Yes Giantess - The Ruins

Since we last caught up with Yes Giantess on the NME Tour at the back end of last year here and here there have been a few alterations, namely the departure of one of their number and the addition of a guitarist. Times change, things move on, bands evolve and so it is with Yes Giantess. What hasn’t changed is our child-at-Christmas excitement for the band. For Yes Giantess are quite a bit better than good. No, change that. They’re a lot better than a bit better.

Following a recent tour with La Roux stateside, the group are about to take another step on their journey through planet synthtopia with the release of a new single - The Ruins. The Ruins is the second Yes Giantess release through pop-gold tastemakers Neon Gold. With Starsmith (he gets everywhere these days doesn't he?) taking time out from recording his own album to handle production duties, The Ruins brings shimmery oil-slick synths and the dirtiest engine of a bass sound we’ve heard for a while to create a flashing vocal stabbing dance floor pop anthem. There’s even a trance styled build in the middle of the track for that everyone-put-their-hands-in-the air moment. And what a moment. The Ruins is a little heavier than their debut single Tuff N Stuff, but even though Yes Giantess now have a guitarist in their midst The Ruins is still very much in the arch pop camp.

The release of The Ruins is also accompanied by the groups first video proper which features some rather Doctor Who-esque cyber robots. Enjoy.

Yes Giantess - The Ruins from jan rosenfeld on Vimeo.

Ones To Watch - How Did We Do ?

It’s almost December. Which means it’s time for a look back as well as a look forward. Over the next month we’ll be blogging our way through our favourite ten albums of the year as well as listing ten artists that we believe could be ones to watch in 2010.

In a change from 2008 we’re going to start with a look forward. The reason being that last year just as we began publishing our list of Ones To Watch the BBC went and published their Sound of 2009 list earlier than normal. To our surprise six of the artists we had chosen were in the BBC’s long list of fifteen. So this year to avoid any criticism of just copying the BBC list we’re making sure our list appears early. Mind you this year we actually had a tiny influence over the BBC list as we were asked by the BBC to be one of the participating voters in their Sound of 2010 poll. We're not sure how many bloggers get asked to participate, we know of at least one other (a list of those who voted will appear on the BBC website soon) but we guess it's a bit of an honour, effectively being recognised as having some degree of expertise in new music. The three artists we voted for in the BBC poll feature in our own list of ten, but we'll leave you to see if you can guess which three we voted for.

Not that we expect all of our list to be the same as the BBC list, particularly as some artists such as Marina and the Diamonds, who we fully expect to be on the BBC list, don't qualify for our list (read next Mondays blog for our explanation of why).

But before the gate opens, let’s have a quick recap of our Ones To Watch 2009 list and see how they fared.

#1 La Roux

We said “What sets her apart from a multitude of dance floor kids is a pop sensibility that knows how to deliver a half decent tune.”

In For The Kill became a genuine pop phenomenon, slowly climbing from number 11 to number 2 in the singles chart, whilst Bulletproof went one better. The eponymous debut album went to number 2 in the UK, 7 in Ireland and 8 in Canada.

#2 Little Boots

We said “Little Boots is exactly what we want our pop stars to be.”

Little Boots topped the BBC Sound of List but failed to capitalise on its exposure, finally releasing the very average New in Town in May which went top 20. The album Hands entered the charts at number 5 but quickly fell away, only re-entering the lower reaches of the Top 40 when the far superior Remedy was released as a single. The initial quirky charm that we heard on Stuck On Repeat and saw on her bedroom You Tube cover versions seemed somewhat diluted by the end of the year, but if her record company keep going with her we still think there is possible unfulfilled potential.

#3 Passion Pit

We said “They will bring a lot of smiles, and if there is any justice Sleepyhead will be one of the songs of next year in the UK.”

Sleepyhead was never released as a major label single in its own right in the UK, (there is no justice) and although the band didn‘t achieve commercial highs, their debut album Manners received much critical acclaim and charted at number 55. The band grew as a live act during the course of the year, playing bigger shows as the year progressed, plus there were several festival appearances including the main stage at Bestival.

#4 Giantess

We said “It’s very early days for this band but Breaking More Waves reckons their Myspace friend count will soon be on the way up.”

The band renamed themselves Yes Giantess, put out a white vinyl 7" single, supported Little Boots in the U.S and were picked to play on the NME Radar Tour in the UK in October. They’ve recently been recording with a number of big name producers including Pascal Gabriel (Ladyhawke, Dido, Little Boots, Kylie) in France and have had some major label interest. In November one of their number (Karl) announced he was to leave the band, his parting gift a superb downloadable mix tape. Yes Giantess continue into 2010. Their Myspace friend count has indeed risen significantly since we first wrote about the band and they have a bag of big tunes ready to go including that hooky as hell No Reason.

