Alarms And Surprises

Not one, but two Singles Of The Week to compensate for the paucity of PV content so far this year. The Boxer Rebellion have been a band I've happened across on record and live here and there, but recent single 'Evacuate' raises their game several levels, probably the best new rock song for racing the pulse since Kings Of Leon's 'Sex On Fire'. Their second album 'Union' can be downloaded via ITunes for £4.74 which represents excellent value-for-money during the economic downturn, offering as it does widescreen mainstream guitar choons with post-rock trimmings that complement but never obscure the melodic flow of the songs. Nothing on it however quite matches the adrenalised momentum of 'Evacuate'...



If you're looking for something less obvious and mainstream, Fever Ray the new solo project from Karin from The Knife offers considerably more slower-burning thrills if taster single 'If I Had A Heart' is an accurate reflection of the rest of the album. The intriguing video certainly adds to the overall unsettling vibe.



Finally, another budding offshoot worth keeping an eye on is Lovers Love Haters which has Deborah Cohen transplanting The Organ sound into her new project with impressive results (found via Totally Twitterpated).