Live: San Miguel Primavera Sound (May 26-28, Parc del Fòrum, Barcelona)

Besides Primavera Sound‘s glaring and obvious downsides (namely the ridiculous pre-paid card system, seemingly introduced without much real thought and announced to us five days before the festival began; which for 1] didn’t work properly, and 2] lead to problems and therefore missing bands), the coastal setting, the phenomenal line-up and the fact it is in Barcelona in Spring, more than make up for it.

THURSDAY:

After queueing for what seemed like the majority of my lifetime to ‘associate’ and put 50 euros onto a card which then didn’t even work, and forcibly missing Emeralds because of it, Cults were the first band of the festival. Their shimmering summery pop was perfect for soundtracking the transition from irate British person in a queue to a state where I could actually start to enjoy myself.

After finally managing to get a beer – and being charged 9 euros for the pleasure from a man with a beer carrier on his back, of Montreal took to the San Miguel stage. There was plenty of onstage theatrics, which you come to expect, including a wrestling match complete with referee and Kevin Barnes‘ typical several costume changes. The set was fantastic and reminded me why I once loved of Montreal so much and made me wonder why I hadn’t listened to them in so long. My friend Lizzie may or may not have orgasmed out of sheer delight during the set. Several times.

Big Boi dropped it like it was molten hot at the almost amphitheatre-like setting of the Ray Ban stage. The heavy pulsating bass reverberated around the forum, whilst everyone within earshot shook it like a tambourine. Nick Cave‘s Grinderman and Suicide performing their self-titled debut in its entirety followed and already, without even flinching, the calibre of bands was at a level that no typical festival in the U.K. could even think about hosting.

Flaming Lips are a band I have been wanting to see for such a long time now and I was glad to finally get the chance to do so, but it all came over a bit underwhelming. They started explosively, literally, cannons of confetti detonating every few seconds and Wayne Coyne scrambled around the crowd in his giant hamster ball; the sing-a-long atmosphere created with tracks like ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’ and ‘The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song’ was fantastic. But as the set wore on and descended more into space rock psych jams, it all started to become a bit self-indulgent and by the end, the two encores (pet hate of mine) just began to seem like they were milking it.

But fear not, an act I had been looking forward to seeing more than probably anyone at the festival was on next and this time they didn’t not disappoint. Hidden away at the furthest end of the festival is the enormous Llevant stage, where Girl Talk was curating a non-step crazed dance party on the beach at 5am. It was impossible not to enjoy it, the extended play of Lulu‘s ‘Shout’ was a stroke of genius and it was the perfect way to end the first day of the festival.

FRIDAY:

As part of the bombshell that Primavera decided to drop on us, days before the actual festival that the card system would be introduced as a preferred alternative to cash, they also sneaked in the fact that Sufjan Stevens would be playing twice at the festival – indoors – at the Rockdelux Auditori. But in order to see either performance, when registering the card you had to place a reservation at a cost of 2 euros for each performance and then people would be drawn in a lottery. It was pretty irritating, but seeing as I was on of the lucky ones who managed to get a reservation, I wasn’t too bothered.  DM Stith operated as a warm-up act and his gentle folk was enjoyable and was a good introduction.

Sufjan Stevens, in the Auditori, which was a magnificent setting, was probably the highlight of the entire festival. A two hour set, an epic retelling of ‘Impossible Soul’ and an encore based around tracks from Illinois, the costumes, the lights, the theatricality of it, how everybody in the theatre rushed to the front at the end – it was a pretty perfect performance. It’s just a shame that the reservation system that was introduced meant that some people didn’t get the chance to see it.

After the awe of Sufjan Stevens, some gentle down time was had, sitting on the steps of the Pitchfork Stage, whilst Male Bonding played, followed by a half-interested watch of M. Ward. 

Pere Ubu playing in the, what seemed to be, following Suicide the previous night, an unofficial ‘legends’ slot, treated everyone to The Annotated Modern Dance, the whole of their classic album, combined with their early singles as well. David Thomas informed everyone that they are contracted to an hour, but The Modern Dance only runs in at 36 minutes, as the reasoning behind the annotations . His anecdotes between songs and his introductions are consistently hilarious and their set is as tight as the album.

