My Morning Jacket – The future of croon?

Way back in time, a man named Jim James was distraught – his favourite bar had burned down. He found an unattended coat in the remains, embroidered with the initials ‘MMJ’, and the rest was history.

My Morning Jacket have gone through various line-up changes in order to reach their current pinnacle. And they’ve enjoyed huge critical acclaim along the way, particularly for Z, which was considered the choice album of 2005 by many people in the know.

They blend alt. country, psychedelia and indie rock into a wonderful feedback-tinged collection of heartfelt opuses. The band’s fifth studio album ‘Evil Urges’ may be considered a change in direction for the five-piece; it was mostly recorded at Manhattan’s Avatar Studios – “to [deliberately] make ourselves uncomfortable and shake it up”.

And that’s certainly audible on their limitless, genre-confounding confounding selection of new songs… go on, give it a go.

 

Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! – Shoegaze with ADHD

Epic, quasi-prog, dance punk, spazz rock – none of these labels are even slightly enough. This Adelaide quintet will assault your eardrums and cause you to involuntarily convulse in your chair, your bedroom, the dancefloor or your mind whilst evoking The Rapture, DFA and Bloc Party with a side helping of shoegaze jangle.

Two EPs in (the first self-titled EP available free to download from http://www.firesantarosa.com/download/2006-EP.zip and the second, Boy, Hush Yr Mouth. Grrl, Bare Ur Teeth downloadable for AU$10) and the imaginatively monikered and punctuationed Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! are proving not just a nostalgic hybrid but a fantastic prospect in their own right.

They’ve got groove, electro nonchalance and offbeat snarl in equal parts, and hooks that will entrench themselves before it’s too late to tell them otherwise. Check out ‘The Juxaposition of Tabitha C’ on the downloadable EP for a more reflective dimension to the band, featuring the fabulous metaphor “love is a torture trial”. And then play ‘Mixed Message Distress’ on the myspace for its polar opposite.

Is it even deliberate and do these Australian kids know how good they are? Who cares when they’re such a power-drumming, synth-loving, riffs a-plenty, enchanting concoction of unsigned tuneage.

http://www.myspace.com/firesantarosafire

Rosemary – London’s new Suburban Kings

Rosemary‘s ever-popular MySpace page informs the reader that the band are a “Retro yet modern London 3-piece”. In the internet world, where ‘hyperspace’ can be a literal term, this description is surprisingly bang on the note.

The first moot point when listening to any new band is that inevitable question: “Who do they sound like?” Well, for the record, Rosemary sound like an English pop-rock band; English in the way that Morrissey, The Jam or The Kinks are, for example. You know the word: quintessential.

Their debut single ‘Suburban Kings’ is a gallivanting pop-trip, much in the mould of Supergrass (think ‘Mansize Rooster’ for the rhythm section). Singer Tim Hill’s gravelly vocal is set off at delicious counterpoint with bassist Martin Brett’s honeyed response. It’s lovely and summery, and you can’t help but hope that Rosemary don’t remain as understated as Supergrass have in their decade in the business.

As a mission statement, ‘Suburban Kings’ may well sum up Rosemary’s sound and intentions. It has the simple but potent chord patterns that The Beatles used in songs like ‘I Feel Fine’, and intersperses some edgier chord changes in the manner of The Buzzcocks – always putting harmony first. But it could be hasty to make conclusions on this band from their first offering. Something tells me that the inevitable album will be a relishing and even more revealing prospect. Indeed, the buzz around their first release has led to it selling out.

The band have been on tour practically non-stop for almost two years, as the gigography on their website shows. This incessant gigging has clearly gone some way to creating the tight sound of the band, which will stand them in good stead and promises for an exciting live prospect.

You can catch Rosemary playing live at the following places:

Sep 21 2006: (DJ SET) Suburban Kings Clubnight Tap n Tin, Chatham

Sep 29 2006: PURE GROOVE CLUB NIGHT, London

Oct 11 2006: Club NME, Leicester

Oct 12 2006: Buff Club, Glasgow

Oct 13 2006: Reach Out and F*** Somebody Clubnight, Telford

Oct 19 2006: Suburban Kings Club Night Tap n Tin, Chatham

Nov 10 2006: Lucorum – supporting Bromheads Jacket, Barnsley

For more information, and to listen to the band, please visit their www.myspace.com/rosemarymusic

The View are on fire…

This year’s new favourite band is without a doubt The View: a Scottish foursome who carry all the trimmings of The Libertines mixed with the stories-as-songs nous of the Arctic Monkeys. Muso’s Guide went to Leeds to see them play at The Cockpit and to ask Peter, their guitarist, some searching questions…

Muso’s Guide: So, how’s the tour going? You’re booked up right until the start of December, and you’ve not exactly had a quiet summer either!

