Shouldn't it be battered?
So since we last spoke I have received my Ghosts 7" (a very limited affair that i'm hoping may one day make me rich), and I have listened to Cold War Kids. Both have been slightly underwhelming experiences, but likewise both are not entirely without merit.
In fact the Ghosts single is imprinting itself on my brain more and more with each listen. And I will gladly admit that I like it a lot. I'm a sucker for a good pop tune, and that is what this is. The double trouble is this: 1: I keep thinking 'it's not as good as The Feeling'. A sobering realisation. 2: When I listen to it, it keeps seguing into 'Ordinary World' by Duran Duran in my head. And a apparition of Simon le Bon's plastic face and 'i'm still trendy, honest' hair in the middle of a record is the aural equivalent of your mum popping into your head in the middle of a shag. Not just a turn off, but a pull out the plug & rip all the fuses from the fusebox.
Words like 'soaring', 'melodic', and 'annoyingly catchy' would describe this well. You will like it, but you may feel a little cheap and dirty for doing so.
GHOSTS - MUSICAL CHAIRS
You can listen to 5 more of their songs here. I predict that 'The World is Outside' will be pumping out of many radios this year.
I was expecting Cold War Kids to be not how I expected. But then I listened to them, and they turned out to be exactly as I expected. Which in truth I had expected after all.
Yeah they're an earnest sounding American indie band, of the type that get all the blogs in a lather, but really say nothing to me about my life. Watching the 'Top 25 Rock & Roll Hellraisers' on the telly last night, as I did, just brings into the focus the lack of charisma of all these bands. I mean if I went out on the piss with these guys, what would we do? What would we talk about? What trouble would we get in to? I've listened to the album twice and I don't have much idea and don't have much sense about them at all. I imagine they'd be nice blokes, and they'd probably sneer at some pop music playing in the corner of the pub, while politely declining a swig from a bottle of brandy i'd offered under the table as they have a flight the next morning.
Having said this, they have managed to coax at least some tunes and fun from their earnest fingers and tonsils. And i'm particularly keen on this one, 'Hang Me Up To Dry'. What's it all about? Fucked if i know. It's got a great riff running through it though.
COLD WAR KIDS - HANG ME UP TO DRY
In fact i'm being a bit unfair to the band. There's a lot of good stuff on the album... but I just feel that much as in this country our Indie music seems to be in the main infected by some kind of reverance to the Libertines, there seems to be far too much homogeny and far too little risk taking in American indie music. I've heard so much plodding, slightly country-tinged Americana with indecipherable lyrics and not much ambition past getting a support slot on a Sufjan Stevens tour.
Sometimes I want more than to just nod my head in reverent appreciation... i want to sing along, jump around and think "Yeah, that's exactly it" after catching some deceptively simple lyric.
It seems that since Oasis burst on the scene over here, it's been quite possible for indie boys to have massive mainstream success ... and as a result bands in general seem to have a belief that they can do so. And perhaps this is why tunes & lyrics seem to be written with a wider audience in mind. This isn't always a good thing by any means... but to be honest i'd rather listen to Razorlight and think "god i hate these cunts" than listen to something that i've forgotten about as soon as the song is finished.
I know in this case i'm not really comparing like with like, but I tend to get two kinds of things through my door. If it's got an American stamp, it'll be a turgid but worthy album that sounds kind of like Cold War Kids. If it's got a British postmark it could sound like absolutely anything, but it will most likely be fun and interesting and tuneful. And it'll also be a single, so I won't have to sit through an hour of it to work out if it's any good or not!
I know there are plenty of exceptions (The Gossip, Scissor Sisters spring to mind), but I just feel that this particular furrow is not one that I feel needs to be ploughed any deeper.
I can't think of an easy way to segue between that little rant and this little piece of joy. So all I can ask is that you check out this amazing video by DJ Scotch Egg. In fact, i command you to watch it. I won't let my pathetic descriptions spoil the fun. You have eyes.
