Thursday, 30 October 2008
Paris Hilton, Verb Confusion and Today's New Band - I Am Austin
I'm still persevering with my Spanish class, much to the surprise of, well, me, mainly. I think it's because it was paid for up front and I'm too tight to drop out. Anyway, any progress that was being made courtesy of my guapa Argentinian teacher was dashed last night when it was revealed to us that in Spain they have two verbs for "to be".

This mind-boggling Ta-Da! Surprise! threw me, as the decision of whether you use Estar or Ser - the offending verbs - hinges on some sort of arbitrary psychological hunch of whatever situation is being described. And all the while, my well-meaning teacher was making personal guarantees that Spanish is actually a very easy language.

Simplicity is comforting. This alone can explain the popularity of say, Paris Hilton. You know exactly what you're going to get - and in her case it's teeth-grindingly annoying vacuousness. It gives people a nice simple starting point for whatever they want to do or feel next.

Music is the same. There's a reason that DJs at wedding discos the world over always play the same crappy songs ad nauseum. You won't find Uncle Tony frugging to Aphex Twin's Canticle Drawl after a few too many sherries anywhere.

Today's New Band are super simple - a straight down the line, groin thrusting, cymbal smashing rock band. It's a combination that produces duff bands with unerring regularity. I am Austin though, have got it right, right, right. Stripper sounds as sleazy and grimy as you'd expect. It's about strippers, having a good time, and then writing a song that describes it all. What more do you want for it? Contextual analysis?

I Am Austin are all hair, hormones and songs about lust. This Air Is Acid, which I hope is a song regaling the pungency of a particularly toxic fart, lurches at you drunkenly, scrabbling for balance and not finding it. It's a big, bruising song that always threatens to explode violently. Similarly, Zombie Town rages and clanks dementedly.

I Am Austin are in that happy, early, just-enjoying-the-feeling-of-making-this loud-noise phase, with the added pleasure of creating great, mental songs along the way. And none of the band members are called Austin, either. I like that. You'll like them too - listen here!

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Written at 12:25 by Joe | A New Band A Day.
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Thursday, 19 June 2008
Today's New Band - Hiawata!
It seems that we're taking a virtual road trip around Northern Europe this week on A New Band A Day. A road trip, that is, without the casual sex, drunken debauchery and gradually itchier genitalia of a real one. Yesterday, we had Poland's wonderfully er, beepy, MISTER BEEP, and prior to that it was the turn of Sweden's brilliantly-chorussed Envelopes. So, taking a swift detour to Norway seems a perfectly reasonable turn of events, assuming you can afford to pay the exorbitant beer prices.

And, to continue a tortuous theoretical-journey-theme, joining us in Oslo is Today's New Band, Hiawata! They're a part Teenage Fanclub, part Belle and Sebastian, and all-super. Listen to their Song, Animal, and bask in the lovely ringing guitars and harmonised choruses. Then, when you're done swooning in delight, cower in fear as they threaten to "make you forget everything that you said, cos I'll love you like an animal", which is disturbingly close in intent to W.A.S.P.'s ludicrous hit, Animal (Fuck Like A Beast).

Their other songs follow a similarly endearing jangly-guitar template, which is a good thing. It's funny when music from outside a country's 'scene' creeps in, insidiously - there's a hint of the tabloid-loving skinny-jeaned brigade's sound in some songs - but it always gets distilled through another country's musical sensibilities, and in Hiawata!'s case, it works like a charm. Have a butcher's at their summery sounds here!

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Written at 15:24 by Joe | A New Band A Day.
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Thursday, 17 April 2008
Today's New Band - The Brownies

The world of rock is mainly cock-centric - guys singing about them snaring weak-kneed women and then strutting off towards the next conquest. Actually, that's how it used to be, in the days when the codpieced, moronically-coiffured Whitesnake, WASP et al thrusted their collective groin towards us unfortunate listeners. Today, though, the majority of indie bands that pollute the charts are so busy pouting and imagining they're in Skins that they're incapable of waggling their hips at the girls in the front row.

So today's great new band - The Brownies - are here to pick up that slack. Sophie, Stevie and Maxie leer out from behind the band's bouncy, buzzy noise with a sexual predatoriness that is fun, confident and, for a very welcome change, female. "Not every girl wants to be surrounded by naked ladies - Naked, naked men for me!" they yelp on Vaseline Kid.

Listen to their bunch of great songs on their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/thebrownies and then lock up your sons, for their own safety.

And look: I went through the whole post without mentioning them being from Norwich and making a glib connnection with Alan Partridge.

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Written at 13:25 by Joe | A New Band A Day.
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