'On Skinny Love, Vernon's vocals turn from a shiver to a raw, pained cry, eyes squeezed shut and body trembling as he loses himself in the song,' said The Guardian of Bon Iver's turn at The Scala last week. Gripping stuff, I'm sure; reallyrather was there but, in common with about 75 per cent of the crowd, could see precisely none of this. Memo to seated artists: Get tall stools or push the drum kit aside and sit up there. Apparently, Bon Iver were three in number and they certainly packed a wallop the pleasant album barely hints at. Quite rivetting at points, in fact, but completely invisible to all on the floor. Yes, yes, the music's the thing but still... Anyway, they've just been added to The End of the Road >bill where, happily, visibility is one of the many drawbacks you won't encounter.
Besides, reallyrather wasn't at The Scala to see the support, rather to commune once more with the joyous crushed romanticisms of baroque pop maestro Jens Lekman. In front of a long-sold-out packed house - how did this happen?! - Jens and his full band of Swedish Beauties delivered an unabashedly crowd-pleasing set of greatest, er, hits familiar to you all and unnecessary to list, surely? Given his sound no-one would really be surprised if Jens flounced out like a frilly peacock but he never does, of course, just a humble troubadour in an office shirt and slacks. But then you don't need to try hard with the visuals when your material's this classy. And fun, always fun...

What's this? Flickers of life from still criminally obscure UK singer-songwriter James William Hindle? Well, some NY live shows at any rate. Prospect Park is one of the great lost folk-pop records of the past few years; Town feeling wasn't far off the mark either. Most of his recording seems to happen in NY so hopefully he's hooked up with Gary Olson & co. and there'll be new stuff around pretty soon...
[do your hindle revision here]

Up ahead, hopefully a mooted Euro jaunt in July for Unwed Sailor will come to pass giving everyone who missed their Shoreditch show a couple of years back (ie pretty much everyone) the chance to bathe in their majestic noise. Johnathon Ford & co. are right back to form on latest release Little wars, not surprising since some of the tunes date back to the '02 glory of debut full-length The faithful anchor. Intervening releases explored a softer, more impressionistic palette lacking previous focus and, frankly, welly.
Little wars gives us nine wordless songs, pretty, powerful post-rock for the sweet-toothed. Intertwining electric guitars, subtle synths and, excellently, the guy behind the kit always keen to remind us he's a drummer not a percussionist. Top tunes include The garden ballasted by the deeply satisfying thrum of Ford's bass chords; the piledriving Aurora, Ford bridging the divide between pummelling background and angelic fore. And this blog's favourite Echo roads which reminds reallyrather of the gorgeous group sound of Wheat circa Hope & Adams, minus the singing but with added tambo. Crisp! So then Little wars [here hear], it's the album of the moment, right? Straightforwardly...

...no.

It will doubtless strike some as entirely apt that the soundtrack to Sex and the City the movie should feature a cut from the new album by The Weepies. Pigeonholing this duo's output as the musical equivalent of chick lit would be oh so easy but would also sell the sheer quality and craft on offer seriously short. Third release Hideaway sees Steve Tannen, Deb Talan and friends raising the bar yet again (and stunningly but fittingly crashing the Billboard chart on first-week sales).
Yes, this is undeniably pretty pastel-shaded adult-orientated pop rendered with deceptive ease. The legions of indistinguishable guys and girls with guitars out there bear testimony to the fact that easy this kind of stuff ain't. Hit the bullseye once and you're lucky; The Weepies do it time and time and time again. Both previous records have included several pitch-perfect compositions. Deftly self-produced once more, Hideaway delivers us another, ooh, lets see...
...four. At least. The gorgeous sad-eyed shimmer of opener Can't go back now is an ace straight out of the gate. The picked acoustics and tinkling keys furnishing Steve's lightly grainy lead vocal, Deb's felicitous harmonic shadings, the way the bass drops on the second verse.. it's precision calibration but crucially - and typically - the head never squeezes out the heart. Ditto the glistening Just blue which might serve as the album's mood signature. And a similar wisftful weariness permeates the title track, it's warm midtempo groove but a bright disguise.
Lyrically and sonically the touch is light but telling. It's all in the detail. Like the descending notes of How you won the war, drummer Frank Lenz's rimshots keeping things softly rolling; the Beatle-y guitar bridging the sad-toned shuffle Wish I could forget (this album's Riga girls?), the 'hey-we're-in-California' bounce of closer All this beauty . This last pair are just two of at least six others here which miss top marks by a whisker. reallyrather could go on and, of course, has been since, ahem, Feb 2004. Surefooted songcraft meticulously executed, this is open-hearted hand-in-glove stuff...

...and still routinely ignored by the UK music press (tho' The Independent understands). But last month US music mag Paste finally gave The Weepies some serious space and the full interview feature's now available here...

...in which Steve expresses a desire to meet Lindsey Buckingham. No surprise there - if they were ever to make Fleetwood Mac - the movie he'd be the perfect stunt double. And there are distinct F Mac overtones in some new material from Minnesota-based singer-songwriter Haley Bonar. Last seen by this blog a few years back cutting a dejected figure at the bar of The Windmill in Brixton (having bailed her solo spot supporting Charlie Parr), the spirit of Liz Phair also hovers over the sample tracks available from her June 12 release Big star. Something great is immediately appealing and, if there's much more like this, might not be overstating matters...
[haley on myspace]

...while the title track sounds like a swipe at the music industry machine, a jaundice possibly stemming from her experience with...Virgin, was it? Bonar's West Coast counterpart might be someone like Miranda Lee Richards whose own relationship with Virgin crashed 'n' burned after one record. Light of X, her belated follow-up to The Herethereafter, was touted for 'early Summer' but is still nowhere on the radar...
[miranda lee richards][myspace]

Ah yes, girls, guitars & harmonies, sometimes it's all you need:

[at home with sisters kina, misa & emily grannis singing death cab]