Belle & Sebastian are  a band who I have never entirely been convinced by and I was never planning to stay watching them for long. Twenty minutes into their set and I remained unconvinced and I left the San Miguel Stage to see Twin Shadow who was far more entertaining that B&S.

Deerhunter have rapidly become one of my most seen bands and every single time they deliver. Opening with the Locket Pundt fronted ‘Desire Lines’ and playing tracks from Halcyon Digest and Microcastle, they easily commanded the Llevant stage. Unfortunately had to leave midway through the phenomenal ‘He Would Have Laughed’ in order to catch Kode 9 DJing a Burial set on the Pitchfork Stage, on the other side of the festival site. It was something that I didn’t ever think I would hear, especially due to the particularly introverted and personal production levels of many of the songs, but in the open air live setting the tracks really opened up and ‘Stolen Dog’ and ‘Street Halo’ from Burial’s recent EP were fantastic.

After Kode 9 I just managed to make it over to the San Miguel stage in time to catch a marriage proposal going on during the Pulp set (I think she said yes) and a few of the classics from Different Class before running back to the Pitchfork Stage for Jamie xx, who was absolutely brilliant and dropped tune after absolute tune.

Battles closed the evening on the Ray Ban stage, playing a set entirely of new material taken from Gloss Drop. It was a shame, as I would liked to have heard some of their earlier classics, but I suppose since Tyondai Braxton left the band, they are starting a new chapter and that is fair enough.

SATURDAY:

The final day of the festival had arrived already and Cloud Nothings opened up the day, and again we found our spot on the steps of the Pitchfork Stage steps. After a bit of wandering around and several food stops (Can’t get enough of those hot dogs), it was back to the Pitchfork Stage for Tune-Yards. I never really had the intention of seeing Merrill Garbus and her band, but I am very glad I did as she produced a non-stop danceable set.

Next it was off to the Llevant stage, where the were showing the Champions League Final; everyone sat on the floor staring at the big screen like it was Primary School. I was interviewed by a Spanish TV station – I think it was TV3, or something t that effect about my feelings on football vs. music and how I thought the final would go. Obviously I went with United. It was1-1 at half-time and I left in order to catch another of my most anticipated bands of the festival Gang Gang Dance. In the week prior to the festival, I’d managed to rack up over 440 plays of them and Eye Contact is acres ahead of anything as my album of 2011 thus far. They didn’t disappoint; danceable weird and weirdly danceable and Lizzi Bougatsos is a captivating frontwoman. Meanwhile news filtered through that Barca were starting to batter United and eventually won 3-1.

Matthew Dear, who followed Gang Gang Dance, complete with live band, also served to be one of the surprises of the festival. Every second of the set had the whole crowd dancing.

James Blake who had played a live set yesterday, followed it up today with a DJ set; beginning strongly, making heavy use of garage and R&B samples, but the set deteriorated and in the end became pretty uninteresting. In the battle of the DJ sets Jamie xx completely blew James Blake out of the water.

Animal Collective served as the final band of the San Miguel stage, as de facto headliners and served up one of the biggest disappointments of the festival. I had been repeatedly warned beforehand that their sets recently have been entirely based around new material and basically nothing that has been released already, but for some reason ignored these and went and saw them anyway. They were right, only ‘Summertime Clothes’ and ‘Brothersport’ made an appearance. The new material sounded good, but as a festival headliner it was a huge disappointment. I should have gone with my original instinct and seen the chaos at Odd Future.

Now faced with either an hour + wait until Kode 9 and the Spaceape or go to sleep, I decided to go for sleep but I wish I had stuck it out a bit longer.

Overall, great festival. Hopefully for next time they can sort out the card system and organisation a bit better. I need to get a job so I can start saving up to buy my ticket for next year.

Interview: Mazes

After forming in 2009, Mazes have managed to complete a lot in a short space of time. From their D.IY. approach to their music to touring, I speak to lead singer Jack Cooper about what makes Mazes go round. And round.

