signing to the label.

Where ‘Bin Mouth’ used a childish slur to address the figurative rubbish that some people spew, new single ‘Gum’ occupies a similar space, in using the all-too-briefly satisfying confectionery to address the distracting nature of consumerism.

Opening with Helen Love style synths that suggest, as with ‘Bin Mouth’, that the group are also throwing a hint of C86 into their mish-mash, Meg’s vocals emerge, deceptively sweet.

The song’s bridge throws everything back into chaos, as overdrive guitars riff towards the chorus – “Locking up our jaws on GUM!” – just like the machine reasserting itself over the creative. The chorus, a sort of internally-rhyming triplet, replete with yelps and smacks of percussion, almost hits you over the head like a marketing jingle – albeit one with an indie inflection. Those synths return, and the song seems to have settled into a off-kilter bossa nova, before the next verse and chorus return with their blend of the sweet and savage. But the closing ninety seconds of the song go off the deep end, sonically, pivoting first to a slowed-down gum-themed incantation, a chill-out dream-pop vocal and finally closing with a wonky disco instrumental.

There’s only an audio video for the song, at present, but their commitment to an off-kilter aesthetic in the teaser (and social media promises) suggest that when the full video appears, it’ll be another trip into the bizarre world of the band. That being said, for all the ordered mayhem of their audio and visual style and the self-described “rant” of the lyrics, Hannah’s Little Sister have crafted a tune that bolts on their different influences into something at times challenging and chaotic but equally pragmatic and poppy. And if you don’t like it, the band seem to say, you might as well chew on it.

‘Gum’ is out now, and is taken from Hannah’s Little Sister’s upcoming debut EP EP.MP3, set for release 20th November via Heist Or Hit.

John McGovern
@etinsuburbiaego

Photo Credit: Beebo Boobin

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