So this weekly bunch of new bands post  is officially A Feature now. Under the guise of  ‘a new band clear-out’, it actually serves a number of purposes – chiefly allowing twice as many bands to feature per week – though if truth be told, it’s mainly existing as an excuse to keep re-running the accompanying photo.

The title’s changed, you’ll notice. A New Band Clear Out kind of undersold it a bit. Midweek Mixtape is nicer – it’s not only an alliteration, which always looks clever, but it also implies that coherent thinking was involved in its construction. This is, of course, a fallacy, but the illusion is comforting.

Thus: this week’s mixtape! Take in the slack with a biro, blow the dust off the tape-head, perform other reminiscently generic C90-cassette tasks, and press play…

First! Razmataz Lorry Excitement – You’re expected to fall into the trap of wondering under what circumstances ‘Razmataz Lorry Excitement’ became this band’s first-choice pick for their name.

Razmataz Lorry Excitement // Trial and Errors
You can download this song for FREE! here

This would be a mistake, because you might be distracted from cowbell-infused bass-groove-laden songs like Trial And Errors. Imagine a super-luxuriant Mr. Oizo, and you’re halfway there. Excellent.

Second! The Half Rabbits – In Spain, I once ate paella from a pan the size of one of those satellite dishes you see on the top of TV broadcast vans at sporting events. In the paella was an entire rabbit, cruelly chopped into six pieces. Thus The Half Rabbits have an advantage of sorts over the one I greedily devoured. These rabbits make the type of cut-and-thrust tinny rock that you though wasn’t made any more. Excellent QUIET-loud straight-laced razor-rock.

Third! Bark Bark Disco – Apparently Song For Lovers is a tribute to 70’s French ‘porn star legend’ Brigitte Lahaie. I’ve never heard of her *cough*. The song, fittingly, is cheap ‘n’ cheerful, pretty and surprisingly tender. Just like porn. Right?

Last! Jonathan Sakas has one hell of a fringe. Seriously, just look at the damn thing on his Myspace page. It’s like a huge comma on his forehead. A delightful sight to behold. His music is like a pop version of the Blade Runner soundtrack, and so is as synth-drenched, overblown and borderline ridiculous as that sounds. But all good music teeters on the brink of mockery, and so his songs are part of a grand tradition of tip-toeing along the tightrope of failure and surviving – smiling, resplendent and triumphant.

Another mixtape will be furtively passed to you, under the table during French double class, next week. Naturellement.