You may notice it's by the same guys who did the South Central video. Clever boys.
In fact the Ghosts single is imprinting itself on my brain more and more with each listen. And I will gladly admit that I like it a lot. I'm a sucker for a good pop tune, and that is what this is. The double trouble is this: 1: I keep thinking 'it's not as good as The Feeling'. A sobering realisation. 2: When I listen to it, it keeps seguing into 'Ordinary World' by Duran Duran in my head. And a apparition of Simon le Bon's plastic face and 'i'm still trendy, honest' hair in the middle of a record is the aural equivalent of your mum popping into your head in the middle of a shag. Not just a turn off, but a pull out the plug & rip all the fuses from the fusebox.
Words like 'soaring', 'melodic', and 'annoyingly catchy' would describe this well. You will like it, but you may feel a little cheap and dirty for doing so.
GHOSTS - MUSICAL CHAIRS
You can listen to 5 more of their songs here. I predict that 'The World is Outside' will be pumping out of many radios this year.
I was expecting Cold War Kids to be not how I expected. But then I listened to them, and they turned out to be exactly as I expected. Which in truth I had expected after all.
Yeah they're an earnest sounding American indie band, of the type that get all the blogs in a lather, but really say nothing to me about my life. Watching the 'Top 25 Rock & Roll Hellraisers' on the telly last night, as I did, just brings into the focus the lack of charisma of all these bands. I mean if I went out on the piss with these guys, what would we do? What would we talk about? What trouble would we get in to? I've listened to the album twice and I don't have much idea and don't have much sense about them at all. I imagine they'd be nice blokes, and they'd probably sneer at some pop music playing in the corner of the pub, while politely declining a swig from a bottle of brandy i'd offered under the table as they have a flight the next morning.
Having said this, they have managed to coax at least some tunes and fun from their earnest fingers and tonsils. And i'm particularly keen on this one, 'Hang Me Up To Dry'. What's it all about? Fucked if i know. It's got a great riff running through it though.
COLD WAR KIDS - HANG ME UP TO DRY
In fact i'm being a bit unfair to the band. There's a lot of good stuff on the album... but I just feel that much as in this country our Indie music seems to be in the main infected by some kind of reverance to the Libertines, there seems to be far too much homogeny and far too little risk taking in American indie music. I've heard so much plodding, slightly country-tinged Americana with indecipherable lyrics and not much ambition past getting a support slot on a Sufjan Stevens tour.
Sometimes I want more than to just nod my head in reverent appreciation... i want to sing along, jump around and think "Yeah, that's exactly it" after catching some deceptively simple lyric.
It seems that since Oasis burst on the scene over here, it's been quite possible for indie boys to have massive mainstream success ... and as a result bands in general seem to have a belief that they can do so. And perhaps this is why tunes & lyrics seem to be written with a wider audience in mind. This isn't always a good thing by any means... but to be honest i'd rather listen to Razorlight and think "god i hate these cunts" than listen to something that i've forgotten about as soon as the song is finished.
I know in this case i'm not really comparing like with like, but I tend to get two kinds of things through my door. If it's got an American stamp, it'll be a turgid but worthy album that sounds kind of like Cold War Kids. If it's got a British postmark it could sound like absolutely anything, but it will most likely be fun and interesting and tuneful. And it'll also be a single, so I won't have to sit through an hour of it to work out if it's any good or not!
I know there are plenty of exceptions (The Gossip, Scissor Sisters spring to mind), but I just feel that this particular furrow is not one that I feel needs to be ploughed any deeper.
I can't think of an easy way to segue between that little rant and this little piece of joy. So all I can ask is that you check out this amazing video by DJ Scotch Egg. In fact, i command you to watch it. I won't let my pathetic descriptions spoil the fun. You have eyes.
You may notice it's by the same guys who did the South Central video. Clever boys.
posted by headphonesex @ 12:13 AM
