Hotly Tipped For ‘07: The Bands To Watch (Pt. 2)
UPDATE: Links fixed.
The first installment of my Hotly Tipped For ‘07 feature saw me highlighting the big names of 2007 - the new bands destined to do great things and enjoy mainstream success in the new year - and now we have part two, featuring the bands that are bound to make some serious noise in ‘07, but don’t exactly have chart success in the bag just yet.
Artist: Willy Mason
Location: Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Yeahhh, so I had meant to include Mason in the first installment, but, uh, I forgot, so here we’ve got him bumping the Wombats out of the headlining spot in Part II. Unlike the rest of the artists in this installment, Mason is all but guaranteed chart success in 2007, as his debut album, Where The Humans Eat, produced two Top 40 singles (”Oxygen” and “So Long”) in the UK and his upcoming second LP, titled If The Ocean Gets Rough, is even more impressive than his sterling debut. Mason is a native of Martha’s Vineyard, which is more or less my favorite place in the world and the place I’ve spent my last ten summers, and his sparse and honest lo-fi folk songs perfectly capture the laid-back atmosphere of the island, and it was on a local radio station there that Conor Oberst first heard him and signed him to his upstart Team Love label immediately in early 2004. It was in the UK though, where he caught his big break, signing to Virgin and scoring a Top 25 single with his masterful “Oxygen”, which peaked at #24 and became a veritable anthem among for young Brits in the summer of 2004. Then last year, Radiohead (yeah, Radiohead, as in the world’s most revered band) hand-picked him to open for all of their European tour dates, raising his profile even further. Now he’s back with If The Ocean Gets Rough, out March 5th and preceded by lead single “Save Myself”, which manages to outshine “Oxygen” in the anthemic department and is easily his most accessible offering to date, so much so that I’d be shocked if it didn’t earn Mason his first Top 10 single. The album as a whole is brilliant, delivering more of Mason’s socially-aware folk anthems and proving Mason to be one of our generations most talented young songwriters, and even contains another potential chart-topper in “We Can Be Strong”, which features Mason’s mother on the beautiful harmonizing backing vocals in the chorus. Furthermore, Mason could very well experience mainstream success in the US (gasp), as Astralwerks bought out his contract from Team Love early last year and just might be able to make “Save Myself” a huge hit here if they play their cards right. I mean, if Jack Johnson can top the charts with an album of songs about Curious fucking George, then Mason can surely experience some success of is own with a powerful (yet still universally-accessible) anthem about life in modern society under the Bush administration, right? If there\’s any justice in this world - which, y’know, there probably isn’t - you’ll be hearing Mason’s name a lot more on both sides of the pond this spring.
MP3s:
“Save Myself” - Willy Mason ((highly recommended))
“We Can Be Strong” - Willy Mason
“Oxygen” - Willy Mason ((highly recommended))
Artist: The Wombats
Location: Liverpool, England
The Long Blondes owned the title of the Best Unsigned Band in Britain for most of 2006, but after three successful singles and a brilliant debut album on Rough Trade it’s time to usher in the heirs to the throne: The Wombats. But if there’s one thing you can bet the farm on in 2007, it’s that they won’t be staying unsigned for very long, especially after upcoming single “Backfire @ The Disco” begins to turn every head in Britain at breakneck speeds. The takeover’s already begun, in fact, as the Wombats are set to make history on February 24th when they take the stage at Carling Academy (capacity: 1,200) as the first unsigned band ever to headline at the prestigious venue. But lest I get ahead of myself, here’s a quick primer for those of you who missed my mid-December freak-out over the band. Falling somewhere on the spectrum between the accessible riffs and addictive hooks of We Are Scientists, the harmonizing prowess of the Futureheads (their album’s even got a closing a capella track) and blissful, indie-pop perfection, the Wombats write fun pop songs about cars, weddings, strippers and Sunday night TV, among other things. Most of all though, they do it really fucking well. Recent single “Moving To New York” is a rollicking anthem for the malcontent (read: Derek Davies) and my 10th favorite track of 2006, “Backfire @ The Disco” has some of the best backing vocals (those “ooh-woo-ooh-ooh-ooh”s in the bridge) in the history of recorded music and album track (from the band’s Japan-only mini-LP, Girls Boys & Marsupials), “My First Wedding” chooses the original subject of suffering through your ex-lovers wedding ceremony and just does EVERYTHING right, proving Matthew Murphy’s worth as one of the most promising young songwriters in British rock and validating the Wombats status as the next big thing.
MP3s:
“Backfire @ The Disco” - The Wombats ((highly recommended))
“My First Wedding” - The Wombats ((highly recommended))
Artist: Hadouken!