#5 White Lies

We said “Have potential to be a commercial success.”

The bands debut album went to number 1 in the UK and White Lies have played many big gigs and festivals including Glastonbury, T in the Park and Reading and Leeds. Personally for Breaking More Waves our opinion is that the album was too contrived and weakened by schoolboy lyrics.

#6 Skint and Demoralised

We said “No doubt many young lasses will fall for him.”

If they young ladies did fall for Skint and Demoralised they forgot to buy his records. The single Red Lipstick picked up some Radio 1 play but come October the record company had ditched plans to release a further single or the album that was ready to go. Matt Skint got his hair cut and started presenting football reviews on You Tube. In February our review of his poorly attended live show at Brighton Audio commented that it was only when he dropped the music and delivered an anti BNP poem without a microphone that he came into his own and that “Maybe this is where his future lies.”

#7 Alessi’s Ark

We said “Unlikely to find huge commercial pop success, but is certainly an act to be championed.”

As predicted Alessi didn’t find huge commercial pop success, but her album Notes From The Treehouse was an endearing and sweet record. At the time we described the record as having “A sense of music wonder and magic.”

#8 Florence And The Machine

We said “An exciting proposition.”

Florence exceeded our expectations, her album Lungs being a triumph musically and it attained significant commercial success, remaining at number 2 in the album charts for five weeks, held off the top spot only by Michael Jackson. Her live shows became more focussed and as a result got better and better, with her performances at Camp Bestival and Brighton Concorde being two of our favourite gigs of the year.

#9 Mumford and Sons

We said “Will warm you deep inside.”

Mumford and Sons profile grew slowly over the course of the year. They proved that the old fashioned virtues of playing great gigs and having good songs will deliver you a loyal fan base. The band signed to Island Records and the subsequent release of their debut album, Sigh No More, at the start of October, saw the band hit number 11 in the UK charts. Not bad for a folk / bluegrass act. Bellies were warmed.

#10 Marina and the Diamonds

We said “This maverick cat has already ruffled a few feathers with her blogs on Myspace, which she has now removed declaring that she will never open her mouth again.”

Marina has released two critically acclaimed singles on the Neon Gold label and has now signed a major record deal with 679/Warners, releasing Mowgli's Road in November. An album is due for the early part of 2010. She back tracked on her promise of keeping her mouth shut and has a fully functioning, active, entertaining blog.

Now let's move on up.

It's almost time for this years Ones To Watch list. On the 30th November we shall explain our criteria for selection and rules of engagement. Then on the 1st December enjoy our musical advent calender as we reveal who our Ones To Watch are, each act hiding behind a different musical door on the countdown to Christmas. This will the be swiftly followed by our Top Ten albums of the year list and then, well, that's pretty much it till next year except for a few random articles that we have floating around that we haven't yet posted following our 'one blog a day' rule. Go !

Little Boots - Earthquake - Little Boots Week

One of the artists we’ve blogged about most this year is Little Boots. So in celebration of this fact, this week is 'Little Boots Week'. One blog every day concerning 'The Boots' or a subject related in some vague way to her and then that's it for the year. It's a promise. No more Little Boots on Breaking More Waves this year - not even in our Top Ten Albums of the year list which follows in December. There have been some highs - her ICA show last year (here), the out and out synth fizz of Remedy (here) and some lows New In Town (here). The album was good fun, as an example of shiny well produced pop, but wasn’t perfect. We believe there were a couple of duds built in the machinery and not enough of the initial stylophone, tenori-on disco girl geekiness that endeared us to Little Boots in the first place.

Earthquake is not one of those duds. It’s the obvious follow up to Remedy, being another catchy, science lab explosion of synth pop with Victoria getting into your head with the chorus “Every little earthquake, every little heartbreak going unheard, every little landslide, caught it in my hand I won’t say a word.” Thankfully the video director hasn’t forced Little Boots into some terrible dance routine, instead there’s a retro futurist sky-space theme which links neatly to the cover art of the album, whilst Little Boots occupies herself by having a little stab at her Casio whilst she star gazes reflectively and planets explode. There's also a great remix of the track by Breaking More Waves favourites Yes Giantess that you can grab here.

Whilst for Little Boots pop career Earthquake may be a continuation from Remedy, it certainly isn’t any great progression. When the campaign for Hands finishes and it is time to come up with something new we hope that Victoria will turn her back from obvious modern pop and embrace her true inner geek. She’s talked about her love of Kraftwerk and has added Jean Michel Jarre as one of her favourite videos on You Tube; and it is the path of these synth gods that we would like Little Boots to follow. Rather than Greg Kurstin produced polished radio hits, how fantastic would it be for Little Boots to wheel out some big analogue synths and produce a soundscape of lush, sequenced, spaced out pulsing minimalist electronica to a pop audience ? There has yet to be a female solo performer who has taken such a sound to the masses, boffin like wizardry being for the most part left to men. Of course this is just a fantasy, but if it ever became a reality our marriage proposal would be winging its way to Little Boots.

