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Okay, so they look like a cult.

And they're almost always sickeningly happy (except in their photos).

And -- okay -- a dozen or so songs of "love-is-all-you-need" can wear a little thin.

I agree.

But my god, it's choral symphonic rock. What's not to love?

Polyphonic Spree founder, lead singer (and ‘musical director’) Tim DeLaughter said he was inspired by seventies bands like the Electric Light Orchestra. Who didn't love the Electric Light Orchestra when they were young? Who? Tell me that.

And when the Spree get it right, they give me the shivers. Honest. I get goose bumps, it’s so good.

They could almost inspire me to religious ecstasy. Or conversion. Or something.

Except for the fact that I’m cynical, mercurial and resolutely atheist.

Oh well. Never mind.

Here’s "Light To Follow":




[Polyphonic Spree - MySpace]

Labels: Indie, Pop, Rock, USA

I’m so late to this party, it’s beyond embarrassing.

I don’t know where I was for the release of this album -- maybe in a cave somewhere in Timbuktu? Maybe I was kidnapped and held captive for all of 2006, in the jungles of the Amazon, only to be rescued by the CIA, who then erased all my memories, and implanted new, false ones.

Because how else do I explain the fact that I managed to miss this?

I’m talking, of course, about Eagle Seagull’s eponymous debut.

On first listen, I got very, very, very excited. I thought, “Oh my god, it sounds like some mangled, mongrel marriage between The Cure and Supertramp. Which should sound awful. But it doesn’t. Oh no -- no, it sounds so, so good.”

And then my brain fizzed. And there was a party in my head.

Sometimes it’s fun to be out of the loop. You come to things late, and then the wait for the next "whatever" is not so long. There are already new songs on Eagle Seagull’s MySpace, for example. And their second album is rumoured to be out early 2008.

Lookit: Only about a hundred more sleeps to go!

Eagle Seagull - Photograph

Labels: Indie, USA

Because I was late jumping on ye olde bandwagon, but I am making up for lost time.

And because it's summer, and these guys are more catchy than a case of herpes.

Unlike a case of herpes, however, they will leave you feeling happy, joyful, and young again.

Oh. To be young again...



[Apples in Stereo - MySpace]

Labels: Indie, Pop, Rock, USA

They’re storming the gates!

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have just released their latest EP, and it’s glorious.

Clocking in at around 20 minutes, this is a lean, mean, muscled explosion of noise. Every track is a blast of coruscating buzz-saw rock.

This is a band at the height of their game. They never put a foot wrong.

Needless to say I am fairly gagging for the album.

(And is it just me, or do these guys have a definite thang for word repetition?)

Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs - "Kiss Kiss"



[Yeah Yeah Yeahs - MySpace]

Labels: Indie, Rock, USA

Deadboy and the Elephantmen is, essentially, a bloke named Dax Riggs.

In early 2006, he and (then) bandmate Tessie Brunet put out the album We Are Night Sky.

It's an impressive album -- hard-edged swamp rock, but of the highly expressive, cerebral variety.

Rigg's gravelly voice is a raw, fragile thing of beauty, often swinging from a low growl to a howl in a heartbeat. He’s been variously compared to Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie, by way of the banks of the Mississippi Delta.

Brunet left the band in late 2006 and Riggs is releasing his solo debut on August 21.

In the meantime, here’s "Dressed in Smoke", from We Are Night Sky:

Labels: Indie, Rock, USA