The Big Guns Are Back

We don't hate the mainstream here, we just try to push artists that aren't getting the recognition they deserve. So it's with interest we note that a lot of established bands are back with new singles. Coldplay, Hard-Fi and The Kaiser Cheifs let their latest singles loose and it's interesting to see how the bands are getting on.

Coldplay first:



Nothing spectacular but a solid effort from the band, they certainly haven't strayed far. The track is available for immediate download, something they missed a trick with Viva La Vida. It was such a strong track that it was one of those "got to have it now" legal or not tracks. This certainly doesn't hit me with the same feeling.

So on to Kaiser Cheifs:



This isn't grabbing me yet but I'm hoping it's going to grow on me. To be honest it took a lot of effort to stop myself from listening to the Cults album on stream and to listen to it again. They are doing something "interesting" with their album. You can choose the play order of your album and not only that you can choose the tracks from a list of 20 and even choose the cover. I have to say I like someone to point me in the right direction as to which of the tracks are better but on a visit to their site I can see that they do exactly that. Members of the band, the media and "normos" have put together their albums and you can choose who to back.

Last of all are Hard-Fi:



This one didn't grab me to start off with but has grown on me, it reminds me of Reverend and the Makers' Silence Is Talking for some reason. It doesn't sound like it but has the same kind of vibe.

So comments please, what do people like? Dislike? Should they have all given up ages ago or is it great to have them back?

Cults

I think I may have found a new band I really like. Sadly I'm a bit behind the curve but that's no bad thing. It just means I can get their album a lot sooner than if I'd found them when they were underground.

Cults sound perfect for 6Music, female vocals, ever so slightly slower than you'd get on commercial radio and with hell of a lot more class. Even more exciting is that they are coming to the UK, they're playing Birmingham, Cambridge, Aberdeen, Glasgow and The Bowery in Sheffield (August 22nd). Check them out and see what you think.


Cults - You Know What I Mean by cultscultscults

You can stream the debut album here.

Sheffield Music Compilation

Sounds of the City is a compilation put together to raise money for Cash for Kids and features local bands from the city including Alvarez Kings who have featured on 3WTM in the past. You can listen to the tracks below (tracks 1-10 are from the Birmingham edition, 11+ are the Sheffield tracks).


Latest tracks by Sounds Of The City

You may have missed it, I certainly forgot

On the 23rd it was What's Wrong With The Mainstream's birthday, sorry for not marking it by a big post but I thought I'd make up for it by telling you what I've been listening to recently. Hopefully you've all stuck with me on the New Years Resolution of buying one album a month or more accurately 12 albums over the year. So far I've bought White Lies, Vampire Weekend, Two Door Cinema Club, Elbow, Frankie and the Heartstrings, My Chemical Romance, and recent additions Noah and the Whale, and The Airborne Toxic Event. Now admittedly two of the albums are from last year but I'm still on track, the first time I've ever stuck at a NYR for more than a few weeks.

I'm still enjoying Frankie, TDCC a lot and the others have certainly had heavy rotation on my iPhone. If you've not heard much of Noah and the Whale's new album I think it's worth checking out. It's got a sound very similar to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, certainly up there with some of his best work. You can watch the best song off the album here, that's the song that convinced me to buy the album and you can download album track Give It All Back here.

In other news Magic and Fur have released their debut album, they're a band we've featured before and you can stream or download their album from their bandcamp site. You can download the title track below:

Remember Iglu and Hartly? Well Sam and Simon from the band have set up Youngblood Hawke, a synth-pop band that I'd expect to find on Neon Gold's web site. They're giving away a free EP, just paste this in to your browser http://t.opsp.in/lZpJ

Frankie and the Heartstrings - Hunger album review

Frankie has a talent for writing, whether that's in his email newsletters or music on an album Frankie has a way with words. A way of drawing you in, he writes in a tone that speaks to you. Yes you. I've been really enjoying the album since it dropped through my letterbox and it's already got memories linked to it. In fact I know in years to come when I listen to it I will be reminded of this time and what I was doing now. It will remind me of cycling to work, driving up and down the motorway in the sun and sat in a desk on my own at work listening to album after album. I've listened to some other albums a lot during this period of time, Two Door Cinema Club's (TDCC) being one of them but there's definitely something special about this album.

The album has quite a lot of anthemic elements, sing along sections backed up by catchy riffs and beats taken straight out of the 80s and 90s. In fact the intro to Ungrateful sounds so familiar I wish someone would put me out of my misery and tell me what it sounds like please. Anyway it makes an album that I can listen to and then put on again straight away. I guess that's the pop nature of the album but there is more depth than that suggests. I have already touched upon the lyrical skills of Frankie but Fragile really does sound like a soul classic, admittedly it sounds like it's been covered by Frankie (so much so I had to check they'd written it). Unlike quite a lot of their songs it starts slowly and then builds up. It's the kind of song that should someone like Simon Cowell select it for X-Factor and open it up to a wider audience it could be a massive hit, like he did with Biffy Clyro I guess.

