While the first three Brits And Pieces volumes were very much band-oriented, Volume IV includes several solo artists.
After a two year-hiatus, the Brits And Pieces compilation series returns.
Inspired by the classic compilation albums of the 1990s, Marc Rossiter (@BritsPieces) took on the challenge of matching the impact of those compilations but with a twist: each Brits And Pieces album to-date has showcased Britain’s up-and-comers, the bands who have yet to signed.
Previous Brits And Pieces volumes included Spyres and Megan Wyn, both of who built on the foundation, and this new collection is once again mastered by Nick Brine, who can credit Oasis and Ash on an impressive CV. With all the proceeds going to the acts included, it’s very much a labour of love for Rossiter.
While the first three Brits And Pieces volumes were very much band-oriented, Volume IV includes several solo artists, which speaks to the state of grassroots music in 2024: the dearth of bands.
The reasons are understandable: bands are notoriously hard work, while solo artists have the capacity to record every instrument themselves in their bedroom.
In addition, with money so tight within the music industry, they don’t have to split any royalties (pah!) or performance fees multiple ways. For the romantics it’s unfortunate (being attached to band was like being part of a gang, and a real rite of passage), but such is life.
That’s not to say bands have no future: over 70% of this Brits And Pieces compilation is made up of groups, and their influences run far and wide.
As ever, Manchester is near the centre of the action, represented here by the power riffs on Paranoid by Lolita (which owes a debt to In The Shadows by The Rasmus – it’s OK to admit you like that song) and the swaggering Run (When I Tell You) by Dirty Blonde, pitched as ‘one of the most exciting acts to come through Radio 1’s Future Alternative’.
Yet it’s the other side of the Pennines that dominates, with four groups from Yorkshire. A Million Little Pieces (Civic Green) takes the tempo of Mardy Bum and adds a sense of scale to open the Brits And Pieces album, while Teles have the gusto and youthful abandon to throw everything at their cut Harry & Bruce.
Returning to music after a fourteen-year hiatus, Edge Of 13 have used the break to refresh their back catalogue and on The Great Mistake offset a deft guitar lick with gritty chords, while Cruz also owe a debt to Arctic Monkeys’ early sound, which likely runs in the water in their native Sheffield.
Slightly further north, Carlisle’s Fat Dads hark back to the early 00’s garage rock scene with Jenny, while over the border in Glasgow Hazy Sundays are all attitude on the powerful Like To Be.
Representing the capital, Uzumaki fuse sun-soaked guitar pop and a hint of grunge on the stocky Ugly Hunger, while Loving And Leaving (The Great Leslie) sounds like a great lost Maccabees tune, with watertight rhythm and curious vocals.
Reflecting the current state of alternative music, the Brits And Pieces offerings from Ireland stand out. Red Eye Pariah by The Rounds is a catchily melodic bit of street indie while Days Gone Bye (Pretty Cartel) is as evocative as the title suggests, drinking along to memories gone by.
Best of all is Jet Black Tulips’ contribution Young Love, which builds up tantalizingly and pays off with a memorable chorus.
And what of those solo artists? You wouldn’t know that Laurie Wright (from London) was a solo artist as he energetically lifts the riff from Slade’s Cum On Feel The Noize for Butter Side Up Boy, while Birmingham’s Dean Dovey goes one step further and reworks the chords and certain lyrics from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ Dead In The Water (no bad thing; if you’re going to steal, you may as well steal from the biggest) on his Journey To The Sun but smothers it in layers of heart-swelling production.
Cobain Jones (Stalybridge) is apparently working with James Dead Bradfield, and the unique melody and interesting vocal choices on his Endless Chapters reflects as much, while the sauntering Kiss Me On A Friday Night by Laura Jayne (Teeside) sticks long in the memory and stands apart.
Lastly, in contrast to other tracks, Emperor by The Santos Connection has a subtlety and understated quality which – having been releasing music since 2017 – the Leeds resident has surely learned through experience.
As is their nature, some tracks here will stick in the memory while others may not but regardless, this excellent series of compilations continues to reflect the state of British alternative music at grassroots level and – based on this evidence – is still alive and well, thank you very much.
