Incorporating the ecstasy prescribed by The White Stripes’ early raw blues-soaked rock and roll and the charming glow of ’60s pop warmed through vinyl, Harlem distills that glorious free spirit so many bands are chasing but so few have managed to pin down.
Those Darlins
Here’s the next batch of our favourite albums, singles and downloads of 2009. We’re hurtling towards the top 20, as today we give you our selections from 40-21.
Fun Fun Fun Fest has announced a few more additions to its already stellar 2009 lineup, including both Alan Palomo-helmed projects (Neon Indian + VEGA), Fucked Up, Harlem, Yeasayer, Kid Sister, and more. These groups join Death, GZA, Health, Atlas Sound, King Khan & BBQ Show, and many more on the ‘09 bill. More additions coming next week…
Goes Cube - "Grinding the Knife Blade"; Well it seems Goes Cube are finally over naming their songs after numbers, which is a definitely a good thing, and this rocking ass track certainly sets the bar fairly high for all the actually titled songs to come.
Grade: B
Art Brut - "Just Desserts"; This may just be the B-side to their lead single, but Art Brut and Eddie Argos certainly show their wit has maintained through all the time off. Taking on his own chubby self, Argos sings about his snacking habits. It’s a humorous song and not too bad musically.
Grade: B
Dog Day - "Rome"; Fans of straight forward indie pop should take note of this new act. With simple dueling vocals and a gentle rhythm the song is cute and catchy enough to catch your ear, though it never does wow us.
Grade: B-
Harlem - "Come Back Jonee"; It wasn’t enough that Harlem had to force their way into our lives with their addictive song "South of France", no now the band has gone and covered Devo to woo us even further. This is yet another example of a band that’s just finding its way and having a lot of fun experimenting.
Grade: A-
Bodies of Water - "Dear Boy"; Justin, the dude behind Aquarium Drunkard, is putting together a track for track cover album of Paul McCartney’s RAM. It almost reminds me of Nellie McKay with the big piano sound and lovely female voice carrying the track, but there are also the backing harmonies which are such a trademark of Bodies of Water’s own work to make you realize who you’re actually listening to.
Grade: B+
Ear Pwr - "Future Eyes"; The latest addition to the Carpark stable definitely fits right in. Ear Pwr makes the same sort of instantly catchy synth pop that the label has been pushing for a couple years now. It’s catchy, addictive, and extremely dance worthy so get ready to hear it everywhere!
Grade: B
Photos from a recent FOE gig - a friend of our friends Hold Your Horse Is - she’s gonna be big!!! Read the gig review after the jump.
Shots of North Carolina’s folk-rocking Avett Brothers’ stop in Glasgow - 22.08.11
Read the review of the gig here.
Take a look at the acts and art on offer at this year’s Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Included are the likes of Fight Like Apes, Lykke Li, Sea of Bees and Seasick Steve. Photos from our own...
Good time with Bad Guys. Photos from the May 29th gig at the Old Blue Last. Read the review by the Bad Guy himself, Stuart London after the jump.
Artrocker.com exclusive: for fans of White Lies and Crocodiles we’ve got some fresh pictures from their UK show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire earlier this month, courtesy of Alessandro...
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