Artist Profile: Air Traffic
Oh, oh… this is like really good. Here we have Air Traffic, straight outta Sheffield and primed to blow up the charts (the ink’s still drying on the quartet’s recent signing with EMI) with their irresistibly catchy brand of piano-based indie-rock, the best thing to come out of that genre since Ben Folds and the Five were blowing up the spot back in the mid-90’s. Not only do they appear ready to do some serious damage on the charts across the pond, but they’re also giving Snowfight In The City Centre a serious run for their money as the obscure up-and-coming Brit Pop act I’m most obsessed with, a title they’re only that much closer to securing after the release of their newest single, “Never Even Told Me Her Name”. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s take it back to where it all began, with Air Traffic’s debut single, “Just Abuse Me”.
It actually began a bit before that, with the quartet, all just barely 20 years old, meeting in Bournemouth and taking their name from the air traffic control signals that they would pick up whilst rehearsing in abandoned industrial units next to the airport where they first formed. They released “Just Abuse Me” shortly thereafter on upstart imprint Label Fandango, which was declared “the hottest record in the world” upon its release last July by oft-hyperbolic British DJ Zane Low. A rollicking piano-rock romp, the single lends the ivory a raw edge and energy lacking in today’s often vanilla Brit Pop scene and fails to disappoint from start to finish. The track’s highlighted by a falsetto-tinged chorus and a final two minutes that see the band throwing restraint and caution to the wind and allowing the guitars to roar up from their relative slumber and overtake the piano at the forefront of the song’s focus, easily cementing the song’s status as one of the year’s best and most exciting debut singles. The record’s flipside, “Charlotte”, sees the guitars taking center stage for the song’s entirety and does nothing to exceed the A-side, but earns points with its catchy “your face, my place” refrain and shows enough promise to thrust Air Traffic to the tip-top of my British Indie Rock Bands To Get Really, Really Excited About list.
Aforementioned follow-up single, “Never Even Told Me Her Name”, all but ensures that Air Traffic won’t be slipping on that list any time soon, as it’s already surpassed the total playcount of “Abuse Me” after just two days of life on my iPod. At this point in writing this I jumped over to Green Pea-ness to see what was going on over there only to discover that James just fucking posted “Never Even Told Me Her Name” and nailed the write-up (as usual) like I could only ever hope to do, especially when he describes the track as “the best song the Guillemots could ever think to write for the Jimmy Eat World crowd”, thus rendering my entire planned analysis of “Name” pointless in only 16 words. Considering it was GP that put Air Traffic on my radar in the first place, I’m just gonna hang my head in shame, forfeit this one to him and direct you all over there for the time being. Regardless, you should have realized by now how badly you need these tracks so it goes without saying that you should get your download on below with utmost urgency.
MP3s:
“Just Abuse Me” - Air Traffic ((highly recommended))
“Never Told Me Her Name” - Air Traffic (highly recommended))