I was asked the other day by Schonberg which album was my favourite so far this year and I would say three so far could compete for it. TDCC, The Vaccines and Frankie & the Heartstrings. As TDCC was released last year I guess that makes just two. If you don't own them yet I think you need to get down your local independent record shop, don't you? (I won't judge you if you go to a supermarket but I don't think you'll find it there).

Frankie & The Heartstrings - Fragile by 3WTM

Could be a cover of a soul classic?

Frankie & The Heartstrings - Ungrateful by 3WTM

Please tell me what 80s song the start sounds like.

Ooh you cheeky little monkey

Arctic Monkeys appear to be back and it's sounding good. New direction me thinks and heading in the right direction.




Their new album, Suck It and See will be out on 6th June.

Oh and Elbow's new album arrived on my doorstep this week so that's what I'm listening to at the moment if you're interested...

The Vaccines - Not Long Now

It's not long now until the debut album is out from The Vaccines. You may remember me posting If You Wanna back in August, well that's now their new single but you can download Wrecking Bar (ra ra ra) and Blow It Up and then get across to play.com and pre-order their album for £6.99.

Frankie and the Heartstrings - Debut Album

So I'm sure you're all hungry for more music and Frankie and the Heartstrings can satisfy that hunger as their debut album is out this week. It means I've ordered another album as part of my New Year Resolution. As it's only £4.99 from hmv.com it was a pretty easy decision to make.

If you need more convincing you can stream Ungrateful below oh and if you hadn't worked it out yet, the debut album is called Hunger.

Ungrateful by Frankie and the Heartstrongs
Supplied by radarmaker

I'm the only person sticking to their New Year Resolution, I wonder how Dancing Bear is getting on with his? Bet there's not a lot of whisky drinking going on in Cuba...

Where Are They Now

First of all let me say that I've been meaning to write this post for months, I've wanted to do a "where are they now" style post as I find them great to read on other people's blogs. So what I've decided to do is look back at one of earliest posts entitled If I Didn't Have The Internet I Wouldn't Be In To Them (and they know so...) and go through the bands on there to see what they're up to now.

The Whip
After hearing their fantastic track Trash, which has now had 500k listens on MySpace, I bought the album. A fantastic album it is too and not just a one hit wonder coffee coaster that I expected. Since then the track has been used in a Coors Light advert and in the background on a lot of TV programmes. According to their Twitter feed they have just finished the new album but at the moment there doesn't seem to be any new material to listen to.

The Sunshine Underground
Since the post they have released a second album which was alright, I was listening to it the other day and while it's no masterpiece it's a solid second album. On the band's blog they say they've already got going with some new material and promise there will be "no 4 year gap" this time. I hope so. I'm still hoping to catch them live at some point.

The Dead 60's
The Dead 60s are sadly no more. Their second album "Time To Take Sides" was unreleased in the UK. I still find this a bit bizarre as I picked it up a few copies in Fop for £1 each back in '08 or '09. This suggests to me that they split on the eve of its release. Either the record company thought it was going to flop or the band couldn't face touring to promote it. Either way it's a shame as the albums not too bad, with lead single Stand Up a particular favourite of mine. You can read their farewell letter on their MySpace and according to Wikipedia the band, minus lead singer Matt MacManamon, are in a new female fronted band The Venus Fury.

Tiny Dancers
Quite poppy and actually a really good album. Quite a disappointment when I found out they'd split. I mentioned it on this blog at the time. Where they promised not to be the "Joey" to Tiny Dancers' "Friends". Well as Matt Le Blanc seems to have hit another good series with Episodes you've certainly achieved that. I can't find any information about them, if you're out there guys, get in touch.

The National
The National have just had their best year ever I'm guessing as their 5th album High Velvet was a great success, critically anyway. It was voted number 8 in Q Magazine's end of year best of album list (I've still not bought the magazine since they sold out and had an interview with George Galloway in it). In my original post had the excellent song Fake Empire in it and yet the album it was taken from, Boxer, disappointed me. High Velvet is better but still not quite my cup of tea. They are touring mainland Europe in 2011 along with some more far flung places such as Japan and the American continent.

Team9
Team9 AKA Neil Mason has been "destroying shit since 1999" and spends most of his time now as The Found Sound Orchestra and he has a project on his hands. He is going to make a new track each week and make it available for download. That's some feat and in his own words quality control will take a hit at times but he quite rightfully points out that at the end of the year he should have enough quality for an album. It's still very much down the lines of mashing up songs and putting them together just like the awesome Money Song I posted originally.

Ghosts
One of the reasons I am writing this post is because of a Ghosts' track. The World Is Outside describes how the last Monday in January is apparently the worst day of the year. Usually that's because it's cold, dark and another whole week until pay day. Of course that's not the case this year as it's the last day of the month but you get the idea. Anyway, Ghosts debut album which the above song is the title track, was released in 2007 and was a good piano / indie pop effort. They were even in the BBC's sound of 2007 list. I seem to remember their single was experimented with as downloads had just come in. The physical copy and digital version were released weeks apart and thus the band didn't get very high in the charts. In April '08 the band went to Sweden to record a new album but it was never released.

