Quick Chat with The Aquadolls

The Aquadolls Interview

The Aquadolls were formed in early 2012 by lead vocalist/guitarist Melissa Brooks, then later that year were signed onto Burger Records' label. From their formation in January 2012, they have released many little EPs and demos on their bandcamp. 

This band doesn't sound like they should still be alive and making music; they sound like a surf rock band from the late 20th century (still sounding great though). 
Despite their lyrics and vocals being dominated by females, there is only one girl member  Melissa. She is joined by Ryan Frailich on vocals/guitar, Josh Crawford on bass, and Colin Moore on drums. Recently, they released their 15 track album 'Stoked for you' on their bandcamp, promising a 'full length LP out this summer'. That's something to look forward to. I talked to Melissa about the Vivian Girls, girl power and her hatred for school.

• Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions. When I think of The Aquadolls, words such as summer and quirky really come to mind. How would you guys describe your sound?
Rolling out of bed at noon, racing to the garage to plug in my guitar and jam, turning up the fuzz all the way.

• You guys recently embarked on a tour with Kate Nash. What did you think of the reception from the crowd?
It was such an honor to share the stage with Kate Nash! She is incredible and so empowering. Her fans were very welcoming towards us and it seems like the crowd reacted well to the shows. I saw lots of dancing. It was good times for sure.

• What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you guys while you’ve been performing?
Someone came up on stage in the middle of the song and kissed me on the cheek and then dove off the stage. That was pretty cool.

• What are your feelings towards the recent sad news of the Vivian Girls break up?
I must admit that I am not surprised due to their lack of shows in the past year, however, they have left behind so many good songs that inspired many people, including myself. I remember the first time I listened to Vivian Girls. I was 15 and coming out of a bad phase where all I listened to was terrible screamo bands and shopped extensively at Hot Topic. I heard their song "Tell The World" and instantly loved it! I would watch countless interviews and music videos and live performances. They really inspired me to create my own version of the Vivian Girls. If I hadn't of discovered them, The Aquadolls would sound really different. I am also huge fans of their other projects (The Babies, La Sera, Cassie Ramone, 
Upset) and am excited to hear the new stuff they come up with. It's such an honor to be able to play with them at their final show in Los Angeles!

• What would you hope someone would feel after listening to your music?
I can't really say. I suppose it depends on the listener. I would just hope that people enjoy it.

• You’re the soundtrack to many teenagers’ summers but what songs remind you of vivid memories from 2013?
Looking back to last summer, I remember listening to Bleached "Ride Your Heart" album a lot. San Francisco by Foxygen, Royals by Lorde, and a lot of Charli XCX as well.

• I love the feel of girl power to the band. What are your views on sexism within the music industry?
The music scene we're in is generally male dominated. I know that some people don't take this band seriously due to the fact that it is female fronted. It seems like I make a lot of people uncomfortable for some reason, and I don't understand why, but apparently I tend to "steal the show" and be "self-centered". If performing my ass off and rocking harder than you could ever do in your dreams makes me self-centered, hah, okay. If a guy was doing it, no one would say anything. Just because I have boobs doesn't mean I shouldn't be taken seriously. I think it's about time for girls to come to the front. We shouldn't be afraid to express ourselves. We shouldn't fear judgment. Let us be who we are, and only God can judge us. Plus, girls rule.


• Finally, your song ‘I hate school’ is very relatable to a majority of our audience, so is there any advice to our teenage readers to get them through school ?
I have always disliked school. Back in high school, I was the "weird girl". I would hang out in the band room a lot and go in practice rooms to play piano and work on songs I was writing. I would always try to escape everyone. School dances were a joke. The teachers seemed as if they would rather be on vacation. It just feels like a waste of time to me. For the teens out there who hate school as much as me, I know school sucks, but it goes by fast. Learn to escape from the things that make you uncomfortable. Find something positive within it.