Before settling in London, the members of Mazes came from all over the globe (UK, USA and New Zealand) and originally the distance caused complications for the band. “It was difficult when we were all spread out. So we just didn’t rehearse and I’d do a lot of the recordings on my own,” Cooper tells me. “We all live in London now. I moved about eight months ago and Neil (Robinson, the dummer) just moved down. Now everything’s much better.”

What does a variety of nationalities bring to a band? “We’re actually from four countries as Conan (Roberts, bassist) is from Wales. I don’t really know what it brings apart from a personal point of view. Well, Neil has an encyclopaedic knowledge of New Zealand punk that has certainly influenced us.”

When it comes to playing live, Cooper can see the benefits of their original approach. “Shows we played were completely on the fly and a lot of interesting stuff comes out of not really knowing what you’re doing.

“I consider us kinda over-rehearsed at the moment in that we all know what we’re doing, so we’re gonna introduce a bunch of new songs to the live thing and mix it up a bit.

“It’s just really good fun having an excuse to hang out with my three friends. The band started as an excuse for Jarin (Tabata, guitarist) and I to spend time together. I think we all get a lot from playing. It’s never a chore.

“Our live show is pretty good I think. It can be awful, but I like to think we balance between completely falling apart and completely slaying.”

Mazes can currently be found on tour with Californian noise-pop darlings, Dum Dum Girls; and with a history of touring with high profile artists from Deerhunter to Times New Viking, they have learnt their fair share from their tour mates. “All those bands are pretty big now. Times New Viking are well known but I consider them to be an example of how to do things; a band and people I personally have learnt a lot from.

“Their approach to making music, touring and just their art in general is completely refreshing. They couldn’t be further away from the frankly bullshit careerist model that most UK bands subscribe to. And a lot of American bands for that matter. Bands like Dum Dum Girls, Deerhunter and Thee Oh Sees are completely in it for the right reasons.”

2011 has seen Mazes sign to influential UK independent label Fat Cat Records. A label which cultivates strong D.I.Y. ethos; influential artists Animal Collective, No Age and Black Dice have all released music on Fat Cat Records.

It is significant company to be amongst, but Mazes are not feeling pressure from their label. “They’re amazingly easy going,” Cooper says. “I think we feel a pressure to try our best now we have people working for us and putting in a lot of effort and money.”

Hard work is something the band is no stranger to. Besides performing as part of Mazes, Cooper also runs independent label, Suffering Jukebox and bassist, Roberts is CEO of the label, Italian Beach Babes, responsible for the release of Mazes 30-track mixtape. The D.I.Y. approach is something that the band see as essential. “It is really important to us, but it’s just part and parcel of being in a band.

“The bands that have influenced us have always been involved with their own labels or putting on shows, so it is just a logical step.” Indeed, the Mazes mixtape is in the similar vein to Sebadoh’s compilation album, The Freed Weed, consisting of alternate takes and covers.

“We are all massive music fans. I’ve never known three other people who are as obsessed as I am.” April sees the release of their debut record, A Thousand Heys. Clocking in at just over 30 minutes in length; it is an amalgamation of their influences. From the distinctly ‘90s post-grunge slacker indie-rock of Pavement and Sebadoh to the succinct and to-the point two minute pop gems of The Strokes at their pomp.

Mazes take inspiration from everywhere in making their music. “I think just music and life in general,” Cooper says. “I think we can all see the merits in just about every single song ever and you can be influenced by them all,” he laughs. “Even if it is in a ‘we shouldn’t do it that way’. As a band we agree on most things.”

Mazes have just returned from playing at SXSW in Austin, Texas, their first transatlantic trip as a  band and if their music catches on the way it should,  it won’t be their last.

Vivian Girls – Share the Joy

Vivian Girls’ third record sees them at their most ambitious. Up until this point in their career, barely a song has broken the three minute mark, but Share the Joy sees not one, but two tracks creep past six minutes.

With this greater ambition, comes more of a range than they have ever offered before, and lead singer Cassie Ramone’s vocals are indicative of this. One minute she nonchalantly drawls in typical Brooklynite cool over the jangling guitars of ‘I Heard You Say’ before coming over all butter-wouldn’t-melt, sweeter-than-candy on the joyously upbeat, verging upon twee-pop ‘Dance (I You Wanna)’.

