EP Review: The Bit Parts - Youth Sounds

Brother and sister duo Youth Sounds' The Bit Parts EP treads a line somewhere between the dazed show gazing vibes of School of Seven Bells and something much more 'pop'.

Which means it is something of an unashamed pleasure. And so there is nothing challenging about The Bit Parts and in all honesty, in some ways that is a shame. The duo are clearly at their best when forced down a path other than the straight up ditty that is opening track 'As Strangers Would'. 'Smoke and Mirrors' goes for a comparatively stripped back approach - it is the distortion of The Jesus and Mary Chain applied to the Pixies quiet-loud-quiet methodology. By far the best of the three tracks here, it really allows Erika Mejia's breathy, whispered vocals to shine.

So The Bit Parts demonstrates that the Youth Sounds have promise. The choice is theirs as to whether they turn into an interesting band or simply the coolest band your mum listens to.

Head over to Youth Sound's MySpace for more.

BP x

Single Review: Foca Master Sarajevo - Soul Mekanik

This is the kind of big room bothering Balearic nonsense that BlackPlastic should probably frown upon but frankly it just pushes our buttons too right and too hard for us to resist.

'Foca Master Sarajevo', out on Wonk, is long and strong. Starting as a warm, percussive number it initially feels underwhelming if pleasant enough. The world probably doesn't need more deep and tribal house but if it did, this is serviceable. What makes 'Foca Master Sarajevo' work then is where it goes: the break that emerges three-minutes in. It transforms the track from formulaic to genuinely loveable house that feels like it truly deserves a spot on the White Isle of old, rather than the jaded joke the island's clubbing scene has become. If anything there are elements of Tears For Fears in the piano refrains and muted guitar that rear their heads throughout the track's length. And that has got to be a good thing when it comes to being Balearic

BP x

Album Review: Serotonin - Mystery Jets

If Twenty One threw a splash of eighties passion on the prog-rock experimentalism of the Mystery Jets' debut then Serotonin, with it's Talk Talk-esque cover, is an eighties-soaked emotional Molotov cocktail.

The trade-off is most apparent on second track 'It's Too Late', the first proper ballad the band have ever indulged in. And an indulgence it is - one that has turned off some reviewers and may alienate some older fans. How you feel about this one track will probably affect much of your view of Serotonin itself - it's either an unimaginative mainstream retread or, in it's unashamed honesty and willingness to leave aside unnecessary agendas, an irresistible emotional anchor for the album that lets the boys love for the eighties bask in centre stage.

And maybe BlackPlastic is just a sucker for a romantic agenda, but we can't help but plum for the latter. To accuse Serotonin of lacking variety would be fair, yet the result is an album that feels in many ways even tighter than its predecessor if less exciting. From the running-so-fast-you-might-trip opening of 'Alice Springs', with its rousing chorus of "I'd stand in the line of fire for you / I'd bend over backwards for you / I'd do anything that you want be to do / 'cos I don't have nothing if I don't have you my love" this is an album wearing its heart on its sleeve:

Sometimes some people love some other people. And the Jets have clearly fallen head over heels somewhere along the line because every song on here deals with this most basic of emotions in one way or another.

On the whole it's a storming success - the beauty being in the variety of takes on love that the album illustrates. 'Flash A Hungry Smile' is bumbling and hopeless bare-cheeked lust. Title track 'Serotonin' feels like coming up from underwater - the drugs analogy is obvious but BlackPlastic will place faith in the reality being that this song is noting the similarity of love to drugs, and celebrating the former's natural ability to mimic the latter rather than the other way round.

Best of all is 'Show Me The Light' - a celebratory anthem-to-be complete with bouncing house beat. It's the sound of boundless enthusiasm: sure, things may not work out... But then, they might, right? It's so blinkered and keen that it's bloody difficult not to be won over.

Serotonin may feel like a curveball after the maturity and relative subtlety of Twenty One. It is certainly less ambitious but it's inability to do anything other than express just how much it has a crush on you is pretty charming. If you've ever gone a bit gooey over someone you may find it tough to resist the feeling of Serotonin.

BP x

Serotonin is out now on Rough Trade, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Album Review: Movement In A Storm - James Yuill

Okay, BlackPlastic admits it. There are times when we would much rather a hug with the right person, a sweater and a cup of tea than a night out on the sauce raving past dawn. Maybe we are getting old. Maybe it is just all about maintaining a balanced lifestyle.

Either way, some of BlackPlastic's favourite music is the stuff that sounds like it has been made for listening to whilst wearing sweaters and hugging cute girls on dance floors. And that is exactly the type of music that James Yuill makes.

Stuck midway between Hot Chip and Metronomy, Movement In A Storm is a needy thinking man's electronic soundtrack bliss. Last year's popular Prins Thomas mix of 'This Sweet Love' is as good an introduction to Yuill's work as any. It doesn't feature here but the same considered melodies run throughout 'Foreign Shore' and beyond.

What makes Movement In A Storm so great is the combination of musical flourishes - check the the twinkling bells and crunchy thick bass lines that open 'On Your Own' - and gut wrenching lyrics. These really are songs to well-up to: 'Ray Gun' is without doubt the sweetest song BlackPlastic has heard that is named after fictional weaponry and it is Yuill's lyrics that betray his innocence as he croons "Never was my ray gun on you". Geeky, sure - but that is kind of the point.

Movement In A Storm lacks the utterly irresistible immediacy of it's predecessor Turning Down Water For Air insofar as there being nothing quite as thrillingly head-over-heals-in-love as 'Left Handed Girl'. Yet what you do get is, in essence, more of the same with a bit less instant accessibility but a bit more consideration. And when it is this good BlackPlastic won't complain - we'll be on the dancefloor in a cardigan.

On that note, if you haven't checked out 'Left Handed Girl' then you really should - it is on Spotify.

BP x

Single Review: Stay Wild - KNIIFE PRRTY

Following up on last year's eponymous debut album KNIIFE PRRTY are back with new single 'Stay Wild' and, to be honest, BlackPlastic is of the opinion this blows everything else they have done away.

Filled with interesting time signatures and whispered vocals this really delivers a level of subtlety that their previous material was screaming for. 'Stay Wild' is the sound of the world enveloping you in chaos at the point where you realise that to fight it would just be futile, and we think it's kind of lush - the IDM feel has been really ramped up on this one.

The artwork, designed by Kevin Nelson for Constructiv Art and Design, is kind of ace too and fits the track perfectly.

You can listen to the full track over at KNIIFE PRRTY's Bandcamp - remember to pay for it if you like it.

BP x