- Nina , @s0ultrippin
(Thanks to Holly for writing the fabulous intro x)

Mornings Suck

Mornings Suck - Playlist

After a wild weekend of watching David Bowie documentaries and drinking endless amounts of coffee getting up on a Monday morning is the possibly the worst 1st world problem I have ever encountered. I have thought up a playlist that while giving you a slight headache at 6:30 might energise you that tad bit  before school/work (best served with strong black coffee).

*insert generic tumblr picture*

• Lovesick // Peace 

The first lyric is the infamous and truly inspiring quote by the mighty Harrison Koisser that has been tweeted by everyone on Sunday Evening at some point since its release, 'I don't wanna go to school'. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2irlBYxkGo

• No Waves // Fidlar

One song containing a catchy ring to it and about 1 million angsty teenagers feelings towards mornings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYbJmQj5VkE

• I Am The Resurrection // The Stone Roses

The epitome of a feel good anthem, whether your tired or not you will undoubtedly sing the chorus at the wrong point but once it does come, well if you've listened to it before you will know the feeling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRwR7avc5Oc

• SuperLove // Charlie XCX

This isnt normally the type of music I enjoy but this is a brilliant pop tune. Although it will definitely get you up the consequence is it will be stuck in your head for possibly the next 3 weeks (as the case for me is and it is not a bad thing ).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPWcX-16A9Y

• Electric Feel // MGMT

MGMT never fail to put me in a good mood even when im sulking in my school uniform when the sun hasn't even come up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmZexg8sxyk

- Nina (@s0ultrippin)

Bedroom Walls

I am guessing that most teenagers of this day and age have bedroom walls covered in posters, gig tickets, photos and other precious memoirs; I am only assuming this though. I have discovered that here at FIBLAR, we have quite a varied range of bedroom walls which are all magnificent and need to be shared. 

Molly's Wall

It's kind of typical nowadays for a teenager's bedroom walls to be entirely dominated by pictures and posters of the things that they love. The wall behind my bed used to be just that; every inch covered in tiny little pictures cut from magazines, no order or pattern at all. Thankfully, that phase has ended and around a month ago, I decided I no longer liked how my wall looked. I took everything down and kept only the biggest things, arranging them in a new, minimalistic and almost symmetrical way, which I am immensely proud of. The wall includes Palma Violets, The Smiths, The Vaccines, JAWS and more, but taking centre stage is Biffy Clyro (I also have a poster of them on my ceiling) because really, I just love looking at Simon Neil.



Amelia's Wall

  This is above my desk. My stereo is blocking out a lovely picture of grimes and hidden behind my lamp is the poster of peace that came with In Love.

This is a close up of my main wall featuring some bunting and fairy lights. I think I stuck this up around the time In Love came out and every magazine was filled with Peace pictures as there seems to be an alarming amount. Having a slanted ceiling makes fitting stuff in a challenge but all the more rewarding when it ends up looking ok.








Laura's wall

 Filled with indie dreamboats, memories, tickets and whatever else is up there; my walls are the best part of my room. The photos of me and band members from gigs of the past are there such as Peace, Swim Deep and JAWS. Smaller sections are dedicated to various artists such as Everything Everything, Arctic Monkeys and Haim. Almost every band or artist that puts a smile on my face, they're all on there.




Sometimes I take a moment to step back while music hums in the background and look around my walls - reading what the Peace lads wrote on the back of the photo we got together in April, seeing photos of me and JAWS taken inside the Think tank and Swim Deep outside. Metro tickets with the dates of shows on them, reminding me of how good thise nights were and that limited edition poster of Mark Owen my friend got me last year when I thought I'd never get to meet him. Everyone on my walls, they're all there for a reason - because they mean something to me.