Nme Radar Tour (Part 2) - Yes Giantess + Local Natives + Marina And The Diamonds + Golden Silvers @ Brighton Concorde

Here we go again. Just a few days after the NME Radar tour hit Portsmouth (reviewed here ) we are experiencing a palpable sense of deja vu at Brighton Concorde. Same bands, same tour, same corporate branding. Tonight though there is an overall younger audience, stage invasions a plenty, some rather large London formed hangovers from the previous night and a no longer sick Marina from Marina and the Diamonds.

For Yes Giantess (pictured) this gig represents things coming full circle, their first two UK shows being in Brighton (reviewed here ). The band is quick to acknowledge this from stage, saying that the town is special to them. For most of the audience Yes Giantess are a new band, but for Breaking More Waves they are no longer the new kids on the block, their cogent synth grooves combined with punch hard live drumming has been hanging tough around our ears since the back end of last year. However even in the few months since the group last played Brighton, Yes Giantess show that they have grown in confidence, coaxing the crowd to the front barrier. Despite the early door time a heady first fifteen minutes of their set gets the three rows at the front bouncing. Jan Rosenfeld in particular is becoming quite the front man, strutting feverish funky moves during the hard hitting Demons before finally jumping off stage to high five the audience on closer Tuff N Stuff. Who said synth bands couldn’t rock?

Fellow American five piece Local Natives describe this last show as bittersweet, having made many friends with the other bands on the tour. We suspect they’ve also found a large number of new fans for their tribally rhythmic blend of smoke signal indie folk rock. Forthcoming album opener Wide Eyes and Breaking More Waves favourite Airplanes with its lyrical call to the heavens have a warm vibrant immediacy, the songs shifting in tempo without ever losing a well thought out structure. Sun Hands finishes the set in much the same way it did at Portsmouth, Yes Giantess piling back on stage to whack drums hard with involved grins on their faces. The two bands may be musically very different from each other but there is a sense of respect and camaraderie that emanates from the stage.

The venue fills up significantly before Marina and the Diamonds arrive. Marina is sheepish tonight in several respects. First she is dressed in a strange ovine cloak complete with lambs head hoody. Second she announces “I thought it was a great idea to wear a cat-suit, now I’m shy,” as the sheep garment is removed and she covers her exposed flesh with her hands. Yet despite this shyness, Marina still prances theatrically around, pulling shapes and eyeing the crowd in a way that make you think she’s staring directly at you. Her strong vocal provides a pic and mix of everything from Toyah, Bat for Lashes, Lene Lovich, Siouxsie Sioux to Regina Spektor over her power pop romps and subtler ballads. The cuckoo call at the start of Mowgli’s Road could soon become the new catchphrase for a certain type of indie pop girl, whilst the stomping eighties Euro poprock of Shampain still sounds to our ears like a hit single in waiting. “You sound like you’re doing great,” Marina says to the crowd. Likewise gal, likewise.

It’s left to Golden Silvers to finish things off. In Portsmouth we found the band to be a little flat, but tonight they are triptasticly more enjoyable. Their wash of sixties psychedelic sounds and eighties camp is much more effective second time round, the set slowly manoeuvring itself into a position where feet begin to twitch, heads nod and then shake. New song Bone Breaker has a shimmering groove that is easy to pick up on, whilst True Romance with its elongated almost rave like intro and deadpan vocal works wonders on the hips. All credit to a band who still use the triangle as an integral part of one of their songs, and a lead singer who wears a top so hideous (a mix of clashing orange, black and white zebra crossing patterns, and pictures of Buckingham Palace guards) that you have to accept that they are pretty unique. As Golden Silvers bliss out at the end with Arrows of Eros, there is a further stage invasion by various group members and crew, one last hurrah as such. It’s a celebratory end and leaves a smile on the face. The tour is over - bittersweet symphony for all the bands involved.

Here's a couple of short interviews with Yes Giantess and Marina from the tour.

NME Radar Tour (Part 1) - Yes Giantess + Local Natives + Marina And The Diamonds + Golden Silvers @ Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms

The NME Radar tour, formerly known as the New Noise tour, is the little sister to its bigger prominently forceful big brother that lunges round the country every January and February. Bands that have appeared on recent Radar tours include White Lies, La Roux, Friendly Fires, The Cribs and The Automatic. This time round the NME has booked what one could argue is their bravest or most stupid line up choice so far, depending on your view of the commerciality and artistic merits of the bands on offer. Golden Silvers are the headline act. They would probably have difficulty in selling out a venue half the size of the Wedgewood Rooms, whilst the three acts below them on the bill have each released either one or two singles on very small independent labels, and are not typical NME type bands. Is this the influence of the new NME editor, an attempt by the magazine to show that it is pushing boundaries and promoting something different ? Or just a reflection of the way that music fashion is changing right now? Is the NME leading or following ? Or is this discussion even relevant, and should we not just accept the line up for what it is and forget the NME branding?

