One Beat - Best of 2013 Playlist

I now spend so much time speaking to other (much more capable) writers about new music, that I'm left with pretty much no time to actually keep up with my own writing. It's a small price to pay though, as this little playlist will show.

So here is a selection of a few of my favourite tracks that I've worked on from the past year. (Note: I've picked solely from my freelance roster rather than including the [PIAS] Cooperative stuff too, simply because otherwise it would go on for HOURS and HOURS. Expect that little round-up to appear online soon.) It was also strange to realise that I'd already written about so many of the bands long before I got the chance to work with them. Seems being a massive fangirl does pay off sometimes, who'd have thought?!

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The Growlers - One Million Lovers

Though their name has popped up on a few feeds recently, my knowledge of The Growlers' has been pretty limited - but all that is about to change. They've won me over with their far-out
slacker psych sounds, and are the much-needed winter warmer to what's been a pretty grim British January. Formed in Long Beach, California, way back in 2006, The Growlers blend surfing and experimentation, both in music and lifestyle. Now, with several moon cycles and a couple of hundred tunes behind them, Hung At Heart marks their latest release.

Having only occasionally tripped it across the ocean, it might come as a surprise to find out that this is The Growlers' third full record, and despite initial dabblings with high-profile producers it's as homegrown as they come, recorded by the band with no outsider input, in Costa Mesa.

After all sharing a warehouse right by Newport Beach, surfing, putting on bands and throwing parties, their shambolic sound and extravagant showmanship naturally took shape. These are warped pop songs; an occasionally unsettling circus of psychedelia, surf-rock and hints of country, fed with cryptic lyrics.

Check out 'One Million Lovers', taken from Hung At Heart --
 

Hung At Heart is released on 25th March via FatCat Records & the band are coming to the UK in April! By all accounts, things are gonna get freaky...

24th April - Shacklewell Arms, London, UK *just added*
25th April - Shacklewell Arms, London, UK
26th April - Green Door Store, Brighton, UK

http://www.thegrowlers.com/