Life In The Backseat

No Video

B-side: Why The Sale? By Actress Hands

myspace.com/actresshands

Buy: iTunes - vinyl

Every morning I wake up, I'm dealing with a different person
There's not a day feels the same as the last round here
And living out of my pocket, I never thought you'd grasp the concept
You got it in to your head there was no other way

Push all your windows open wide
You'll never know the world from inside
It could all be over and you'd never have known

HELL! I just want to be happy, but never thought I'd leave that life behind
And at the end of the day, you were only ever a friend
And so when you're on your way out, when all of this is coming to an end
When the curtains have closed: won't you think of me then?

Push all your windows open wide
You'll never know the world from inside
It could all be over and you'd never have known

Life in the backseat hurts, when you're strapped in and you just want to learn
All you can do is sit back and get through x2

soundsxp.com Life In The Backseat is a blast of melodic guitar pop, with a touch of Guided By Voices at times. Flip it over for another Brighton band (Alex White is on guitar), Actress Hands. Why The Sale? sounds like different stages of Teenage Fanclub's development combined: the sharp Gene Clark-inspired jangle pop of the Grand Prix album and the swirly, almost shoegazing, guitar patterns of Everything Flows. Both are special favourites so this hits the spot.

ianchambers.blogspot.com First up we have The Electric Soft Parades offering 'Life In The Back Seat' - and it proves to be everything you could have hoped for, highlighting perfectly their wonderfully bastardised vision of pop music that they've been busy honing on the live circuit.

What we're treated to is a splendidly driving song - propelled along by quick-fire drumming, progressively choppy guitar chords, coupled with some clever complimentary keyboard melodies and electronic effects. Tom White's voice is also becoming more and more self assured - in this instance he handles the verses while letting brother Alex take centre stage for the harmony laded chorus.

Like a joyously upbeat clash between Guided By Voices and Magoo, it sounds nothing like anything the band have done or released so far, and is proof again if needed that by constantly evolving and exploring the musical landscape The Soft Parade aren't happy to simply plod along into musical mediocrity like so many others. Life in the back seat? Not for this lot anymore.

Flip things over and the fun continues thanks to 'Why The Sale' by the ever amazing Actress Hands - a lush slab of slightly jangly guitar pop, recalling a similar spirit to some of the C86 bands of the late 80's. Starting off as a mid tempo guitar strum, as the song progresses, so do the guitars, getting louder and nicely distorted, before a Dinosaur Jr / My Bloody Valentine like rock-out-finale. Or perhaps the band put it better themselves? "Loud shoegazey pop coupled to jazzed out country rockisms". Whatever it may be, it's certainly impressive, and is what Actress Hands are all about.