"Dominos" - The Big Pink

I heard this song first played on Radio 1, though for the life of me I can't remember where. That's pretty bad journalism, but life is hard. Either way, "Dominos" is a strong track, with a driving bassline and a catchy hook. Showing clear similarities with MIA, Massive Attack, and the fanged lyricisms of The Twang, The Big Pink have made a track that in an ideal world, would have been a summer anthem. Instead, it's September, it's cold, and the song doesen't exactly reflect the country's collective mood. But apart from releasing it at an unfortunate time of the year, it's great. Robbie Furze's vocals push the song forward, whilst multi-instrumentalist Milo Cordell's synthesizer backing to the song provides a static-thick backing to the memorable repetitions.

The band recently won the prestigious Philip Hall Radar Award at the NME Awards earlier this year, adding critical acclaim to their growing popularity in the charts. Their new album, A Brief History Of Love, was out in the shops on the 14th of September. The duo are pencilled in to supprt Muse on their European tour, along with Biffy Clyro, which is pretty darn cool.

Genius reccomends: M83, School of Seven Bells, My Bloody Valentine, Sunn O))), Spacemen 3.

"40 Day Dream" - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Sometimes quirky just ain't enough to get by. Especially when that quirkiness sounds prefabricated by a Central European-based timber construction company*. Alas, the previous statement applies all too much to "40 Day Dream" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, who fail in emulating a sect of indie-folk long past. Here's the story; in old London town, a fellow named Edward Larrikin made an album with some of his chums; Larrikin Love's Freedom Spark was released in 2006 - part of the "Thamesbeat" genre, an offshoot of indie/bluegrass/reggae/irish folk/rock. The band didn't last long, and neither did the genre. But that one album is a fantastical, roving adventure in sound, delving into pseudo-politics, dream states and kaleidoscope visions. Put simply, it's brilliant.

Admittedly, Edward Sharpe and his band of Laurel Canyon rogues, sound more alike to Official Secrets Act or Wave Machines, but that balance of synergeticism so charicterised by Larrikin Love sneaks into the aforementioned artist's sound so much that I can't ignore how much this song reminds me of Well, Love Does Furnish A Life or Happy As Annie. Back to the matter at hand - "40 Day Dream" basically, doesen't cut the mustard. It's not sweet, it's not fun or post-modern or illusionary. It's normal, with some good post-production effects on top. It is a McDonald's song - the sort of thing given to you with your Happy Meal. If you grew up listening to this sort of pulp-music, you'd have a brain much like Morgan Spurlock's liver in Super Size Me.

*I saw that in an episode of Grand Designs once.

Genius reccomends: I'm From Barcelona, The Youngbloods, The Doors, The Grateful Dead, Plants and Animals.