Good Weather For Airstrikes

Yeah, this would be much more appropriate if it came at the actual dawn of the New Year, rather than a month-and-a-half into it, but this is just how I roll. Anyway, this is the first of two installments in which I will be featuring the hot new bands primed to do big things in 2007. Obviously, some are going to do bigger things than others (see: Klaxons, Mika, The Maccabees, etc.) and due to the late nature of this post, some have already done or have begun to do big things, but either way the following is your complete directory of the bands to watch in ‘07. This is the first of two installments, in which I’ll be highlighting the bands most likely to score big with significant chart success, and the second installment will feature newer artists on the rise and primed to break into the public awareness, but not necessarily ready for radio stardom yet.

And yes, this is the surprise, even though many of you are probably already well-familiar with most of the artists on this list. I didn’t mean to build it up quite so much, but do reserve judgment until the second installment comes tomorrow as it should come chock-full of obscure new artists the likes of which most of you have probably never heard. Thanks and enjoy:

Artist: Klaxons
Location: East London, England

I’d wanted to get this up before Klaxons went ahead and debuted at #2 in the UK and rendered any predictions of their success completely unnecessary, but it was my own inability to finalize that Top Tracks post in time so I can’t complain. Anyway, it’s not exactly a secret at this point, but 2007 will be the year of the Klaxons, whether it’s the band themselves achieving massive, worldwide success (they just inked a deal with Geffen in the US) or the “New Rave” movement they pioneered blowing up to even greater proportions with the help of bands like Hadouken!, Late of the Pier and ShitDisco. Their debut LP, Myths of the Near Future, didn’t turn out to be quite the immaculate LP I’d hoped it would be (which isn’t to say it’s not an incredible record), but the new James Ford-produced versions of the initial singles are hotter than ever, “Golden Skans” is still one of the best tracks of ’07 and “Not Over Yet” is a Top 10 hit just waiting to happen.

MP3s:
“Golden Skans” - Klaxons
“It’s Not Over Yet” - Klaxons

Artist: Lily Allen
Location: LDN

Another obvious pick, as Ms. Allen’s already conquered the UK with ease, but the US remains ripe for the taking. The takeover began two weeks ago with the long-awaited domestic release of her fantastic debut, Alright, Still, two weeks ago on January 30th, and she’s already broken into the Top 20 on the US charts (albeit at #20). There’s not that much more I really need to say about Allen, as her every move has been blogged to death over the past 12 months, but the bonus tracks on the album’s US release are entirely deserving of their own acclaim and fanfare. Lily’s awesome take on 50 Cent’s (CURTISSSSSSS) “Window Shopper” receives a much deserved status upgrade from thunder-stealing B-side to album cut, and Mark Ronson - Allen’s best producer to date, in my opinion - contributes a brassy rework of Allen’s #1 hit, “Smile”. Surprisingly though, of all the excellent cuts on the album it’s the Ronson-produced “Littlest Things” that just might be my favorite of them all, despite the extreme neutrality I felt towards the track my first few times through it. Let’s be honest though, this whole thing is just another excuse for me to post Allen’s cover of the Kaiser Chiefs’ “Oh My God”, a track which - as far as I’m concerned - represents Allen and Ronson at the pinnacle of their respective games.

MP3s:
“Oh My God” - Lily Allen ((highly recommended))
“Nan, You’re A Window Shopper” - Lily Allen
“Littlest Things” - Lily Allen

Artist: Mika
Location: London, England

Listen, I don’t want it to be this way, but there’s no way around it: Mika is going to be massive in 2007 whether you like it or not. He just debuted at #1 on the UK charts after barely edging out Bloc Party’s new masterpiece for the throne, and US chart domination isn’t out of the question either, as MTV is already pushing him extremely hard (for whatever reason I’m not sure). To say his songs are catchy would be an understatement; this shit is like crack with its horrifically sugar-coated melodies and nauseating falsettos. Not sure what the status of Mika’s sexuality is – not that it really matters – but it’s worth noting that Mika’s songs make Elton John and the Scissor Sisters, his two most obvious influences, look like Mr. T and the American Gladiators, but hey, if that’s your thing, that’s your thing. Below is the only track of his I can stand, as well as a remix of his big hit (which is currently chillin’ at the top of the charts in the UK), “Grace Kelly”, by fellow GWFAS tips (see the second installment tomorrow) Pull Tiger Tail.

