Artist Profile: The Research
While I was in NYC three weeks ago doing the whole interview circuit, Carrie and I tried to go see V For Vendetta at the IMAX theater downtown, but after being devestated by the news that it was sold out we made a serendipitous trip across the street to Tower Records, where I proceeded to preview the shit out of everything in the import section. Now, I call this trip “serendipitous” because had V For Vendetta not been sold out, I never would have discovered The Research (alright, maybe I would have come across them at some point, but let’s just work with this for now). I’d heard of The Research before around the blogs, but for some reason I automatically assumed they were a post-punkish UK guitar-rock band from their name, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Rather, The Research are a charming twee-pop trio, made up of Russell (or “THE DISASTER” as he apparently goes by), Georgia, and Sarah (last names not given), all of whom handle vocal duties on their debut album, Breaking Up. The three met at college in 2003 and scrapped together some money to buy a casio keyboard and borrowed a drum kit and bass guitar from friends, and began making music. Before too long they had an impressive set of demos under their belt and were signed to At Large records, a subsidary of EMI, last year. Their debut album finally saw release this past February, too critical acclaim but somewhat quiet buzz, as is evidence by their relative obscurity in the blogosphere. Musically, The Research craft simplistic pop songs featuring playful harmonies and plaintive lyrics, and are most notable for their exclusion of guitars in favor of that aforementioned casio keyboard and the wonderful harmonizing of their voices.
Russell (THE DISASTER) is the founder of the band and technically the lead vocalist, but his vocal services are absent on the trio’s best song, “Lonely Hearts Still Beat The Same”, the group’s highest-charting single and my personal favorite song of theirs. Georgia takes lead vocals on this one, telling a tale of heartbreak that erupts into an extremely addictive chorus at the 0:29 mark. “The Way You Used To Smile” and “She’s Not Leaving” both serve to portray the trio’s quirky, simple lyrics and their playful sing-song vocals, and their entire debut, though nothing terribly groundbreaking or innovative, is a fun album all the way through.
MP3s:
“Lonely Hearts Still Beat The Same” - The Research [highly recommended]
“The Way You Used To Smile” - The Research
“She’s Not Leaving” - The Research
Also, M3 Volume 8 is done and uploaded, so be sure to check back later this evening to download it.