Paige's Wall

 I tend to hoard any music related 'stuff'. That stuff is usually posters, old tickets, ripped magazine articles. This is for a few very basic reasons which I shall list:

1. It makes my very dark room look very cool

2. I feel like I'm hanging out with a different rockstar every night - a thrilling idea!

3. It's a form of escapism for when I want to burn my school work






Rohanie's Wall

 I have 3 walls covered in various scraps of paper and magazine cuttings, but this is the wall by my bed and so is my favourite.
I moved on from the plastering my walls from top to bottom with posters when I was about 14, since then I've been blu tacking various gigs tickets, adverts, articles, photos and posters until I was almost back to my circa 2009 roots, this time without dodgy google images of mgmt and Jonny Pierce (of The Drums) printed from my more than temperamental printer. My favourite parts of this wall are my Horrors tickets signed by the band when I met them in 2011 and Felix of the Maccabees' plectrum I caught in a fantastically James Bond moment at their gig in Birmingham in January 2012. My room was once a hideous cerise colour (the paint was actually called "sexy pink" which made my 7 year old self feel so punk rock) but it got painted to a more ~mature~ pastel colour, that ended up acting as a canvas for the scraps of all sorts that ended up being stuck on the walls. Other highlights include the 7 pictures of Grimes, a limited edition print by artist Robert Ryan and a handwritten setlist by Gareth of lc!, handed into my very hand by the then bassist Ellen, a moment that I replayed in my head in the car journey over and over until I had near convinced myself it hadn't happened and was a materialisation of my dazed mind. 

As skin crawlingly embarrassing as it may appear, my walls feel like memories, scrapbooks of what's happened so far in my life, although the majority is gig tickets from the past 3 years, there's dodgy disposal camera photos from a school trip to Germany when I was 14, clothing tags from the first time I went to brick lane aged 12, a photo of me dressed as elvis Presley as part of my tap dancing classes aged 3, a Drums poster I took off a notice board from Birmingham city university social sciences department when waiting for my mum to finish work. The only regret I have is when I move away for uni in (hopefully) 2 years, and having to intricately prise everything off the walls, pack them away and reapply them to my prison cell of a halls room, nostalgically reminiscing of a time when I had pastel pink walls and enough floor space to ultimately unsuccessfully practise doing the splits for 8 years. (the bird paintings came when I was on a school trip to france and my mum got bored)

ps. the square shaped hole is where one if my mums paintings was before being used for an exhibition, I haven't found anything suitable to fill the geometric gap yet

Nina's wall

I wish I could say there's some really deep meaning behind the posters on my wall but really all that's behind them is blu tack. But at the same time I guess certain posters can bring back memories like songs can such as my Swim Deep tour poster which reminds me of where I met one of my now best friends.

Avalon's wall 

I have always enjoyed having posters on my walls - when I was ten, I had a slightly creepy obsession with the youtuber charlieissocoollike, so I built my own 'wall of stuff' to match his. This summer, I decided that the jumble of pictures on my walls was pointless, outdated and ugly. I spent two days tearing them down and painting the wall white. I listened exclusively to Splashh and Dog is Dead and wore only my bra and faded denim cutoffs. Starting from scratch I made a 'music wall' - basically a shrine to my favourite bands and musicians. The pictures are a combination of ebay and tour posters, cutouts from NME, and A4 sheets printed secretly from my school's art room. There are a bunch of gig tickets, and awkward photos with band members, and just things that make me happy - photos taken on broken disposable cameras at gigs, polaroids with friends, pages ripped from magazines, photobooth pictures. I add things to it everyday, and it is very much still a work in progress. I am not even sure that it will ever be done!

Amy's Wall

I don't like my room. I never actually have. The first stages of my wall started in the summer of 2012 where I thought I was very cool having pictures of YouTubers and small, motivational yet cringey notes stuck up on every inch of my wall. I then started reading NME and a huge Jake Bugg obsession hit me like a swarm of flies; this urged me to have NME cutouts and front covers arranged on my wall in a messy fashion. My skin would be crawling if I had to re-live that wall and see the chaos of it. My next stage came quite recently, perhaps during summer this year, and is now the stage of my current wall. I decided that order and organisation satisfied me a lot so wanted to portray this on my wall. I built it around my Ben Howard poster which I bought at the Summer Stampede earlier this year. I have a small section dedicated to David Bowie as know that my obsession with Bowie will (fortunately) never leave. I bought The Beatles poster with no real reason at all; It just fitted in the gap that my wall once possessed. I only put the christmas lights up earlier this week but may have to keep them for the whole year until I need a new set. A few weeks ago, I decided that, yet again, I dislike my wall. I haven't tried to rearrange it as I simply do not have the effort. I plan to paint all my walls white so it feels minimalistic and clean; just how I want it. I probably won't change it for a while as I know my mind will surely return to the state that it were once in.

