Old School Ties

Birmingham-based Old School Tie used to be an intrumental outfit, but have now incorporated vocals into their electonic rock sound and are soon to unleash a self-released debut album, Mystery Sound Playrgound. In the past they’ve supported the likes of Oceansize, Infadels and Mexicolas, one of my favourite Birmingham bands.

Fireflies is a good example of their sound, and what’s to come from the new album. A blend of subtle electronic sounds and varied strengths of guitar sounds complement the lush vocals well, creating a crisp but deep track. The vocals in the second half of the track remind me of someone else… It’ll come to me…

MP3: Old School Tie – Fireflies

Less than a week til Leeds!

Yes indeed, it is less than a week until the Leeds and Reading Festivals kick off. The New Sound. will be attending the Leeds Festival and we cannot wait! From Friday to Sunday, hundreds of good bands will be playing the festival, including a handful of really awesome ones like Rage Against The Machine, Bloc Party and Queens of the Stone Age, to name a few.

Of course, for Leeds attendees, the music starts a day early with a handful of bands from the superb Leeds-based record label Dance To The Radio playing, including the brilliant Grammatics. Last year Dance To The Radio brought the likes of now-defunct Shut Your Eyes And You’ll Burst Into Flames, Sky Larkin and Grammatics to support ¡Forward, Russia! and they were all superb (except The Wallbirds who were really boring).

If you’re going to Leeds (or Reading), have a great time! I know we will!

One Day As A Lion – Wild International

“One Day As A Lion is both a warning delivered and a promise kept.”

If you haven’t already heard, One Day As A Lion is Zach de la Rocha of Rage Against The Machine‘s side project, accompanied by former The Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore. The terribly-talented twosome recently posted their first track on MySpace. Wild International sees trademark de la Rocha vocals over Theodore’s drums and some brutal-sounding synths laid down by de la Rocha. It’s damn good and there’s an EP on the way! Rumours of an album from de la Rocha under a different guise have been around since the last millenium, but finally we might have something a bit better than the stuff he did with DJ Shadow. Then maybe a new Rage album?

Dream Bitches

Dream Bitches are a New York band that have been together for five years and recently released their second album, Coke-And-Spiriters. Their sound reminds me slightly of Australian indie-punkers The Grates but Dream Bitches lack the energetic front-woman that The Grates have in the form of Patience Hodgson. Incidently, The Grates have a new single out. The reason I’ve mentioned the energetic Hodgson is that if Dream Bitches had half of her energy, then I might be more interested. The music will be perfectly approachable for fans of Tegan and Sarah and suchlike, but I think it just lacks that something-something that I like about The Grates. I didn’t actually intend for this review to be a comparison between the two, but I can’t enjoy one without thinking that they’re not as good as the other. Anyways, Dream Bitches do have some good tunes, and my fave is Bad Luck Bill. Very catchy indie-pop riffs and vocals with a hint of Kimya Dawson in there.

MP3: Dream Bitches – Bad Luck Bill

You can also download two older songs from the band’s myspace here, andyou can buy their new album here!

Enjoy. x

My holiday listening

So the reason I hadn’t posted in a while before the Bloc Party single review below was that I’d been on holiday. To make up for the lack of new music for you in that time, here’s the two new records that I was listening to while I was away.

Dananananaykroyd – Sissy Hits

Sissy Hits is the first EP from Glaswegian “fight-pop” sextet Dananananaykroyd to be released in the UK. After their original record label went bust earlier this year, the band had to find a new label before the EP could finally be released. It was well worth the wait! Sissy Hits is a series of songs that start off like Hot Club De Paris before working their way to The Blood Brothers via yourcodenameis:milo. An unbelievably good EP, and it joins Bloc Party‘s self-titled EP and Death From Above 1979‘s Heads Up! EP as one of my three favourite EPs ever. Can’t wait to hear more from these guys. Buy it here and bag yourself a bargain. You won’t be disappointed.

My Eductation – Bad Vibrations

I’ve never really been a massive fan of instrumental music, and most post-rock type bands can bore me at times. There are however, noteable exceptions. When I received this album in the post from the very helpful guys at Fanatic Promotion, I had my reservations, but I was pleasantly surprised. More laid back than the likes of Explosions In The Sky, the album reminded me more of Broken Social Scene‘s album You Forgot It In People because of the varied instrumentation and the sense of space in the record. A beautifully put-together album, this will appeal to fans of Broken Social Scene and also fans of the post-rock hot-shots like Explosions In The Sky and This Will Destroy You who fancy something more subtle. Mellow, altmospheric and a very rewarding listen, Bad Vibrations is an excellent showpiece of what My Education can do. You can buy it here.

