Hot on the heels of successful acts Dot and Part Time Musicians, Rats Record has now added a third band to the stable. The Whitest Crow is already a familiar name for regular gig-goers—and we’ve been impressed when we’ve caught them at small venues, but back then it was mostly covers. This, their first single, is straight from the school of hard rock with just a sprinkling of psychedelia. The frontman's throaty howl gives the song a real urgency, and we can’t help thinking that the throwaway chorus of “come on, come on, come on” must be a lot of fun live.    

 

Released back on Valentine’s Day, this fourth single from the much-hyped indie-pop band Part Time Musicians is, as you’d expect, a sweet love song. “The Only One” is vintage pop, with its echo-laden boy-girl vocals, big chorus and violin. It’s not as upbeat as previous releases, with lighter guitar work that sounds effortless. The intertwined vocals is the major selling point, thouogh, giving real warmth to this lullaby-like track.     

 

This fifth single from Smallroom’s energetic rockers Lomosonic was released in early February, with a music video (by independent team Hello Filmmaker) which racked up over three million views in two weeks. The simple but stirring MV looks at how a couple take to Facebook chat to talk again after their break-up. As always, Lomosonic put in a full-hearted performance: the intro slowly builds before Boy’s vocals softly join. Before you know it, the rousing chorus has you hooked and humming along. 

 

DCNXTR’s debut single “Meishi” appeared on Comet Records’ first compilation released last year. Since the start of 2014, the band have been hard to miss, appearing on the bill for more and more festivals like Stone Free Music in January and the upcoming EESE (Mar 21-22). And the synth-loving duo, consisting of Charlie Niparnan (synths and programming) and Piruntar Kalasanimi (vocal and synths), have served up a real toe-tapping oddity here. The track samples speech by Charlie Chaplin (The Great Dictator) on a space-y chillwave backdrop and just a little added vocals. And it really works.