-Amy x

My Top 5 Christmas Covers

My Top 5 Christmas Covers

The Christmas spirit I once had has now drifted away leaving a very unfestive teenager who cant think of anything worse than a Christmas jumper. But the one thing I do enjoy about this time of the year is my favourite bands covering, (some) cringe worthy songs and making them my new un-guilty pleasures. Here are my top 5:

• ·       Jake Bugg - Happy Christmas (War is Over) -

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqZY26E3wWI

I’ve always loved Jakes voice and this particular song really suits it. He really does this often celebrated

song justice, I also love his incorporation of ‘Working Class Hero’ into this Christmas classic.

• ·      Peace - All I Want For Christmas Is You / Creep

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRugP8qaWu8

A mix of Peace and Radiohead what more could you want? Harrisons voice is so haunting and weird, you wouldn’t even think he could sing a Mariah Carey classic but he proves you wrong. Peace make this work (somehow) and the outcome is amazing.

• ·      She & Him - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree  

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gCd23Jrc0M

       Zooeys voice is definitely something special and suits this song perfectly. This cover can send you back 60 years, although She and Him have various Christmas covers this is by far my favorite.

• ·      Florence + The Machine - Last Christmas

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hAJIPn4ldY

I’ve never been a massive Florence + The machine fan, BUT this cover really stands out for me. They can make a 80s pop hit sound like meaningful modern ballad. Probably not the best to listen to after a Christmas break up as this could end in tears.

• ·      Angus and Stone – River

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czd5w7IGYIQ

Definitely the saddest of the covers, not the best to listen to if you’ve suffered a recent break up and want to get into the festive spirit. I’ve always loved Angus and Stones’ sound and this cover really shows their uniqueness and originality.

- Nina (@s0ultrippin)

Soundtrack of your Childhood

Memories are odd things. They can resurface at any time, with anything acting a trigger, a smell, a jacket, a place, a name, a taste. But perhaps most poignant is music - nostalgic moments entering your mind of walks in the park on Sunday afternoons, going to various relatives' houses, rainy Saturday mornings, walking home from school, that tv program your household drop anything for and watch religiously. The most embarrassing songs from childhood I find are the best. Documenting moments in your life that were so significant and important at one point that now serve as nothing more than laughable memories, like a tattoo encapsulating the person you once were, but now desperately try to suppress. The great thing about those 4 minutes of audio is that whenever, wherever you are, whomever you are with - when those opening bars are played, when the signature voice of that singer you once idolised is heard, you're instantly brought back, you're instantly the 5 year old on a drive with your dad again, you're instantly the 8 year old in your bedroom dancing to a pop party compilation cd again, you're instantly the 10 year old watching the youtube video over and over again mesmerised by what you're watching. as hard as you try, those songs cannot be suppressed.

Avalon~

Most of my childhood memories are of America, where I have spent almost every summer of my life. 'Suspicious Minds' by Elvis Presley, 'Rattled By The Rush' by Pavement, and 'Where is My Mind' by Pixies. The songs remind me of unjaded summers spent dancing in the kitchen of our tiny house in Maine, while morning sun crept in through backdoors left swung open. They remind me of ice-cream sandwiches eaten on the beach, of bonfires and sunsets, thunderstorms and drive-in movies. Of woods near my grandparent's house in Vermont, sandy swimsuits and bike rides to the store. Of family singalongs and falling asleep on the plane on the way back to England. These songs were the soundtrack to the summers of my youth, repeated endlessly on cheap record players, tinny radios of cars, and walkmans with complementary British Airways headphones
Tyler~
Growing up, I didn't really relate to the music my parents would play; Neil Diamond and The Eagles dominated my Sunday mornings courtesy of my father, whilst Westlife and Ronan Keating would resonate through the walls of our house whilst my mum cleaned. I don't feel nostalgic about this music, though: all I really remember are the songs I would play on my Walkman to drown out the noise my parents were playing.

