Acrylics – All Of The Fire

I’m beginning to think that there’s no-one in Brooklyn who isn’t in a band these days and the borough itself is just one big walled in community of artists, all unable to feed themselves. This lot are worth mentioning though if only because a friend of said the other day he was well into ‘yuppie rock’ at the moment, like Steve Winwood, Huey Lewis And The News and so forth, blaming it on the DX7s they used, which he is slightly obsessed by. After laughing like a drain at the phrase ‘yuppie rock’, I then – as if driven by the fates of 1983 – stumbled across Acrylics, who sound basically like Fleetwood Mac. I didn’t think anyone would be daft enough to try that, let alone get away with it. Anyway, it’s a pretty interesting counterpoint to the umpteen million MGMT and Vampire Weekend clones clogging up the place.

The Millipedes – Shake Your Bones

Not only interesting for the fact that this record comes in the format of three seven-inches, The Millipedes are a Sheffield supergroup of sorts, made up of ex-Long Blondes, Smokers Die Younger, Velodrome 2000 and Thee Motherfuckers. It’s an extremely diverting dive into the Detroit Cobras’ patch, all Link Wray guitars and doo-wop overtones. Good garagey stuff, if – a bit like the Cobras – only the one joke long.

Head Of Light Entertainment – I Am Liberated

Also known as Carl Green, this semi-reclusive solo singer type describes himself like this – “I’m an obscure pop musician from North East England. I ply my dirty pop trade, solo and terrified, in the region’s pubs and clubs, where my 19 devoted fans sing my words back to me and try to engage me in light conversation”. Happily, this instant loveability translates into music too, with a quirky and wryly engaging LP of witty and chirruping little packages of quietly deranged pop, like he’s taking the traditional tortured-artist pose of most acoustic singer-songwriters and sticking his tongue out at it. Reminds me a bit of the more literate and folky bits of (already sorely missed) the Broken Family Band or Candidate, or Buddy Holly fronting a stripped-down That Petrol Emotion. The more I hear it, the more I really, really like this, actually. Recommended.

The List Of Possibly Interesting Albums Out This Week:

• Acrylics – All Of The Fire
• Bell Horses – This Loves Last Time
• Brilliant Colors – Brilliant Colors
• Edan – Echo Party
• Gay Against You – Righteous Signals, Sour Dudes
• Head Of Light Entertainment – I Am Liberated
• Jacuzzi Boys – No Season
• Real Estate – Real Estate
• Royal Bangs – Let It Bleep
• Sam & Ruby – The Here And Now
• The Boy Least Likely To – The Law Of The Playground
• The Brothers Movement – The Brothers Movement
• The Dutchess And The Duke – Sunset / Sunrise
• The Girls At Dawn – The Girls At Dawn
• The Millipedes – Shake Your Bones
• Tom Waits – Glitter And Doom: Live
• Turbo Fruits – Echo Kid
• Wetdog – Frauhaus