When I rule the world, all record labels will be run like Big Scary Monsters. Set up by Kevin Douch in his house simply for the love of music, rather than any commercial considerations, he releases music that he loves. Luckily for us, his taste is good and he puts out a varied mix of top class underground music.

This ten track sampler brings together tracks by some of the label’s favourite artists and prepares the ground for an autumn of exciting new releases. Meet Me In St. Louis (whose debut album is being readied for release as we speak) are the first band to satisfy a taste for post-hardcore and are later joined by Jairus and Secondsmile. For those not looking to be attacked by guitars, House Of Brothers, This Town Needs Guns and Richard Walters opt for a more gentle, acoustic approach. Cats And Cats And Cats have enough jangle and glockenspiel to keep everyone happy while offering up a gift to the loud crowd, too.

Up until this point it’s easy to imagine the musicians behind the songs as slightly shy, maybe a little introverted, geeky even. That all changes with the brash, larger than life funked-up disco rock of The Campaign For Real Time. This is music for getting up and shaking to.

The CD closes with Yndi Halda’s We Flood Empty Lakes, a twelve minute opus crying out for a film to soundtrack. Definitely one for fans of My Education and The Kronos Quartet, it gives one last nod to the Big Scary Monsters ethos by being completely different to everything that precedes it.

With tones of Fierce Panda, Deep Elm and Shifty Disco around its edges, Big Scary Monsters is the label of choice for a new generation of indie fans.

Label: Big Scary Monsters
Website: www.bsmrocks.com
Release date: 6th August 2007

Tracklist:

1. Meet Me In St. Louis - The Torso Has Been Severed Mid-Thorax
2. House Of Brothers - Lose Yourself
3. Secondsmile - Smokestacks
4. Jairus - Fallen Patricia
5. This Town Needs Guns - I’ll Forget About You Throwing That Rock, Cos That Dance Was Pretty Funny
6. Cats And Cats And Cats - Hotel At The End Of Youth
7. The Campaign For Real Time - Adjustments
8. Itch - It’s Not Rocket Science
9. Richard Walters - We Have Your Head
10. Yndi Halda - We Flood Empty Lakes