Everybody Was In the French Resistance Now is the new band from Eddie Argos, lead singer from sadly departed art rock heroes Art Brut. For those who don’t know, Art Brut are probably the coolest band ever to have emerged from the art rock scene.

Their repertoire includes such classics as: ‘Formed a band’, ‘Bang Bang Rock and Roll’, ‘Emily Kane’, and ‘Moving to LA’. According to legend, early on stage histrionics included Eddie vacuuming on stage, Eddie escaping out of a sack, and various strange liaisons between Eddie and audience members.

So it’s fair to say Eddie is a man with enough charisma to make Tom Jones sweat and a delivery sharper than Simon Cowell’s tongue, he is a genetic fusion of Kenneth Williams and Oscar Wilde. He also is not a rock and roll faker; he actually has moved to LA, and probably did date a girl called Emily Kane, and well, he did form a band.

Everybody Was In The French Resistance Now has Eddie teaming up with his girlfriend Dyan Valdes from the Blood Arm, an alternative rock band from LA. FIXING THE CHARTS is their attempt at ‘correcting the mistakes of pop songs past’, and sees them ‘responding’ to various pop classics from Avril Lavigne’s ‘Girlfreind’ to Kayne West’s ‘Gold Digger’, to that song all those Liverpool fans always seem to sing when they’re playing rubbish, ‘You’ll never walk alone’, which seems to be ringing out at Anfield quite a lot lately.

The general tone is far more pop than Art Brut, there are less noisy guitars here, just organ sounds, piano, brass instruments, and some lush vocal harmonies from Dyan. It’s well produced and fun, not laugh out loud funny, just witty and entertaining. The first track CREEQUE ALLIES is basically the history of the French Resistance read out to music, which is a bit odd to be honest, but you get used to it, and by the time BILLIE’S GENES unravels the story of a sibling searching for their genetic benefactor, the weirdness doesn’t seem out of place.

Musically there’s a lot going on. There are plenty of melodic guitar parts and funky choruses, using a wide range of orchestral instruments, the arrangements are often imaginative and interesting. G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N. (You Know I've Got A) is a great pop song about a deluded stalker who won’t take no for an answer, the chorus sung by Dyan is really sweet and catchy and I couldn’t quite remove it from my head after listening to it, it reminded me of Kenickie a fair amount. BILLIE’S GENES opens with 70’s style disco and has a thumping bass line and a blazing sting section. (I'm So) Waldo P. Emerson JonES has a funky Beatles like piano riff and builds up pace with more strings and a brass accompaniment. WALK ALONE sees Eddie musing about standing on his own, being a functioning adult ‘It’s  ok to walk alone, I can do this on my own, It’s First Blood: Part II and I’m Stallone’.

SUPERGLUE reminded me the most of Art Brut, using cool distorted guitars, it’s one of the shortest songs on the album, and has a really cute Dandy Warhol’s like chorus. ‘Nothing lasts forever without superglue, hold yourself together with superglue’ urges Eddie. Think Twice (It's Not Alright) has a similar cutesy vibe, and He's a "Rebel" makes great use of Dyan’s vocals and is a standout track on the album.
Dyan has a sugary, cool nonchalant vocal style, and it fits well with Eddie, who tends to just sing in one vocal range. The pair create some fun 60s and 70’s style tunes: with splashes of Beach Boys, The Beatles, Neil Diamond, mixed up with modern indie.

So this album is the only place you’re going to hear songs about stalking, the French Resistance, face book, Rambo, the Godfather, and superglue. It’s all the only place your going to hear Eddie and Dyan do their thing together, so for that reason it’s worth a listen. Because they go well together and create unique, entertaining music that manages to mix grungy indie guitar with more traditional and older styles of music. The result is an oddity, but an enthralling oddity, that will leave you in a better mood and wanting to do something a bit silly.

SMALL TOWN EYES is the debut album from Justin Sandercoe, a man who made his name through You Tube by creating free guitar video sessions that attracted up to 50 million hits. He also taught artists such as Katie Melua and Kathy Dennis, and even toured with Katie on her European dates, quite an impressive resume then. So, in releasing a self penned album of 14 tracks, Justin has decided to turn the spotlight on himself, and become the main attraction, but can he pull it off?

The answer is: not quite. As you would expect, his guitar work is flawless and enchanting at times, but that's about the main attraction. I was a little disappointed with the singing and the variety of  songs on offer. Some are great, others are a little weak and require beefing up with steroids. The overall style is very much acoustic/folk, and no song on the album ever ventures far from that path or offers something radically different. Therefore, if you like one song you will probably like all of them, so it's worth listening to a few if you follow Justin on You Tube and are a fan. Also if you like folk music or acoustic music, artists such as Dylan, Nick Drake, Neil Young or Ryan Adams at times, then SMALL TOWN EYES will entertain.