MP3s:
“Relax, Take It Easy” - Mika
“Grace Kelly” (Pull Tiger Tail Remix) - Mika

Artist: Young Love
Location: New York City

Another one of those major-label-engineered projects we love to hate and hate to love, Young Love (or Dan Keyes to his friends) is the next big thing set to cash in on the Panic! At The Disco fad. His success in 2007 is completely contingent on how sick of this whole dance-emo thing the general public are at this point, but I can’t see a surefire hit like “Discotech” not owning the charts at some point this year. Meet your favorite new guilty pleasure.

MP3: “Discotech” - Young Love

Artist: Maximo Park
Location: Newcastle, England

Maximo Park are pretty much another no-brainer considering the immense success of their 2005 debut, A Certain Trigger, but new single “Our Velocity” is just fucking amazing, and I’d be fairly shocked if they couldn’t ride it to a whole new plateau of success. Also, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my puzzlement at the fact that “Postcard of a Painting”, off their debut, was never released as a single, as it’s easily in my three favorite tracks off of that album. I could very well be all alone on that one though, who knows.

MP3s:
“Our Velocity” - Maximo Park ((highly recommended))
“Postcard of a Painting” - Maximo Park

Artist: The Maccabees
Location: Brighton, England

Though I’ve been tracking them since first stumbling across their head-turning Latchmere EP last spring, it wasn’t until latest single “First Love” was released last October that I realized their true brilliance and abilities. Ever since, I’ve been following their every move and eagerly anticipating their as-yet-untitled debut album, due for release this April. Interestingly enough, there’s nothing terribly groundbreaking about their sound yet they still manage to carve themselves a unique niche in the crowded British indie-rock scene with tight guitar-pop songs marked by searing, serrated guitar riffs, quirky lyrics and fun, sing-a-long hooks. They’ve also proven to be surprisingly remixable, with debut single “X-Ray” yielding not one but two incredible remixes, courtesy of South Central and Filthy Dukes Society. While it doesn’t quite match the brilliance of “First Love”, upcoming single “About Your Dress” only further augmented my love for the band, and I’ve got extremely high hopes for this lot in 2007.

MP3s:
“First Love” - The Maccabees ((highly recommended))
“About Your Dress” - The Maccabees
“X-Ray” (Filthy Dukes Society Remix) - The Maccabees ((highly recommended))
“X-Ray” (South Central Remix) - The Maccabees

Artist: Patrick Wolf
Location: East London, England

Patrick Wolf isn’t exactly a new artist, having already won over legions of fans on the strength of his first two impressive releases, 2003’s Lycanthropy and 2005’s Wind In The Wires, but with a new deal with Polydor-subsidiary Loog Records and an incredible new album, The Magic Position, slated for release later this month, 2007 could see Wolf break into the mainstream in spectacular fashion. While his first two releases carried a dark intimacy and morbidity about them, lead-off single “Accident & Emergency” (which came in at #38 on my Top 50 Tracks of ‘06 list) announced a new, poppier (and more mainstream friendly) Patrick Wolf with its unbridled optimism and sprightly instrumentation to match. The new album’s not all bouncy melodies and upbeat messages however, as is evident on his latest single, “Bluebells”, released on New Year’s Day of this year. The track is a haunting masterpiece, featuring dark piano work that recalls the intimate morbidity of his earlier work and soaring fireworks and explosions comprising a significant portion of the percussion, serving as a harrowing reminder of the dangers of modern society just as the sirens of “Accident & Emergency” did before it. Also breathtaking is album-opener “Overture”, which announces itself with booming drums and a beautiful strings section that underlies the track for the first three minutes before swirling and soaring into the spotlight in the song’s final minutes. Thus, with the strength of a major label behind him and an excellent LP due out this month, 2007 could very well be the year that Patrick Wolf achieves the massive mainstream success he’s always seemed destined for.

