Biffy Clyro return, and four other songs you may have missed...

It's been a busy week at Discopop Towers (we were off to the Olympics on Tuesday, for starters) so the pile of new releases has been growing and growing, like a fairytale beanstalk of music.

As I work my way through, here are five of the tracks that stand out.

1) Biffy Clyro - Stingin' Belle
Bagpipes? Check.
Ball-breaking riffs? Check.
Unusual time signature? Check.
Removal of shirts? Check.
It's Biff-o-clock.



2) Mariah Carey - Triumphant (Get 'Em)
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from Mariah's comeback single, but Triumphant is surprisingly catchy. While the younger generation of R&B stars are rubbing themselves up against David Guetta like dogs in heat, Mariah is sticking with 'Get Your Number' hitmaker Jermaine Dupri for an old-school soul jam. There is also rapping.



3) Air Traffic Controller - You Know Me
Boston's Air Traffic Controller are the brainchild of singer-songwriter Dave Munro who used to be... yes, an Air Traffic Controller. Stick with what you know, kids. Stick with what you know.

You Know Me is a jangly indie version of Opposites Attract. Dave and bandmate Casey Sullivan sing through a shopping list of their differences, but in the end they declare: "a lot of folks can sing in harmony, but no-one will ever know me like you know me". Awwww.




4) Amelia Lily - You Bring Me Joy
Her boyfriend brings her joy; Amelia Lily brings us an exceptionally dull video. There is no justice.



5)Parade - Light Me Up
The much-predicted (by me) girl band resurgence of 2012 has failed to materialise. War Of Words have split up, the Girls Aloud reunion continues to be rumour, and Oh My! are more "Oh No!". So congratulations to Parade for persevering with the whole idea, and for doing it independently after they were dropped by their record label.

Light me Up is a frothy pop track, where the melody cruises slightly ahead of the drum loop, giving everything a propulsive thrill. Produced by Tim Powell (Round Round, Call The Shots, Sweet About Me) you can download it for free. It's worth it, too.

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Don't be afraid of Parade

Are you clamouring for an all-new girl band this year? No? Well, tough, because the record industry has decided that you are.

We've already heard from The Ultra Girls (endorsed by Kylie) and SoundGirl (Mis-Teeq 2.0). The US is giving us Bellevoxx (Lily Allen covered by the cast of Gossip Girl) and former cheerleaders Beach Girl5, who incorporate cheers into their music to genuinely terrifying effect.

Waiting in the traps are Parade, a quintet aimed squarely at The Saturdays' core audience. It's hard to get excited about a band as reductive and formulaic as this: Their sound rips off All Saints, their video rips off Wannabe.

I can't imagine anyone went into the studio with the mission statement: "Take the music of any moderately successful girl band of the last two decades, add nothing, shoot video, release, reap untold rewards." But that is apparently what has happened.

To be fair, Parade's song - Louder - isn't all bad. The chorus has a certain hands-in-the-air joie de vivre, and the frantic cowbell breakdown in the middle 8 is a welcome surprise.

What sinks the whole enterprise is the unintended irony of the second verse.

The song is about asking a DJ to turn the music up, because music always sounds better when it makes your diaphragm spasm involuntarily. Then, amidst the derivative 1990s R&B-lite production, Emily Biggs (who you might recognise from 2007 X Factor finalists Hope) sings, "Just imagine us now, with a little more power, we'll be thundering". And that is exactly what's wrong. If only someone had kicked this song right in the knackers, it could have been amazing.

Parade - Louder


Parade are currently on tour with Alexandra Burke (make of that what you will). Their official website hides in this corner of the internet.

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