Four By Four More – Compliation

• 3rd Apr 2008

I love record companies who like a laugh. The refreshingly young, not-for-profit Broken Tail Records certainly do, joking on the back of their latest sleeve about chicken pies, sexy chat-lines and skater slang. Yet for all their cheery witticisms reminding you music is there to be enjoyed, there are some seriously good tunes in this little package.

Following the original Four by Four nine months ago, the DIY Label of the Week (according to Huw Stephen’s Radio 1 show) is back. Having “plucked four more grapes from the vine of excellence”, they are ready to shower you with their findings.

Starting with Kings and Queens, a punchy indie number by Tripwires, the compilation gets off to a cracking start. Tripwires are a young band, having formed in summer 2007, though the band have been playing together in various guises since they were teenagers. This youthfulness simply gives them an extra energy, and makes Kings and Queens a serious indie dance floor contender.

Next up, Project A-Ko with Here Comes New Challenger! in their distinctive grunge-indie that immediately puts you in mind of The Pixies and Sonic Youth. Harsh guitars prowl beneath a harmonious boy-girl vocal, building up to a smashing, crashing finale. Forming from the ashes of nineties Scottish band Urusei Yatsura, who released three albums and recorded a John Peel session, Project A-Ko are clearly made of promising stuff. Look out for the debut album due later this year.

Slowing down for the third track, the haunting Say Who You Are by To The Barricades concentrates on creating atmosphere with high reverb, gentle vocals and an addictive chorus. Keyboardist and front man Richard Goodspeed assures us, “I’m not an illusion”, before the guitars slowly build the song up to a majestic ending. Having formed in 2005, To The Barricades have received radio coverage with Say Who You Are, counting Steve Lamacq (Radio 1) amongst their fans, and look set to reach massive heights.

And finally, Ben Marwood’s Question Marks? ends the compilation on a high note. A fast- paced acoustic with a soft vocal style, and a cheeky chorus about how Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. stole his sound, (which the sleeve assures us is not what he really thinks, it’s just a chorus) this pop-folk number shows Marwood’s noticeable talent.

Produced by Mr Fogg, who wove the beautiful strings into the chorus and added the question mark to the title, Question Marks? has real radio potential, and is very, very catchy.

There’s only twelve minutes of music from Broken Tail Records here, and you can’t help wanting more, but it’s a brilliant collection by a genuinely independent company with their heads and hearts in the right place.