A few words from the British press about Hoverfly... Look out for features in Artrocker and Bizarre next week.

Backlash


The Inconsolables - Hoverfly
The follow-up to their debut EP, Hoverfly sees The Inconsolables strike gold. Three songs of dirty, fuzzy, scuzzy, jerky, jaunty energy, it’s kind of punky, kind of funky, kind of a little bit of everything and a little bit like nothing else at all.

Hoverfly buzzes and spasms like a moth near a light-bulb, charged with a jolt of pain and pleasure each time it gets too close. 
Hydra is equally as fun, merging past and present (and maybe even future) influences together to create an infectious, high voltage, adrenalin charged anthem of oddball vocals, pump organs and an almost orgasmic crescendo. Surf Rats is, as the title suggests, a frantic romp that sounds like it’s from outer space that finishes off this single rather splendidly. Original, fun, a little disconcerting and highly recommended.

Reviewed by: Mischa Pearlman

is this music?

The Inconsolables - Hoverfly (Jealous Tony)

Hell yeah! Isn't music fun? This busy and frantic single certainly is, and if there' any justice in this often- pretentious musical world of ours, 'Hoverfly,' will convince people as to why music was ever invented in the first place!

Opening with simple single-note keyboards and joined by what sounds like the most 'un-blues-like' screeching slide guitar the song zips around in a swirling electro-punk whirlwind, sucking all the good points from the likes of Bis, The Rezillos, Devo and others into its increasing vortex. From the glockenspiel in the background to the 'lalala' girlie backing vocals and the mid-song 'slap bass' section, the title-track fizzes with energy and, yes fun!

'Hydra,' is more tinged with punk in its bass line and drumming. The chorus harmonies bear a resemblance to 'Nite Club,' by The Specials and by doing so, The Inconsolables continue to tick all the correct boxes.

'Surf Rats,' is the third and final track. Dick Dale style 'surf guitar' combines with whining organ and a bass-line that any self-respecting Superhero would want to accompany them as they ran through the dark, steam-filled streets of Crimesville.

//Colin Jackson


Sounds XP

The Inconsolables - Hoverfly (Jealous Tony)

'Hoverfly' is frantic computer age electro-pop music that reminds me of the much missed Chow Chow. The opening bars of bleepy synths suggest you're in Super Mario Land and then suddenly you're on some conveyor belt ride through a riot of noise: first it's the crashing boy-sung electro-punk verses and then there's the ultra poppy girly choruses of "la-la-las". If you're one of these people with synaesthesia, where you see music as colours, you'll be hearing an explosion in a paint factory - in 3D, with surround sound. It's catchy as hell but I'm not sure how long the novelty will last. There's a double B-side offering value for money; 'Hydra' is like a hyperactive Pulp, if someone had laced Jarvis' Cocopops with amphetamines, while the terrific instrumental 'Surf Rats' sounds like Ennio Morricone conducting Dick Dale. Most exhausting.


Neon Buzz

The Inconsolables - Hoverfly (Jealous Tony)

Even though all the individual bits would usually annoy the hell out of me – the squeaky la la la la la's, Gameboy sounding keyboards and overdubbed vocoder – together with the buzzsaw guitars and the poppy chorus hooks 'Hoverfly' makes for some electro-punk dancefloor fun that could make any other band look boring. First b-side 'Hydra' is in the same vein with fizzing keyboards and an even catchier hook, probably deserving of being a single itself, and second b-side 'Surf Rats' is a two-minute freakout of spiky guitars and sudden shifts. Factor in the boy/girl vocals and their smart, funny lyrics and The Inconsolables look like a band with a lot of promise.

Ollie Khakwani


Music Dash

The Inconsolables - Hoverfly (Jealous Tony)

I have to say that the first few bars of this record make it sound like you've just reached a new level on Frogger. You don't have to wait long though before "Hoverfly" breaks into bouts of bright, leftfield pop. The whole of this sound takes a jerky point of reference from the B52's , the organ riffs of Marha & The Muffins and shakes it all capably into a post –pop riot of "La La Las" and a bass line cut straight out of the gutter of 1977. There's plenty more via "Hydra" with its ricochet drums and Farfisa power, whilst "Surf Rafts" sounds like the theme to a long lost creepy, well...surf film. The best fun in ages and a band with more than just a few ideas and sparks of originality than most.


The Organ

THE INCONSOLABLES – Hoverfly (Jealous Tony) – Another slice of fizzing lo-fi synth pop buzz attack from the ever good Inconsolables. A kind of Dick Dale meets the B52s out for a day in England's great and pleasant inner city land and la la la la la.... Hoverflies are cool (and so are Cravats) and the way they dart around then hover and then dart again (Devo are cool as well, so were Pulp), and they get such a hard time from people who don't get how good wasps really are. Fizzing Wasp type synths and 60's psyche Gerry Anderson puppets on a rampage of pop and fast fiery fun.


The Mag

The Inconsolables - Hoverfly (Jealous Tony)

The Inconsolables have keyboards that hark back to the Amstrad CPC 464, along with mosquito guitars and a pounding beat. The vocals are quirky and there's no reason for any of it to work.

Thing is... it does, through a combination of gentle repetition and a disarming lack of pretentiousness. This isn't art-school show-offs slumming it with the lo-fi, it's a spontaneous and charming creation.

'Hoverfly' buzzes with stuttered to rock transitions, 'Hydra' whirls with Hammond-style sounds and 'Surf Rats' has the eerie feel of The Munsters.

That's not a bad range of sounds for one single.

Not destined for the big time (sadly) but really worth checking out.


God is in the TV

The Inconsolables - Hoverfly (Jealous Tony)

With an 'in your face' eye popping cover The Inconsolables' sixth-some set out to shake the electro punk tree.

No lyrics within the strongest track 'Hoverfly' make sense but, hear ye, does it have to? The la la la la la la la la la la la la la tune is pretty tight with sturdy bass and acceptable synthy keyboards willingly growing into the chorus. A well constructed little number that ticks all the boxes in a squawky poptastic manner.

Going against the grain 'Hydra' lets fly and feels a little wooden in its sensibilities. Nonetheless I'm sure they will bounce around on stage like children on pop and smarties. It killed my buzz as it remained rooted in a one high speed, romping, bouncy pop gear.

The last track 'Surf Rats' reminds me of The Munster's theme tune so the benefit of the doubt is given.

The Inconsolables will branch out with 'Hoverfly' released on the 1st Sept 2008.

Alex Skinner