Filled with proper big belters, What’s Good This Week has been turned up to 100, with the surround sound on and everything else drowned out by an onslaught of guitars.
The Golden Age of TV – Caught in Doors
A Leeds based group, whose drummer Josh, is in roughly every band currently playing around Leeds, The Golden Age of TV are really proving their chops as to why their one of the most exciting groups to come out of Leeds in a long time. ‘Caught in Doors’ is a frantic and chaotic, rapid-fire piece of indie rock, detailing the dilemma of feeling trapped in life, as everything starts to build up around you. The track turns incredibly punk several times, just through a sheer barrage of aggressive, sharp turning guitars and brutal drumming, almost as if Savages and The Strokes were trying to out-noise one another and unintentionally created the most exciting piece of indie/punk-rock of the last five or so years.
V98 – Conversation Killer
Dublin-Edinburgh based punks V98 bring with them an air of familiarity that disgruntled young punks on both sides of the Irish Sea will fall in love with. Taken from their upcoming EP “PRESSGANG” (out this Friday), ‘Conversation Killer’ angles itself around personal conflict and feeling dispositioned in the world around you, fighting two wars when you barely have enough energy for one. Jutting guitar riffs perpetuating sudden bursts of anger fill ‘Conversation Killer’ as frontman Darragh Geoghegan lays out the monotony of living as a 20-something, and how nothing happening can feel like the weight of the world.
SHiiVERS – Crook & Flail
Set out to capture remnants of what the lives of slaves during Ancient Egypt would have sounded like, SHiiVERS deliver a big-hitting electro-pop number in ‘Crook & Flail’. With its sharp hitting synth hooks, the similarities to Chvrches is immediately apparent, however, SHiiVERS dive deeper into creating a narrative that we know little about, rather than something relatable. This lack of relatability casts Crook & Flail further afield once the scarce, hollowed beats sink into the track, yet, marks them as uber-interesting artists, who rely on their creativity and sense of storytelling rather than overly produced riffs.
Diplomacy – Silver Lake Queen
The collaborative project of Jack Falahee from ABC’s “How To Get Away With Murder” and DJ Elephante; Diplomacy sound far more sophisticated and noteworthy on ‘Silver Lake Queen’ than you may first expect from an Actor turned music-artist. The suave, ultra-pristine pop sound of Hurts or Her flows seamlessly through ‘Silver Lake Queen’ as the ebb and flow of slowly building verses turning into catchy, sing-along choruses grows more sultry and enticing with each play. Falahee works perfectly with Elephante, as the pairing vibe off each other as though they’ve been doing this for years.
Empty Friend – Falter
A four-piece, hard-rock band from London; Empty Friend, combine grunge, metal and stoner rock into a ferocious display of tight-fisted, heavy-hitting rock on ‘Falter’. Taken from their upcoming EP of the same name, ‘Falter’ summons up the same sneer and bite of acts such as Kasabian or Bad Breeding, with an endless supply of cut-throat riffs fighting it out to burst your eardrums before bassist Dave Morgan blows your gut with his low hitting bass hooks.
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