MP3s:
“Bluebells” - Patrick Wolf ((highly recommended))
“Overture” - Patrick Wolf

Artist: Air Traffic
Location: Bournemouth, England

Here we have Air Traffic, straight outta Bournemouth and primed to blow up the charts 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 on the strength of their music alone, but they’ve got the support to make it happen, as the quartet inked a deal with EMI last fall before the release of their brilliant Never Even Told Me Her Name EP. The title track off that effort succeeded in eclipsing their debut single, “Just Abuse Me”, an excellent track in its own right, which came backed by B-side “Charlotte”. That B-side has since gone on to bigger and better things however, as it’s set to be released as the band’s next single on March 26th and is available for download below as a Good Weather For Airstrikes exclusive. Sure, they’ve got potential to devolve into the UK’s answer to The Fray (see: “Shooting Star” below for proof), but for the time being they’re doing just about everything right.

MP3s:
“Never Even Told Me Her Name” - Air Traffic ((highly recommended))
“Shooting Star” (Demo) - Air Traffic
“Charlotte” (Single Version) - Air Traffic [exclusive]

Artist: Union of Knives
Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Whereas the artists above are all pretty much locks for mainstream success and further fame and riches (with the possible exception of Mr. Wolf), Union of Knives are a dark horse to reach the upper echelons of the British charts, but lord knows they’ve got the songs to make it happen. Angular guitar riffs drenched in undulating synths and pulsing drum beats create a unique dark electro-rock sound that’s a welcomed refreshment in the UK’s crowded (and played-out) dance punk (er, new rave?) scene. All in all, this adds up to what it might sound like if Sigur Ros and Radiohead got high as shit together and invited the Faint over for drinks and a synthesizer jam session, and then liked the results so much that they went ahead and released an album together. The closest thing we’ll get to that album is Union of Knives ‘2005 debut, the awesomely-titled Violence & Birdsong, and the undeniable highlight is dancefloor burner “Evil Has Never”, which will finally see release as a single next month. With a disco-ready BPM, that addictive “evil has never loved you” refrain, and catchy boy-girl verses courtesy of Jenny Reeves (who also appears on “Opposite Direction”), it seems like the track most immediately ready to roar out the gates and get the indie kids moving, and is likely the band’s ticket to mainstream success. However, an impressive deal with Virgin UK means that major-label-level chart damage is by no means out of the question, and don’t be surprised if U of K become one of the most buzzed-about electronic acts in the UK in the coming months. Oh and hey, it’s also worth mentioning that in a fairly surprising turn of events (considering the band’s rather low profile), “Opposite Direction”, my second favorite track from the group, was recently played on Grey’s Anatomy, which is, uh, interesting I guess.

MP3s:
“Evil Has Never” - Union of Knives ((highly recommended))
“Opposite Direction” - Union of Knives

Artist: WinterKids
Location: Peaslake, England

Odds are WinterKids will be a pretty polarizing group once they break into the public consciousness, what with their twee/indie-pop-meets-punk/emo sound, but you’ve got to admire them and all their self-sufficient, xylophonic glory. As an ambitious group of 18 and 19 year-old kids, the Peaslake collective started an indie club night in their tiny home town that rapidly became popular and immensely successful and eventually afforded them enough capital to pass on offers from countless British major labels looking to make them the UK’s answer to Fall Out Boy and start their own Little House Records imprint. They’re currently one of the UK’s best-kept secrets, but with more and more praise coming in from the British press and an imminent SXSW showcase likely to rocket them into a frenzy of buzz and hype, that likely won’t be the case for long. There’s definite backlash potential here due to the band’s Blink 182-gone-indie pop sound, but with two fantastic singles under their belt and an extremely impressive debut album, Memoirs, on the way in March, you should get ready to hear a lot more about these buzzworthy teenagers. I mean, xylophones, synthesizers, irresistible melodies, sing-a-long choruses, a hot female vocalist… there’s really nothing more I can ask for.