MP3: Dananananaykroyd – The Greater Than Symbol And The Hash

MP3: My Education – Arch

Splitting up is so in fashion

This week, a host of bands announced they had bitten the musical dust. A moment of quiet reflection please for:

• Shut Your Eyes And You’ll Burst Into Flames
• Cutting Pink With Knives
• Help She Can’t Swim
• Mumm-Ra
• Reuben
  

  siKth too, apparently

The only possible silver lining to this cloud of splitty-up-ness is that the remaining Shut Your Eyes And You’ll Burst Into Flames recordings should be released still, so there’s those to remember them by. 😦

The Terrordactyls

Our friends at Fanatic Promotion sent me an email about this band the other day. The Terrordactyls are an Anti-Folk duo from the USA, living in Washington State and Brooklyn. Their music is unothodox; acoustic guitars are fused with kazoo solos, which apparently landed the band with a sponsorship from Kazoobie. Truly living the rockstar lifestyle then.

The Terrordactyls released an EP and album in quick succession in March of this year. The full Mike Bowers EP can be streamed here and the self-titled album can be heard in full here. If you like what you hear, you can buy both from their website here. The album features the dulcet tones of Kimya Dawson (of Moldy Peaches and Juno fame) and she compliments their sound wonderfully. These guys are the best acoustic act I’ve heard in quite a while, and I predict an explosion of popularity in 2008, as fans of the Juno soundtrack will enjoy Kimya Dawson‘s input, and The Terrordactyls’ sound will surely appeal to fans of hers and maybe people will prefer their snappy lyrics and kazoo mastery to another dissappointing Death Cab For Cutie record or something like that. I know I do.

MP3: The Terrordactyls – Overcast Summer

MP3: The Terrordactyls – Growing Old

MP3: The Terrordactyls – Fall

MP3: The Terrordactyls – Devices

(We’ve made the mp3s more manageable. Click to play them, or right click > “Save As” do download)

Rory. x

The New Sound. Recommends @ Glastonbury

With more bands being added to the line-ups of Glastonbury, Download and Leeds & Reading recently, The New Sound. has been picking out some of the best bands from the three festivals that we recommend you go see. Next up, it’s Britain’s most famous festival…

Glastonbury

Glastonbury is a very diverse festival, and you’ll already know whether or not to say the big names (Jay-Z anyone? The Hoosiers? James Blunt? No?) so we’ve been delving into the depths of the line-up poster to find the bands you mustn’t miss on the smaller stages.

Other Stage

Neon Neon

Super Furry Animals and Boom Bip man Gruff Rhys’ new project is two-piece Electro-pop outift Neon Neon. Debut album Stainless Style was a good listen, and if you’re digging their electro styles, I’d recommend taking the time out of your festival experience to experience their chilled pop first hand.

MP3: Neon Neon – I Told Her On Alderaan

John Peel Stage

The Ting Tings

Salford-based Boy-girl indie-pop duo The Ting Tings have swooped to indie stardom very quickly, with cracking singles Great DJ and That’s Not My Name. Check out Jules and Katie perform on the John Peel Stage at Glasto and you won’t regret it. Unless you call her Stacey or Jane, she doesn’t seem to like that.

MP3: The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name

Band Of Horses

Formerly known as simply Horses, (name changed to avoid confusion with HORSE the band, personally I don’t think it helped that much), Band Of Horses are aptly located in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Their music is, pleasant, beautifully constructed indie-pop balladry. Often compared to My Morning Jacket because of the vocals, Band Of Horses are signed to Sub Pop records, home of atheist-punks The Thermals and The Shins, The Go! Team and many more.

MP3: Band Of Horses – The Funeral

MP3: The Thermals – No Culture Icons

Holy Fuck

Radio-friendly experimental electro band Holy Fuck are sure to be one of the more interesting bands to watch on this year’s Glastonbury line-up. Expect lots on buttons and knobs, and buttons with knobs on, as these four Canadians construct their powerful electronica for your listening pleasure.