There is still the typical Vivian Girls fare: ‘Late House’, ‘Sixteen Ways’ and ‘Trying to Pretend’ are two minute bursts of spunky, in your face garage rock ‘n’ roll. Ramone snarls like the woman-scorned over a menacing freight train of guitars; whilst the haunting backing vocals eerily work their way through the dissonance.

‘Take It as It Comes’ is their ode to The Shangri-Las; right down to the storytelling advice for naïve young girls in love and its spoken word dialogue interludes. It is their clearest nod to the ‘60s artists who have influenced their sound so much. What it lacks though is that adolescent innocence that made The Shangri-Las so charming in the first place.

Share the Joy closes with the six minute ‘Light in Your Eyes’, which perfectly juxtaposes the sweeter side of Ramone’s vocals with its sinister post-punk bassline and angular moody guitars; all before it is enveloped with three minutes of claustrophobic guitar jamming.

It is the greatest thing Vivian Girls have ever done and leaves the record on the best note possible.

8/10

PS I Love You – Meet Me At The Muster Station

Canada has a stellar reputation for producing quality rock bands. From the indie-rock powerhouses of Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene to the noisier neighbours of Japandroids and Fucked Up, the production line just keeps on producing.

The latest band to add to the swelling longlist is Kingston, Ontario two-piece,  PS I Love You.  Meet Me At The Muster Station, their debut record is short in length, but  doesn’t sacrifice anything in terms of its ambition and expansive sound.

The eponymous opening track has that je ne sais quoi that makes it feel like a classic, bursting with confidence, and sets the tone for the album; they are a band willing to experiment and set their sights high.

‘Breadends’ and ‘CBEZ’ are delivered at furious breakneck speed and highlight front-man and guitarist  Paul Saulnier’s vocal style. His howls and yowls bring to mind Isaac Brock and Black Francis at their most frantic; and you never doubt his sincerity even though making out what he is saying is a task at times.

‘2012’ manages to conjure up every connotation associated with the year. It is two and a half minutes of apocalyptic dread as Saulnier’s pained wails permeate his thundering, urgent guitar-work and Benjamin Nelson’s pummelling drumming.

‘Facelove’ has the makings of a classic pop song. The fuzz found on earlier tracks takes a backseat, whilst catchy hooks come to the fore.

Meet Me At The Muster Station remains strong from beginning to end, and PS I Love You’s ability to subtly tweak their formula, track by track, creates a compelling listen and suggests that they won’t be a mere one-hit wonder.

9/10

Live: Dum Dum Girls + Mazes (March 31, Deaf Institute, Manchester)

Mazes translate incredibly well from record, and are an extremely competent and tight live band. ‘No Way’ evokes early Weezer, and tracks like ‘Bowie Knives’ and ‘Surf & Turf’ perfectly encapsulate the ‘90s slacker indie rock of Pavement. Mazes finish with a cover of enigmatic power pop band Ean Eraser and their single ‘Illegitimate Love’.

Taking to the dimly lit stage, dressed head to toe in black; high-heeled and pale faced, Dum Dum Girls are both achingly cool and undeniably sexy. Juxtaposed against the dark red of the surroundings of the Deaf Institute backdrop, it ensnares the audience. Beginning with the title track from their recent He Gets Me High EP, the band combines girl group harmonies with a touch of danger – a girl group that will steal your car and break your heart.

They follow up with ‘Catholicked’ a track from the days when Dum Dum Girls was merely a solo venture for Dee Dee, and the sound is noticeably different to their recent work. Bathed in feedback and guitar fuzz, it is two and a half minutes of lo-fi noise-driven pop.

‘I Will Be’, a standout track from last year’s critically acclaimed album of the same name is seductive and bewitching; Dee Dee coos “I will be your girl”. ‘Bhang Bhang, I’m a Burnout’ operates in a similar vein. There is a sweetness to Dee Dee’s vocals that works so well with the lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll sound.