The View: We’ve played about twenty shows so far. It’s good, it’s good.

MG: How do you react to certain areas of the media implying that you’ve had an easy ride – only been around two minutes and straight into the limelight?

TV: We don’t really read any of it… It was the single that catapulted us. We’ve been really going for over a year and a half. Obviously, other bands have been around for years, but there’s been two years of work for us before all this. We spent a lot of time learning our instruments and playing in a cover band so it’s not as though we’ve just appeared. We’ve been playing together for about five years, but just not on this kind of level, more like… round pubs and stuff.

MG: You must be one of the few bands who can say that Pete Doherty‘s influence hasn’t been a hindrance… (Doherty asked the band to support Babyshambles, effectively giving them a platform for major label attention)

TV: Well he’s helped The Little ‘Uns and The Paddingtons…

MG: The Paddingtons got a lot of bad press, though. The music was regarded as overhyped – they were just Doherty’s mates, that’s it.

TV: He gave us a leg-up, yeah… A lot of bands can go around for years with the best songs ever, but if they don’t know how to get themselves noticed, spotted or whatever… you know what I mean? But there’ll always be bands like that, like great guitarists who can never get in a band.

MG: Did you ever think of moving down to London to help things along a bit?

TV: I think we might do when we come off this tour.

MG: So what’s the scene like in Dundee? I suppose Edinburgh and Glasgow, in particular, soak up all the attention.

TV: Well there’s a few bands in Dundee, the scene’s starting to get a lot better. The band who are on this tour with us, The Law, they’re Dundee and they’re starting to get a lot of interest from major labels. So I suppose there is quite a scene kicking off – it’s just beginning.

MG: I reckon everyone’s waiting on the album now, to see if you can live up to the hype.

TV: Yeah, it’s half-mixed at the minute – coming out in January. Owen Morris is producing it for us, he’s worked with Oasis, Ash… he did The Verve’s Northern Soul. He’s got a good back catalogue of albums… great to work with as well. He’s a weird character, but he’s a good character too. A good weird! One minute he’ll be like “Oh, brilliant, you’re all geniuses” and then the next minute he’s “ah, you’re all c***s!” He pushes you though, brings out the best in you.

MG: What about your MySpace website, have you found that helpful at all?

TV: That’s a great tool, man. Great. It’s a cool way for people to first find out about you… It’s good to keep in contact with a lot of our friends, as well as to get our music across. It’s just a great website.

So, are The View just all fluffy perms and no trousers? Well, the ensuing riotous gig at The Cockpit would seem to suggest not. All the tracks were well-received and occasionally well-known, probably due to the media players on the band’s websites. The performance was boisterous and energetic, very much like a less shabby version of The Libertines. The greatest indication of this was after Peter had dived into the crowd and then returned to share the vocals on one microphone with singer Kyle, in the image of a Pete-and-Carl embrace.

‘Wasted Little DJs’ has been their big success, reaching number fifteen in the charts and followed by a last-minute slot at Reading/Leeds festival. There was certainly evidence of greater things to come, going on the set that was played – a lot of newer songs have a more instant punch than the single. If you listen carefully, tales unfurl in their lyrics – although the Dundee accent mixed with over-exuberance can sometimes make things slightly intelligble!

To listen to more songs from The View, visit their websites:

www.theviewareonfire.co.uk

And catch them on tour at the following dates:

