Spring, Sunny Days and Beaches
I hope that like me you’ve had your eyes awakened and are filled with a new optimism by the onset of spring and the fact that the weather is now no longing chilling the very marrow of your bones! I’ve actually almost completely forgotten how fickle I was when getting excited about snow one day, and then hating the sight of it and wanting it to go away for a long, long time the following week. Thankfully my affections towards the bands I want to mention have so far not been so changeable and I’ve been really enjoying listening to their stuff recently. In fact I’ve had a fair few of those listening to a song 25 times in a row moments, you can’t beat that feeling of being in a good song for an hour or so. Hopefully, I won’t get fed up of them as quickly as I did with the snow.
I first came across him at gig where he was supporting Blue Roses, who I mentioned in a previous post. He kind of stole the show for me with a perfect performance, songs that have a real updated folk, English beauty and a band unified in a magical way that night. The video below doesn’t quite match that evening, but if you get the opportunity check out the real thing and listen out for him.
I’m a sucker for bands that can really sing and these guys immediately got to me! They’re an American band who have only recently come to any kind of wider prominence having released their debut album Gorilla Manor in late 2009. What immediately strikes you is the zealous drumming and the rich blend of vocals that draws favourable comparisons with the Fleet Foxes. They certainly have much more drive and volume than them, but are in a similar ball park in the sense that they’re nice young American men who have lots of facial hair. Check out their cover of the Talking Heads song ‘Warning Sign’
Named after a Scott Walker album, this band from London enjoyed some relative acclaim in the mid to late 1990′s but unfortunately after a few albums split. They’re in that realm of big beats and country guitars that characterised some of Beck’s work. You might have some difficulty in getting a hold of or listening to their back catalogue but for starters check out ‘Lefturno’ below from their album ‘Works Project’, I can’t stop listening to it!
This American duo have been firmly categorised as ‘dream pop’ which when I last looked isn’t yet a section in HMV, but has been used in relation to bands like Sigur Ros and The XX. Beach House’s style is alluringly languid, calming and not remotely bombastic. They have a fantastic singer in Victoria Legrand, who has a faint masculinity to her voice which could be likened to Nico or Cat Power. I’d recommend checking out their latest album Teen Dream.
I obviously didn’t plan this very well as this is ANOTHER dream pop band, but I think they’re suitably different to Beach House and warrant inclusion! Don’t let the title deceive you they’re not from Scotland but did spend some time in the UK. They definitely have even more of a layered and electronic sound than Beach House, with less emphasis on a traditional vocal running through. In fact some songs have that kind of prolonged repetitive jammy kind of feel, but don’t take my words for it check out ‘Shy’ below.
