We like girl music. Let us tell you about some.
Hannah Rockcliffe and Sophie Madeleine Ball, or Rocky and Balls are a super cute comedy music duo who’ve previously been featured on the likes of Boing Boing, Ukulele Hunt and Bearduary. They’re as interesting and eclectic as that blog roll suggests.
With songs like I Heart You Online and Gaysong they’re well worth a listen and hopefully just getting started.
In a similar vein Peggy Sue are a Brighton band comprised of Rosa Rex, Katy Klaw and a man named Olly who plays the drums who we found quite by accident some months ago. Their anti-soul/anti-folk sound has remained a staple of our car music since then and we highly recommend them. A sample of their music is available here as are instructions on how to download their latest EP.
Hooray! There’s a new La Roux video. This time it’s the turn of “I’m Not Your Toy” for the single treatment and it’s very enjoyable. Of course I would say that since I think I’m in love with Elly Jackson.
And finally, but most importantly, Polly Scattergood! Brit School graduate and ethereal ingenue that she is her debut album sounds like a nervous break down at an afternoon picnic and therefore it’s no surprise that a parallel has been frequently drawn between her and Lewis Carrol’s Alice.
Of course that seems to happen almost every time a young woman writes an experimental or interesting song but with her blond hair, obstinate pixie face and blue blue eyes you can’t help but notice a certain similarity.
If you’ll direct your attention here you’ll be able to watch the video for her single “Please Don’t Touch” — a catchy, poppy but individual number that completely disarmed me by the first chorus.
You’re not going to be the first person to point out that she sounds like Kate Bush. Rob Da Bank already got to that comparison on November 10th of 2008 and ruined it for the rest of us. It’s lucky then that the rest of the album is stuffed full with moments where you’ll find yourself trying to place the musical influence behind her songs and piecing together the landscape of her brain.
Not for everyone (according to certain reviewers — personally I’d recommend it to anyone ever) Polly Scattergood will take you on a weird and sometimes unsettling journey through a space often uncharted by members of the female pop scene. There’s more than a hint of genuine sexuality, instability and darkness that will often leave you wondering what exactly it was you just heard and why you don’t hear it more often. Honest, vulnerable and yet somehow strong if this album doesn’t remind you a little of acts like Björk, Tori Amos or Bat For Lashes you’ve probably never listened to them.
And if you decide, like I’m sure some of you will, that that is not a good thing then you are wrong.
Polly Scattergood is a gem of a performer and her album is a breath of fresh air in an already stagnating female led music scene.