>Remember Grunge? The rat-tailed-wooly-jumpers-and-miserablism rock behemoth crawled from nowhere in the early 90s and then disappeared almost as quickly in a miasma of introspection, shotgun smoke and underwhelming MOR rock tarted up as a quasi-Nirvana dirge. Perhaps the oddest thing of all was that this scene grew up, almost by mistake, around a city as seemingly unassuming as Seattle.
The truth is that Seattle has an odd knack for throwing up great new music – look at the bands that have appeared on Sub-Pop over the years for proof. However, for every Sleater-Kinney and Modest Mouse, there’s a Kenny G (shudder) or P.U.S.A. So sighs of relief all round, bbecause Today’s New Band, Feral Children, have both feet firmly planted in the former camp of inventive, quirky rock, and there’s not a lick of smooth, smooth jazz to be heard anywhere.
Their song Zyghost is remarkably bouncy, nestling cozily between mania, insanity and Johnny Marr‘s songbook. Simple and obscure at the same time, it’s touching, bold and as good a song as you’ll hear for ages. A bit like how Razorlight would sound if they were all the things they’re not: inventive, daring and exciting.
More yelpy, more frantic and more aware of the life-giving power of a great rock song than 99% of all other bands – it’d be a minor crime if you missed out on them. Listen here!
P.S. Don’t forget the ANBAD eBook – it’s got lots of pictures, so you can cut it up and use it as wrapping paper when you’ve finished reading it. Or before, your call.