Kill Rock Music

I had a much more difficult time compiling the list this week than I did last week, and I have several theories why. Most importantly, I blame the fickleness of the British music press. They are always in such a rush to heap praise on the latest thing to come along (and all to often turn on these same bands within about 3 months of their debut release), meaning that many, many bands get hyped at some point or another as the next big thing. Most of them don’t make it, but they are often far from overlooked. Add to this the preponderance of regional scenes, regional publications and the ease of touring such a geographically small but populous country (as opposed to Canada’s geographical magnitude and relatively sparse populace), and you have a lot of bands able to get at least some level of exposure on this side of the pond. My second difficulty in compiling this list is that I’m keeping many of my favourite, lesser-known South Yorkshire bands for a future post on the viability of a local music scene in this day and age (although some South Yorkshire bands still make this list). Finally, my recent Glaswegian post led me to limit the list to overlooked English, rather than British, bands. Still, I’ve come up with a nice collection of English artists who just don’t get the praise I feel they should.

Archie Bronson Outfit - Dart for My Sweetheart

These guys play the sort of insane, wild-eyed proto-funk garage rock that gets my black little heart a-racing. Something about this sounds southern-fried and American to me, but these boys hail from Wiltshire (which I guess makes them southern, but definitely not American). The band also rock some seriously great beards, which scientific studies have shown greatly enhances the motherfuckin’ rock quotient of any goddamn song (the academics’ words, not mine). I don’t know why this band haven’t taken off more, as they’re catchy and fun and have great beards. Maybe the rest of the world just isn’t as in to beardy insane wild-eyed proto-funk garage rock as I am. If so, is this a world I really want to be part of?

Earlies - No Love in Your Heart

An intriguing amalgam of drone and harmonies and doom-laden lyrics, this is the type of music you could listen to while blissfully deciding whether or not to drink the Kool-Aid. This band is actually only half-British, with the other half being American. The British half is from Burnley, who, in an unrelated aside, I really, really hope lose to Sheffield United in football at Wembley on Monday (come on you Blades!).

Tiny Dancers - Moon Song #2

These merrily twee fellows are from West Yorkshire, but based in Sheffield. They were never really part of the local music scene here in the Steel City though, signing major-label to Parlophone before they achieved much of a presence on the local music scene. They released their debut album, Free School Milk, in 2007, but it didn’t seem to sell much. It’s too bad, as they produce a beguiling (beguiling, I say!) mix of country, pop, folk and rock that ranges from singalong catchy (Hannah We Know) to slow-growers that get under your skin (like the above-posted Moon Song #2). It’s not too clear what the band is up to now, as their website hasn’t been updated in a while and there doesn’t appear to be a new album forthcoming. Knowing how the major labels are doing and their mercenary attempts to cut costs, my hopes aren’t high for a talented but underselling band. To be honest, the best thing for them might be to be dropped, and subsequently picked up by somebody who will nurture them like they deserve.

Blood Red Shoes - Doesn’t Matter Much

I’m a sucker for sweet, feminine vocals (or background vocals) laid over rude, loud, overdriven guitars, and Blood Red Shoes provide just that. Nah, they don’t provide much new, but a lot of bands don’t, and they still manage to break through, so why not these guys? They had a bit of notice from the NME prior to their debut, but I guess that anybody wearing skinny jeans and an ironic mustache strumming an untuned guitar in some organic cafe in Camden has had a bit of notice from the NME. Anyway, last year’s BRS debut, Box of Secrets, got a bit samey over its 11 songs but was still pretty fun and loud.

Little Man Tate - House Party at Boothy’s

Another Sheffield band, these boys were unfairly lumped into the Arctic Monkeys/Sheffield batch of music that got a bit of press in 2006/2007 (although, to be fair, their chances of being signed would have been reduced if not for that categorisation). Little Man Tate are, well, just goofier than their simian city counterparts, and all the better for it. Their lyrics can be incisive but a little heavier-handed than Alex Turner’s, but mostly they just want to have fun. This song has added resonance for me as I have actually been to a party on Lydgate Lane (but unfortunately at a different address).  LMT continue to soldier on, releasing their second, Nothing Worth Having Comes Easy, last year. The album was pleasant enough, but didn’t progress a lot from their debut. They’re working on new material and I hope it manages to keep things interesting, while staying fun.

The Rakes - We Are All Animals

I don’t think the Rakes were so much overlooked as just (slightly) underappreciated. I really enjoyed their debut album, Capture/Release, and actually thought they were one of the standouts amidst the rash of post-punk a few years ago. They’ve since let me down though, with follow-up 10 New Songs providing few memorable songs, and recently-released Klang! also failing to catch my attention. Still, they have some good tunes and deserved maybe a bit more notice among the Bloc Parties and Franz Ferdinands and so on and so forth.

New Music News

I just want to register my disgust with France for recently introducing legislation that will allow them to shut down internet connections to illegal downloaders. Although I am anti-illegal downloading (again folks, buy anything you like that you find here!), a law like this is too wide open on what exactly constitutes ‘illegal’. In addition, how do you discover this illegal downloading without actively policing what people are doing with their internet connection, which I feel is a clear and fundamental breach of a person’s right to privacy. France’s reaction is a knee-jerk reaction to a whiny, snivelling and outdated dinosaur of an industry (both music and movie) that failed to capitalise on the changing nature of the business on which their model relies. It’s time that countries looked to protect the consumers of these services, rather than the big lobby groups of industry. The needs and desires of both groups could be met without resorting to these unnecessary and overly broad pieces of legislation that put the rights of citizens to privacy behind the rights of businesses. See you next week!