Location: Leeds, England
A bunch of young British kids who are way cooler than you could ever hope to be have started to generate some serious buzz on the strength of a trio of unofficial remixes for Plan B, Klaxons and Bloc Party, with another one on the way for Forward Russia, and word on the street is that they’ll be announcing the signing of an international deal next week. Sounding like a harder Mike Skinner rapping over the neon-infused beats of the Klaxons, Haqdouken! have already been championed by Skinner himself on Radio 1 and are set to unleash their limited edition debut single, “That Boy, That Girl”, on the masses next to that month, with an incredible video made for £40 already in circulation. It’s a brilliant debut, combining streaking neon synths, crunchy guitars, and a scathing, acidic vocal delivery to create a truly unique sound that vastly outshines the majority of their new rave contemporaries (so yeah, get over to their MySpace like now, where they also have two hot downloads available). And, finally, as if I needed another reason to love this band, they take their name from Ryu’s essential move in the original Street Fighter, which – suffice it to say – is all kinds of bad-ass.
Below are their two best remixes to date, for Bloc Party’s “The Prayer” and Klaxons’ “Atlantis To Interzone”, the latter of which was exclusively given to me by the band in 256 kbps high-quality and was previously only available in shitty demo form. Both are great, but I’ve got to give the edge to the molten-hot Klaxons mix after hearing it in its proper glory. Get ready to be hearing about Hadouken A LOT in the coming months on these here pages.
MP3s:
“Atlantis To Interzone” (Hadouken! Remix) - Klaxons [xxxclusive]
“The Prayer” (Hadouken! Remix) - Bloc Party
Artist: Simian Mobile Disco
Location: London, England
As proof that every cloud has a silver lining, from the ashes of Simian, who tragically broke up in 2005, rose splinter group Simian Mobile Disco, comprised of former Simian ringleaders James Ford and Jas Shaw. That silver lining proved to be worth it’s weight in gold, as SMD’s first single proper, “Hustler”, proved itself to be one of the 2006’s elite electronic singles (and my 40th favorite track of ‘06), a crash course in dancefloor hotness for the uninitiated. With a more dancefloor-oriented, less poppy sound, Simian Mobile Disco have generated serious buzz with “Hustler” and their excellent remix work, and I’m hotly anticipating their 2007 debut LP. What is announced, however, is their recent signing to UK super-indie Wichita Records, who happen to be the home of another band I kind of like called Bloc Party. My favorite track by the SMD has to be “I Believe”, though, as it’s a Simian reunion of sorts, featuring the band’s former frontman, Simon Lord, who just might be one of the best and most under appreciated vocalists of our time. Lord shows off the elasticity of his voice in one of his best vocal performances to date, hitting all the right notes as an immaculate synth line meanders throughout the mix and a massive beat sets the tone for an epic dancefloor monster. Simian Mobile Disco are perhaps best known for their bangin’ remix work, so in addition to those two aforementioned tracks I’ve also thrown in the first two remixes they ever dropped, the former of which you’ll only find here on Good Weather For Airstrikes.
MP3s:
“Hustler” - Simian Mobile Disco
“I’ll Believe” - Simian Mobile Disco
“Never Be Alone” (Simian Mobile Disco Remix) - Simian
“La Breeze” (Simian Mobile Disco Remix) - Simian
Artist: Los Campesinos!
Location: Cardiff, Wales
From Simian Mobile Disco we go to Wichita’s other huge 2007 signing, Los Campesinos. The twee-as-fuck Cardiff collective write incredibly fun indie-pop songs about being young, happy and stupid in Great Britain in 2007, and their four-track Hold On Now Youngster generated a retarded amount of buzz when it surfaced last summer on the strength of the brilliant “You! Me! Dancing!”. The track opens with a minute-and-a-half extended intro reminiscent of old school Explosions In The Sky, luring you in before bursting into a sprightly explosion of twinkly-ass indie pop. Then there’s the whole spoken word part over the final bridge that just seals the deal, since we all know how much I flip my shit for spoken word bits in indie-rock. Their first single proper, however, is “You Throw Parties, We Throw Knives”, out February 26th on Wichita, and it’s every bit as promising as the demo tracks, if not more so. Another incredibly cute track from start to finish, “You Throw Parties” cruises along with perky instrumentation and endearing lyrical gems like “It’s my party and I’ll die if I want to”, with enough twinkles and instrumental flourishes to make even the most hardened cynic crack a smile. Basically, everything about this band is 1000% adorable - you want to hold their hand while they cross the street, buy them ice cream when they’ve been good, and shit, I’ll even carry them inside when they fall asleep, even if I know they’re just pretending for the free ride. And I don’t put up with that shit from just any band.
