This unremarkable slice of identi-kit indie popped up on YouTube late last week with no prior announcement. Best not to draw too much attention to it. Sheffield’s sharpest lyricist takes a sabbatical. – By Keith Shackleton ||| Live: Arctic Monkeys play June 3 at the Hollywood Palladium.
By Keith Shackleton Gruff Rhys is prolific. An electro-pop dalliance with Boom Bip (as Neon Neon), the jaw-dropping “Terror Of Cosmic Loneliness” collaboration with unorthodox Brazilian artist Tony Da Gatorra and a guest spot on Gorillaz’ Superfast Jellyfish (with De La Soul) all come from left field. The Super Furry Animals man’s new release “Hotel […]
They were different, Orange Juice. They drew their energy from punk, but little else. As Edwyn Collins explained, “… it was to bring back a ’60s sensibility. To have the freneticism and tempo of punk rock but to have rhythm guitars that were influenced by Live 1969 and … Nile Rodgers.” Their music, infused with […]
If a little turmoil helps the creative juices to flow, Mississippian indie-rockers Colour Revolt should be the most prolific band around. The lead track from their sophomore album “The Cradle” documents a stormy eight years of existence – record company indifference, destabilizing lineup changes, the incessant rattling of skeletons in the cupboard, the friction. Jesse […]
[Buzz Bands’ Southern Hemisphere correspondent checks in with a brief history of a longtime favorite, in advance of the quartet’s rare L.A. appearance this weekend:] By Keith Shackleton A week prior to leaving for a tour of Brazil, the Hoodoo Gurus issued a press release announcing that 1997 would be their last year together as […]
It’s the glacial meltwater clarity of their harmonies that first strikes you. Stockholm sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg are tender in years but mature in outlook, as their songwriting prowess shows. First Aid Kit have transfixed audiences worldwide with their sparse otherworldly folk songs since the release of 2008’s “Drunken Trees” EP, mentored by Karin […]
Daptone recording artists the Budos Band have their needle in the same reverential retro-soul groove as label mate Sharon Jones, with the emphasis on Fela Kuti styled Afro-funk and blazing Tower of Power-esque horns. These soul brothers wouldn’t be out of place on the soundtrack to “When We Were Kings,” and are demonstrably the kind […]
There’s a touch of Karen O in the vocal delivery of Joy Formidable singer Ritzy Bryan – she has Liz Fraser’s eyes too. The band pack a lot into their three-minute epics: coruscating guitar, thrumming bass notes, an edgy energy and an enthusiastic delivery. They sound ready. The North Walian trio are touring ahead of […]
Villagers is the nom de musique of Dun Laoghaire poet and songwriter Conor O’Brien. His debut album “Becoming A Jackal” (out now on Domino) is on the shortlist for this year’s Mercury Prize, garnering rave reviews from heavyweight press and topping the charts in his native Ireland. O’Brien stilled a garrulous media audience at the Mercury nomination […]
“Fever” is the sophomore album from Santa Cruz retro-rockers Sleepy Sun, seeking to build on a well-regarded debut of stoner riffage and psych-folk. Here, the band are at their best when they keep it concise: the close harmonies and crashing outro of “Freedom Line” and the buzzing contemplative “Acid Love.” “Ooh Boy” is muted, pensive […]
