Another New Band Clear-Out; Endorsement From Lydia Lunch To Follow

The Bible says that gluttony is a deadly sin. Lydia Lunch says that, “it’s important to encourage gluttony in all its formats.” I’m not entirely sure the bible is right. I’m with Lydia. Too much of something good is almost never enough.

Thus, here’s a belly-full of new bands, in the second attempt in as many weeks to rationalise the heap of CDs that fills the ANBAD New Bands Pit. It’s another ANBAD New Bands Clear Out!

First: Simply hailing by from Brooklyn, a place where good bands seem to grow on trees, I’m In You can be recommended. That they produce songs as affecting, hefty and all-encompassing as Lurid View is almost by-the-by. I’m In You, childish snigger-inducing name aside, are excellent, dreamy and unctuous. Oh yes.

I’m In You // Lurid View

www.iminyou.com

Second: Crystal Fighters have a song called I Love London. This will rile some, and please others. Non-UK residents: It’s a petty north-south divide thing. Whatever your opinion on the wonderfully vibrant/dirty and rude city, their music is undeniably alive, all shimmer, shudder and creak.

www.myspace.com/crystalfighters

Third: Arranging to tour with Mumford and Sons might appear to be a duff move, but it’s a smart move for Johnny Flynn. His brand of rousing and heartfelt folk is better and subtler than that of the band he’ll be supporting, and hopefully this will be impressed on a monied audience who could easily supply him with the career he deserves. So perhaps Mumford and Sons have their uses after all. Nice.

www.johnny-flynn.com

Fourth: Could the words Satellite Crush ever be used in an actual sentence? It’s hard to picture the circumstances, though I imagine they’d feature a vast cornfield, a smoking crater and the remnants of an unlucky farmer’s tractor. While you’re trying to think of other scenarios, why not listen to the band in question, and see if any clues are proffered?

www.myspace.com/satellitecrushmusic

Finally: The Telegrams’ new CD has really lovely artwork. So lovely, I can hardly take it. It’s the kind of delicate splashing of colour that is so tactile and delicious that I almost forgot to listen to the band, which is unfair, because Telegrams are, well, warm and mellow. I make no apologies for using that word.

www.telegramsband.com

No more: no more. Not now. Maybe later. But not now.

http://www.myspace.com/satellitecrushmusic

Lock Up Your Daughters! It’s A New New Band Clear-Out!

Some days, one new band will suffice. This is not one of those days.

Occasionally the pile of new bands marked ‘to do’ in ANBAD Towers becomes so vast and unwieldy, that drastic action has to take place. Today is one of those days.

So here’s the slight return of the Great ANBAD Band Clear Out. Everything must go!

First! a revistitation from one of ANBAD’s best new artists from 2009, Radiant Dragon – who has done a wonderful remix of the wonderful Egyptian Hip Hop‘s equally wonderful song Wild Human Child. Quick, listen to it before you are overcome with wonderment:

Egyptian Hip Hop // Wild Human Child [Radiant Dragon Remix]

Second! Humanizer – look beyond the clunky name and just feel those epic chord changes, the swirling sonic miasma and the vague feeling that Humanizer might be the Manchester band that breaks out before all the others.

www.myspace.com/humanizer

Third! Mondegreen – Glasgow spews forth yet another sharp, cracked, jang-ular new band. Say It Don’t Spray It leaps here, there and straight up your trouser leg. Excellent, bizarre, freshhhhhhh.

www.myspace.com/mondegreenmondegreen

Fourth! Yeti Lane – I’m fairly sure Yeti Lane are French. If so: they are another lovely example of French guitar-pop’s slithering, lithe, lubriciousness. If they’re not, then they’re an excellent, spooky, inventive band. Either outcome is very good.

www.myspace.com/yetilane

Fifth! Bodies Of Work – Flyers is radio-friendly Indie that’s also ear-friendly. This in itself is a rarity. Tender and tough, prickly and smooth. Charming.

www.myspace.com/bodiesofworkuk

Enough! Five is, indeed, enough for now. Rest assured th0ugh, that the VAST pile of TEETERING new bands is simply THREATENING to overwhelm us all at any moment, and such multi-band excess will appear here very soon!

>The Great Band Backlog Enema: The Doctor Will See You Now

>Yowch! It’s been a bit of a shock to find that this ANBAD New Bands Backlog was even bigger than previously thought. For the uninitiated, this is the latest in a short, but ever-lengthening, series of posts with the explicit aim of de-cluttering the metaphorical Spare Room Full Of Bands That Didn’t Quite Make It in the equally imaginary ANBAD Towers.

We’re nearly there now, and in truth, it’s been a more than worthwhile exercise. We have re-unearthed some bands who shouldn’t have been in there in the first place and thus have set them free to puzzle your ears and minds. Equally there have been some duff bands too – but this is the one instance where democracy rules on ANBAD, so you can decide for yourself.