Kate Bush's 'Babooshka' is definitely the first song that springs to mind; I remember seeing her for the first time on some kind of Greatest Hits countdown on the TV singing this song. Naturally, I didn't understand it at all back then: I was oblivious to her role as a musical pioneer and her lyrical content completely escaped me, but 'Babooshka' is a fun word for a seven year old to sing as he gallops around his bedroom. I dare say it's just as enjoyable for an eighteen-year-old. Unfortunately, Ms. Bush is the only example of taste I displayed as a child. Another glaringly obvious song from the soundtrack of my youth would have to be AllSaint's 'Rock Steady'. I think this was the first single I ever owned; it was either this, or the 'Cha Cha Slide'. I remember how amazed I was when I put the disc into my computer and saw the music video, in which the girls are clad in latex and use whips to rob a bank. Brilliant. It's difficult to pick a third song, but I think I'm going to choose Lily Allen's 'Smile'. That song, however crass, was my gateway drug into music. It was the first song that pushed me to buy (or rather, ask mum and dad for) the album. Of course, I wasn't old enough for 'Alright, Still', But I loved it nonetheless. And now, here we are.

Amelia~

My dad is a big led zeppelin fan and one of my favourites is 'Going to California'. It reminds me of the childhood feeling of having had a really great day playing in the sunshine, and also of the excitement of actually going to California when I was little.
My dad is also a massive Bob Dylan fan. By massive I mean he owns pretty much everything he's ever released on vinyl and has seen him live loads. 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' in particular reminds me of my childhood - my dad would always try and slip the lyrics into conversation wherever he could, sort of like an elaborate dad-style version of name that tune. It's a classic Dylan song that always makes me nostalgic for my childhood. My mum is a huge Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks enthusiast, and I've been lucky enough to inherit such a gene. 'Edge of seventeen' by Stevie Nicks is so brilliant to dance around to - an important factor when selecting a favourite childhood song. It's also on the soundtrack to the film School of Rock which was one of my favourite films as a kid. Amy~
Sunday Morning // Maroon 5 Judge me if you must but I love this song. It's one of those songs which does actually remind me of my childhood, not just a song from that time. Now I'm not looking for sympathy here, but when my dad died in 2009, I had Sunday Morning on repeat constantly as he loved it and we made up dance moves to all the words and danced round on (supposedly) sunday mornings. It's a very warm song, you could say, and has very inviting lyrics which I love. 

