Band Of Skulls review the biggest new tracks

Band Of Skulls review new music ahead of 2016 tour

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A soulful spectrum of rock, blues and beyond - the noise made by Band Of Skulls is a pretty almighty, towering wall of sound, taking in everything from the tender to the most brutal and everything in between.

It's this rich tapestry of sound that makes up Band Of Skulls, so you'd guess that they have pretty eclectic tastes. That's why this week, we gave Matt Hayward, Russell Marsden, Emma Richardson to take it in turns and try their hand at reviewing the week's biggest new tracks - taking on everyone from The Last Shadow Puppets to Kanye West via The National and Smashing Pumpkins.

Band Of Skulls release their fourth album By Default on 27 May, 2016. They'll also be appearing at Kendal Calling and Forgotten Fields festivals this summer.

Emma

The Last Shadow Puppets - 'Miracle Aligner'
"A relaxed confident cool glossy sheen of a song with Alex Turner's lyrical style in full effect. Big swooping strings and that Phil Spectre influence coming through again. They seem to be a good team these two, so looking forward to hearing the rest of the record."

The National - ‘Morning Dew' (Grateful Dead cover)
"Always interesting to hear how a band have interpreted another band's song, and The National have definitely brought the atmosphere to this version. It's brooding, dark and expansive and quite cinematic. His vocal has a great effortless delivery akin to Mark Lanegan or Richard Hawley."

Twin Peaks - ‘Butterfly'
"A little slice of garage pop from these Lynch fans. Channeling that 60’s garage band sound of The Sonics and The Ready Men, his vocal has it by the bucket load. It sounds like their gigs would be sweaty riots."

Holy Fuck - ‘XED Eyes'
"I like how this band make interesting danceable electronic music without laptops. I like their style and again it makes me want to hear more of their music."

Matt:

Smashing Pumpkins - 'New Song'
"Billy Corgan at an open mic night in Iceland. It doesn't do a lot for me, I liked the Smashing Pumpkins, once upon a time. Not into this slow acoustic offering. Best avoided is my advice."

White Lung - 'Kiss Me When I Bleed'
"Pretty heavy stuff. Again not my sort of thing. Not really a pop-punk fan. Im sure there's lots of people that will disagree but I guess that's a personal taste thing. It's very well put together, the singer has a powerful voice, but I think I'll again sit this one out."

Kanye West - 'Ultralight Prayer'
"I guess most people have long made up their minds on Kanye. Lots gets written about him, it's not going to change much. Personally I liked him a while back, 'Jesus Walks' at Dave Chappelle's Block Party is amazing (youtube it), but when something/someone gets that level of attention, I tend to turn off."

Russell:

Pet Shop Boys - 'Happiness'
"Here's the new single by the Pet Shop Boys, One of Britain's best electronic exports. You can argue they were pioneers,or musical tastes have veered back towards them but here in 2016 it's probably both. So perfect timing to show your imitators how it's done. 'Happiness' is a mixture of country and western and modern EDM, and is not what anyone was expecting. Like a weird dream everything is not quite where you left it. Brave yet odd, as they've always been. Wild West end girls."

Phoria - 'Evolve'
"Straight into 2016 and a new band to my ears, Phoria's mix of folktronica and falsetto vocals offer up a beautiful slice of considered folktronica. The vocal reminds me of of Sigur Ros, but without the mystery of an unknown language. And perhaps some more extreme moments like SR, would make this particular landscape more of a expert challenge. Could be more volcanic."

Yeasayer - 'Gerson's Whistle'
"Like three songs in one, perhaps ten. This song romps around like it owns the place, like the Rolling Stones in full psychedelic mode it pits bass and drums against a vocal that's pretty intoxicating. The pop art influence on the cover fits the attitude of the music, no rules and more is more. Whatever is fuelling this party I'll have some. Beggers banquet belief."