Today we have, for your delectation/defecation:

Turnpike Glow – Chiming, charming purveyors of a quaint pop/twee-rock/folk conflation. Wobbly, sweet songs for sunny days, and might sit nicely on your radio as you enjoy a cold cider in the garden. This Heat is sweet, happy and shiny – suitable for certain moods and possibly even meteorological conditions too – but, yes, nice.

The Kick Inside – A band whose name leaves me unsure as to whether it’s a sweet nod to the joys of pregnancy or a cloying nod to the joys of pregnancy. Regardless – Oh, Vanity! is a fey teenager’s mopey conversation with the mirror, set to a superbly jaunty bassline and a guitar with jangle to spare. It’s Always The Quiet Ones is worldly-wise and naive all at once, a conflict that may infuriate some and be endearing to others. Listen and decide…

Two bands then, who will divide opinion, but at the very least will strike a chord with most – though especially with angsty teenagers. As always.

>Another ANBAD Clear-Out!

>POW! Today’s post is the New Band equivalent of the scene in a kung-fu movie where the plucky hero takes on a whole bunch of heavyweight ninja brutes, and emerges GLORIOUS IN VICTORY!

Hoorah! Actually, no. On reflection, and if that dreadful analogy is fully explored, the idea of us – the wan, insipid fops who run ANBAD – being associated with heroism is a little beyond the pale. So, anyway – here’s another bunch of the great bands that form The ANBAD Band Backlog, and this is just another part of the Great ANBAD Sluice-Out. So:

Kochka – Geographically-scattered band, with a neat line in melodramatically contorted indie. Songs like Numbers might capture your heart, or they might trigger your feet, or maybe even both at once. Man of Letters ambles cutely next to you, and spills life stories as you make your way home. For fans of emotional (Note: NOT Emo) rock music.

Alonzo – Light years away from Kochka, figuratively and maybe literally too, is Alonzo, who is happily obsessed with space, time and UFOs. His music soars high, slickly painting the night sky with colourful synths, pounding drums and dippy samples. In Time burbles and bounces, and if you’re listening at night, the temptation to gaze upwards and wonder might be too hard to resist. Soft and broad.

The two members of Ken Winston each found an element of music they liked, and fused them together; maybe to be awkward, maybe to annoy, or maybe because there was a niggling feeling that a pop/electronic/prog combo might just work. If the latter was their reasoning, they were right – because in songs like Trees, they have a insidious, subtle and broad song that warps time and will leave you spaced out, in the nicest possible way.

So, that’s it for this week’s clear-out. And like all Kung-Fu movies, there will be many inevitable sequels. Many sequels.

>It’s Another Great ANBAD New Bands Round-Up!

>
So, after that dreadfully contorted headline, and after wrestling for control over Band Knowledge Distribution with the all-seeing, all-knowing sentient ANBAD Benevolent Overlord Robot, it’s time to clear the backlog and blow out three more bands from the ANBAD Bilge Pump:

Look – here’s Fran O’Hanlan, his lovely voice, his lovely gentle guitar, and his lovely, rugged, yet boyish, good looks. Wait. I got sidetracked there. But his songs, like House Of Books, are impassioned, grand and acousto-syrupy. Listen here!

If you like beards, you’ll love Jam On Bread. Even if you’re not fond of facial fungus, you’ll not fail to raise at least an eyebrow, or even a smile, at his simple ukulele pluckings and off-beat songs. Floaty-light fun. Listen here!

I was hoping that Down The Lees was a protest group targeting people called Lee, but my early optimism was misplaced. Happily, it was replaced with jangly heartfelt indie – songs like Talk Is Not Cheap, which scrabbles and scratches and finds itself standing amid nice chorus-verse-choruses. Listen here!

>The ANBAD New Band Clearing House Opens Its Doors

>Anyone who’s ever been in the unfortunate position to have had some oik in a shiny suit bombarding them with Management-Speak will know that ‘added value’ is where it’s at right now in the lexicon of Management Bullshit.

Make the customer pay more by giving them even more than they bargained for and everyone’s happy, right? Except of course, the customer, who’s been diddled out of more cash than they wanted.

At ANBAD, our idea of added value is to throw more bands at you and to make them stick – for free! So here’s another Great ANBAD Band Clear Out – where three great new bands are pumped into your open, willing gullets, all for the price of one! Open wide…

Airport City Express are another Belgian band who continue to prove that their country isn’t just the butt of ‘name three famous Belgians’ jokes and Tintin, and instead produce the sort of easy-going rock that Soulwax and Phoenix used to. Smooth and fuzzy. Listen here!

The Little Philistines: Zipping between the good UK indie of the 90s and deceptive tunefulness with cunning aplomb, The Little Philistines have, in Another Song, a signature tune with a chorus that goes on for miles. Listen here!

