3WTM February Playlist 2017

So each month we choose some tracks that have been hitting the right notes, we then share them as a playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. Check 'em out!

Chris' Tracks

New Estate – Giant Rooks – New Estate EP – A German Alt-Pop quintet apparently. Upbeat guitars, synth, piano – vocals hint a little at Alt-J.

Fly-By Alien – VANT – Dumb Blood – I think VANT are reasonably well known. Probably at the heavy end of stuff that I like, but good.

The Lost Sky – Jesca Hoop – in a complete U-turn from VANT – simple acoustic guitar, light female vocals, plucked cellos? A bit of a folky feel to this, beautiful and interesting. Great harmonies. Jesca Hoop is from California, but gave up the California sun in 2008 to move to Manchester (of all places).

Up to the Surface – Cloud Nothings – Life Without Sound. Cloud Nothings are an American indie-rock band. This track is OK, but maybe a bit steady.

Overflow – Ten Fé – Hit The Light. Ten Fé are a London based act. This track puts me slightly in mind of Sweet Disposition by Temper Trap, but it’s only a passing resemblance, and probably down to the bass part. Is there a bit of Ultravox in there?

Six Flags in F or G – Surfer Blood – Snowdonia. Rock Lobster.

Substitute – Billy Bibby and The Wry Smiles. Were the wry smiles a reaction to the name ‘Billy Bibby’? Who knows? Oh – apparently he used to be the guitarist with Catfish and the Bottlemen. A pretty good song, all in all.

Evening Prayer – Half Waif – Life Will See You Now. A bit of an odd one this. It’s a song about a bloke who made a 3-D print of a tumour he’d had removed. Or more, it’s about the relationship of the songwriter to the bloke who made a 3-D print of his tumour. I saw someone on line compare to The Human League in style and it seems a reasonable observation to me.

Dama de Lavanda – The Paperhead – Chew. Well this starts out with a similar guitar riff to Morning’s Eleven by The Magic Numbers. A bit of trumpet gives a mariachi feel in places.

John's Selections

The Kids Don't Wanna Come Home - Declan McKenna

Winner of Glastonbury's Emerging Talent Award. Brazil was his big hit of the time. I'm off to check it out.

Fill In The Blank - Car Seat Headrest

I heard of them through Twitter, I get the feeling that's a strategy rather than by chance.

Blown Rose - Blossoms

OK I'm a bit late with this one. I've been listening to it for a while and it's hear for anyone who has caught this emerging band yet.

Great Pile Of Nothing - Mozes And The Firstborn

It's got a real feel of American indie, early nighties maybe. However they're from the Nederlands, this is off their second album released in 2016.

The Walker - Fitz and the Tantrums

Somehow I've ended up on their mailing list and until now they've not hit the mark. I like this though, especially the whistling. Boom!

Pentagrams - Deja Vega

No idea how I stumbled across this track but I know it's not recent, from the end of 2015. Good track though, worth sharing.

Feeling OK - Best Coast

I've been listening to this track since April so I don't know how I've passed it up each month, it certainly deserves our attention. It's off their California Nights album released in 2015.