MP3: Holy Fuck – Lovely Allen

Honourable Mentions

These are some more bands that are playing Glasto that shouldn’t be over-looked, but I’m going to end up with an EPIC post if I write about every band on this line-up that’s worth seeing, and quite frankly, I don’t have the time. Here are the pick of the bunch from the rest of the festival:

The Duke Spirit, MGMT, The Automatic (screamy guy out + youcodenameis:milo guy in = good trade), Seasick Steve, The Holloways, Captain, Elbow, Hercules and Love Affair, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, The Whip, autoKratz, Our Fold, and many many more…

The New Sound. Recommends @ Download

With more bands being added to the line-ups of Glastonbury, Download and Leeds & Reading recently, The New Sound. has been picking out some of the best bands from the three festivals that we recommend you go see. First up, it’s Donington metal festival…

Download

Friday:

Disturbed

Disturbed will be bringing their own brand of novelty techno-infused-metal to Download this year, and a performance from these brutally cliché metal-heads is bound to be worth a see. Everybody’s favourite singalong-metal song Down WIth The Sickness will be worth the effort on its own.

Rise Against

Political punks Rise Against are one of the best bands on the Download line-up, which is one of the more “specialized” (restricted) line-ups on the festival circuit. They’re more interesting than most of the samey inbred punk metal bands at Download, and should not be missed.

The Dillinger Escape Plan

New Jersey hardcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan are another must-see band on the Download line-up. They’ll be headlining the third stage, meaning they’ll clash with Simple Plan and KISS (bovvered?).

Saturday:

Incubus

Incubus will be playing the main stage, just before The Offspring headline, and some might say they’re more worthy of that headline spot. I would. The Offspring are fun, but Incubus are just amazing. Pistola, Megalomaniac, Drive? These songs blow every scene metal band in Donington out of the water.

Skindred

Got reggae-metal? Download do in Newport’s own Skindred. If you’re not going to Download, you can also check them out on their May UK tour that begins in a couple of weeks. Once you hear Skindred, you won’t forget them. Ever.

Sunday:

Coheed and Cambria

Coheed and Cambria‘s music/anime comic combination idea freaks me out a little, as I don’t understand the whole story behind the music as a result. Luckily, the music is good enough on its own that I don’t really care. They’ll be worth checking out, just before our next two recommendations.

Jimmy Eat World

According to an interview I read somewhere, Jimmy Eat World weren’t exactly sure what Download is about when they signed up, but promised to play “their metal songs” to suit the occasion. Somehow I suspect they’ll stick with the impeccable pop-punk that made their name. After Jimmy Eat World, the headliners are:

LostProphets

We saw these welsh rockers at Leeds last year, and they are real performers, and that’s what you want in a festival headliner. Great tunes are a must, and are present with these guys, but for entertainment value, frontman Ian Watkins adds a little extra with his ramblings. Worthy headliners, and one of the few bands on this line-up worth seeing.

Stay tuned for our recommendations for Glasto and Leeds & Reading.

The New Sound. x

She Wants Revenge

She Wants Revenge are a superb band. That is all.

Seriously though, I’ve never heard a band that sounds like them and pulls it off as well as they do, unless Interpol count, but I don’t think they’re as similar as some people claim they are. She Wants Revenge‘s darkwave sound (with some truly unsettling pop melodies mixed in here and there) is captivating stuff. Their self-titled debut came out in 2006 and was followed by This is Forever in October of last year. I think I prefer the first album, but I’m really not sure. The problem is they’re both so good.

These guys have two albums, they’ve toured with Depeche Mode and the impecable Placebo, yet they’re still mostly unknown. That said, Tear You Apart, the band’s second single from the She Wants Revenge reached number 5 in the US Modern Rock chart, whatever that means, and the brilliant video was directed by Hollywood movie star Joaquin Phoenix (omgz!!!1!).

Moving back to the present, the band will soon (sometime in May I believe) be releasing their Save Your Soul EP and it’s sure to be more great stuff. You really should watch that Tear You Apart video y’know. The band are playing a massive tour across the US til June time. I’m still hoping for an appearance on the stage formerly known as the Carling Stage at the festival formerly known as the Carling Leeds Festival in the month still known as August.

That’s the video for Tear You Apart. Did I mention that it was directed by Joaquin Phoenix? Think I did. You should really watch that video.

MP3: She Wants Revenge – True Romance

The New Sound. x