What is clear is that none of the other three bands are likely to bring in the crowds yet. But it is still somewhat surprising considering the marketing power of the NME brand that venue isn't any busier than half full. Not that we mind at all with Yes Giantess, Local Natives and Marina And The Diamonds all being Breaking More Waves favourites, two of whom we named in our Ones To Watch list last year ( here and here ) and all three of which we have written about a number of times.

What is also noticeable is the demographic of the audience. Whereas previous NME sponsored tours have brought in plenty of hyperactive teenagers who look like they are auditioning for a part in Skins, tonight at least half the audience are in their 30’s to 40’s, with a few older than this. Also conspicuous by their absence are early to mid 20’s skinny jeans wearing lads supping beer and sporting carefully thought out shaggy indie haircuts. Yes there are still quite a few teenagers, but not as many as one may have expected given the NME branding. This half full room and audience mix gives the nights proceedings a rather strange ambience which continues into the performances for both Yes Giantess and Marina And The Diamonds.

Jan Rosenfeld, the lead singer of Yes Giantess is unaccustomed to performing without the protective shield of his synthesiser. But with his keyboard dying at sound check he has to make do with a maraca and a tambourine for company. It’s his first time ever being just a singer and he admits it’s like being naked on stage. The rest of the band have to perform a live electronic experiment, coping with missing parts of their sound. Despite this odd situation for the group, they pull it off. Can’t Help It brings the spirit of Michael Jackson to the room with its squealing, twirling funk and Rosenfeld’s salacious voice, whilst new song Sparks is wiggly danceable. Our favourite remains When The Sun Gets Low with its talk of "It's not an ordinary night tonight, with a baby by my side." We never knew synths could sound so hot-blooded. By the time the four piece finish with Tuff N Stuff, a song which if it were an Olympic sport would surely be weightlifting - heavy, thrusting and arms aloft powerful, heads are nodding, bodies wiggling and Yes Giantess have made a few new friends on the south coast of England.

Local Natives may be from the United States but for one of their number, Ryan, this is a sort of homecoming, having been born in Portsmouth. The band celebrate by bringing a dry humping tribal beat and glorious passion filled harmonies to reach humanly highs. “Let’s hear it for physical touching,” the group announce at one point , not in celebration of amorousness, but for the fact that today was the day that they felt hard copies of their soon to be released album Gorilla Manor for the first time. If Local Natives were a venn diagram the circles would contain the words Fleet Foxes, Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend, and the title of the diagram would be ‘Really Very Good’. From the clattering falsetto led Airplanes with lyrics about a grandparent who has passed away to a rather agreeable version of Warning Sign by Talking Heads, the bands semi folkish indie acoustic rhythmic sound is warm and hugely enjoyable. They finish with debut UK single Sun Hands which ends as huge drum orgy, and leave having fully justified the buzz about the band that came from SXSW earlier this year.

For the first two songs of Marina And The Diamonds (pictured) set everything seems perfectly fine. Marina prances and strides like she has been practicing in front of her bedroom mirror her whole life, her voice is deep, operatic and strong. Then before the band start I Am Not A Robot Marina announces “I haven’t been very well today, and I don’t want you to think I am crap.” As she says the words tears fall from her eyes, and suddenly things feel uncomfortable. Then as she regains composure the band start playing. However all is not well and Marina begins sobbing again and quickly leaves the stage. There are shouts for “C’mon Marina,” but that is it. There are mutterings in the audience of “What a bloody diva,” as she is spotted being escorted out the rear exit by two security men. However Breaking More Waves manages to establish from one of the other bands that Marina has been genuinely quite ill and was physically sick during sound check, but had decided the show must go on. Several fans leave disappointed, and the next day it transpires that Marina has had to pull the next gig in Bristol due to her illness.

Suddenly after the great start from Yes Giantess and Local Natives the evening feels as damp as the puddle filled pavements outside. It’s left to Golden Silvers to ignite the fires once more. Unfortunately the band are too stationary, self indulgent and slow to do that. To their credit they are not you’re average indie band; their sound hints at the otherworldly and vaudeville with an unconventional poppy weirdness, but lacks the energy that is now required to pick the crowd up again. With lead singer and keyboardist Gwilym standing side on dressed in a tight denim jacket, and bassist Ben sporting a slightly vacant bored look, it’s sometimes difficult to tell if they are enjoying themselves or not. With a trippy vintage end of the pier sound the music floats around without ever really hitting home except on the singles True No.9 Blues and the stabby synths and London geezer vocal harmonies of Arrows Of Eros. Golden Silvers have that same mellow vibey feel as band like Super Furry Animals which given the right moment can be astounding, but tonight it seemed just a little too flat.

