DEMOS WE WANT YOUR MUSIC!
IF YOU’RE AN UP AND COMING BAND OR MUSICIAN, AND WOULD LIKE YOUR MUSIC REVIEWED IN OUR DEMO SECTION, EMAIL A TRACK TO INFO@NARCMEDIA.COM AND TELL US MORE ABOUT YOURSELF! WORDS: STEVE SPITHRAY
DEMO OF THE MONTH
Smiley People – Let Me In
Let Me In by Smiley People is a demo in the most traditional sense of the term. A slight tape hiss persists and the natural reverb is a bit of an annoyance but beyond the basic four-track recording and slightly out of key vocals there is something about Let Me In’s heartfelt nakedness that is the polar opposite of the long list of influences they mention in their bio (“Victoria Wood meets Phil Spector” anyone?).
Marie Johns – Father Oh Father
Everyone knows the number one rule of making a demo is hooking the listener/ blogger/major label exec as quickly as possible and, in the first seventy seconds of Father Oh Father, Marie Johns smashes a synth hook, atmospheric verse, catchy chorus and beat drop without seemingly breaking sweat. Landing a rough mix somewhere between Pet Shop Boys and quasi-religious-era Madonna (a spoken word segment is very Vogue) is pretty bold and exciting, but at over five minutes Father Oh Father is too long to capitalise on its early promise where the limitations of the demo format doesn’t always allow for nuanced changes throughout the track. Still, enough promise here to file alongside Smiley People for future reference. www.facebook.com/mariejohnsmusic
Massey feat. Scrannabis – Smoking on the Daily
As you might educate a guess from the name, Smoking on the Daily is a loose, jazzy ode to
But sometimes less is more, and there is plenty about this ode to the working week (or at least getting home from it) in its jaunty handclap beats, piano accoutrement and oddly lovelorn lyrics. For fans of The Divine Comedy and that rich vein of archly savvy indie, Let Me In does what all good demos should do in making you desperate to hear where the maker of it might go with the finished version given the chance. www.soundcloud.com/smileypeoplemarkgibson
Mary Jane. With old-skool beats and rhymes that straddle a fine line between hip-hop and trip-hop, and a reading-between-the-lines nod to the mental health pitfalls of recreational drug use, Massey and Scrannabis manage to be both preternaturally at the lyrical zeitgeist but so horizontally relaxed to have barely noticed the last twenty-five years of rap progress. However, the regional rap scene has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years and Smoking on the Daily should rightfully find its natural place where the spliffs are carrot shaped and the conversation serious, and that is no bad place to be. www.instagram.com/mass_ey101
Mexican Painkiller – Mexorcist Opening with squalls of feedback, Mexican Painkiller’s Mexorcist might quickly drop into some diverse but equally clichéd speed punk and Burning Inside-era Ministry riffs but four minutes, one excellent solo and a Nigh Train-oozing chorus later, and we have a smorgasbord of metal served on soft bed of
industrial noise. And, for all my mealymouthed references and metaphors, it works, and we come out of the other end with a busy but competent compendium of the form. That Mexican painkiller will leave you with a stinker of a headache, though. www.facebook.com/mexicanpainkiller
Bad Blood – Muzzle Training
This is futile. Muzzle Training is literally a first person (or, that should be first dog) account of muzzle training where our protagonist (the dog) always barks but, with nothing worthwhile to bark about, is sent out to the yard by its cruel owners, with the other dogs, and given one last chance to behave. Set to a musical backdrop of scratchy punk pop guitars, tinny synths and drums, the track bounces around at breakneck speed as our dog has the last laugh by making loads of new friends in the yard, because who needs humans anyway? Absolutely awful. www.badbloodmusic.com
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