Fixers - We'll Be The Moon

Nothing really comes close to the feeling when you discover a band; excitedly going through their discography, lapping up their EPs and then waiting impatiently for their album. I imagine this is what a lot of Fixers fans have been going through over the past year or so. The astonishingly brilliant ‘Here Comes 2001 So Let’s Head For The Sun’ showed that the Oxford band could write psychedelic pop to trump pretty much every other band out there (let’s largely ignore the Imperial Goddess EP) , and left a growing fan base anticipating more.

Almost a year later, and we have ‘We’ll Be The Moon’ which fails to fulfil the bombastic model which Fixers initially seemed to promise. Instead of everything being single material as out and out pop songs, the band have created an album heading in a slightly different direction. Obviously Fixers haven’t totally abandoned their original sound. Floating Up could easily have slotted in on one of their earlier EPs but it has been twisted into Yeasayer’s brand of pop which creeps up on you rather than grabbing your attention straight away. In fact a lot of ‘We’ll Be The Moon’ is comparable to Yeasayer. The rainforest noises which littered ‘Odd Blood’ can be heard on Iron Deer Dream, another cut which reminds the listener of what Fixers are actually capable of.

World Of Beauty is a psychedelic journey reminiscent of Animal Collective while Crystals and Good Night show off all the Beach Boys comparisons the band have been receiving. Good Night in particular ends the album entirely differently to how it began, with not a synth in sight. However some of ‘We’ll Be The Moon’ is simply mediocre. Tracks like Alexandra and Dais Beauty fail to capture the imagination and end up being boring and easily passed by, which contrasts to the fact that when they’re at their best, Fixers demand attention like few other bands can.

Whether Fixers didn’t want to conform to what everyone expected of them, or if they generally felt led away from the music they used to make, I doubt we’ll ever find out. Maybe they simply didn’t have enough time to write the songs for this album. Either way it’s a shame that Fixers didn’t quite deliver on what they could have been, but I guess they did set themselves quite high standards. Luckily the highlights on this record really shine through, promising that there's always the future for Fixers.

7.1

Jessy Parker Humphreys 

Fixers - Iron Deer Dream

Fixers' debut EP (our favourite of last year no less) ‘Here Comes 2001 So Let’s All Head For The Sun’ was released last year, and showcased the Oxford-based band’s crisp and captivating sound. Now the group have definitely been given the perfect opportunity to present their fresh sound with many dates coming up on their tour. 

‘Iron Deer Dream’ is a very nicely packaged song, and emits what Fixers are all about. We are greeted with singer Jack Goldstein's vocals which sound like a mix between Animal Collective and Lostprophets. Thanks to the great vocal range of the whole band and the thick layering of the music, Iron Deer Dream is a head mover for sure. In addition, the counter-melodies in the chorus make the song very immersive. It is difficult to make a categorisation with this track, as with many other songs by Fixers.

Overall a great tune, and will hopefully see Fixers get a shot at some more festivals coming up this year. With songs like these, there is no doubt that everyone will be smothering their faces in cereal-based products in homage to the accompanying music video, which is similary excellent and imaginative.

Adam Laurence

Top 5 EPs of 2011

The end of 2011 is fast approaching, so what better time to look back on the best music to be released in the past year? This list looks at the EPs that got us here at Sound Influx excited and enticed us furthur into the worlds of these excellent artists.

                     5. Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High

This transitional EP between excellent fuzzy debut 'I Will Be' and the rather disappointing 'Only In Dreams' is a short but sharp treat for the ears. The scuzzy guitar riffs and bratty girl group attitude still rings out all over the 4 tracks on the EP. Title track 'He gets me high' is a standout, combining surf rock sensibilities with a laid back Best Coast stoned-out-of-their-eyeballs vibe. Elsewhere hints towards the more morbid lyrical themes explored on 'Only In Dreams' are explored on slow burner 'Take care of my baby' and a rousing cover version of the most quotable Smiths song 'There is a light that never goes out' no doubt capitalising on the runaway success of indie-cringefest film (500) Days of summer which popularised Morrissey's famous ode to being run over by a double decker bus.

                     4. Sissy & The Blisters - Let Her Go

Guildford based Sissy & The Blisters are by no means an original band. But with songs as good as the ones on this EP, they don't even need to be. Plucking elements from Garage-Punk bands like The Dead Kennedys and Indie poster boys The Vaccines & The Horrors equally, it's a delightful mix of growling instant fix pop songs. 'Got No Home' features Faris Badwan mirroring vocals lamenting over being 'So damn tired of being surrounded by you young people' over swathes of organ and backgrounds hollers of "Hey Hey!". While title track 'Let Her Go' sounds like a more desperate and exciting version of 'If You Wanna' by The Vaccines. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this EP is that it is their debut as a band. Exciting things lie ahead no doubt.

                          3. Toro Y Moi - Freaking Out

This EP is an excellent example of an artist proving all fans that doubted them completely wrong. Following a lukewarm reception for sophomore effort 'Underneath the pine' (which I personally think is genius) 'Freaking Out' well and truly set the record straight for Toro Y Moi fans. It took the funk from 'Underneath the pine' and combined it with the sheer dancability of 'Causers of this'. Opening track ' All Alone' sounds like the best disco in the world on acid, while 'Saturday Love' is affectingly open yet wonderfully easy to move to. 'Freaking Out' is a definitive reminder if need that Chaz Bundick is one of the most talented and innovative musicians in his field.