Guess what? Slow Drum Hum are another of our most Aptly Named Bands…Ever! Creeping, slow and ready to pounce, with thoughtful menace, their songs hum, drone and click like evil radio static from outer space. Cower here!

>ANBAD Band Clear-Out Special Day Two! (Or is it three? Not sure)

>Good grief. I hope you recovered from the shock of all those bands on Tuesday. Assuming you did, here’s Part Two of the snappily-titled Great A New Band A Day Bands Stockpile Clearout! (See Tuesday’s post if you’re none the wiser)

And today, in semi-reference to the South By South West festival taking place, all the bands are from the USA! Thematic-tastic! Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!

The Steps – Not the hellish late-90’s novelty disco-pop-gone-bad multi-million selling quintet, but the gusty rock behemoth-to-be from Austin, Texas. They grind out dinosaur-wrestlin’ rawk songs that will punch you in the face, steal your wallet and then invite you to join them in a round of drinks bought with the money. And you’d say yes.

Leisure Pills – Dreamy, easy-going, driving, rock (Note: not Driving Rock, which is an altogether different, awful, beast). You can actually hear that they’re from the west coast of America. The audio equivalent of lying on your back and looking up at the clouds.

Kill Cupid – Almost entirely made of demented rock crashing noise, Kill Cupid are brash, loud and excitable. Their songs might not deal with one’s inner turmoil, or ruminate on humanity’s place in the universe, but they can, like, totally produce some ace riff-o-rama songs that demand heads to banged and pits to be moshed.

Shenandoah Davis – The antidote to the masculine, testosterone-drenched excess of the previous bands, Shenandoah Davis writes gentle, uncoiling, happy songs that engage, delight and swoon. Songs like Up And Over are soaring, twinkling gems; beautiful, fragile and calm. Bold and sweet, her songs tell intriguing stories, or fragmented tales, or whispers from inside her mind. Highly recommended.

Phew! Four more bands – that’s nine this week now. Have a nice lie down now. You deserve it. We know we do. Remember – things’ll return to normal on Monday when we get back from sunning ourselves abroad. See you next week!

>ANBAD – On Holiday, Offers Crumbs

>Yesterday was the start of the Great A New Band A Day Band Stockpile Clearout – where the list of great bands that had backed up gets a good sluice out. If you missed it, check it RIGHT OUT below – there’s four great bands that’ll melt your mind, mop it up, wring it out into a glass, and drink it.

Time is needed for all those bands to be digested properly. So here’s something to read whilst you do it: The ANBAD eBook – 2! It’s chock-packed with the best writing, the best bands and the best* puns that could be crowbarred into music reviews.

Perfect for all occasions – but mainly for reading on the toilet. Hooray!

The Band Clearout continues tomorrow!

*worst, clearly

>ANBAD Band Clear-Out Special Day One!

>We’ve decided to elope on holiday for a few days, taking a well-earned* break somewhere in continental Europe where the weather isn’t so determinedly grey and lifeless. Super. I’ll bring you back a straw donkey and a foul-tasting obscure foreign liquor.

*barely deserved

It also gives us an opportunity to demolish the ANBAD New Bands Stockpile – the depository of bands that are on the list to be featured on the website, but haven’t yet. This is due to the fact that we find more new bands we’re desperate to feature than we have days to write about them. And to think that when we started this we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to find enough.

So, today brings you a whole load of new bands. Don’t ever say we don’t care about you.

Interlard – Frankly, with a name as brilliantly stupid as this, I have no idea why they weren’t featured sooner. Interlard make loud, soft, mind-shredding noise that soothes and smashes your poor, fragile human bones at the same time. Lovely, worrying and dangerously hypnotic.

The Guilty – Crashing, quirky, clattering quasi-punk that throws in synths just when you don’t expect them. They’ve got a knack for niggling melodies, nagging choruses and high energy (not Hi-NRG).

Futuristic Retro Champions – Oxymoronic name: check. Soft, fun ‘n’ sensuous synth-y songs: present and correct. Sweetly feminine pop songs of the like that there aren’t enough of in your life: in spades. Another lovely band from the steady stream of bands trickling out of Scotland. Shimmery, electro, unlikely, lovable. Great!

DJ White Noise – Collector of today’s Most Appropriate Name Award, DJ White Noise uses all those bits of the sonic spectrum that most people try to keep out of their songs. It’ the audio equivalent of soup-making with the chicken carcass and left-over veg – and with similarly tasty results. Throbbing, inventive and gently looping. A subtle treat.

Now that’s service! Four tip-top quality bands in one day! Are we setting standards of service that we’ll never be able to maintain? Oh, we don’t care – we’re eating tapas in Madrid. More tomorrow!