Marina And The Diamonds + Yes Giantess @ London Scala

Last Friday saw the launch of Scandalism, a brand new eclectic indie, electro, retro night at the Scala, King Cross, London. A host of bands and DJ’s strutted their stuff including several artists from one of our favourite stables - Neon Gold. This included two acts that we have been following since the back of last year and whom have both recently been announced as appearing on this autumns NME Radar Tour - Yes Giantess and Marina And The Diamonds.

Yes Giantess are dancing before they’ve even played a note. As the DJ vibes it up with some school disco eighties campness, Jan Rosenfeld and his gang are shaking their butts stage side. The head jittering, hip shaking, uninhibited grooving continues as they blast through a set of charged synth jams, drums firing like machine guns. Rosenfeld brings a vocal intonation that hints at Michael Jackson loving it up with MGMT whilst bespectacled keyboardist Karl Hohn fluxes like he has been electrocuted; the most manic and animated improvised dance routine seen in London this year. Yes Giantess may be a keyboard band but live there is a big smack of energy, bodies jerking like frantic turkeys, Karl almost losing his glasses in the rush. With the addition of a member of Passion Pit on drums, the smoothly romantic Tuff N Stuff is dedicated to “Anyone who’s been in love,” Rosenfeld so mesmerised that he almost forgets to play the outro at the end of the song. Yes Giantess continue to straddle the tracks between out and out eighties pop (think Kylie, Erasure) and hip indie dance (Hot Chip, Daft Punk, Passion Pit ) all with a touch of college boy geekiness. Jump on the train and enjoy the ride, every station these fun lovin' scamps stop at is going to be a party.

“I am Marina And The Diamonds,” states Marina emphatically. This is no singer and band combined, let’s be clear about this - Marina is the star here. Fully formed, utterly self assured and a raw talent, Marina And The Diamonds commands the stage with massive presence, even when she drops her tambourine mid song. She prowls the venue with her arms and hair flailing, her voice taking a journey from vulnerable and tender on Obsessions to gloriously Kate Bush styled wild and crazy on Mowgli’s Road. Her songs are somewhat unorthodox, but as she blisters her way through The Shampain Sleeper, a huge Pat Benatar meets Roxette synth piano styled stomp, we see commercial potential too. The song is the perfect example of power tune pop. Marina is exactly what Breaking More Waves wants our stars to be - engaging, a little different, supremely confident and just that little bit sexy. This diamond shines bright.

The Future Of The NME

Following the announcement that Conor McNicholas is to step down as editor of the NME, questions will no doubt be asked about the future of the magazine. In their press statement IPC magazines state “Conor has made a great contribution to the ongoing development of the NME. Over the last seven years he and his talented team have garnered plaudits and awards in equal measure, consistently creating the most innovative and compelling new music magazine on the news stand today. We wish him all the very best after he leaves us.” However, what we think is more revealing than the usual “Good luck didn’t he do well,” rhetoric is a paragraph further down in the press statement which states “Last year NME won the coveted PPA Consumer Media Brand of the Year award. The judges were impressed with NME’s approach to brand development, setting the template for how a modern magazine brand can extend its reach and influence in a variety of ways and across a variety of mediums”. It's all about the brand you see.

Since youth culture existed the NME has for many teenagers and young twenties been a bible. Back when Breaking More Waves started reading the NME in the eighties it was a hotbed of anger, pretension and politics where hip young gunslingers of journalists mouthed off with exciting arrogant prose that really made you think about not just the bands it featured, but your whole life. It took a week to consume and every Wednesday was an exciting day trooping down to the local newsagent to pick up the latest copy of the rag that left ink on your hands. These days however NME has dumbed down. Much of the writing is not much better than your average blog, with the articles being soundbites of information that most on the case kids already knew anyway. It on average takes no more than half an hour to consume. Much of that is due to McNicholas, who has fundamentally changed the NME. These days the printed form is rather like an indie kids / Skins viewers version of the now defunct Smash Hits magazine but without the humour. (Popjustice have captured that niche.) And yet NME survives where Melody Maker and Sounds before it didn’t, even if it is not the beast it once was.

Laying aside the criticism of dumbing down, one of the reasons that NME has until now survived is because of McNicholas’s vision of developing a brand. In the wired up, instant, mass media world we live in, it is difficult for a magazine to sell enough copies on its own to survive. So the NME has modified and changed to become a globally identifiable brand. Now youth culture can buy into that brand, attend Club NME, buy tickets from the NME ticket shop, and listen to NME radio, all ways that NME can generate additional income. It is no longer just a publication. The magazine is simply a flagship for the brand.

