Reviews

Had this facility been available to John Lennon and co we may now regularly be celebrating the work of "Intimate of the Proto" or "Focussed Today of the Forgiven Phatty" rather than "The Beatles".

Of course, the use of such websites remains up to the conscience of the individual 21st Century band: although some bands out there have names formed from such random sounding words, that I suspect some form of assistance may have been found.

The New Socials

Social Workers

Cheltenham-based The New Socials may be one such example. Their music is a breed of fast moving indie treading the well worn path set out by the Arctic Monkeys, The Pigeon Detectives and the plethora of other definite article wielding bands which are filling the pages of the NME this week.

There's a wire-y, almost low-fi sound to the guitars as they work their way over furious punked up drums, while the lyrics are spat out through a mockney filter.

Girls and Boys

There are currently six New Socials offerings available for your listening pleasure on the band's MySpace site.

The songs themselves revolve around a world of girl-loving and self-loathing. In the best songs, the two themes are inextricably linked.

"Letters" speaks of writing "you a letter 'cos I'm too scared to say how I feel on the telephone" while "Dance With Chance" tells the story of a 22 year old's confusion by the advances of a 16 year old girl.

The theme of fear and loathing in Cheltenham Spa also appears in songs such as "Bedroom Blues" and "The Last Day" while the disintegration of a friendship after "she stole your heart" is charted in "Lost".

The New Socials

Style and Substance

The New Socials have an exciting, fast-paced style guaranteed to please any crowd at a live gig. And with the amount of gigs they have lined up in the near future, such a statement can easily be put to the test.

While the style of the music is somewhat derivative, the band carry off the songs with enough charisma and raw energy, not to mention imaginative lyrics, to make up for any lack of originality in the core sound.

You can hear the track "Bedroom Blues", along with other standout tracks from local Gloucestershire acts on the latest online BBC Gloucestershire Introducing Show.

Further tracks can also be found on the band's MySpace page.

______________________________________

If you're involved in the Gloucestershire music scene and you would like Stephen to review your music, please feel free to get in touch. Either email gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk or send your album and a bit about yourself to:

CD reviews
BBC Gloucestershire Online
London Road
Gloucester
GL1 1SW

______________________________________

This article is an external contribution and expresses a personal opinion, not necessarily the views of the BBC.