INTRO DR. DEMO DEMO OF THE MONTH


Mike Brightley - III CD Demo www.myspace.com/mikebrightley


Acoustic singer songwriters have a lot of responsibility. With no band to fall back on they either shine like diamonds or else their shortcomings are cruelly revealed! Mike Brightley perhaps still hasn’t got the best singing voice on the planet but his lugubrious delivery suits hs self-penned material perfectly and his ability to conjure up a spidery melody or drop in a quirky hook, plus his understated but solid guitar accompaniment and knack for spare, spacey arrangements, makes this CD an unexpected delight!


There are solo performers out there that can arguably dazzle us with their technique on the fretboard or reach notes high enough to make bats ears bleed but Mike just knows how to put a good song together and that’s more than good enough for us!


Ashley Reaks - Here’s to the Good Life CD www.ashleyreaks.com


Art rock from London-based singer/songwriter Ashley Reaks, whose website also features a very cool if somewhat disturbing self-produced music video. Ashley admits to having already tasted some degree of mainstream success as the frontman with much under-rated Electro Indie pop band Younger Younger 28s (who were signed to V2 Records) but this demo’s dark tone is nothing like the arch frothy pop laid down by his previous band. Studded with references to psychopaths and domestic violence, this is pretty bleak stuff laid out over a disarmingly eclectic pop backdrop...’Ghost


Town in my Heart’, for example, sounds like listening to The Specials reciting T.S. Elliott’s The Wasteland over a backing track of Sade’s ‘Smooth Operator’. Weird. There is an obvious intelligence behind these tracks – not to mention the distinctive air of a musician who has been there, done it and is left somewhat disenchanted – and the result is a compelling, if occasionally uncomfortable experience.


The Villeins - Now You Know CD www.myspace.com/TheVilleins


Newcastle fi ve-piece The Villeins deliver a sweeping anthemic take on indie rock that reminds us a bit of The Verve or maybe Athlete. The lyrical content seems to be mostly informed by a failed relationship – either real or imagined – and to be honest it isn’t long before the brooding atmosphere begins to feel less like world weary refl ection and more like mopy teenage poetry! This band clearly has big ambitions and they aspire to grace their tunes with an epic stadium sized sound. Maybe with a touch less morbid introspection in the lyrics and a few some stronger melodies dotted here and there they could begin to live up to the genuine potential lurking within these grooves.


Straightlaces - Demo CD www.straightlaces.co.uk


Very classy indie rock from Straightlaces. Blessed with a superb lead vocalist in Tim Nike (who also does a neat line in skittering guitar lines), Straightlaces’ command of dynamics enables them to sound powerful without sliding into pointless bombast. If you like The Killers then you’ll probably go a bundle on Straightlaces, who seem content to occupy a similar mainstream-rock-meets-indie territory (including a guitar intro lifted directly from Mr. Brightside!) The presence of keyboards seems to benefi t the music by lifting the band out of a stereotypical indie band sound, seemingly giving the music a bit of room to breathe. The only downside is that maybe Straightlaces are a little too derivative of the American indie rock that they clearly love so much but at least they have cultivated a sound, even if a few of the best elements are borrowed from elsewhere.


8 pickup


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Playmusic Magazine The Mallings


112 Malling Street Lewes, E. Sussex BN7 2RG


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“Ooo, that beat’s infectious!”


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