The first in this series (can we presume?) of compilations was released in back in December.
It was an initiative set up by indie fan Marc Rossiter (he of the Brits & Pieces) with a few objectives; to showcase the UK’s still flourishing independent music scene, to revitalise compilation albums as a whole and, most nobly, to raise money for the unsigned bands featured on the album.
With patronage from Robert Carlyle, Steve Lamacq, Clint Boon and Peter Doherty amongst countless others, and available from Rough Trade stores, Volume One hit number 54 on the Official Compilation Chart.
When compiling the first album, Rossiter simply floated the idea on Twitter and awaited responses. It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine that he was swamped with requests (and probably has been since), certainly more than could fit on one album, and so, some five months on, we have the sequel.
As is apparent from the title, the album spans the UK with artists from all over the nation but proves, by sheer volume, that the North is a hotbed of music. ‘Twas ever thus.
Hailing from Doncaster, The Outcharms’ Who’s Making You Smile is built around a great winding guitar riff with vocals reminiscent of a young Alex Turner. As we are prone to do these days, one can’t help but imagine how the song will sound in a live setting. The answer is ‘belting.’
Across the Pennines, The Sonder are the latest in the Scouse lineage, with the subtler, harmony driven and melodic Rollin’ The Dice which echoes their regional forebears, while Carlisle’s Indie Street Club offer an intriguing listen with Keep Up With The News. The nagging melody of the verse is enough to ensure the song sticks in the head before it launches on to more aspirational planes midway through.
Staying in the North East via West Coast Americana, Ricky Clark enunciates well over the ska-tinged, uplifting pop of A Little Bit Of Love (Goes A Long Long Way). We’ll likely be hearing a lot more of him, and while we have heard from EJ Mann before (Radio 1 once declared him ‘a tune-smith of the highest order’), his offering Bloodrush goes against the grain, sounding American in sound and volume. A big song.
Sunderland’s The Voyd (yes, we are still up north) are creating some buzz, and Get Away demonstrates exactly why, containing the kind of adolescent optimism that can’t be faked, channeling the likes of Circa Waves and Catfish & The Bottlemen.
Northern Revelation hail from St. Helens, and their History echoes one of the North West’s heroes, John Power, in vocal style and chord choices, a piece of pure Britpop, while The One (The Underclass) is simply guitar pop, but with an aspirational air that grounds it before subtle keys elevate it in kind. In another world and in another guise, it would be a Top 10 single.
The Rosadocs have a touch of the Liam Frays about them, which is useful on Say Something as the vocals and the power of the song carry each other with ease, while Shame On You by Revivalry occupies similar territory and wouldn’t sound out of place on a ‘coming-of-age’ movie soundtrack.
Scotland bookends the album; Greenock’s Black Dove have the honour of opening the album, and Fake ID is the sound of youth put to music, with a swinging confidence and drawn out vocals in the vein of Kelly Jones. A big song to open things.
Ryan Phillips (from Port Glasgow) takes a different tack to close, Happy Place being an acoustic singalong very much in the vein of Gerry Cinnamon. Likewise, the kitchen sink rock of The Bagatelles’ Romantic Resignation owes a debt to The Lathums by being wonderfully jangly, while Michael Vickers’ Dead & Buried is anthemic and continues his rise.
Meanwhile, Polaroid by Megan Wyn is an impressively realised piece of work for a 16-year old, with echoes of 80’s pop (in a good way).
As an aside, it’s interesting to note how many solo artists feature on the album and are prominent in contemporary indie rock as a whole. Because of the wonders of modern technology, it’s far cheaper for one person to record all parts of a song and then release it under their own name far more efficiently than a group could, but what does that mean for the future of bands?
Artists from the North may dominate the album, but the South holds its own. Another Lover (Staarks) is an angelic slice of pop with gnarly 90’s guitars and the most self-aware opening line on the album (‘Some people grab your attention’), and while we’re handing out accolades, best name must go to Squangey Bobbins. Their offering, Hindsight, features righteous vocals and Gallagher guitars.
For this writer, Tiger Mimic’s It Was Still Dark is the strongest track on the album. Early Arctic Monkeys fronted by Karen O is a great concept if you like that sort of thing, and let’s face it, who doesn’t? But that’s just one opinion.
The very nature of compilations means that every track on the listing will be someone’s favourite, somewhere, but that mustn’t detract from the love and work that has gone into Brits & Pieces II.
Labours of love have never sounded so good.