Archive for July, 2008
Vampire Weekend ‘Oxford Comma’
XL Digital
‘Who gives a fuck about an Oxford Comma?’ sings Vampire Weekend’s front-man Ezra Koenig in what has to be the most unlikely chorus for a pop song ever. This, the band’s third UK single, promises to propel the NYC band ever closer to broad, mainstream recognition. Although not as immediately infectious as last single from their eponymous long player, ‘A-Punk’; ‘Oxford Comma’s stripped down, minimalist beauty foregrounds Koenig’s sweet lyrics of high-society hypocrisy and disdain, without the faintest whiff of self-indulgence. This cracking little grower of a single deserves to be bought in droves.
Dave Allen
Add comment July 4, 2008
Sons and Daughters ‘This Gift’
Domino
Album title track ‘This Gift’ showcases Sons and Daughters rough and ready, folk-flavoured, indie-rock, much in the guise of bassist Ailidh Lennon’s husbands’ band Idlewild. ‘Ah-hoo’s’ decorate the sing-along chorus, whilst the guitar heavy raucous rolls by. Yet it’s an ever so slightly disappointing effort from a hotly-tipped band, albeit one that will inevitably cause explosions on the dance floor when they play it live.
Dave Allen
Add comment July 4, 2008
Black Lips – ‘Bad Kids / Leroy Faster’
Good Bad Not Evil
Fresh out of Atlanta, Georgia come the NME-approved ramshackle, rock n’ roll styling’s of Black Lips. ‘Bad Kids’, a two-minute slice of infectious pop with punk flavoured lyrics based on band members’ experience with juvenile detention centres. Inevitably it has more than a faint whiff of Ramones about it, but desperately deserves to be a nod-along, summer anthem. Fantastic. It’s a shame the same can’t be said for ‘Leroy Faster’, the other half of this double A-side. A psychedelic meander exhumed from the Velvet Underground’s cutting room floor, its over-familiar 1960’s feel simply falls flat.
Dave Allen
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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
DUM DE DUM DUM, DUM DE DA, etc, etc…
I love Indiana Jones. Not sexually… more the fact that the first three films were essentially the dream film for any 10 year old. Adventures, a casual approach to violence and likeable comedy meant that many a bank holiday were spent watching the original trilogy. So it was with much geeky anticipation that I hummed the famous theme tune as the game of the new movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Skulls, downloaded onto my phone.
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Black Lips The Place I Love – Birmingham 8th May 2008
With handlebar moustaches and gold teeth aplenty, what the dodgiest looking band to grace Club NME lack in innovation that make up for in perspiration.
As part of Club NME’s student launch night – although according to one website, that’s every Thursday till February -The Black Lips thrash through their set of ramshackle rock n’ roll. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, this noisy quartet take heavy influences from everything 60’s, adding a dash of punk sensibility along the way.
The Ramones then? Well, yes and no.
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Late of the Pier Barfly – Birmingham 6th May 2008
Glowsticks aplenty as the nutty electro sounds of Late of the Pier invade Barfly for Levi’s Ones to Watch
The problem with scenester gigs these days is they’re full of cunts. No I take that back, scenester gigs have always been full of cunts. As brilliant as Late of the Pier later turn out to be, their admittedly generic, sub-Stereophonics, pub-rock support The Displacements attract an embarrassingly muted response from the glow-stick adorned teenagers here for Late of the Pier.
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Operator Please supporting Lightspeed Champion Birmingham Academy 2 – Birmingham 1st May 2008
More than just a song about ping-pong…
Promoted from the diddy Bar Academy to the (slightly) grander (but scummy) surroundings of Birmingham Academy 2, Operator Please are tonight sandwiched between two fellow bands that share their eschewed approach to indie; masters of punctuation Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man. and the unique geek-pop glory of Lightspeed Champion.
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long time no see…
I haven’t updated this blog for a while, but will hoprfully get round to it this sometime this weekend for anyone who cares…..
Add comment July 4, 2008