‘Take Care of My Baby’ gives an opportunity for a breather as Dee Dee becomes the sultry crooner, before the energy is raised once more with a return to I Will Be’s ‘Jail La La’ and ‘It Only Takes One Night’.

Front-woman, Dee Dee, both vocally and as a performer, has come on incredibly. She commands the stage; and despite her reassurances of “we’re still ironing out a few kinks”, the performance is near faultless. Throughout, she and guitarist Jules keep in almost metronomic time with each other as they rhythmically rock their guitars back and forth, whilst Bambi sways to her own bass groove, in the way that only bassists do.

The set closes with ‘Rest of Our Lives’ and Dum Dum Girls barely step off the stage, before returning moments later, performing their cover of The Smiths’ classic, ‘There is a Light That Never Goes Out’. The key to a good cover is to make the song sound as if it is your own, and that is something they manage perfectly; you forget that is was Morrissey, et al that penned it.

Live: Josh T. Pearson (March 24, Queen’s Social Club, Sheffield)

“Sorry about the wait. This beard takes a long time to make pretty” says Pearson in his thick Texan drawl, as he emerges onto the Queen’s Social Club stage. The stage adorned in silver streamers give it more of a Brian Potter’s Phoenix Club vibe, than that of a live music venue.

It’s been 10 years since Josh T. Pearson recorded the critically acclaimed but criminally overlooked The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads as the front man of Lift to Experience. But his long overdue return, now as a solo artist, with debut record, Last of the Country Gentlemen has seen him once again garner universal critical praise.

“I’m gonna start with a Boney M. cover”, Pearson announces causing a stir of laughter from the audience, “and believe me or not, y’all be crying by the end of it.” It takes a second take for Pearson’s version to start and the laughter to subside, but when it does; ‘Rivers of Babylon’ is transformed from the reggae influenced disco of Boney M. into a rousing, hushed ballad.

‘Sweetheart I Ain’t Your Christ’ highlights Pearson’s strengths wonderfully. His sorrowful, melancholic vocals encapsulate a tortured soul as he pours everything into his intensely personal chronicles of loss and regret. The 12 minute epic draws a stunned silence from the awestruck audience for its entirety, who then erupt in rapturous applause as it finishes.

His songs may be gut-wrenching, spine-tingling juggernauts but Pearson reveals himself to be both a charismatic and humorous man. “I have an album. Give me ten dollars and download that shit for free. Don’t tell the record label,” he jokes before starting ‘Thou Art Loosed’, the opening track from that record.

Pearson closes the set with ‘Country Dumb’, taking the audiences breath away one last time. Even a guitar malfunction mid-way through doesn’t put him off his stride as he finishes the song unplugged and without a microphone; taking the plaintive tale to new stratospheres of intimacy.

Josh T. Pearson’s live performance has the exact same effect as his record. It is visceral, emotionally draining and powerful, but understated enough to not be overwrought or unrefined. Pearson has the audience hanging on his every word and it is testament to him as a performer that he has you laughing out loud one minute and breaking your heart the next.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong

In 2009 The Pains of Being Pure At Heart’s debut self-titled record earned them a deserved reputation for crafting intricate, melancholic pop gems, wrapped in a Jesus and Mary Chain feedback-drenched fuzz. With their second album their vision is distinctly more widescreen and the lo-fi influences have become less apparent.

Belong sees the expertise of respected producers Flood and Alan Moulder utilised; a pair who’s collective résumé includes the likes of Depeche Mode, My Bloody Valentine and PJ Harvey.Their influence is immediately apparent as the opening titular track evokes Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Cherub Rock’ sans Billy Corgan, with its grinding grunge guitars.

The result is the first time The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have sounded distinctly anthemic. The refrain of “I know it is wrong, but we just don’t belong” rings in your ears.

With the more polished production that Belong has, it feels as though something has been lost. The quirkiness and sentiment that permeated their debut seems to play a backseat as the record approaches a more typical pop-rock sound. What The Pains of Being Pure at Heart do best is evoke a feeling of nostalgia. And fortunately this aspect of their sound has remained.  So is the case, that every song feels like it could seamlessly slot into the soundtrack to a late-‘80s high school teen movie.

