Zola Jesus is BACK!

you might be forgiven for thinking that she had only just arrived, but the sombre American singer-songwriter has already announced her second album, CONATUS, due out September 26. I get irritated by lazy comparisons to the likes of Siouxsie Sioux et al. This is just wrong on so many levels -  I saw ZJ live at The CAMP late last year, it sounded 'ok', but it was rather like watching a very frightened young deer accidently find itself caught in the stage lights. Flanked by some older guys on synths, she stomped around whilst signing and staring at the floor. By contrast, Siouxise was a fierce whirlwind, baiting and goading audiences of every size from the very first moment she began. However, if people laid off the premature comparisons to such iconic greats, Zola could (and should) get there in her own sweet time. Here on new track VESSEL she demonstrates exactly how far her writing has already progressed...

They protest too much?

the thing I've learnt about 'sonically challenging bands who look amazing' is that they're all just buying time until they've amassed enough credibility to actually write pop songs. Songs, big shiny POP SONGS. One of the things I said when I first saw the Horrors was 'give them a few years and they'll be sounding like early Simple Minds'. Cut to 2011 and lo and behold we have this:   

The Horrors' sulky little proteges S.C.U.M., have now followed suit: actually sounding a lot more like all the early 80s Gothy-Post Punk bands they've been dressing like for years:  

I'm not complaining though, this is ultimately a good thing. I've found that people who arrive with a fully-formed pop agenda tend to fail because they're too forced for Pop and too fake to have developed a legitimate fanbase to fall back on. The moral of the story is, I suppose, to resist your pop temptations for as long as possible and when they eventually do consume you (they get everybody in the end) you might actually get away with it.

Miami forever

Everyone who knows me, knows how much I love Miami Vice. So I thought I'd kick things off with a video by these Euro-Beat guys who clearly loved MV so much, they flew there and shot this video with the aid of a shaky video recorder and some obliging local ladies. I reckon the guy in the Cosby jumper with an Uzi is the coolest.