MP3s:
“You! Me! Dancing!” - Los Campesinos! ((highly recommended))
“You Throw Parties, We Throw Knives” - Los Campesinos!
Artist: Good Shoes
Location: London, England
Good Shoes came on my radar at the exact same time as the Maccabees (see Part I) last spring and I’ve enjoyed watching the bands evolve over that period as their paths diverged. Both are now readying their debut LP’s (Good Shoes’ Think Before You Speak drops March 26th), and while I originally preferred Good Shoes over their Brighton contemporaries, “First Love” gave the Maccabees a huge leg up on the competition and I think they’ve proven themselves to be the more commercial friendly group of the two, a fact validated by their major-label deal with Polydor subsidary Fiction Records. That said, 2007 should still see Good Shoes, who got their start on the vaunted Young & Lost Club label, making a good deal of noise in the British rock scene, and don\’t be surprised if you see them on the charts in no time at all. Below is the band’s most recent single, the excellent “Photos On My Wall”, as well as the demo of the band’s upcoming single, “Never Meant To Hurt You”, due out on Brille Records the same day as the album.
MP3s:
“The Photos On My Wall” - Good Shoes
“Never Meant To Hurt You” (Demo) - Good Shoes
Artist: Snowfight In The City Centre
Location: Manchester, England
The principle core of Snowfight formed in 2005 under the name Lisa Brown (a.k.a. The Lisa Brown), and they were quickly snatched up by up-and-coming Manchester imprint High Voltage Sounds, who put out the double A-side “What’s That Sound”/”Anna” shortly thereafter, though the impressive release went largely unnoticed in the crowded UK indie-rock scene. “What’s That Sound” was a little slice of dance-rock heaven, seemingly plucked straight out of the 1980’s with that ridiculously-80’s “What’s that sound?” refrain, slick production, catchy hooks, and a discotheque-ready vibe. As immediate and accessible as anything that Franz Ferdinand or The Killers have ever put out, the song had me sold a mere twenty seconds in with those four angular guitar jabs that alternate between the right and left channels and the track only got hotter from there, but remained tragically overlooked. The B-side was an acoustic version of this song “Snowfight In The City Centre”, which isn’t really worth mentioning if not for the fact that, after confusing the shit out of new listeners who consistently expected Lisa Brown to be a solo female artist, the band chose to take this song title and take it for their band name. Now they introduce said song as “Lisa Brown” when they play it live, which I think is clever and endearing.
Under the new Snowfight In The City Centre moniker, they unveiled a whole new sound when they released “No Light Left”, my 7th favorite single of 2006, last July. Gone is the overwhelming 80’s vibe and in its place are skyscraping melodies and soaring choruses, a new sound that’s self-described as “the Arcade Fire only more anthemic”, which - audacious as it may seem - seems fairly accurate in my opinion. “No Light Left” serves up a hefty dose of unadulterated indie-pop perfection, seemingly coming out of nowhere to become one of the elite indie-rock singles of 2006. Seriously, I’m not lying when I say this song had the best chorus of last year, hands down. They warm you up with that first “angels and ghosts” chorus before dropping the proverbial bomb on the second chorus, when the song really takes flight and shoots towards the heavens. They’re currently on tour with fellow GWFAS tips Air Traffic, and like their tourmates they’ve also got a definite potential to turn into another Coldplay or Keane, but for now they remain one of the most exciting indie-rock acts in Britain.
MP3s:
“No Light Left” - Snowfight In The City Centre ((highly recommended))
“What’s That Sound” - Lisa Brown
Artist: Findlay Brown
Location: London, England
Findlay Brown is the next great British singer-songwriter and he’s set to take the UK by storm in 2007 with his brand of production-heavy folk songs and an excellent debut album, Separated By The Sea, which hits shelves this week. What separates Fin from the countless singer-songwriters trying to make it big in the UK, however, is the flawless production work by the one and only Simon Lord, the former frontman of now-defunct British electro-soul pioneers Simian. Lord proves he’s more than just a pretty voice here, dressing Brown’s soulful folk songs up in all sorts of production flourishes, giving Separated By The Sea a truly unique sound. Brown’s already well on his way to stardom in the UK, as Mastercard’s big Christmas advert (watch it here) was soundtracked completely by his track, “Come Home”, raising his profile and piquing the interests of many of the hundreds of thousands of people who viewed the ad during it’s November-December airing period last year. And while “Come Home” is great, Separated has plenty more brilliance where that came from. “But You Love Me” is a dark, bluesy romp with a flawlessly-produced chorus and soothing, reverb-drenched vocals, while “Don’t You Know I Love You”, the album’s lead single, is a Beatles-esque folk ballad with a catchy hook and plenty of fingerpickin’ goodness to be had by all. Simon Lord’s production on this album is sure to be some of the best of 2007 regardless of what the rest of the year yields, and we all know the British flip their shit for those American-sounding folk singers (just ask Willy Mason), so odds are we’ll be hearing Findlay’s name A LOT in ‘07.