You can draw comparisons to M83’s Saturdays=Youth in its ability to recreate a wistful sense of longing and a sentimentality. It is hard to listen to ‘Heart in Your Heartbreak’ without picturing a montage where the two sweetheart protagonists reminisce over their bittersweet romance and the times they have had together and realise that breaking up was imbecilic and embrace as ‘Strange’ kicks in and the album draws to a close.

7/10

Oscars

It is the night of the 83rd Academy Awards, and with it comes the annual internal debate of whether I should stay up to watch them. The nominations for Best Picture this year are a strong selection and everyone I’ve seen (six out of the ten) has been excellent. Out of these, Black Swan, The Social Network or Winter’s Bone are my favourites, but I see the award inevitably going to The King’s Speech, in the end. I’d like to see David Fincher pick up the Best Director award, and likewise Aaron Sorkin with the Best Adapted Screenplay for The Social Network, and I believe both are realistic possibilities. It is basically a full gone conclusion that Colin Firth will get Best Actor, and Natalie Portman is most probably going to be named Best Actress; I won’t argue with either of those, although I really enjoyed Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone.

Best Supporting Actor/Actress awards I think are less clear cut. I would like to see John Hawkes pick up the award, again for Winter’s Bone, but more realistically it looks like a dead heat between Christian Bale for his role in The Fighter and Geoffrey Rush for The King’s Speech. Having seen none of the films represented in the Best Actress category, I find it impossible to give my twopenny, but based on awards so far and overall feeling, it’ll either be Melissa Leo, for The Fighter, or Helena Bonham-Carter for The King’s Speech.

Inception is most likely to win the majority of the technical awards as visually it was fantastic, but I’d like to see Black Swan to win Best cinematography. The King’s Speech will most probably get Best Original Screenplay, and if Toy Story 3 doesn’t win Best Animated Feature it’ll be perhaps the shock of the night. I wonder how the award will be accepted if Banksy does end up winning Best Documentary Feature for Exit Through the Gift Shop. Probably another elaborate stunt or a complete fobbing off of the awards altogether.

Having seen some of the jokes for this years ceremony, presented by James Franco and Ann Hathaway, I don’t have particularly high hopes for the humour in their presentation. They were penned by Ricky Gervais, and the ones I’ve seen are the most bland, obvious and boring jokes possible. But that is coming from Ricky Gervais‘ biggest hater, probably worldwide.

James Blake – James Blake

In this post-The xx Mercury Prize winning era, it gives hope to those musicians who play a little to the leftfield achieving not only critical, but now commercial success. One such artist is 22-year old James Blake. Finishing runner up in the BRIT Awards Critic’s Choice (Second to the godawful Jessie J) is something that perhaps could not have happened maybe as little as three years ago.

Building upon his three previous EP releases, Blake has begun to carve out an original sound; creating a haunting, soulful and understated record. Where 2010′s CMYK EP was primarily based around the sampling of modern R&B, his self-titled longplayer focuses on the sampling of his own voice and this sees Blake at times harmonising with himself. The best example of this is seen in album closer ‘Measurements’. Blake’s harmonising becomes a choir, and the track a hymn, resonating over a simple jazz bassline.

The main strength of the record lies in its quiet and introspective moments. ‘I Never Learnt to Share’ cuts Blake wide open. ‘My brother and my sister don’t spreak to me / But I don’t blame them”, Blake’s vocals haunt amongst atmospheric synths. ‘The Wilhelm Scream’ follows a similar pattern, echoing vocals and keys until the pounding, dense beat envelopes you, before fading away leaving Blake alone again.

‘To Care (Like You)’ gives the album one of its few head nodding moments, beginning with the simple Blake-vocals and piano set-up seen throughout the record, before the unexpected beat arrives 30 seconds in. First single from the album, ‘Limit to Your Love’ reimainges the Feist track and Blake comes over all Antony Hegarty; his soulful vocals intersperse with piano keys until the metronomic percussion and wobbling dub bassline join in.

James Blake is your archetypal headphones record. Intricacies that may go unnoticed when played through speakers, through headphones give the record a living breathing pulse.