Don't You Want Me // Human League

My mum loves the Human League and I guess this is their most famous song so I would be genuinely shocked if anyone had not heard it before. When it was just me and my mum living in a flat about 8 years ago, this song would be sung at the top of our lungs. We would dance around the small hallways and into the rooms singing. This something that, now I am older, I miss. It's also just a massive #tune. (sorry for hashtag-it just seemed appropriate). Lastly is Fire Coming out of a Monkey's Head // Gorillaz - Me being a huge Blur fan, it probably wouldn't be surprising if a Gorillaz or Blur song popped up somewhere. I think my step dad introduced me to Gorillaz in about 2007 and I used to steal his iPod and listen to this song when he was out. This song tells a story as well as it being a song which I think is genius. It wasn't until about 2 years after discovering Gorillaz, that I found out they and Blur were connected. I think knowing this has made me love both bands more as they sound so different! I also love all of Jamie Hewlett's artwork and damn that bassline!
Molly~
Floating Away (In The Bathtub) // Toploader My dad always used to play this in the car when I was younger and I didn't know what it was (I had to ask my brother what 'that song about bubbles that dad used to play' was for this) but I always sang along to the first verse. After that it got too heavy for my young, innocent ears and I pleaded with dad to turn it off. Being the loving father that he is, he did just that. By The Way // Red Hot Chili Peppers Another of my dad's favourites (mum didn't tend to listen to much music), we had lovely family singalongs on our journeys to this song, although the STEAK KNIFE bit wasn't really to my taste. Oh how things have changed. Air Hostess // Busted I have the most fond memories of this band; me and my brother would spend hours listening to our Busted's greatest hits CD on repeat whilst playing Mariokart on our Nintendo 64, until mum sold it at a carboot. I don't think we forgave her for months afterwards. Rohanie~
When I was 11 my dad discovered youtube. Then followed prolonged evenings, turning into the early hours of him hunched at the computer systematically watching live footage of every single single he'd bought when he was a teenager, Johnny Appleseed was perhaps his most played. "Just listen those drums", of course none of us were interested, at 11 I was just at the end of my faux punk Avril Lavigne phase. But the more I listen to this song, the more I appreciate it, the more I realise how beautiful it really is, and how pertinent it was to my childhood. One of the best films I've ever seen was School of Rock, I remember the cinema trip with such detail. The last scene of the film features the cast playing It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) // AC/DC, which I fell in love with. We walked to Fopp and my dad put on the original on those cute headphones attached to this big machine they don't seem to have in music shops anymore and I listened and I fell in love further. That christmas i got AC/DC's discography and I've continued to be in love ever since. The last song I feel really grasps my childhood in a song is Sweetest Thing // U2. Yes U2 is a slightly embarrassing choice, but the lyrics "Blue-eyed boy meets a brown-eyes girl" might has well have been written for/about my parents. There's a weird warm sense of nostalgia surrounding this song when I listen to it, it's one of those tracks that was played in long car journeys, when everyone was fed up of feeling sick and of each other - yet this song managed to perfectly cut through put a subtle smile on everyone's faces. Laura~
Weird Al Yankovic // White and Nerdy

Weird Al Yankovic's parodies were played constantly through my late primary school years. In year 6 when it was raining and we couldn't go out onto the yard our teacher used to let us run the classroom and use the whiteboard to listen to music and watch videos S Club Juniors // Automatic High As a youngling I loved nothing more than singing S Club songs in the car, the Juniors being my favourite. This song was often played on repeat and I used to sit in the back, wind the window down and sing along - it must've drove my parents mad! Take That // Shine As many of you will know I'm a HUGE Take That fan. In year 6 when we ran the class on rainy break times I always requested this song, I don't know why - I wasn't a fan at the time but it was riding high in the charts and loved by the full class

