Crime On The Moon Records

Crime On The Moon Records has an unblemished record to date: 2 releases (one 12", one 7"), 2 gems.  I half knew about Cold Beat's "Worms" 12" last year but, as is increasingly the case, it got buried under the avalanche of music struggling to be heard on blogs, Soundcloud, bandcamp, mixcloud etc. etc..  The intro is pure Thee Oh Sees but the chorus is the kind of carefree pop dream that Dum Dum Girls promised but didn't quite deliver before they went all knickers-on-show and mid-paced 80s boomy.  "Worms" is not only singalong brilliant, it's sufficiently odd in places to make you ache for the days of John Peel's radio show.  It would've sounded just sublime in that setting.

COLD BEAT - "WORMS" from Mike Stoltz on Vimeo.

Bridge Collapse's "Wilderness" 7"on the other hand is a touch darker but no less brilliant.  It's still eminently humable but wonkier, more Neo Boys.  It too would have slotted into a John Peel playlist with ease.

What links Cold Beat to Bridge Collapse is Grass Widow's Hannah Lew.  I've yet to hear a semblance of a bad Grass Widow record (yes, I am taking into account their jokey live spilt with Shannon and The Clams on which they covered EMF's "Unbelievable" in making that assertion!) so it's no surprise that her other groups are so thrilling.  Not Unloved won't be silly enough to not pay attention to what Crime On The Moon Records is up to from now on, that's for dang sure!   

Sacred Paws

There's an art to tagging songs on bandcamp.  You don't want to make them too dull/literal but you certainly don't want to make them too wacky.  You don't want them to pigeonhole your group nor do you want them to sound like a needy attempt to win cool points by associating your group with a bunch of hip genres.  It's a conundrum, for sure.  Sacred Paws sidestep these traps by tagging their brilliant "i n s t r u m e n t a l ((DEMO))" as "devotional freak out Glasgow".  Having seen them twice in the last week "devotional" is apt as their insistent, highlife resonant guitar shapes and punk rhythms induce a kind of shamanistic dance trance as your brain empties of all its workaday nonsense and focuses on just moving in time.  Sacred Paws is two thirds of Golden Grrrls - Eilidh Rodgers and Rachel Aggs (also of the wonderful Trash Kit) - and despite being only a year into their existence they already have enough memorable songs to send most of their more established peers back to the drawing board.  Their first release is a split tape/download (Comfort On A Tightrope) with Hannah Lew of Grass Widow.  Sacred Paws' songs are roughly recorded but diamonds all the same.  Hannah Lew covers The Mantles' much revered "Don't Lie".  Get on it!  Oh, and should they come anywhere near your house, you must make the effort to see them live.