MP3s:
“But You Love Me” - Findlay Brown ((highly recommended))
“Don’t You Know I Love You” - Findlay Brown
Artist: Kavinsky
Location: Paris, France
Justice would have topped this list if they hadn’t already owned 2006 despite releasing only two singles (er, a proper single and a remix single, rather), so while you should definitely be anticipating their debut LP (out April), we’ll be focusing on another Parisian electro demigod, Kavinsky, in this feature. Generating a good deal of buzz with his debut Teddy Boy EP and the phenomenal “Testarossa Autodrive” (whose video clocked in at #20 on my Top Videos of 2006 list) last year, Kavinsky is set to melt dancefloors around the world in 2007, beginning with the next installment in the Kavinsky saga, the 1986 EP, out February 26th. “The Kavinsky saga?”, you ask? You see, dude straight-up died in a high-speed car accident in 1986, but then came back to life, resurrected as a zombie to avenge his death and drop some ridiculously hot electronica tracks for us along the way. The A-side from that debut EP, “Testarossa Autodrive”, sounds like a 21st century battle between the themes of Night Rider, Miami Vice and Beverly Hills Cop, which is, y’know, ridiculously awesome and shit. 1986 features a remix of the track by the one and only SebastiAn, the illest remixer on the block these days, and another bangin’ new track, “Wayfarer”. Get all three below if you know what’s good for you and look for Kavinsky to carry on the torch for revolutionary French electro-house artists in 2007, side by side with Justice, SebastiAn and the rest of the Ed Banger/Institubes collective.
MP3s:
“Testarossa Autodrive” - Kavinsky ((highly recommended))
“Testarossa Autodrive” (SebastiAn Remix) - Kavinsky
“Wayfarer” - Kavinsky
Artist: GoodBooks
Location: London, England
GoodBooks find themselves consistently tied to an “electronic” tag that’s a bit curious once one actually hears the band’s sound. The members do perform surrounded by a veritable fortress of synthesizers, keyboards and rhythm machines, but their sound remains one firmly rooted in guitar-based pop-rock. There’s also the misnomer that “electronic” means “dance” these days, so GoodBooks’ lack of immediate dancefloor compatibility is sure to throw some off as well. That’s not to say you’ll never hear GoodBooks on the dancefloor, as their electronic leanings and upbeat pop songs have proven to be highly remixable, evidenced by the excellent remixes of “Leni” that fluokids threw up on their site a while back (here and here). “Leni” is their most recent single and has proven to be their most complete-sounding, polished release to date, though I prefer it’s download-only predecessor, “Turn It Back”, but be sure to grab both below. Also, as an added bonus, I’ve thrown in the band’s excellent cover of Mystery Jets’ “You Can’t Fool Me Dennis”, previously only available as an iTunes-exclusive download. As things stand now, GoodBooks find themselves in a tug of war between genres, with accessible vocals and a guitar-pop sensibility fitting of a mainstream hit like the Kooks or Air Traffic clashing with electronic tendencies and an undeniable remixability typically found in a dancier rock act. Time will tell which direction they\’ll ultimately go, but something tells me the band’s pending 2007 debut LP could end up turning a lot of heads and surprising a lot of people who previously wrote them off as nothing more than a run-of-the-mill indie-pop group. Regardless, GoodBooks are a band to watch in ‘07 and it should be fun to watch these guys firmly establish themselves in the UK pop scene this year.
MP3s:
“Leni” - GoodBooks
“Turn It Back” - GoodBooks
“You Can’t Fool Me Dennis” - GoodBooks
And so there you have it, Part II of my Bands To Watch in ‘07 feature, but wait… it’s not over yet. In writing Part II I realized that I still had wayyy too many bands to cover so yes, there will be a Part III. And no, I promise it won’t take another five days for me to get it up here. Check back soon, as it’s sure to be the best of three with plenty of obscure, previously unheard-of hotness to delight your senses. Oh, and a side note: I SAW ARCADE FIRE PERFORM IN A FUCKING CHURCH LAST NIGHT. YESSSSSSS.