NME was telling me today that the best new bands for 2011 are Brother and The Vaccines, amongst others. Shit, i thought was up with times. I bought albums by Everything,Everything, The Drums, These New Puritans (NME's album of 2010, no less) and The Drums last week. Are they old hat now?
I've ordered The Joy Formidable album too. Is that "so last year" now too?? It is their debut album for crying out loud!!
Admittedly, TJF have been around for a year or so, i saw them twice last year, but is that their shelf life over?
I realise i should be listening to everything NME tells me, but i can't keep up.
I hadn't heard anything by Brother or The Vaccines so i checked them out on Youtube. Its ok! They are saying all the right things, but haven't we heard all this before?
I love the fact i heard The Joy Formidable with no hype surrounding them. It did help the genius that is Paul Draper, ex-Mansun maestro, collaborated with them for the ace "Greyhound in the Slips" but i read precious little in the music press. All of a sudden they became headliners of some NME tour or other, but they haven't had the sort after "Front Cover". If you haven't heard them, they are fronted by the feisty, pint-sized Ritzy Brian, angelic vocals dripping with angst and vitriol and an axe-wielder at that. They write thundering, epic anthems, as atmospheric as "Kid A" era Radiohead, with the explosion of "The Bends".
Check this: The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZXQ16yPPU&feature=fvst
Not that they sound anything like Radiohead, but the link above is better than my words.
Why is hype so necessary though? It provides ridiculous pressure on the bands, who obviously want the exposure, but branding them as "The Next Big Thing" surely can't help them sustain the momentum such praise demands. If anyone can remember previous recipients of this accolade by NME or Q or any other music magazine having lasted more than a couple of years? Arctic Monkeys maybe. Were they pin-pointed as the greatest thing since sliced bread in the January of 2005 or 06 or whenever? They may have appeared in June or September and avoided such weighty tributes. I don't know, i can't be arsed to check.
Whenever it was, it suggests a band cannot be granted an audience of music fans unless it is at the beginning of another year. Furthermore, what if a great band isn't primed and ready for mass exposure at the dawn of a new 12 months? Is the latest band that had an A&R scrum scrambling for their signatures the best option? (The Twang, anybody)
What it does do, is guarantee they will be on the next NME tour and their debut album is dropped just before for maximum sales.
If i was to state who my tip for the top would be for 2011, i would probably say Brother or The Vaccines, based on the above. If i was to say who i think the best band of 2011 will be, right now it The Joy Formidable, and i wish them every success. Unfortunately, they won't get the fanfare the Brother debut L.P will get.
So I'll do it for them....GO BUY THE JOY FORMIDABLE'S DEBUT ALBUM "THE BIG ROAR" OUT ON 24TH JANUARY.
Oh, and the Everything, Everything album is great too, buy that as well!!!
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