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So Cool 5
April 2010Dig The New Breed
As ZANI goes from strength to strength so my inbox struggles to cope with the influx of exciting new material from the anti x-factor brigade out there. New music, new ideas and forward thinking is what we are all about here at ZANI !!! It is such a pleasure for me to write amongst such legendary figures, as the printed press dies on its feet. I realise sometimes my "dig the new breed " posts go slightly leftfield for some of our more slightly traditional thinking readership. This week I have decided to rein it back in a bit so to speak as there is nothing wrong with referencing the past as long as it also looks forward as well. The first band I am going to feature this week fits into that category.Hailing from Liverpool The Universal bring all the Mod traditions to the table but with a 21st century twist, yea sure the references to past masters The Kinks and The Jam abound throughout the debut long player from this brainchild of the very talented Terry Shaughnessy. Like their peers, the excellent Secret Faces, these guys manage to couple traditional British guitar rock with a current social commentary. The bands music burns brightly with an intelligent passion fuelled rhetoric that displays the bands working class roots proudly on their sleeves. Dropping on May 17th on Diffusion Music this should be a must for all forward thinking Mods out there.
Sometimes less is more, such is the case with Saint Lips nothing groundbreaking but well crafted and thought out slices of indie/pop abound from the eponymous album Charm due for release, I believe, in September. Vocalist Valentina Barletta has one of those immediately haunting deliveries that I love. This is far more mainstream than my usual tastes but the obvious passion that they have for the record exudes throughout and draws you in . Hailing from Rome although you would never guess !!! they have a sound that is ripe for radio airplay it's a clever trait to be able to retain credibility at the same time. I admire artists who are gimmick free in many ways flying in the face of the electronic dross that the popular music press seems to find so endearing at the moment.
Last year I stumbled upon Kid iD who released a fantastic E.P. entitled Black Comedy. I am so proud to be in at the start of a new incarnation featuring former members of the now defunct Kid iD. There are shades of the former in parts but To Kill A King have added more strings to their musical bow. This is cross-genre melodrama at it’s best, reminding me of The National in parts and also Divine Comedy. There is a real rich tapestry of sound built around deeply cutting lyrics. The band seem to have found a sound that can bridge a gap between folk and guitar-driven quality indie pop. Just listen to ‘Fictional State’ – the lyrics could have leapt from the pen of Alex Turner. I featured these guys as one of my ones to follow in 2010, you can now get a free download of the excellent track Bones via a link on the bands MySpace page or e-mail them tokillakinguk@gmail.com They are well worth checking out live and keeping firmly at the top of your bands to follow list.
I can't finish this week without my own small heartfelt thoughts on the sad loss of Malcolm McLaren, without Malcolm my own personal musical tastes and journey would have certainly been a lot less colourful. The man was an energising influence on all he championed from Punk through to bringing Hip Hop from the ghettos to the mainstream. I like to think Malcolm would have been into digging the new breed. With that in mind I will sign off with some words of wisdom from Mr McLaren on nostalgia.
“Our culture has become something that is completely and utterly in love with its parent. It's become a notion of boredom that is bought and sold, where nothing will happen except that people will become more and more terrified of tomorrow, because the new continues to look old, and the old will always look cute"
© - Words – Mark Thorpe/ ZANI
The Universal MySpace Page
Saint Lips MySpace Page
To Kill A King MySpace Page