But what if following the departure of McNicholas that flagship sinks? Could the NME brand continue without McNicholas? Time will tell what the future holds.

Despite our criticism of the poor quality of the magazine that the NME now is, it would be a sad day if it folded. It is still one of the only high street magazines that highlights new and unsigned bands, often giving them their first mass circulation exposure. That’s why we continue to subscribe to it, 25 years after first picking up a copy. Of course these days the speed of the internet means that the NME is always going to be lagging a little. Two weeks ago it featured Yes Giantess in its new bands Radar feature, a band that we first featured seven months ago, when they were known just as Giantess. This is not Breaking More Waves trying to get one up one the NME, but the context is that this is a blog written by an unhip, balding, middle aged man with a busy job and family to look after. It doesn't seem right that the NME can be so behind. Yet despite this NME currently remains as an essential stepping stone to radio play and more mainstream coverage. However with so many other media avenues for new bands to gain exposure, including the blogosphere, NME is fighting in a corner.

Whoever replaces McNicholas, we wish you all the luck. We suspect you will need boxing gloves.

Mirrors + Yes Giantess + Erik Hassle + The Dolly Rockers @ London Hoxton Bar & Kitchen

A few days ago Breaking More Waves reported on the Great Escape in Brighton where two of our highlights pulled us into the world of synthtopia where Apple Macs and keyboards rule. These highlights were Brighton based pop noir specialists Mirrors and Boston, USA funksters Yes Giantess. At the Gold Dust club at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, a venue of huge disco balls, black painted blockwork and industrial urban trendiness, both bands collide to bring an evening of electronic ecstasy with not a guitar in site.

But before the fingers can glide across the keys we have to endure the crime against pop music that is Dolly Rockers. An X Factor riot of sequins, short skirts and sauciness, they are a hand on the hip, dancing in front of the bedroom mirror, amateur Girls Aloud. Without a live band it’s backing track karaoke. They even have the audacity to sample a section from one of the best pop songs of the eighties - Duel by Propaganda - and destroy it. We’ll give them some credit for a song called Champagne Shirley that slags off girl glamour models and their most un-Girls Aloud use of the F word, but when they say “We’re going to do a rubbish ballad,” we couldn’t agree more.

“We couldn’t bring our full band all the way over from Sweden,” announces the Popjustice approved and Mystery Jets haircut a like Erik Hassle. So instead he serenades the audience with simple acoustic arrangements on the only guitar that will be seen for the evening. His set is short with well crafted songs and a flawless voice that could easily slip into the mainstream if given the right exposure.

Then the new princes of the keyboard take to the stage in two chapters. Yes Giantess have a song called Deceptive Man, and believe us these guys are deceptive men. They may not look like hot lovin’ sex machines whose mission it is to make the ladies swoon, but they have a few cheesy yet sincere tricks up their sleeves. Witness lead vocalist Jan announcing that “Making love to a tambourine ruins my hand.” This guy doesn’t bash or hit a tambourine, he makes love to it. Get that girls. His band mates join in with the physical arousal, bouncing and thrusting against their synths whilst throwing their heads back in sweaty orgasmic excitement whilst their drummer pounds away in shorts. And for girls who want some lyrical come on action try “I just want to say that you’re beautiful, you’re looking incredible, girl you’re making everybody’s day,” from the immense Daft Punkish slow groover Tuff N Stuff and then be prepared to practice making babies.

Then there’s the music. We’d love to rifle through the Yes Giantess record box. It wouldn’t surprise us if we found Passion Pit, Michael Jackson, The Human League, Madonna, New Kids On The Block, James Brown and Cameo in there. This is a band that are clever enough to play the three killer tunes currently on their Myspace first and then throw down slab after slab of spunky grinding synth wash to get people moving. Ladies, they’re asking, and you’re dancing.

Mirrors (pictured) may also bring synths by the van load but they bleep and pulse from a different shadowy zone than Yes Giantess. As the room darkens a flickering electronic riff pulses out, whilst the bands name glows at the back of the stage. Suddenly it disappears and is replaced by a single white square projection and the band enter to a large cheer. The square becomes animated with smaller squares inside whilst Mirrors cover the crowd with lush ambient textured electronic noise. It radiates out across the room to create an atmospheric soundscape filled with pop melody. Abstract images and patterns develop from the square whilst haunting melancholy keyboards cascade into songs such as Look At Me; it’s all Blancmange meets The Human League meets OMD with a tiny bit of Ian McCulloch in the vocal. Yes it’s very eighties, yes its very cool and yes it’s very good. A Mirrors show is more of an evocative experience than a gig. Go experience.

It seems incredible that both Yes Giantess and Mirrors are still unsigned bands. Surely that cannot last ?

