list.co.uk/music Previews | MUSIC
POWER PUNK TACOCAT Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Tue 3 May; Broadcast, Glasgow, Wed 4 May
A neon blur of rainbow prints, hair dye and buzzing surf guitars, Tacocat are three girls and one guy who hooked up by chance in Seattle, bonding over a mutual love of riot grrrl, alt.rock and the Lemonheads. Drummer Lelah Maupin and guitarist Eric Randall met while working at Safeway while Maupin later bumped into singer Emily Nokes in ‘an excruciatingly boring’ graphic design class. They all came together when Randall's previous band (the Trashies) were practising in the basement of bassist Bree McKenna's house.
Nokes describes their music as ‘melodic feminist pop-punk music for, and by, people who love fun! Audible glitter! A kaleidoscope of best friends, loud fashion and candy!’ They tackle serious subjects with an infectious sense of humour on tracks such as ‘Crimson Wave’ and ‘Hey Girl’ (respectively, a satirical take on menstruation and being hassled in the street by men).
After 2014's NVM, the ‘cat are back with Lost Time, an explosion of 60s girl groups, rock riffs and good times. ‘NVM was hula-hooping on a hot-pink beach while Lost Time is riding in a sparkly purple UFO through outer space,’ insists Nokes. Perhaps the ultimate seal of approval comes from a trio of ultra-cute animated superheroes. ‘Cartoon Network contacted us and asked if we would do the theme song for the 2016 Powerpuff Girls relaunch. It was nuts!’ exclaims Nokes. ‘I still can’t believe it’s finally airing soon; it seemed like it was too good to be true.’ (Henry Northmore)
INDIE FOLK DAVID THOMAS BROUGHTON Crippling Lack Volume 1 is out now on Song, by Toad Records; Volume 2 is released on Mon 2 May with Volume 3 out on Mon 6 Jun
North Korea is not known for its indie folk scene. The state is in charge of all cultural production and music, while cinema and television are enlisted by the government for the purposes of propaganda. Although a 7” single manufactured north of the 38th Parallel may interest vinyl anoraks, the country is something of a desert for touring artists. But none of that deterred post-folk Yorkshireman David Thomas Broughton from recording tracks during a stint living in Pyongyang.
‘I was surprised to i nd myself unmotivated by much of the experience,’ Broughton says. Forced to record using just a Mac, a mic and an iPad in the l at of pianist Minjung Kwon-Brunoni, he said the trip did not prove inspiring. ‘The state-sanctioned music is a mash of marching anthems and weird regime-praising pop songs which draw on all of 20th century music without understanding any of it.’
Broughton’s new album, Crippling Lack, is a logistic indulgence – split into three volumes and released by three labels in France, the UK and the US – which pulled in artists from across the world, including Aidan Moffat and Beth Orton. ‘This record is not about feeling natural,’ says Broughton. ‘The record is about trying to come to terms with the awkwardness of life.’ (Sam Bradley)
DOMESTIC INSTRUMENTALS JONNIE COMMON Kitchen Sync is released on Mon 9 May on Song, by Toad Records
It's hard to tell what most motivated Jonnie Common to create his latest LP Kitchen Sync. Was it the concept of creating an album entirely from sounds made by kitchen gadgets or the prospect of being able to give each track a convoluted title? ‘That [the latter] was as much of a drive as anything,’ he admits. ‘I just love a pun so much.’ Track titles like ‘More Oven than Not’, ‘Bottle Rock It’ and
obvious album closer ‘Microwave Goodbye’ are each loosely focused on a particular item. It all started, Common says, with an oven door. ‘The oven in my l at at the time made a really great thud noise when you shut the door and I thought, “I really want to hear this as a kick-drum in a song”. That one idea escalated into a whole album.’
Released on Song, by Toad Records, Kitchen Sync
does have its self-imposed limitations, but these provide restrictions which he heartily embraces. ‘Making music the way I normally do is not limited by anything, really. That open- endedness can be an obstacle in itself and limitations can actually be a creative benei t.’
The results of his domestic experiment is an album full of surprises: the sound of an oven and hob sparking come together to create a hi-hat and snare pattern; a waste bin opening and hitting the wall is manipulated for an eerie, gong-like sound; the grinding of coffee beans becomes a pipe organ. But you’d have to imagine this would be difi cult to recreate live. ‘I'm going to play along to each track and break them down by playing the original recordings and showing where the sounds have come from, talking through exactly what I did for each sound. There are a lot of little details I think people will enjoy hearing about.’ (Kirstyn Smith)
7 Apr–2 Jun 2016 THE LIST 83