I first heard about this band in SPIN, they did a little feature a few months back about bands that were named for places outside of their own home country. I listened to a couple of tracks online and was impressed but the band still hadn't released a full length album at that point, so I didn't pursue them any further.
little did I know then that their debut, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose (released this July), is spellbinding. I've been listening to it non-stop since I bought it last Sunday.
produced by Jim Abbiss (of Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not fame), the album is filled with fuzz-y guitars that scream of My Bloody Valentine, but with a twist that will shake you to the core. I can only describe it as Joy Division meets early Pearl Jam, with the obvious advantage of modern production. it has that restless energy of The Gaslight Anthem wrapped in up in that weird sensation which occurs when things get so personal that they become detached.
it's just damn good music and it's scary how I can just picture their live shows. slightly awkward but redeemed by the brutal honesty of the music. I'm not talking about lyrics here. I mean the music itself. it's so personal, so anxious, it's like reading your journals from high school. observe:
I'm really glad that this band has combined the shoe-gaze goodness of MBV with more post-punk elements and a disheartened voice to match.
funnily enough, the American band The Pains of Being Pure At Heart have snagged all of the attention for bringing back MBV-type lo-fi, but they also sound a shit load like Belle and Sebastian. this places them on the other end of the happy spectrum (ie the cheery, upbeat side), as opposed to Bombay Bicycle Club, who a tad on the gloomier side.
you can hear lots of influences in their music, sure, but Bombay Bicycle Club sounds more like the whirlwind ups and downs of a hazy night on the town than anything else.
Connor was the one who recommended that I listen to this album. thank you, very much. really, really good call.
visit the band on MYSPACE
in a slightly related note, I've been reading a lot of Hornby lately and it's made me realize that people in the UK look at Indian food like Americans look at Chinese. "let's go grab a curry" is such a great fucking expression.