The Great Escape @ Brighton - Day 3

The third and final day of The Great Escape in Brighton starts with an Irish music showcase upstairs at The Prince Albert. It’s still very early and many heads in the audience probably warrant Valerie Francis and her comforting warm voice to revive them from the previous nights proceedings. Her songs use unusual instrumentation such as hand bells, trumpet and recorder alongside acoustic guitar to produce a gentle soothing calmness to a short set which is only interrupted by the ringing of a mobile phone of the next artist Iain Archer.

Archer is most probably best known for his work with Snow Patrol, being the co writer of the song Run. But whilst Snow Patrol continue to fill arena sized venues, Archer is playing to a handful of people in a Brighton pub. “Glad to see you’ve left some space for dancing at the front,” he jests at the emptiness. Later he jokes about the mobile phone incident. “This is a mobile free zone - that dick, you know the one.” It seems that every earnest male singer songwriter these days packs themselves off to a cabin or shed in a forest somewhere and is inspired to create poignant music, and Archer has joined that crowd with a new album To The Pine Roots. Explaining that the record was recorded in a cottage in Schwarzland in Germany’s Blackforest he plays a number of songs from it. The Acrobat has a lilting drifting softness and visual captivating words that tell the tale of a gravity defying hero. It sounds a little like an Irish Bright Eyes. Before Frozen Lakes he talks of confused ducks sitting on the frozen water. Archers voice is light and slightly dreamy and his sense of humour makes him an engaging performer.

Angel Pier are the first band of the day and take a traditional approach to chiming melancholic guitar rock. They are hardly original or particularly inspiring, but develop a neat sense of atmosphere with their layered guitar approach which momentarily spirals and soars to higher places. By the end of their set the Prince Albert is packed and a queue leads all the way down the stairs, but nobody is going anywhere because everyone here wants to see Fight Like Apes . There are people craning their necks and standing on chairs to get a view of the band.

We’ve raved regularly about Fight Like Apes, for example here and here and today is no exception. Taking to the stage with false black eyes and cuts on their heads, Fight Like Apes are without doubt the best band from Ireland right now. Bono did you hear that ? Fight Like Apes are like the most pleasurable fistf**k from a stranger you could ever have. With Maykay head slamming like she’s trying to shake her brains out and Pockets seeming to disappear into the ground as he bends ever lower and lower to reach his collapsing microphone stand, the band drill hardcore pop into the crowds ears like the world is about to end. They throw milk crates at each other, Maykay writhes in the crowd and despite technical problems with one of the synths they create a glorious energetic violent performance which is offset by their good nature and slightly humorous approach. Any band that can write a lyric such as “No black bits and no cheese, its just plain toast for me, and did you f*ck her, did you stick things up her?” before joyous synths and guitars collide is always going to get our vote.

Next its down to the seafront and Arc for Gold Teeth, who we wrote about just a few days ago. Their charismatic, good looking singer Joe De Costa could certainly make a few girls hearts melt. He even succeeds with that today, particularly on the danceable Everybody and next single Tasty which manages to sound like a hybrid nutty boy cousin of Madness in the verse and early Blur in the chorus. A couple of songs remind us a little of Hard Fi which is not so good, but these are early days for the band.

Then there is just one band left to see. That band is Yes Giantess (pictured), a band that we first tipped as a One To Watch last December and have been getting continually pumped up about ever since. First a more low key gig at Arc, their first ever in the UK, followed by a late nighter at the Neon Gold records party at Ocean Rooms; both sets deliver - big time. Jan Rosenfeld and his cohorts whack down layers of star bound synths that groove like a vodka fuelled space ship. With heads bobbing in unison and high handclapping a plenty this band have beats thrusting out of them like a sex starved disco queen. Tuff N Stuff is the tune of the event. No question. But it’s not their only song that we get all over excited about. When The Sun Gets Low is equally good. Here Yes Giantess bring to Great Escape heavy clubbed up beats and spunky eighties hallucinatory keyboard riffs that would get even a corpse up dancing. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again - Love it love it love it.

Yes Giantess - Tuff N Stuff

Like a massive slab of cheddar in between two chunks of keyboard, Tuff N Stuff by Yes Giantess is the total dance party sandwich. Or maybe the ultimate chick cruising tune. Wind the car windows down, turn up the stereo, and bob your head like a loon. That’s an order.

Here at Breaking More Waves we’ve been fans of this band since December last year, when we named them in our Ones to Watch list for 2009. Following a slight name change from Giantess to Yes Giantess, these Boston party dudes are about to release Tuff N Stuff in the UK, backed by the hyper excitable You Were Young on a 7” vinyl single through Neon Gold Records. You can buy a copy of the single exclusively through Pure Groove here. The band will also be playing their first shows outside of America in May at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, UK which is likely to include a Neon Gold showcase at The Ocean Rooms and another show at The Ark. We also hear news of some other London dates being lined up the week after.