Opening track FOREVERGREEN begins with a shimmering guitar riff that sounds like the wind rustling through autumn leaves and speaks of finding spirituality through nature, of being helpless in the face of ones fears, and the desolation that modern society brings. It's a lovely piece of songwriting; the drums rumble along gently in the background, the bass quietly keeps the pace, but the vocals are a little flat, and it almost sets the tone for the rest of the album : nice guitar, not so keen on the voice. On songs such as LOVE AND LEVITY, a killer voice could have helped raise a  decent tune into something more; as it is, the song bubbles away nicely, but just fails to take off.

What you cannot take away from this album though, is the inventiveness of guitar playing and the general uplifting, warm vibe created; there are plenty of mellow guitar moments. Highlights include
FROM KATIE'S WINDOW, a lovely finger picked ditty that reminded me of Led Zeppelin when Jimmy Page had discovered Lord of the Rings and Valium at the same time. PAGE 99 again features gorgeous finger pinking guitar work, ' If only you could say those words, and fill my heart with nouns and verbs', and some clever lyrics. INTO THE BLUE starts with more acoustic mellowness,  but gathers pace and morphs into a rousing pop song by the end. PITY THE ROSE also gently meanders until the chorus, when things break out a bit, Justin cuts loose with energetic singing and strumming and lets rip a glistening guitar solo to round things off in the style of Neil Young.

Other high points include IMPERFECT, a track that sees Justin angry and agitated about  contemporary society and the digital age, 'Strip away personality and wash off the mark that was unique, digital makes the perfect art, but zeros and ones don't break my heart.' This song actually really suits his voice and the lyrics are intelligent and honest. There's also some atmospheric harmonica towards the end, I could imagine enjoying this song crouched round a camp fire with some friends. I KNOW is a catchy tune helped along by an energetic, shuffling drum beat, and the addition of an accordion gives it a folksy polish. FALLING NEXT TO YOU starts with guitar, drums, harmonica and reveals itself in time to be a hummable pop number with a cracking chorus, Ryan Adams would have been pleased to have written this.

Songs I didn't enjoy so much were CUTTING OUT, I TURN TO TEL HER, and WASTE THIS. I found them a touch weak and like added extras rather than the main filling. However, they still fit the general ambient, relaxed mood, WASTE THIS in particular has some spacy, warped guitar effects in the background that lowered my blood pressure considerably.

All in all this is a pleasant, relaxing collection of songs performed by a technically gifted guitar player who can write some decent tunes too. If you like his voice then you will definitely like the songs and it's hard not to be charmed by the witty lyrics and honest sentiment. I didn't really get the sense that SMALL TOWN EYES was a coherent album, more a collection of songs that have been put together, but there's enough in here to please the casual listener. The general sentiment is one man with a guitar just saying what he thinks; feeling helpless in the face of comercialisation and the onslaught of technology, and coming to terms with friendships, relationships, himself even. So if you're a fan of Justin on You Tube then I'm sure you will enjoy this, if not, give him a listen, he has some good points to make, and some good tunes.

I’m a bit fed up with all this snow malarkey; to be honest it’s only fun if you’re a kid or a stressed out teacher hoping for a sneaky day off, so what I need is some heart warming music to listen to whilst sitting by the fire and sipping on mulled wine. Thankfully DEMONS AND DOUBTERS, a 5 track EP by singer songwriter Ian Parker has arrived to help me with my cold winter nights, now all I need is a dog to stroke and some fluffy slippers.

Ian Parker is a singer songwriter who signed to German blues label Ruf Records in 2003 after being personally introduced to a US record producer, David Z, who has worked with Prince and Fine Young Cannibals. He now resides back in the UK under the management of Ralph Baker of Equator Music, and recorded this EP at Bath’s famous Riverside studios.

The five songs in this EP are mainly guitar based and Country tinged, there are not a wide variety of instruments on offer, or many surprises thrown in, but as a listener you’re not really expecting that, and too much going on would probably just detract from Ian’s guitar work and voice. The reason why this music is good for late night relaxation listening is because Ian has a gentle, rich, resonant voice, which is suited to the acoustic guitar and creates a mood of contemplation and intimacy.

Those listeners who do not like Country music would be advised to stay away; the actual songs are not conventional Country style, there’s just quite a lot of slide guitar on some tracks that could detract from the listening experience if you’re not into that sort of thing. The best songs are actually the ones that are contain less slide guitar and embellishments, GROW for example just starts with vocals, finger picked guitar, piano, and then flows into a lovely cello led chorus that fills the heart with joy.

