New band round up!
As the year is coming to a close and my love of lists i thought I’d do a quick round up of my new bands I’ve discovered!
The Moons
One of the best power pop bands of recent years, Northampton’s The On Offs, are currently on hold. But in the meantime bassist Andy Crofts from the band has started a new project: The Moons.
Moving from bass to guitar, Croft’s new outfit have much more eclectic influences than The On Offs. From listening to their four track demo the basic sound seems to be a mix of chirpy Britpop-type tunes polished off with Beatles/Kinks melodies. But there is much more to The Moons than this. On Nightmare Day the band mix ska rhythms with twangy, echo-y guitars to great effect. And Intermission Rag continues with the Joe Meek-style twang, alongside studio effects (theremin, tape delays etc.) and finishes with a spooky snippet of Crofts singing ‘Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside’. It makes for an intriguing song; one that perhaps the old maverick Meek himself would have been proud to produce. More importantly, it hints at some potentially fascinating future Moons material to accompany their sharp guitar pop.
The band are launching a charm offensive in London with several gigs coming up in the next few months. They are sure to add more UK dates soon: why not ask them to come to your town? For as long as The On Offs are, er, off we should perhaps count ourselves lucky to be hearing The Moons producing such interstellar tunes. With a little luck and some hard work hopefully the lad will be heading for star-dom before too long. Remember, you heard them hear first.
Listen to The Moons yourself at their Myspace page here.
Thee Vicars
If noisy 60s-style garage is your thing, I’m guessing Thee Vicars will almost certainly float your boat.
Fresh from releasing their Psychotic Beat album on Dirty Water records, this Bury St Edmunds band are touring it – although that tour doesn’t leave London much (and doesn’t get anywhere near the northern part of the UK).
Still, if you fancy catching the band this month, tour dates are over the page. Check the MySpace page for plenty of tunes to hear in advance. Well worth your time. Oh yes, check out a review of the album over at Electric Roulette.
The Method
Not an easy band to categorise, but loving the sound of The Method.
Indeed, the description I’ve just seen reads: ‘Angry young mods inspired by The Specials reared on their older brother’s punk 45s, dope smoking Uncle Robin’ American psych albums, perhaps old pa’s ska, soul and R&B discs’
I think that sums it up pretty well. You can hear the recent We Don’t Know // Take Your Shot single here, with an album, Dissidents & Dancers, heading our way on See Monkey Do Monkey Recordings in May. Should be worth a listen. Check out a video over the page too.
The Shoestrung
A new band with some obviously vintage influences – The Shoestrung.
According to the band’s MySpace page, influences include the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Small Faces and Terry Reid, which is always a good start. And after a listen to the tunes on MySpace, you can see why – a mix of old school British R&B (Stones and Yardbirds for example) with a touch of new school indie. Not a bad place to be 2010.
