Please excuse the wreathes and flowers for The Music Fix is in mourning; a light has been extinguished this very week and we'll not see their like again. Eight top forty hits will be their legacy but statistics are cold comfort just now, the truth is out, Chas n Dave are no more. Oh, the world will continue to turn and there are a host of madcap singles for you to savour this week but please, take a pot of whelks and think of what might have been....Now if you'll turn to your hymn sheets we shall begin with:

Bowling For Soup: My Wena
Super slick fratboy rock which has a catalogue of puns worse than anything the Carry On team ever achieved (Wena = Wiener = Cock: what larks!). Chunky guitars save it from being cast away on novelty island. It should raise a few laughs in the playground this Autumn. (SB)



Mickey Gang: Horses Can’t Dance
Proper old-Skool 80s synth pop a la Depeche Mode with some louch, lo-fi vocals that drag this from the gutter to the stars. Fabulously enjoyable dancefloor action from this teenage Brazilian quartet. Buck Not Fuck they say – hell yeah! (SB)

Matt and Kim: Daylight
Fairly nondescript song which is like Pete Burns on autopilot is saved from the bin by a last minute appearance from the scene stealing De La Soul on the remix. (SB)



Kindness: Swinging Party
This is a grower. Ostensibly a pedestrian, 4/4 plodder of an electro track, but the stark minimalist vocals of the elusive, enigmatic Berliner are oddly addictive. Too subdued to make a big noise but Kindness is certainly one to watch. (SB)

Air: Sing Sang Sung
Superbly simplistic gallic groove which sees Air back doing what they do best, creating a laid back, retro groove which conjures up classic images of stylised monochrome lovers on the Pont Neuf. (SB)

Sing Sang Sung / Air from Moon on Vimeo.

Mumford & Sons: Little Lion Man
An intriguing heads up for their eagerly awaited album which creates a vibe not unlike Arcade Fire meets the Dubliners; the furious banjo action blending surprisingly easily with the dramatic delivery. (SB)



Treetop Flyers: To Bury The Past EP
Strong debut from this London outfit who are meeting the likes of Fleet Foxes head on. Americana as laid back and expansive as Neil Young in his 70’s pomp this also features some gut wrenching sonic howls of guitar which will make you sit up and take notice. (SB)

La Roux - I'm Not Your Toy
A little known fact is that La Roux’s golden quiff also functions as a blue-peter-esque totalizer. As her success and notoriety grows so does the quiff, higher and higher into the stratosphere. A commons select committee has been rapidly pulled together to analyse the impact on UK aviation, pigeons and areas of great natural beauty. They must be sobbing into their empty expense account document holders, as this is yet another kazoo heavy bundle of joy released from the loins of June Ackland jr. (AM)

Boy Crisis - The Fountain Of Youth
Riding the psychedelic wave created by MGMT, which was recently enforced by Empire Of The Sun, Boy Crisis's latest single contains all the right spaced-out sounds but unfortunately fails to include a decent song with them. There is a thin line with this type of music between catchy and dull and, regrettably, this single practically dives head-first over the line. (IS)



Captain Dangerous - I Miss You Cos It's Monday
The muffled vocals sound like the lead singer is pining for his love through a megaphone and when the full band kicks in, the result is all a bit of a mess with everything seemingly at the same volume so that no one thing stands out. It's a shame really as it could have been a great slice of heartfelt and angst-ridden indie pop as it does contain some catchy lyrics such as "I miss you like the apples miss the trees". Maybe it's one for the live setting rather than on record. (IS)

Allegro - City Lights
Allegro's press release proclaims them to be "just not like every band nowadays"; however, that's certainly not the impression one gets from listening to this track. City Lights could have essentially been created from a Dummy's Guide To Indie which must have been written around the time that a certain group of Monkeys broke into popular stardom. It has the short sharp guitar sounds expected from this kind of music and an annoyingly catchy drum beat, but the vocals let it down massively. The lead singer sounds like he's in pain singing and this doesn't translate to an enjoyable listen. All I wanted to do was give him a pack of strepsils, sit him down with a nice cup of cocoa and send him off to an early night's sleep. Average at best. (IS)



Anti-Pop Consortium - Volcano
Despite being released via the currently hot Big Dada label (check out the recent Mercury win for Speech Debelle), this seems like fairly run-of-the-mill hip-hop to me. The tinkly Four Tet remix is a little more interesting. (JD)

Charlie Winston - Like A Hobo
Take one earnest male singer-songwriter, some Spaghetti Western style atmospherics and a beat which may have the over 40s shuffling round the disco, and you have this disposable hodge podge of a track. (JD)

Natalie Imbruglia - Want
Could this be the best single on Natalies upcoming (but now delayed) album? Want is pure pop with Natalie's distinctive voice working well with a sound that has more of a dance beat than her previous work. The video is well worth a look too! We like. (CP)



We The Faceless - Isle of Dogs
Grunge, Metal, Shite - whatever you want to call it, this is just tuneless noise. My thumbs are pointing so far down that I'm going to end up with friction burns from them rubbing on the floor. (CP)

Paramore - Ignorance
Sounding like a grown up Avril Lavigne, Hayley Williams and Paramore have a knack of putting together quality rock music that will appeal to teenage girls as much as it will to their mid-Thirties Dad's. Ignorance is no different and ticks all the boxes - the band's return certainly isn't going to disappoint. (CP)



Idlewild - Readers & Writers
The band's recent album, Post Electric Blues, is their best since their debut, and Readers & Writers captures everything that Idlewild are about. Epic but with an immediateness that most of their contemporaries lack, the track (and album) is clearly a sign of a band becoming more mature and confident in their work. (CP)

Screaming Lights - Hello Tomorrow
Seemingly ending almost before it's begun, Hello Tomorrow, manages to cram everything it needs into just over two and a half minutes. It's hard to pinpoint what makes the track work, but it just does. It's not rock, it's not indie, it's somewhere in between and it's something that, despite defying categorisation, is instantly familiar. (CP)

Rod Thomas - Same Old Lines
Without listening to the lyrics, you'd never guess this was a 'break up song' - it's draws you in and is so undeniably upbeat that it just doesn't match with what Rod is singing about and this curious mismatch works in the song's favour. Take the lyrics out of the equation, and you have such a deep, warm, sound of multiple layers that you could wrap yourself up in the sounds and not come out until the spring. (CP)

Now, the coveted Music Fix Single Of The Week has been awarded to a feisty little number that harks back to the good old days that spawned the like of Chas n Dave. It warms the cockles of our little 'earts it does. What is it?

The Drums - Let's Go Surfing
Offering a great, original sound, The Drums Let's Go Surfing, is something of a revelation. The single is a solid blend of 50s surf-rock with a noughties beat. Very exciting and we're keen to hear more from the band here at TMF Towers. Catchy, upbeat and fun - what more could we ask for? (CP)

Comment on this content - sign up for a Times Network ID, or sign in now Username: Password: Remember: Register now!