                          2. Alex Turner - Submarine

Despite being released all the way back in January, Alex Turner's Submarine EP has held up beautifully throughout the seasons. As well as being an EP packed full of wintery love musings, it's also the soundtrack to the independent film of the year, Submarine. Whilst Arctic Monkeys' Suck It And See was one of the hugest disappointments of the year, Alex Turner's solo career has shown that Turner is one of the most talented songwriters of our generation and the EP compliments the themes of Submarine as it shows that some teenagers think about love pragmatically and should probably have more fun instead of constantly worrying about the consequences.

   1. Fixers - Here Comes 2001 So Let's All Head For The Sun

I'm going to come right out and say, not only have Fixers made the EP of the year but they are quite possibly one of the most exciting bands to come out of the UK in the last decade. I may be slightly biased because I am pretty much in love with this band, but 'Here Comes 2001...' is mind-blowingly diverse and brilliant. 'Another Lost Apache' features deceiving barbershop harmonies at the start before erupting into a glorious blast of noise with vocals recalling singer Jack's all time hero Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. 'Crystals' is a turgo charged nugget of pop gold, sounding like what MGMT should have done on their 'Congratulations' album. Closer 'Passages/Love In Action' is a completely bonkers exploration of rhythm in which the band plee in unison "We are the sun, we are the moon" over and over untill you believe them.

Alongside excellent yet criminally overlooked singles 'Swimmhaus Johannesburg' and 'Iron Deer Dream' Fixers single handedly out classed every other new band in the UK and it is clear that Jack Goldstein has more ideas in one song than many frontmen do in their whole discographies. With another EP released in Decemeber, with 2 already highly addictive cuts released online, it's surely only a matter of time before these musical geniuses take over the world.

By Toby McCarron

Fixers - Majesties Ranch

Of all the shit new indie bands coming through this year trying to revive things that don't need to be revived (ahem, Viva Brother...) what a breath of fresh air Fixers are.

Here are a band that have a lot of the right influences (Brian Wilson of the beach boys being a large one) but refuse to be put into any kind of box, and turn influences into something distinctively new and exciting. The joy in fixers' craft is that no two songs sound the same. Majesties ranch is one of their most poppy songs to date, and shows much more confidence in being unashamedly grandiose. The vocals are clearer, the guitars are louder and the choruses are bigger than anything they've done before. The thrust of previous single 'Crystals' and the oddity of 'Swimmhaus Johannesburg' are echoed, but not replicated. Jack's vocals are clearer, and while still resembling Animal Collective slightly, are infectious as he details his "small detachment by the sea"  before exploding into "you had it all in her majesties ranch" over  sun-drenched harmonies and driving guitars.

In a world of mediocre indie, Fixers triumph as one of the most exciting new bands around and if you're not already looking forward to their new EP 'Imperial goddess of mercy' than you bloody well should be. 


By Toby McCarron

Fixers - Interview

Fixers are a band getting a lot of the right attention at the moment, they come from Oxford home to a thriving music scene of late. Although you wouldn't know it, Fixers are a very diverse and hard to pinpoint band, comparisons were previously made to the psychedelic MGMT and even to The Beach Boys, but with new single 'Swimmhaus Johannesberg', all these labels were shoved aside as they produced a song almost as worthy for Eurovision as any of Hurts' output. We quizzed Fixers on everything from the new single to alien invasions;

Your new single Swimmhaus Johannesberg is somewhat of a departure from your recent EP, is this to shrug off anyone pigeonholing Fixers' sound?

We were all listening to 90s dance and italian disco the week we recorded it.These are the kind of fleeting obsessions that last about a week for us.

The new single also sounds a bit Eurovision, are you fans?

I like ABBA.

Your new video for 'Swimmhaus...'just got released, what's the story behind it?

It is fairly subjective, it does have a narrative but it's a correlation between two artists, i.e the director Lucy Bridger and ourselves so it wouldn't feel fair to profess any kind of understanding.

Its fun, the pure naivety of everything that occurs in the video adds this beautiful innocence - its a treatment that is very representative of our band aesthetic, our headspace at the time was that we wanted to evoke fun without any cynicism.

I really didn't want to appear in the video, I couldn't see the virtue of juxtaposing my face with quite possibly the most beautiful Japanese girl ever.

It was always going to be a losing battle, I still love it though.

Oxford has a big reputation for up and coming bands at the moment, what sets fixers aside from these other bands?

I dunno, I haven't really seen any other Oxford bands.

Its great that Oxford is cultivating so much music though, that can only be a really positive thing.

Having people from Oxford who enthuse about championing the cities music culture has been integral to us and we are indebted to them in many ways.

We are friends with Chad Valley and a few other bands, its a shame but we only really get to see each other when we play shows or festivals together.

In terms of music taste, what have you been listening of late, and has there been anything that has influenced your work?

Do you prefer big studio productions or a more hands on DIY style of recording?

I like DIY in a big studio.

Its a mix of the two and it usually comes about when big record labels pump money into bands/artists that they realise are popular but they themselves can't quite see the artistic value in.

They are like cats in headlights, they panic and send bedroom pop artists into grand studios and wind up with this overtly exuberant and beautifully misguided collision of aesthetics. 

Its messy but fascinating.

Your EP "here comes 2001..." seems to be influenced by extra-terrestrial elements, do you think there is any chance of an alien invasion?

Yeah, I guess.

What has been your favourite album or body of work from any other artist so far in 2011?

Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact.

I'm looking forward to Brian Wilson's Disney record too.

What is next for Fixers as a band?

We are all going to sleep as caterpillars.

Hopefully we will wake up as butterflies.;

By Toby McCarron