Sep 15 2006 8:00P Night & Day Manichester
Sep 17 2006 8:00A 53 Degrees Preston
Sep 19 2006 8:00P Soul Tree Cambridge
Sep 20 2006 8:00P West End Centre Aldershot
Sep 22 2006 8:00P Strathclyde University Glasgow
Sep 23 2006 8:00P Loopallu Festival Ullapool
Sep 25 2006 8:00P Pointers Stornoway
Sep 26 2006 8:00P Raigmore Inverness
Sep 27 2006 8:00P BA Club Fort William
Sep 29 2006 8:00P Paisley University Paisley
Oct 3 2006 8:00P Sugarmill Stoke
Oct 4 2006 8:00P Engine Rooms Brighton
Oct 5 2006 8:00P Coliseum Coventry
Oct 6 2006 8:00P Ice Factory Perth
Oct 7 2006 8:00P The Warehouse Project, Old Brewery Manichester
Oct 8 2006 8:00P Victoria Inn Derby
Oct 10 2006 8:00P Social Nottingham
Oct 11 2006 8:00P Warwick Uni Warwick
Oct 12 2006 8:00P Esquires Bedford
Oct 13 2006 8:00P Barfly (MTV2 Gonzo Tour) w/ JET Birmingham
Oct 14 2006 8:00P Barfly (MTV2 GonzoTour) w / Peaches Cardiff
Oct 15 2006 8:00P Barfly (MTV2 Gonzo Tour) w / Razorlight Camden, London
Oct 17 2006 8:00P Cluny Newcastle
Oct 18 2006 8:00P Kings College London
Oct 20 2006 8:00P Barfly (MTV2 Gonzo Tour) w / Kooks Liverpool
Oct 21 2006 8:00P Fibbers (MTV2 Gonzo Tour) w / Klaxons York
Oct 22 2006 8:00P Barfly (MTV2 Gonzo Tour) w / Young Knives Glasgow
Oct 24 2006 8:00P Kef Aberdeen
Oct 27 2006 8:00P Lucorum Barnsley
Nov 13 2006 8:00P Academy w / Primal Scream Birmingham
Nov 14 2006 8:00P Academy w / Primal Scream Newcastle
Nov 15 2006 8:00P Music Hall w / Primal Scream Aberdeen
Nov 17 2006 8:00P SECC w / Primal Scream Glasgow
Nov 18 2006 8:00P Apollo w / Primal Scream Manichester
Nov 19 2006 8:00P Apollo w / Primal Scream Manichester
Nov 21 2006 8:00P Academy w / Primal Scream Liverpool
Nov 22 2006 8:00P Rock City w / Primal Scream Nottingham
Nov 24 2006 8:00P Apollo w / Primal Scream Hammersmith
Nov 25 2006 8:00P UEA w / Primal Scream Norwich
Nov 27 2006 8:00P Corn Exchange w / Primal Scream Cambridge
Nov 28 2006 8:00P Academy w / Primal Scream Bristol
Nov 29 2006 8:00P Guild Hall w / Primal Scream Southampton
Dec 2 2006 8:00P Academy w / Primal Scream Brixton

Franz Ferdinand – Glasgow’s new greats?

Franz Ferdinand formed in 2001 in Glasgow and consists of lead vocalist Alex Kapranos, guitarist Nicholas McCarthy, drummer Paul Thomas and bass player Robert (Bob) Hardy.

… Continue Reading

Kings Of Leon – Rock’s new heroes

Named after their father and grandfather, Kings of Leon consist of brothers Caleb, Nathan and Jared Fallowill and their cousin, Matthew. Born and raised in Memphis, these country boys played on the ‘new bands’ stage at Glastonbury 2003 prior to releasing their debut album, Youth And Young Manhood, in July of that year.

… Continue Reading

The Zutons – Scouse cartoon popstars…

The Zutons are a group containing five unique individuals. Abi Harding, the only female amongst the group, provides saxophone sounds whilst David McCabe creates the vocal vibes. The rest of the members include Boyan Chowdhury on lead guitar, Sean Payne on drums and Russell Pritchard on bass.

… Continue Reading

The Killers – American nu-glam

The Killers originally formed in 2002 when Brandon Flowers was dumped by the group he was previously in, Blush Response, after blankly refusing to move to LA with the rest of the band.

Flowers’ current group consists of Dave Kenning on guitars, Mark Stoermer on bass, Ronnie Vannucci on drums and Brandon himself on keyboard and vocals. Ronnie was working as a photographer and Mark as a medical courier when the group formed.

The band finally gained the exposure they needed when they reached the attention of Lizard King, an independent, London-based record label and a special edition of ‘Mr Brightside’ was released in the autumn of 2003.

The Killers have made several fab singles including ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘Mr Brightside’, and have recently released their debut album Hot Fuss which features previously unreleased material such as ‘Andy You’re A Star’ and ‘Midnight Show’.

The group has tour dates lined up from now up until March of ’05, so will be busy occupying groups of enthusiastic ears alongside timid music taste-buds. We are well overdue the vibrant burst into the hip music scene that is The Killers.

The Clash – “The only band that matters”: a brief history

The Clash inspired countless articles within the realm of music journalism during the punk period and due to the tragic death of frontman Joe Strummer, the contemporary mainstream press deemed it necessary to pay tribute to both him and their musical legacy.

… Continue Reading