Joshua Zero – Barbed Wire Eyelashes

An incredible debut. This song captures the frustrations and tenderness of those weird relationships where you’re not sure what’s going on and aren’t even sure if you want it to work but hey, you’re here now so you might as well try and have fun? When the strings swell over a the swirl of distortion towards the end of the song my heart lifts and makes me want to put the song on repeat.

Tugboat Captain – Be Strong, Smoke Less

A gentle reminder that, it’s okay not to be perfect delivered with soothing vocals and some lovely spacey synths. There’s a Frank Turner lyric where he shouts “We can get better, because we’re not dead yet!” Tugboat here capture that same idea but with a greater degree of empathy for our failures and how they shape us as people even as we try to get better.

Leo Cosmos – Take My Chances

Another incredible debut. Coming from a wonky Jazz background Anthony Phelan is back with new music in the form of Leo Cosmos, infectious pop al-la Tom Misch and Rex Orange Country. Leo Cosmos brings together some of the best in Leeds.  Jed Bevington on the violin stands out on this track but contributions from the likes of Mamilah’s Freddie Ricketts and Tight Lines’ Will Lakin help tie the whole thing together make this one of the most exciting projects to watch in Leeds in the next year. We’ve got an interview with Anthony coming out in the next couple of days so keep it locked…

Tranqua Lite – Hassle Heart

A softer outing from Tranqua Lite. This song takes a step back from some of the math-rock influences that can be seen on their earlier releases while still maintaining the complex rhythms that make them stand out. Polished, clean and easy to listen to without being basic: it’s a Tranqua Lite song. We’ve got an interview with the band coming out in the next couple of days so keep it locked…

If you like the Tugboat and Joshua Zero Tracks you can catch them at Book Club on the 28th, tickets here

There’s a little Spotify playlist here if you just want all four songs right now…

The post March 15th – Release Selections appeared first on Pretend.

In the main room was Necktr, an afro-beat-jazz-hip-hop infused nine piece who’s energetic live show has gathered them a devoted live following in Leeds where they rarely fail to sell out events they play. In the community room there was Fizzy Blood, a band you would think were just about ready to break out of the Leeds scene and go national with extensive support from BBC Introducing and Radio 1.

I went to both shows because Fizzy Blood and Necktr have two of the best live sets in the city and I wanted to see how the two shows would compare next to one another. To me, the result was clear on the night. The show with Necktr, Long Legged Creatures and Tall Talker had a younger, more energetic and more enthused crowd than Fizzy Blood, The Golden Age of TV and Household Dogs.

There could be nothing more to this than the fact that Fizzy Blood are no longer a new proposition to the Leeds audience. The band have been playing here for more than twice as long as Necktr (over four years) and are now bigger than a community band meaning that people going aren’t just going for a drunken dance to their mates band but to actually try and listen to their music.

On the other hand these shows could symbolise a definite change in the Leeds scene as the indie music that has dominated the commercial live music scene in this city for the last 15 years gives way to something all together jazzier.

The story of The Golden Age of TV is an interesting subplot to this tale.

GAOTV are a wonky indie band in which most of the musicians are also involved in the Jazz scene (See Garde Dog and Tight Lines) alongside the indie tracks they make with that project. It’s this crossing of genre boundaries and community of eclectic musicians creating music collaboratively across a wide range of genres that is particularly interesting in the Leeds scene.

The post Leeds: A Tale of Two Cities appeared first on Pretend.