A certain occasional reader of this site has pointed out The Hours on more than one occasion, the gist being that they are better than the whole host of generic indie rock plagiarisers out there at the moment. On the basis of Back When You Were Good he'd be right.
I saw Client support the Pet Shop Boys at the Liverpool Summer Pops. Truth be told, once I was past the "ooh, that's the bird from Dubstar" novelty, they were pretty crap. But on record they have always seemed a different proposition. And lets face it, its a cover of a great Adam & The Ants song, and the three ladies are not exactly ugly to look at are they (especially that one who plays the Keyboards). So although I probably shouldn't admit this, I think this is pretty bloody good.
Little Man Tate are a great singles band. Sexy In Latin is no exception. It is, for instance, a whole lot better than the Fratellis, but what do I know huh?
The new Keane one has the same effect that most of their songs seem to have on me. I quite like it and would listen to it if it came on the radio, but I have no intention of buying it.
Norah Jones is a funny one. On the one hand I think she gets far too much hype but on the other hand I also think that some people unfairly dismiss her as window dressing. Thinking About You is one of her best, in fact probably other than Sunrise it is her best. It's simple, but gorgeously simple. Sometimes, the simple sentiments are the most powerful.
I'll give My Chemical Romance some credit; at least they're not Bowling For Soup. Still, whereas their last effort The Black Parade at least had some mental value to it, Famous Last Words is just dull. So watch it storm into the top of the charts again no doubt.
It is of course a similar thing with Vanessa Hudgens. The fact that the song isn't very good (and if you listen closely is just someone giving Avril Lavigne's Complicated a bit of an R'n'B chart twist) doesn't really matter. What matters is that she was in that High School Musical thing and thus will, in the short term at least, be a superstar. But lets face it, she makes JoJo look good.
Larrikin Love's Well Love Does Furnish A Life is furnished with a fantastic video but to me it's a song that takes too long to really get going and then when it does, the "going" isn't worth the wait. It almost is, but not quite. Quite "Smiths" esque as well if you ask me.
Honeytrap release the Naked Dancing EP this week. I haven't heard it all, in fact I've only heard the lead track Let's Do Naked Dancing. It's a good jangly indie tune but doesn't really have that "spark" that would separate it from the pack. Still, it has handclaps, and handclaps are officially awesome.
Some idiot has taken that Cillit Bang advert and given it a techno backing track. I'm as much of a Barry Scott fan as the next man, but I cannot condone this.
If you're missing Travis (there must be someone out there who is) then you might want to check out Chris Singleton. Get Up is a pleasant enough tune and you will be singing along to the chorus for quite a while but is the kind of thing you can only really see Terry Wogan getting excited about. Or Chris Tarrant.
The Klaxons hit us with Golden Skans this week. It's good and sees the boys in a little more mainstream form. It's no Atlantis To Interzone, but what is these days. I like it, but to be honest I am disappointed with it after the absolute insania (thanks Peter) of their previous singles.
It's good to see Kristin Hirsh back on such good form with In Shock even if her voice does seem to have gone ever so slightly. The song itself though is an epic.
It's as if Sixpence None The Richer have relocated to New Zealand in the form of Goldenhorse. Quite why this is getting a UK release now when it was, by all accounts, the most played record on NZ radio in 2004 (!) is beyond me, but I'm quite glad it is. And whilst you will appreciate that the fact that lead singer Kirsten Morelle is far from unattractive makes no difference one way or the other, I only feel it fair to point that out.
A Brighter Beat by Malcolm Middleton is quite the treat this week as well. It's got that lovely trick of upbeat music disguising slightly downbeat lyrics. It's well worth a listen.
Marissa Nadler released Diamond Hart in June last year apparently, a fact which completely passed me by. Which is a shame because if I'd heard it then I'd have had six more months of being a fan of her's on my resume. I think it was the Guardian who said that her version of Famous Blue Raincoat made Leonard Cohen's sound like the Scissor Sisters so you can be sure that Marissa won't be to everyone's taste. But if you like the more introspective moments of Martha Wainwright, you'll find much to enjoy here.
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