Leeds webzine HEATHEN ANGEL started out in 2003 under the helmsmanship of friends Scott Brown and Sophie Sharpe. As part of a site revamp the ‘zine is launching its second volume of tracks by 20 unsigned bands compiled from the plethora of demos received by the ‘zine over the last 12 months; bands and songs that have had a little something extra in their locker to distinguish them from the collective herds grazing on the pampas-grass of pop and rock.
All but one outfit hail from the UK – LA band THE DISORTIONS opening the account with the excellently titled ‘Exploding Teenage Body Parts’ and sounding like The Bravery if they’d hung out with Motley Crue. Unsurprisingly the results are varied but there are some prime chunks to warrant further investigation.
I’ve already gone into superlative overdrive on the pages of W&H for THE NUTRONSTARS, and their bubble-gum pop offering ‘The Spider Song’ doesn’t disappoint. Others who can take a bow are STAR SCREAM with their Muse meets Flash Gordon era Queen track ‘Bedroom Eyes’ and TRANSIT COPS and their breathless ‘Little Things’. Bubbling under are MAGIC8 and the New Wave/Debbie Harry cut ‘2 Of One’, FAHRENHEIT 451 and the Buzzcocks punk surge of ‘Science Is Everything, THE ECHO’s country and blues ‘Black And White Jigsaw’, the psychedelic Madchester epic ‘Someway, Someday’ from NOVA and the aforementioned token yanks THE DISORTIONS.
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Of the remainder there’s nothing that makes me gnash my teeth in agony – although CLARE BLACKMAN’s vocal performance on the acoustic folk track ‘Rise’ sounds too mannered for comfort – and it’s refreshing to hear a zero quota of Franz Ferdinand clones or emo wannabees.
Inevitably though such a mixed bag of music makes for uneven listening but it’s harsh to be overtly critical of unsigned bands when there is just the one track – often as not from a debut demo - upon which to base a judgement. If I have to nit-pick I suppose it’s the lack of an artist or a track with a real ‘WOW!’ factor; an act with a sound or a song with a hook – always more than possible even in these early stages of infancy - to provoke an instinctive gut reaction that is the precursor to genuine unbridled excitement.
With only one or two exceptions there’s little on this sampler that makes you feel that someone should be clamouring at the door with a record deal.
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