When I was just a lowly BC writer I was trawling through the un-reviewed CD database and found several interesting sounding albums by unknown — and I would later learn unsigned — bands (The Ruse and American Princes - both bands later became Band of the Week). I agreed to review their CDs and I was astounded by both CDs and knew I had found something special.
The more investigation I did the more I came to realise that those two bands weren’t flukes. There were loads of unsigned bands or bands signed to indie labels that deserved all the attention they could get. Really good music made by talented, enthusiastic artists. Albums and EPs that sounded professional and well produced but in some cases – The Ruse – had been made in the drummer’s closet. So when I was made the Assistant Music Editor the first thing I wanted to do was create a forum for indie bands, a place where they could be heard by a wider audience and Band of the Week was born. It has been more challenging than I think anyone could have known and I have loved almost every minute of it.
So I have chosen five of the best indie bands, featured in Band of the Week, for the year 2006. They have been chosen for more than just their talent and sound, they have also made it onto my list through sheer determination and hard work. For having that true indie artist spirit.
I obviously couldn’t pick ALL my favourite Bands of the Week (there have been so many) and the five I did choose were a struggle to separate from the pack. With so many incredibly talented, hard working, interesting bands, choosing five was almost an exercise in futility but I did eventually decide. However there are two honourable mentions. Two artists so good I couldn’t leave them off altogether.
Aaron’s has one of those distinctive personalities, you’re not quite sure if he is a brilliantly clever artist — in which case you know you’re standing in the presence of future greatness — or he is completely and utterly off his nut and just covers it well. Aaron is a multitalented young lad. Not only does he put out his wildly successful net records (free) but he is also an award winning filmmaker – if you haven’t yet seen Aaron’s beautiful, touching, hilarious film Cliddyplomp I suggest that you do so immediately – and has his own, highly-infrequent but dangerously funny podcast with a loyal, cult-like following. I could go on forever about his multitude of James Joyce-esqe ramblings here on Blogcritics.org. And he is currently writing –- from his home in the deepest, darkest Northern Irish country side — the great American novel.
He gets an honourable mention here because he is one of the nicest, most fun and hardest working men I have ever met. And he is so damned talented I just want to be able to say, someday, that I always knew he was going to be a Grammy winning songwriter and an Oscar winning filmmaker and a Noble Prize winning author. That he will do those things, I have no doubt.
American Princes are an indie rock band from Little Rock, Arkansas and their bluesy garage-rock sound is breathtaking in its intensity and emotional release. Their unique lyrical, vocal, and musical combinations create a sound that is raw but cultivated, passionate yet intelligent, retro and cutting-edge rock with provocative blues undercurrents.
Their sophomore CD Less and Less is a triumph of talent and imagination and for me; it was almost a sexual experience. It's like making love outside in the pouring rain. And you'll love every minute of it. Less and Less is a sensual, sexual, throbbing, rock & roll/ blues classic. They get an honourable mention here because they are so good I just couldn’t leave them off the list. And they are really great guys!
And now on to the list. The Blogcritics top five Band of the Week, independent artists are:
5. Phil Ayoub
Singer-songwriter Phil Ayoub (pronounced A-yoob), is a deep-thinking, deep-feeling, quintessential all American boy from Boston. Ayoub’s extraordinary ability to paint a deeply stirring, sweetly-poignant picture with emotive, insightful lyrics and pure natural music combine to create a smooth polish to Ayoub’s personal, frequently humorous thoughts and experiences.
Ayoub’s amazing debut album Schoolbus Window Paper Heart is filled with poignant, honest, romantic and often playful lyrics and simple melodies created with acoustic guitar and jangely synth and of course Ayoub’s earthy, gentle, sensual vocals will keep you hooked from the first track to the ironically funny final secret track. Schoolbus Window Paper Heart is an album I would strongly recommend.
4. Futuro
Jon McKellan, Graeme McKellan and Omar Kahn are the talented, clever and unusual trio that make up Futuro. This pop/indie rock band sounds as if they have a symbiotic relationship, synergetic and polished, accomplished and effortless, a consummate, swish sound. With such a unique, exciting sound there’s no way to explain it. They describe themselves as "Bloc Party being held hostage by Audioslave and forced to dance," which really is as close as you get.
Futuro combine traditional pop-rock guitar riffs with short, spiky production, rich, creamy-smooth vocals and the short punchy song writing style of frontman Jon McKellan to create a cool, cutting-edge sound. They are one band you just won’t be able to do without. Futuro’s indescribable sound is something you must experience for yourself. They have their first EP available for download on their own website.
3. The Ruse
When I first reviewed their CD Light In Motion I was completely blown away. Even more so when I learned they had recorded it on a laptop in Jason Young’s (drummer) closet, “With clothes on the floor and everything” according to frontman John Dauer. Light In Motion is a breathless, impassioned, honest album with all the qualities that invoke feelings of being mellow and lustful, sultry and comfy.
The Ruse have a melodic, soothing, cultivated sound with influences from U2, Coldplay and Travis. Dauer’s vocals are like a good dram of whisky, smooth, mellow and rich with a definite Celtic flavour. And he has amazing range and control with the enviable ability to be hauntingly emotive. You really have to give them a listen to understand why I think they are future rock gods.
2. Locksley
Locksley’s sound is similar to The Beatles pre-Rubber Soul, mixed with the Kinks, a bit of The Beach Boys and plenty of the youthful enthusiasm of punk. Fantastic, energetic harmonies and melodies that harkens back to the early '60s but mixed with garage rock guitars, and modern spiky production, creating a sound that is completely addictive. They have all the style, substance and savoir faire of a British rock band, the dynamic magnetism, and brutally hot men of an American rock band mixed with the bygone art of timeless song writing from the era of Rogers and Hammerstein or Gershwin. Locksley manage to encompass all these things and sound fresh and original.
And now with their debut album Don’t Make Me Wait — released on January 16th and available for pre-order — Locksley are ready to take on the whole world. And this is certainly the album to do it. Overall, Don’t Make Me Wait is magnificent retro-garage-punk-pop made by four guys you would like to have a pint with. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Fort Worth, Texas-based Green River Ordinance (GRO) are the next big band-on-the-block. GRO are intelligent, diverse, dynamic alt/pop/rock with plenty of heart and soul and they inspire me in a way that few rock bands do. GRO’s warm, intense, emotive rock and roll tunes illicit feelings in me that are all at once sexual and joyous, passionate and compassionate. With an alt.rock-power pop sound that will make you think of Third Eye Blind, Nickelback or Matchbox Twenty, GRO are truly the next legend-band in the making.
GRO’s debut album The Beauty of Letting Go is in turns warm, intense, romantic and passionate. Their lyrics are a bit country with a pop twist but still rock and roll and somehow maintain an ardent passion and emotional intensity. Their music is guitar-driven indie rock with a smooth river of Texas flowing through the heart of it. This album is easily the best album from an unsigned artist released this year. It is so good that it is the only album from an independent artist on my Ten Best Albums of 2006 list.
So that winds it up really. This is the best that Band of the Week had to offer this year. I hope that 2007 can be as good as 2006 has been. Band of the Week returns with a brand new artist on January 6, 2007.
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