The playlist – new bands: Swim Mountain, Joey Fourr, Magic Man and more

Swim Mountain - Dream It Real

Swim Mountain are a four-piece from London whose eponymous six-track debut EP, recorded for the label Hey Moon in London and Los Angeles, draws on “60s studio ethics and modern production techniques … the harmony-heavy songwriters of the 60s and 70s (Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone, Rundgren, Nilsson and the Wilson brothers) and the bossa nova chord progressions of Brazilians Tom Jobim and João Gilberto”. For once the press release hasn’t flung in a few favourites to catch one’s attention: a track such as Dream It Real has the breathless baroque beauty of the Zombies, Ticket goes by in a psych blur while Nothing Is Quite As It Seems is like Ariel Pink mediating between Brian Wilson and Syd Barrett. Six tracks just doesn’t seem enough – can’t wait till they do an album. For fans of Stereolab and High Llamas.

Joey Fourr - My Dolphins

He used to operate as plain old Joe Pendergast, as a member of Kingston upon Thames math rockers Tubelord. Now he’s reborn as Joey Fourr, an eccentric type in a platinum blond wig whose April 2015 debut album To The Floorr is said to have been recorded under the influence of Lizzy Mercier Descloux, Mykki Blanco, Jonathan Richman and Michael Jackson. It doesn’t quite sound that amazing – you know, alt rap meets proto-punk produced by Quincy Jones for 1981 ZE Records – but he’s had a good go on what is a quite striking mess of psych, J-pop, twinkly indie, and wonky funk, a neat (that is to say, daft) match for his askew visuals.

Magic Man - Paris

Magic Man are a five-piece from Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts whose music is very much along the lines of outfits such as Passion Pit – ie synthy Americans who got a lot of blog action circa 2008-2010. But that’s okay because their surging synth-rock never gets old. Magic Man have been going for a while but they’re being pushed as a new band for the release of their single Paris on 1 March, ahead of their major label debut album, Before the Waves, in May. Expect lots of soaring melodies and surging synth riffs that communicate hope and joy – think New Order if they’d never been Joy Division. Expect also production from Alex Aldi, who has worked with the excellent Holy Ghost! and – remember them? – Passion Pit.

Loris - Yeah

Loris are a new electro-pop trio from Northern Ireland. Their debut single I’ve Been Quiet came out in December 2013 and by January 2014, were featured in the Best of British Unsigned Bands. Last July they released their second single Do It Right, accompanied by a video of them smiling, putting paid to the idea of them as moody indie kids. Really smiling. Have a look at that video: the singer is positively beaming, dancing, having (whisper it) fun. It’s like they were going to be Chvrches and ended up deciding to be the Corrs, or something. Anyway, on Yeah they seem to have learned their lesson, because they’ve gone for solemn and dim-lit in the video, and the music is brooding and darkly melodic, like a depressed version of Magic Man, and the singer appears to be crying. Still, Loris appear to have every prominent radio broadcaster in the land – Fearne Cotton, Scott Mills, Greg James, Huw Stevens – playing it, so hopefully she’ll cheer up soon.

Marriages - Skin

Marriages are a Los Angeles-based group whose powerful sound has been likened to “PJ Harvey teaming up with Tool in 1995 to cover Mazzy Star”. And if you find that intriguing, just wait, because they have their debut album, Salome, released on 7 April. It had better be varied because you wouldn’t want it all to sound like Skin. One is enough: on said track, they seem to have compressed all their goth-stoner-postrock-shoegaze-metal influences in one almighty heavy drone, the only light such as it is, being the blank wail of its singer. All nocturnal interludes and epic surges, it features crushing riffs, battering drums, the faint aroma of 80s All About Eve, and the sense that here are young people who spend an unhealthy amount of time hanging around graveyards.