INDIE MUSIC: YOU’RE DOING IT RIGHT

By fulmarausten 

Art is Hard Records and the indie music scene in the South West of England…

There’s a new indie music label based in the South West of England called Art is Hard. In just a year they seem to have won over just about everyone with their winning combination of charmingly quirky releases, cut-and-paste DIY aesthetic and - most importantly - an uncanny ability to pick up on the cooler-than-school lofi indie pop emanating from the region, as their new compilation album Dry Route to Devon effortlessly demonstrates.

In the South West corner of the UK, presuming you’re able to muscle your way past the plethora of spidery folk and ska punk acts around, you might be mistaken for believing that you’d stumbled into a DeLorean and ended up at an unspecified point between 1987 and 1992.  Across Devon, Cornwall and the South Coast of England there is a flurry of bands so determinedly shoegazing and so unconcernedly slackerish that they probably haven’t even noticed this blog.  But whilst they contemplate the staggering array of guitar effects pedals at their feet, we can look on in wonderment at the blue sky and blazing heat radiating from vintage tube amps and half-mumbled vocals issuing into the Atlantic breeze…

This upspring has been beautifully captured within the 11 tracks on Dry Route to Devon; the label’s new compilation album – or should I say compilation ‘concept’?  AiH don’t like to play by the rules – all their releases to date are endearingly innovative and possibly none more so than this, AIH005, their 6^th release (yeah, exactly).  The ‘record’ in this case consists of an A3 map of the region showing the various locales of the bands included.  Each pinpoint has a scannable smart-phone code that you can use to download the tracks.  An expanded version of the release also includes a t-shirt - or you can just download the tracks individually from Bandcamp.

The release celebrates the first birthday of this small label, whose big ideas have taken them a long way in just 12 months.  Since their early releases, such as the split 7” featuring two of AiH’s flagship bands - brash shoegaze revivalists New Years Evil and blazing surf punx The Black Tambourines - they seem to have developed a knack for discovering the region’s most cutting-edge lofi indie bands and in the process, among their many plaudits, they’ve been cited as one of BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens’ favourite new labels.

Dry Route to Devon opens with “Rock Hudson” by Make Believe Ballroom (a spin-off from these guys) that unashamedly samples the sparkly intro to Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere”, transforming it into a charming, twinkly blissed-out electro pop instrumental.  Hysterical Injury’s “Futuristic Nightmare” is pulsating, minimal, bass-driven anti-rock from a duo who weirdly put me equally in mind DFA and also early 80s DAF.

The dreamy “Distant Suns” by Safari Park is a slowcore masterwork.  Rich vocals, rumbling bass and the warm drive of heartbreak guitars takes the listener on a journey to humid nights on shingle beaches. “Dead or Scared” by WeMakeNoises - underneath its 90s retro stylings, acoustic guitar and driving bass - is a searing outcry of existential angst.

“Wild Strawberries” by the delightful Big Wave is quintessential indie-pop.  Uplifting, sing-along melodies are perfectly balanced against melancholy chord changes and accurately judged sentiment.  This is quietly confident song writing that even Bergman would applaud.   The archetypal lofi of “I Think” is a ‘gaze’ into the saturated world of Plymouth’s Gorgeous Bully whilst “In Motion” by Adjust Your Set takes us somewhere else entirely.  Electro dreams painted with vocal and guitar loops make for an energising slice of polypop.  Indie-tronica par excellence easily measuring up with the likes of Crystal Castles et al.

Lost Dawn are another one of the blues/punk/garage duos you’ve heard about, although this time benefitting from an outrageous energy combined with material that doesn’t come off as second-rate White Stripes, “Blog Baby Blues” being no exception.  Fire Island Pines‘ “Bratislava” is a delicate construction of introverted lofi college pop.  Its driving guitar lines, augmented with trumpets and xylophones, build towards a truly rousing finale.

Bleached-out grunge tinted pop in the form of “Gravel Pit” by Yrrs recalls Big Troubles debut album. You can’t always hear what’s going on, but you can take it on trust that it’s awesome.  Concluding the selection, OLO Worms’ gentle and beguiling  “Odoodem” makes for this album’s ultimate come-down track.  Tweeting synths, spiralling guitars and vocal harmonies (reminiscent of the Beach Boys’ later concept albums) build upon a plateau of bass, tingling your spine with ambient post-rock bliss.

This album is lots of things.  Three of those things are:

i) A new young label gleefully and mischievously innovating and steadfastly refusing to be cynical about the future of the music industry?  You bet!

ii) A sneak peek at the very best indie music from this under-sung region?  Uh… Yup.  Better watch out, world!

iii) An awesome record that’s really worth checking out?  Indubitably, sir!

You can pre-order Dry Route to Devon and download the music at Bandcamp:  http://artishardrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dry-route-to-devon

The map and t-shirt will be shipping on or around 26^th Septmeber 2011, while stocks last.