The Virgins
What a song Rich Girls was. In fact I crave for the days where I can come across another Rich Girls or another Trash by The Whip come to that. According to Wikipedia the band are in the process of writing their second album but a bit more digging suggests they are now more and some of the "casualties from the now defunct band" have formed The Rassle and you can download their EP for free from their web site. I recommend you get over there quick smart and download. It's pretty catchy stuff, try to ignore how much Wild Ones sounds like I Fought The Law.

British India
I'm sure when I first came across this band I read that they were "Australia's Arctic Monkeys". Looking back I can see the comparison to Arctic Monkeys' first album but it's not how I would refer to them. They're a proper rock band and they've certainly been busy since I got their album back in '08. Guillotine was released in '07 and they have released two albums since then. Unlike a lot of rock bands they haven't turned down the volume which is refreshing. British India were even in the UK at the end of last year.

Los Campesinos!
You! Me! Dancing! was a great track, you remember it don't you? Well I start tapping my feet just thinking of the track. Los Campesinos! are still around and producing music. Their web site has a real "get in touch/involved vibe" where you can download tracks, email the band and read their blog which they run like 'normal' people. Their tracks remind me of Switches.

The Aliens
The Aliens were born out of Beta Band and released two albums but it appears that mental illness problems that plagued the band (and Beta Band) took their toll. There doesn't appear to be any trace of them yet Steve Mason their band mate from Beta Band has released new solo material.

Glasvegas
Well I shouldn't really need to tell you what they are up to now following my post the other week but in case you can't be arsed to read it, they've got a new album out soon.

Pete & The Pirates
I saw them live at the floating gig venue that is Thekla in Bristol a few years back and they looked young, played pop and entertained. Now they appear to have grown up and perhaps have put their pop days behind them. Download new track Winter 1 for free and their new album is due out in May.

The Paper Cranes
The Paper Cranes promised much at the start with the excellent I'll Love You Until My Veins Explode but the Canadians have never really hit those heights again sadly. They have released two albums, the last of which was Halcyon Days out in 2009.

White Lies
White Lies are stars and have the talent to back it up. Their debut album To Lose My Life was fantastic from start to finish, tracks Death and Unfinished Business are still in my top 10 played songs on iTunes and I could still listen to them twice a day. Ritual their recently released second album is still to win me over but I'm certainly willing to give this band a few more listens.

Gotye
What's Goyte been up to?
"Over the last year and a half I've been helping the lovely Tash Parker with the recording of her debut album Waking Up. I sang on some songs, played drums and percussion and produced a couple of songs. Tash is releasing the record independently on her own label Little Buildings and I reckon it's an absolute gem"

The Electric Soft Parade
I really enjoyed their debut album back in 2002, perhaps even the album of the year for me but sadly they've never managed to match it. They've released two albums since plus as part of the band Brakes they've released three studio albums. I bought Brakes' first album but never got in to it, Colin Murray claimed that Brakes' second album The Beautific Visions was the best album in 2006. The track I posted in 2008 was taken from their third and most recent album but apparently there might be a new album for 2011 as they appeared on stage in December hinting new material was on its way. So there's No Need To Be Downhearted.

Phoenix
The song I posted, It's Never Been Like That, was the catchy title track taken from their 2006 album. It was followed up in 2009 with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Free song 1901 never hit the mark with me but it and the album was well received by critics and it was their most successful album, winning a Grammy, whatever that is. So where are they now? Well they've recorded the soundtrack for Somewhere, a film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, you can catch the trailer here which has their music in it.

Vampire Weekend
At the time I posted the song I don't think Vampire Weekend were very big, now they're two albums in and going strong. They're still making music with an African feel and their album from last year, Contra, is growing on me.

The Courteeners
Their debut album St Jude was fantastic, my album of the year in fact and a real guitar band, rock n roll affair. The album won The Guardian's First Album Award, beating Glasvegas amongst others. The follow up to that album was released two years later in 2010 but didn't reach the same heights despite being called Falcon. Saying that it wasn't far off, it just had the feel of an album that was a little bit rushed, often the case with a second album where the record label is pushing for it's release. They also released an EP at the end of last year containing 5 tracks, two off the album, a cover and two new tracks. This year they've only got two festival style gigs scheduled so far, perhaps they're going to be holed up writing new material. They certainly seem to produce a lot, Falcon came with a special edition 2nd CD with tracks that didn't quite make the album.

The best part of doing this Where Are They Now post? Finding this on Gotye's web site "my current favourite palindrome- Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog" You're a lasagna hog...

The Pigeon Detectives New Material

It's been a while since The Pigeon Detectives released some new material, this after they released their first two albums within 12 months. It's not unsurprising then that the new material sounds a bit different. A different pace, an electronic influence but not a move away from Matt singing about women. Listen to the new track below along with a song off the previous two albums. The new album, Up, Guards and at 'em is out in April (I think) and they're on tour in March and April, tickets go on sale on Friday. The new single, Done In Secret is out 28th March.

Latest tracks by The Pigeon Detectives