Ah, the joys of discovery. Today was a pretty darn enjoyable day for new music. As I had said before, the debut album from British band Tribes wins the award for release of the week.
Tribes - Baby
Do you like Radiohead's album The Bends? Of course you do - everyone on this email list does - but you might not know it yet on account of Radiohead's later albums turning them into the Radiohead everyone knows now, with their annoying fans and their bleep and bloop-filled music almost being intentionally esoteric. So I suppose the better question is "Are you aware that you like Radiohead's album The Bends?" Because if you are, just trust me and check out this album out.
When I first read about this album, it was described as heavily indebted to early 90's alternative rock, particularly the Pixies. Because of this, I pretty much expected it to sound like Yuck's album from last year, but this album surprised me. If I could use an analogy, Yuck's album is to 80's/90's American college rock what this album is to early 90's Brit-pop (hence the question about the Bends). For those of you uninitiated to this particular genre (might a primer be in order?), it's still guitar-driven, but a little cleaner sounding, a little brighter, and a little more psychedelic than 80's college rock, with occasional lifting, catch-y, singalong-able choruses. It is awesome. This album follows suit (perhaps too much suit, but the question of just how closely "spot the reference" indie bands should emulate their influences is a wider question than one I am going to discuss in this email).
Selections
We Were Children - This song probably got them the Pixies-wannabe tag, as it certainly is reminiscent of "Where is my Mind?" Lyrically this song essentially says "I'm a child of the 90's."
When My Day Comes - There are radio stations from 1996 that would have played this song a shit-ton.
Corner of an English Field
The Ting Tings - Sounds from Nowheresville
This is the kinda big, loud, dumb fun I was hoping from some of the bands last week (and from Sleigh Bells a couple weeks ago). The female lead singer appears to be attempting to channel Gwen Stefani during the early No Doubt years a bit. It's not perfect: for the band to truly be catchy, they need a little work on their choruses, which too often consist only of repeating the title of the song over and over again. This is another group that would be all over alternative rock radio, if that was still a thing. Oh well: maybe they can be on an Apple commercial or something.
Selections
Hang It Up
Give It Back - Would have worked great as the background music of a Sarah Walker fight scene.
Day to Day - I could maybe see this even making the rotation of a Kiss FM station (those still exist, right?)
Delta Spirit - Delta Spirit
Never heard of these guys before today. I've had some difficulty articulating exactly how they and the next band on this list sound, but hey, that's why I don't do this for a living. This band apparently started as a folk band, but you'd be hard-pressed to tell it here: this is much more driving, anthemic "modern" rock. The songs kinda run together, but at the very least, the song California will be in my play rotation for quite a while. Oh, and apparently the band recorded this in an abandoned New York church, which doesn't really have anything to do with anything, but there you go. It's definitely worth a listen.
Selections
California
Money Saves
The Lonely Forest - Arrows
This band's name sucks and will likely cause me to eternally confuse them with The Lonely Island. They have the same to-the-rafters sensibilities that Delta Spirit had, but their tempo is a little slower than Delta Spirit's. I can see a comparison to some of Coldplay's early stuff, maybe even something like Editors. If there is ever an official video for the song I Don't Want to Live There, I hope it features a lot of people very slowly turning their heads and looking up.
Selections
I Don't Want to Live There
Turn Off This Song and Go Outside - Despite the title, this song has never (as far as I am aware) appeared on an episode of Sesame Street.
Lucero - Women & Work
Lucero is a cowpunk band that has been around forever (they're also something of a BR favorite). I don't think this album is their best, particularly because the lead singer's voice, which is gravelly as all hell on some of the earlier albums, sounds a little too clean on this one. This album may actually be a good gateway into them though. They're at their best on this album when they're playing honky tonk with Stax Records-style horn flourishes, which, now that I think about it, is almost certainly going to be enjoyable in my book. At the very least, they would be a great band to see in a bar.
Selections
On My Way Downtown
Women & Work
Finally, in the interest of completionism, Meat Loaf also released an album today. Unfortunately, Jim Steinman is not present, and Meat Loaf isn't Meat Loaf without Jim Steinman. I love Meat Loaf, but he really only works when he's so goddamn over-the-top cheesy, and this album, which I didn't hate, is unable to reach those cheesy heights (again, likely because of evil genius Jim Steinman's absence). I'm also a little bummed that Meat Loaf didn't take the opportunity to perform any duets with this new generation of vh1 female singers like Adele or Florence from Florence and the Machine, because that would have been pretty awesome (there are cameos from Lil John and Chuck D though (yes, really)). Anyway, unfortunately I can't recommend the album, but reasonable minds can disagree.
I also can't link any songs, because I was unable to find any album versions on youtube. I can't do all the work for you people. Also, I'm pretty sure at least a half-dozen of you say you are unable to click the youtube links anyway. So it's not laziness; it's listening to audience feedback.
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