9/10

Interview: Frankie Rose & the Outs

Frankie Rose has a musical CV that is the envy of many.  Having already displayed her skills as a drummer in a number of buzz generating bands, the width and breadth of the USA, Frankie Rose has now stepped out from behind the drum kit and moved to the front of the stage.

As a founding member of all girl lo-fi noise-pop band, Vivian Girls, Frankie Rose played an important role in the writing and recording of their eponymous debut album, penning the acclaimed track ‘Where Do You Run To?’, before moving on to reverb-heavy Brooklynites, Crystal Stilts. The stint in New York  City was followed by relocation to the West Coast and a spell as drummer for Los Angeles’ Dum Dum Girls, but all the while she had a desire to do her own thing.  “I have always wanted to write and record my own songs,” Frankie tells me. But with writing her own songs comes a greater spotlight. “Being the main figure, I suppose that comes with being the songwriter.”

The switch from drums to the front of the stage is one that is still unnerving for her. “I am still not totally comfortable with being the front person, but it gets easier with every show. At our first show, I thought I was not going to be able to do it, I was terrified. But I got through it and I feel better and better about it every day.”

With the writing of the new songs, came the need to start a new band, and this resulted in the formation of The Outs. With Rose’s past record of band-jumping, the member selection would be an important one.  “We had been friends for a while beforehand. It started with Kate Ryan, the drummer. “We played together for a moment before recruiting Caroline Yes, whom I had played with previously. Margot Bianca came last. I needed a really strong lead guitarist who could sing well, and she fit the bill perfectly.”

October saw the release of Frankie Rose and the Outs self-titled debut record on Memphis Industries.  The record sees a departure from the lo-fi distorted garage-rock influences that have been present in her previous bands, “I tried to make this album as hi-fi as possible while sticking the sounds I’ve always loved.” Frankie Rose and The Outs manage to maintain a specific mood throughout the album, exploring dream pop combining with melancholic melodies on the albums darker tracks. “This record was mostly written in the middle of a cold winter. I think that had a bit to do with the mood of the album. “I am inspired by so many things. People that are in my life, events that take place, other peoples’s music.”

The departure from the sound we may have come to expect from projects attached to Frankie Rose’s name was no accident. “I would like to think it was a departure. There were a couple of songs I was scared to put on the record because I knew they were so stylistically similar.  “I would like to think of this album as a bridge. A kind of reference of what I have done in the past, with a hint of what is to come in the future.” The record still features the Phil Spector influenced production, the wall of sound and retro grooves that have been seen in Roses’ previous bands.  The ‘60s drenched pop gem, ‘Candy’ incorporating the Shangri-La’s harmonies juxtaposes with the  galloping surge of tracks such as ‘Don’t Tred’. The soaring chords of the well chosen Arthur Russell cover ‘You Can Make Me Feel Bad’ completes a well assembled selection  of tracks, indicating that Frankie Rose has finally found the perfect vehicle for her musical inspiration and creative output.  “I always want to try new things and I constantly being influenced by my surroundings so I cannot promise the same record twice. That’s for sure.”

The independent music scene has recently seen an influx of lo-fi bands, ‘60s pop throwbacks and a huge amount of garage rock feedback and reverb.  Many girl-fronted groups find themselves at the forefront of the movement, with the likes of Best Coast and two of Frankie’s former bands, Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls, receiving critical acclaim but Frankie is keen to distance herself from that sound. “To be honest, I don’t consider my record to be ‘lo-fi’. It was recorded in a studio and I tried to stay really tasteful with the ‘fuzz’ and reverb. “I wanted to keep the record warm without it sounding like it was recorded in a trashcan in the garage.  “Mind you, there is nothing wrong with that sound I just feel that ‘lo-fi’ is a term people throw around because categorization makes things easier for people.” Frankie is also keen to refute the record is just another ‘60s homage. “As far as references to ‘60s music, there are sounds I love from that time; the reverb, the guitar tones for example, however, I feel like the inspiration for these songs come from so many places and so many eras of music.”

Frankie Rose and the Outs are due to embark upon their first tour of the UK this December. The band will be playing at  The Harley on December 11.  Tickets are available to buy from the venue and online now.