The Return of Big Gun Number 4 - The Kooks

Last night Zane Lowe played The Kooks new track, three years on from their last (second) album Konk. The track sounds very like Supergrass despite being produced by Belle and Sebastian and Air producer Tony Hoffer. The track won't actually appear on their new album Junk Of The Heart but you can download it for free by signing up to their mailing list.

The Charlatans - One To Another done in another way

Talk about messing with my head. This is The Charlatans performing One To Another like I've never seen/heard it before. Can it be described as acoustic with an electric guitar and drums? I don't think so but their PR person thinks it is. Either way it certainly messes with your head when you know the words, you know the band but the sound is something different altogether.

Sorry about the video posts lately but it's an easy way to legally share music with you that I don't have permission for download.

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...