Georgie~
I guess the songs that provided the soundtrack to my childhood are pretty much the same ones that are sound tracking it now. My parents were a big influence on the music I listened to and they bought me up on Nirvana, The Cure and various bands from the eighties. So my first song is In Bloom by Nirvana. I put it on my mp3 player and thought I was the coolest thing going. The next is Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus. This is such a great song. Words cannot describe the love I have for this song. I remember listening to it and thinking how awesome it would be to be this moody teenager. Now I’m 19 and this real life teenage dirtbag and l still listen to it all the time. I’ve saved the best till last because this song, no matter how cheesey you find it, still remains to be my all time favourite song. This song is like, my anthem or something. It’s so feel-good and amazing and is just the best. It’s the classic- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. Nina~
Yellow Submarine // The Beatles I've always been brought up around the Beatles when I was younger I remember me and my dads endless sing a longs on our way to the football to yellow submarine. I often changed the words to 'we all live in a yellow submarine we didn't like the colour so we painted it green a shark came along and now were all dead I found out it was a hammer head.' But it still has a sentimental feeling to me of innocence and a sense of homeliness about it (is that even a word) Sexbomb // Tom Jones The one artist that really made up the soundtrack of my childhood was Tom Jones. I have a fond memory of being in my extremely uncomfortable car seat singing sexbomb or as i remember it 'stinkbomb'. When i was around 5 my mum took me to my first concert which was to see Tom Jones the only strong memory I have from this is seeing lots of older ladies throwing their bras on stage and me asking my mum if i could throw my knickers on stage obviously the answer was no. Viva Las Vegas // Elvis Presley - I've always been brought up listening to Elvis he was even my first crush but this song used to really stand out for me. On my first visit to Las Vegas at the age of 4 we had this song blasting as we were driving down the strip my mum even recalls me saying 'is this what movie stars feel like'. Every time I listen to that i get memories of not only sunny Las Vegas but driving to the equally as glamorous Sutton listening to the best of Elvis. Calum~
When asked to think of three songs that soundtracked my childhood, a number sprang immediately to mind. I've grown up shrouded in music, as my parents and lodger are all mad about it. So here is three songs that I think were very "instrumental" in my upbringing. Downtown Train // Tom Waits Tom Waits is one of my favourite singers, to this day even. But when I was growing up, my dad used to constantly play his music in the evenings, which was brilliant. As a really young child, I was obsessed with trains so Downtown Train was my favourite of Waits’. I love this song particularly because of the upbeat guitar and Waits’ vocal delivery as well as the mention of the word “train”. Rock Me Amadeus – Falco
Falco’s one hit wonder Rock Me Amadeus was the first song I ever had an obsession with (and it wasn’t the last). It is mainly in German and when it was my favourite song I knew all the words to it, despite not speaking a word of the language. It is incredibly catchy and Falco is a very cool guy. I Bet That You Look Good On the Dancefloor – Arctic Monkeys When I was about 8, The Arctics came on Top of The Pops to play their debut single. As a young boy, this song mesmerised me- I loved it to bits. Then a couple of years later I saw the Arctic Monkeys headline Glastonbury (2007) as a 10 year old and it was one of the best performances I've ever witnessed. They were my first favourite band.

Secret EP // Boys

Boys – Secrets EP

A relatively new band on the music scene are Boys, a 3 piece band from West London their second EP – Secrets only came out a matter of days ago but is already building in popularity.

The first song shares the same name as the EP, Secrets:

It starts off with a synth intro almost reminding me of King City // Swim Deep but the song starts to have some prominent drums and Splashh – esque  vocals with a very mysterious feel with the repeated lyrics such as ‘you’re the only one that I want’. Soon enough the guitar takes over the vocals and really stands out for me in this track, the song keeps this same pattern throughout but does not get boring or repetitive.

Heartbreaker:

This track really reminds me of the strongly acclaimed Peace it has the same mix of uplifting guitar but once again the vocals add a real Splashh sense to it.  This song has a really catchy element within it and will be stuck in your head for days on end. The guitar riffs really stand out against the dark vocals therefore making this song a very weird mix of both uplifting and dark elements.

Bad Intentions:

This song has a completely different vibe to the previous tracks it starts off with a very distorted guitar sound and whereas with this one some early vocals coming in adding to the distorted unique sound of this song, the drums and guitar mix really reminds me of the duo Drenge. This slowly fades into a much more uplifting song and for me this is the best on the EP.

I managed to get a word in with Boys via twitter to get some idea on the inspiration for their EP:

1.     What or who were your main inspirations for the EP?                                                                            ‘The ep is mainly about love and friendships about us all in the band. Was good to write lyrics that meant a lot to us’

2.     How would you describe your sound?

‘For this ep we ditched the lofi sound of previous recordings. We wanted to take more time with it and come out with a clearer sound, we like to call our sound bedroom pop as we record in our bedroom.’

3.     Who are some of your favorite current artists?

‘At the moment were loving bands like diiv smith westerns pains of being pure at heart. They are big influences on us, also loving king krule at the min.’

4.     Where do you get your inspiration for your songs from (lyrics and music wise)?

‘We tend to write lyrics about how were feeling and what's happening in our lives. We also tend to try and create a sound which matches our mood. With this ep being quite dark compared to the summer vibes of our first ep’

Listen to Boys new Ep – Secrets here: http://boysuk.bandcamp.com/album/secrets-epBoys 

- Nina (s0utrippin)