>Ah, July. You just whoooooshed by again in a blur of ice cream vans, newly-released schoolkids scuffing knees and day after day of relentless staring at the cloudy sky, screaming profanities at Baby Jesus, whilst waiting for a ray – just one single ray – of sunshine. Fortunately for those of you who are trapped in a similar tupperware-skied hell, July was a BRILLIANT! month on A New Band A Day, positively overflowing with bands so good that the Vitamin B your should have got from the sun was absorbed through your earholes instead. This is a medical fact.
So, in bold capital letters to stress it’s importance, here’s the TOP FIVE BANDS FROM JULY, in no particular order:
1) THIS MONTH’S BEST NEW BAND: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
We said (glibly, natch): “It would be glib to say that if you like My Bloody Valentine and Jesus And Mary Chain, you’ll love The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, but what the hell, it’s true. If you love songs that drive forward with breathless abandon, all fuzzy, warm and colourful as a novelty Christmas sweater, then let yourself swoop head first into their songs.”
We said: ” Porcelain-delicate songs, which build and build but still seem as light as air at the end, that are just perfect for easing gently into the coming week.”
3) Candythief
We said: “Singer Diana’s voice is the kind that would make you mix your metaphors and make you happy to crawl over hot broken glass, just to ask her to sing you to sleep at night. It’s genuinely lovely – rich, dreamy and innocent enough to sound slightly dangerous.”
4) AIDS Wolf
We said: “AIDS Wolf. That’s right, AIDS Wolf. Just slosh it around your mouth slowly, then suck some bubbles of air through it and really savour the name. AIDS Wolf. AIDS Wolf.”
We said: “The Bumblebees are tons of fun in the same way that making your own Lemonade is, and with the similar qualities of sweetness masking sharpness. Great!”
So there you go. Here comes another great month of new bands! Come on August, do your worst! By which I mean, ‘best’.