MP3s:
“Tape It” - WinterKids ((highly recommended))
“Two Nights, Two Days” - WinterKids

Artist: Cold War Kids
Location: Long Beach, California

From WinterKids we go to Cold War Kids, a band whose progress I’ve tracked from Day One on this here blog. I’ve covered them extensively in this space before, so there isn’t much more for me to do here than to state my prediction for them to see a significant amount of UK success in 2007 and maybe even break into the American mainstream. With the same label that engineered Gnarls Barkley’s rise to superstardom last year, Downtown Records, behind them and a sound favorably comparing to the raw soul and energy of the White Stripes, anything could happen for Cold War Kids in ‘07.

MP3s:
“We Used To Vacation” - Cold War Kids ((highly recommended))
“Hang Me Up To Dry” - Cold War Kids

Artist: Dead Disco
Location: Leeds, England

As their MySpace headline won’t hesitate to inform you, Dead Disco have been “slaying dancefloors and breaking hearts” since August 2005, and you need only spin their songs a few times and take a glance at the picture above to know they’re not lying in either regard. The dancefloor-slaying and heartbreaking should only continue on a much larger scale in 2007, as the ladies of Dead Disco prepare to force their way into the hearts and minds of the general public with an upcoming debut LP on the horizon and a hotly-anticipated third single due to be announced any day now. Unlike the rest of the bands on this list, however, Dead Disco do not [yet] have the luxury of a major label deal to ride to pop stardom, but with a sound that falls somewhere between the catchy angular riffs of Bloc Party and shamefully-addictive choruses that wouldn’t be out of place in a song by even the poppiest, most mainstream girl group, it can’t be long before you’re seeing Dead Disco’s name in lights every where you turn.

MP3s:
“Automatic” - Dead Disco ((highly recommended))
“The Treatment” - Dead Disco
“The Treatment” (Metronomy Remix) - Dead Disco ((highly recommended))

So there you have it: 12 big reasons to love 2007, assuming you haven’t already been loving 2007 for the past month-and-a-half. Be sure to check back tomorrow for 12 more great bands to watch for in ‘07, but maybe reserve your comments regarding who I overlooked until tomorrow, as I may well get to whatever band you think is the next big thing in my second installment.

WHOA. HOLD UP. STOP. ONE SECOND.

What’s that you say? “Ed Banger Records Volume 2 just dropped? And it’s got a shit ton of new unreleased hotness from the Ed Banger collective?”. More exciting words have not graced these ears since those 11 Bloc Party B-sides surfaced. Here are the two tracks that jump out at me right off the bat, though I have to say I wish one of them was the extremely intriguing “Golden Skans To Interzone” mix by So-Me, but well, it doesn’t really do anything, so yeah, maybe he shouldn’t quit his day job (as Ed Banger’s video artist-on-site) just yet. Anyway, below you’ve got NEW FIRE FROM SEBASTIAN in the form of “Greel”, as well as “Phantom”, the new Justice ish, which has been floating around for a while now but sounds better than ever at a sparkling 320 kbps. “Greel” features more of SebastiAn’s usual techniques (frenzied samples, lots of crazy-ass shit bouncing around the mix, piercing synths, some rapidfire percussion parts, etc.) and a newfound expansiveness borrowed from the Erol Alkan bag of tricks that lends it a supermassive quality not achieved in his previous work. “Phantom” can’t touch “Waters of Nazareth”, but it’s about as bad-ass a track as you’ll find and further validates Justice’s role as trailblazers in the field of electronica, and the new upgraded quality puts the track in a whole new light.

MP3s:
“Greel” - SebastiAn
“Phantom” - Justice

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Artist Profile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.