But that’s for the future. Tuff N Stuff is about the now. It’s a ridiculously epic sex synth space ride that bumps and grinds itself up against the planets. It’s totally of the moment, like a lascivious pop Passion Pit out of the eighties. When the big overworked keyboards drop in the middle and lead singer Jan Rosenfeld croons “I just say wanna say that you're beautiful, you're looking incredible, girl you're making everybody’s day, and I love that your edges are rough, when you try to act tuff n stuff. I love you so much,” it is inevitable that girls hearts will be stolen. Tuff N Stuff is due for release at the end of April. There's no video at the moment, but you can hear the tune on the myspace.

Big funky killer pop. The sound of an electronic disco orgasm. Love it. Love it. Love it.

Yes Giantess - No More Giantess

A tip for any potential new band out there; before you decide on a name make sure you Google it. Boston keyboard party dudes Giantess, one of Breaking More Waves Ones To Watch in 2009 could have well been advised to do that. It’s a bad pun we know but the number of entries relating to Giantess on the internet is huge. Even searching on ‘Giantess band’ can be confusing, with more than one band taking this name. In our wired up world it’s important for fans to be able to easily access a bands Myspace page, and it hasn’t been that easy to find Breaking More Waves current favourite funked up synth wizards.

It seems the band may have also realised this as they are about to rename themselves Yes Giantess. Now let’s get this straight, these guys may not have cropped up on many peoples radar yet, but since we named them in our Ones To Watch the influential Popjustice site picked up on them, and our favourite label of the year (hell to the fact that it’s only March) Neon Gold are due to be releasing their debut single soon. How good are Neon Gold? Well they put out Passion Pit as their debut release and Marina and the Diamonds as their second. These guys know their stuff.

Yes Giantess also have slots coming up at SXSW, and although not yet officially confirmed by the organisers on their website, the bands singer Jan Rosenfeld has told Breaking More Waves that they will be at The Great Escape in Brighton for their UK debut. See you down the front for that one.

For the moment however Yes Giantess remain resolutely underground, which is we understand partly by choice. When we talk of the underground it provides stereotypical images of a sound that is non populist, dark and left of centre. There is plenty of underground music in the rock genre, but pop music is not something you would associate with the term. Pop is by definition popular, colourful and usually mainstream. However what Yes Giantess do is underground by a slightly different definition. This is a band that can be termed underground as they play hip Boston dance parties, have only played a handful of gigs, are yet to come to mainstream recognition and have not yet released any material except via Myspace. What material it is though.

Yes Giantess crank up their keyboards to create instantly catchy happy melodies with big funky hooks designed to get in your pants and shake you until you groove. This is a band who are like Justin Timberlake with an 80’s record collection and a big hard on, and they have come to chat up your girlfriend. Boys you have been warned. To give you a flavour they have been compared with New Kids On The Block, MGMT and Chromeo but it’s all done with a slightly geek chic Boston dance party attitude. We’ve been lucky enough to hear some of their unreleased demos such as the ear grinding Demons which takes a big heavy industrial robotic beat and slashes thrusting warped sex synth across it. Then of course there is Tuff N Stuff and You Were Young, both currently on the bands Myspace. These tunes are guaranteed to make you woop and swing those hips with camp abandon.

Yes Giantess. Big banging keyboard brandishing boys it's OK for indie kids and pop fans to savour. They're gonna make you sweat.

Giantess - Ones To Watch 2009

Although for the second year running Breaking More Waves finds a large number of its One’s To Watch on the BBC Sound Of 2009 List, Giantess are a band that have yet to crop up significantly on many people’s radar, particularly in the UK. In fact Giantess are so new that at this moment in time they only have 210 friends on their Myspace page and played only their second ever gig in November.

They are another one of the crop of bands that continues to thrust sexily out from Boston, Massachusetts, and will soon put out their debut single Deceptive Man on Neon Gold in the US.

The people at Neon Gold are putting out some of the coolest of records right now, including yesterdays darlings Passion Pit and one more of Breaking More Waves future One's To Watch, which we have not yet named. The band have also been recording their debut album which they have described as sounding like what would happen if C+C Music Factory high-fived Michael Jackson in midair, with less "ooh baby's" and more "hey ladies." Fantastic.

Giantess bring washes of epic synths and handclaps with retro 80’s attitude to an indie dance floor and make them sound cool again. They sound so now, so fruitily disco. This four piece strut their funky attitude with their killer tune Tuff ‘n Stuff, which sounds like a mash up of Cameo, Jean Michel Jarre and Chromeo, as their lead singer flirts “I just want to say that you’re beautiful, your looking incredible, girl your making everybody’s day.”

It’s very early days for this band, but Breaking More Waves reckons their My Space friend count may soon be on the way up.

Here is the only video of the band in action that seems to be available at this moment in time