First track WINDING RIVER, is a gentle opener, with a catchy chorus and pleasant guitar solo, it sets up the tone of the EP well evoking rustic images of mountains, seas, stars and man battling the elements and himself, ‘Winding river flowing freely across the land, taking with it the heart of every man’. It’s a promising start and a good pop song with strong lyrical and emotional sentiment, ‘Suffering may come our way, the river is long…time will make all things well, the river is long.’

Another stand out track is LOST, which has a Neil Young vibe to it, with shimmering guitars, rasping, grungy vocals, and a super catchy chorus. This track also has some cool harmonica and a rocking guitar solo, and is probably my favourite track on the EP. On this track Ian sounds a bit of a cross between Michael Stipe and Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots, and it’s his best sound, on other songs his voice doesn’t sound quite as powerful.

What is good about the track LOST and GROW is mirrored by what is not so good about some of the other tracks. KEEP ME WALKING has a bit too much of the slide guitar on it and a familiar feel, it’s not a bad song, I’ve just heard it somewhere before. LOVERS AND FRIENDS also feels a bit unoriginal and doesn’t really use Ian’s voice to the best possible effect, It doesn’t really go anywhere as a song, but as always contains meaningful lyrics and good musicianship, and to be fair a fan of Country music will lap it up.

All in all this is a satisfying collection of songs to listen to. Very much self reflective and mature, it will enrich the listener and bring comfort to any cold winter night. With elements of Neil Young, Ryan Adams, Ben Harper, and traditional blues thrown in it should appeal to a wide spectrum of people.

Calling all indie-pop kids, check out this band, The Hush Now; they tick all the right boxes to fulfil your indie needs. CONTRAILS is their second ever single release, following on from a free download of WISHING YOU A HAPPY CHRISTMAS, which surprised us all with it’s cheeky guitar based loveliness last year. Bright, breezy, and as much fun as a game of twister whilst inebriated, this single is well worth looking at if you like your music sugar coated with a positive vibe.

The Hush Now are Noel Kelly on vocals and guitar, Barry Marino on drums, Pat Macdonald on bass, Adam Quane on lead guitar, and John Millar on keys, they come from Boston, Massachusetts. The song has a slight Beach Boys feel to it, but with a lo- fi indie twist, sounding like the Boo Radleys in their chirpier moments, the vocals also remind me a little of Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips.

All these influences mix well to create a surfy, summery, feel good blast of guitar pop, with lovely smatterings of Moog synthesiser. Distorted guitars drive the song and the vocals inject uplifting, happy energy, whilst the drums sit merrily in the background. It's just a basic verse chorus verse pop song with a happy atmosphere, the singing fits well with the mood and the other instruments neither stand out or sound out of place, it's almost child like in simplicity, and the chorus is so lovely you’d want to invite it round for tea to meet your parents.

It did take a while to grow on me, at first I didn’t totally enjoy the production and sugar levels, but after repeated listens I have definitely come round to enjoying the style of the track, and what it has to offer. There is nothing new or mind blowing here, but this is a good effort from an emerging indie band, so keep an eye out for them, and enjoy this song now, this is worth checking out if you like lo-fi indie pop.

MANY OF HORROR is the new single from Biffy Clyro and is taken from their fifth studio album Only Revolutions. Those who know of Biffy will recognise all the elements in this song that have made them a success in the past couple of years; heartfelt singing, beautifully bruising guitar melodies, a splash of orchestration, and a poignant lyrical sentiment. For those who haven’t heard of Biffy yet, then what are you waiting for? This is rock song writing at it’s finest. [inset side=right] "...MANY OF HORROR is a striking, haunting, and elegant ballad about relationships that they couldn’t have written at the beginning of their career..."[/inset]

Following up the massively successful 2007 album Puzzle was always going to be hard, and they could have either retreated back into the more visceral form of rock that they emerged from, or embraced the emotional, mature direction they had expanded into. Happily for most they chose the latter, and MANY OF HORROR is a striking, haunting, and elegant ballad about relationships that they couldn’t have written at the beginning of their career.

Some fans may lament this current polished sound and direction but evolution is inherent in everything so there is no point whinging. This song features a gorgeous string accompaniment to the guitar melody that tugs at heart strings and would surely fail to move only an emotionally repressed person. The overall effect of the song is uplifting and you feel like you have been taken on a journey, and in a sense the listener is moved from point A to B in a story through gentle gusts of strings and distorted guitars.

MANY OF HORROR is a simple offering, that builds from a whispered opening with just vocals and finger picked guitar to a memorable, elegant chorus that manages to be both sad and optimistic at the same time. It’s basically an emotional rock ballad about relationships, ‘when we collide we come together, if we don’t we’ll always be apart.’, and when the song is over it leaves you wanting more, and to revisit the best bits, rather like some relationships.