L&Q Weekly
Werewolves of London goes synthwave, Mogwai live in London, Neil Finn AI is a liar, pop star makes new album bang on schedule
Track of the Week
Not all cover versions are entirely upsetting. Look at Hendrix’s ‘All Along The Watchtower’, or – a more fitting example here – Chromatics’ clutch of icy, Italo Disco takes on Neil Young, Kate Bush and Bruce Springsteen. Spike – the synth pop project of London soundscape artist Hannah Mcloughlin – shares some DNA with Johnny Jewels’ old group and lots of others from his Italians Do It Better extended family. Her self-titled debut EP has even more in common with Swedish lo-fi synth queen Molly Nilsson though; especially Mcloughlin’s baritone-not-breathy vocals. ‘Werewolves of London’ is a song you know without necessarily knowing you know it, the original a 1978 hit for Warren Zevon with a nagging piano hook. The type of track you could spin straight after the Minder theme tune and no one would complain. Novelty-esque, yes, but undeniable. Spike’s version of ‘Werewolves’ is less roll-out-the-barrow and more hypnagogic goth pop. When she sings “Little old lady got mutilated late last night” it sounds like it might have actually happened, but also like Spike might be singing it whilst floating 3 feet vertically above the ground. The perfect start to an EP that goes on to sample Andrea Bocelli’s ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ for a race through city streets blurred by a rush of neon lights.
3 sentence live review
MOGWAI, CHRYSTAL PALACE PARK, LONDON, 7 AUG: If the two things that Mogwai are best recognised as are very Glaswegian and very post-rock, then today's undercard is created in their own image, consisting of 90s Weegie lo-fi scratchers Yummy Fur opening proceedings with shambling charm, followed by new-generation post-rock ingenues caroline and their impressively bowel-rupturing levels of bass, which one suspects has not troubled Crystal Palace Park at 5pm on a Thursday many times before now. Then comes further Lanarkshire content in the shape of fine-I-guess heart-on-sleeve emo-rockers Twilight Sad, and another triumphant set from Lankum, who, after two years of touring this show, now have their Celtic folk meets heavy post-rock drone and huge dynamic range down to a jaw-dropping fine art. In fact, Lankum rather steal the show from Mogwai tonight, who arrive at dusk and deliver what in any other conditions would be a triumph, scabrous and motoric with new material, genuinely monumental and passionate with classics like 'Mogwai Fear Satan' and 'Cody', and faultlessly gracious performers, their only mistake following one of the great current live acts. Sam Walton
How we were feeling then: What did Covid do to the sound of UK music?
5 years on from a worldwide pandemic, Luke Cartledge revisits 5 British albums unique to a time already unimaginable, and their lasting impact. Read now
A 7 point plan to combat music fatigue
Sam Walton pitches a world where the oldest record on streaming was released a decade ago, and only 10 new albums are released each week. Read now
Albums for your diary announced this week
Anastasia Coope – Dot (31 Oct, Bonzo): Coope’s 2024 songs-for-spooks LP Darning Woman featured at number 10 on our Albums of 2024 list for being a freak-folk album of ghostly beauty and strange ambience. This 6-track EP from the New York artists looks set to maintain the mood judging by ‘Pink Lady Opera’.
Just Mustard – We Were Just Here (24 October, Partisan): With shoegaze once again on the rise, Irish band Just Mustard might have timed their return perfectly, not least because they’re a young group moving the sound beyond its usual guitar wash on the album’s title track. Equally vocal-led, with a bassy charge.
No Peeling – No Peeling (5 September, Feel It): When a new band turns up and announces their debut with a song called ‘Can I Pet That Dog?’, you kind of have to give it a listen. I’m not totally mad that I did. At 53 seconds long it’s not even a gamble, especially if you’re a fan of squiggly noise pop and twee absurdity, like Los Campesinos larking with The Moldy Peaches.
Sorry – COSPLAY (7 November, Domino): The third album from the any-rock-and-pop-genre-goes London band is preceded by new single ‘Echoes’, inspired by a poem about a boy shouting into a tunnel.
Also this week
While all music activity stood still amidst news that Taylor Swift is going to release another album, and that that album is going to have a front cover and title, Neil Finn of Crowded House was forced to put in a few hours work to deny that he’s previously suffered from erectile disfunction. He’s had to do this after an AI video of him talking about an infliction he doesn’t suffer from was circulated online. Crowded House released a statement that read: “We’re not sure where this came from, but please don’t be fooled. Neil’s never had trouble with erections.” Even responses to AI scams are starting to sound like AI scams these days.
