Brand new music from up-and-coming artists

SWMRS – ‘Figuring It Out’
‘Figuring It Out’: a powerfully raw, teeming with energy and angst from Californian surf-punk band SWMRS (pronounced “Swimmers”). It perfectly sums up the pressures of growing: trying to understand what we are doing with our lives, where exactly we should be, and who we are. As university students, I think this is an anthem we can all relate to! Lines such as “I drink away my demons,” and “I think I found Jesus,” summarise many blurry Friday nights or sleep-deprived Monday mornings when the stress of making adult decisions is all-consuming and verging on mental breakdown territory. My advice: listen to SWMRS instead! Debut album, Drive North, is released February 2016 via Uncool Records.
Abbie Neale

Yung Fern – ‘Slow’
Tacoma-based rapper Yung Fern released his third tape, Instinct, at the beginning of this month, marking his best effort to date. ‘Slow’ features a verse from Shane Fae, as well as a Crimewave feature, with production by Ghoul. Yung Fern, Ghoul and Crimewave are all members of Boiler Boyz Ent: one of the most interesting projects around right now. Yung Fern’s flow has improved dramatically since previous tapes offering and &death, holding his own far better than on previous Crimewave collaboration ‘On God’. This is significantly aided by the track’s fantastic production, complimenting Fern’s vocal style incredibly well. Add two brilliant features and it’s easy to see why Yung Fern is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Will Copping

Chasing Creation – ‘Fly By The Night’
‘Fly by the Night’ is a ready-made crowd pleaser. A regular opener for the Norwich-based indie rockers, its thundering drum intro gets the audience ready to jump and dance their hearts out, before lead singer Ethan Keens-Soper screams the opening line, really kicking the song into high gear. The pace is relentless, creating the kind of rhythm you can’t help but move to. You’re constantly waiting for an opportunity to let loose, and this track provides them in abundance. It is perfect evidence of the band upping their game and their understanding of catchy song structure, which has attracted the attention of rock band Young Guns, who they opened for on October 16th.
Molly Willis

Seán McGowan – ‘Temp-per’
The tried and tested ‘angry bloke with a guitar’ is almost a rock cliché. But Southampton-born Seán McGowan brings something charmingly refreshing to the table. His EP, Look Lively, offers the warts-and-all of being twenty-something. Final track, ‘Temp-per’, reflects on the catch-22 of youth employment: “We’re work shy, we’re lazy”…”what use is a temporary contact, when I’m permanently skint?” It’s not romantic, nor entirely poetic. But it’s heartfelt – the closest thing to political commentary in some time. Likewise, after seeing Seán pull pints at a local haunt, it’s by no means written from an ivory tower, making it all the more compelling.
Ollie Ship

Fat White Family – ‘Whitest Boy On The Beach’
Beginning with a dull, distorted drone, then the pitter patter of drums, catchy surf guitar riffing, and finally an enormous slice of electro which propels everything along, ‘Whitest Boy on the Beach’ never lets up. Lias Saudi’s vocals range from a manic, whispered falsetto to incandescent, foreign-sounding screeches. Think dirty Django Django. Truth be told, Fat White Family are already rather more quietly puffing on a cigarette, enwrapped in one another’s sweaty limbs and sodden bedsheets, than still up-and-coming. That’s not to say they’ve had their lot of fun though – Songs for Our Mothers will be album number two. Expect multiple orgasms.
Stephen Paul

The Magic Gang – ‘Jasmine’
Marking a move from their deeper, electric-heavy early tracks, The Magic Gang bounce back with bright, gentle guitar riffs – or are they trumpets? A sensitive pitter-patter of handclaps and flittering cymbals, ‘Jasmine’ perfectly evokes a lazy Sunday morning: sunbeams drifting through closed curtains, with delicate, floating vocals reminiscing the sunkissed early work of long-time tour partners (and huge fans) Swim Deep. These Brighton boys offer, in essence, a sad track, with ‘Jasmine’ told: “Without this heart of mine, you’ll be doing fine”. It’s charming indie-pop at its finest, with a heartfelt chorus that’ll get crowds chanting just as loudly as their dancier tunes do.
Jess Mason