Update
Sorry been really busy over the last few months with University work, so hopefully from now on more regular posts.
“Flick Of The Finger” – Beady Eye
Ok before we start, i’m not a massive fan of Beady Eye, i liked Oasis and i think NG’s High FLying Birds are pretty good, and i’ve always liked Noel better than Liam. So recently Liam has been mouthing off as usual about the new Beady Eye album that is due out in the summer, mainly about how “This is the record Oasis should have made after ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?”. I’m not too sure about that as every album they have been working on since then, either Noel or Liam, they’ve said this. What intrigues me most about the new album is who Beady Eye are working with. They have drafted in indie producer extraordinaire and lead shredder from TV on the Radio, Dave Sitek.
I’m quite a fan of Mr Sitek he’s brilliant at guitar, had a great side project in Maximum Balloon, and produced some great albums, Antidotes by Foals and the Tv on the Radio albums being chief among them. One problem though he does like brass sections a la Mark Ronson.
Starting with pounding heartbeat like drums and a riff to match along its not long until the brass section kicks in all grand and announcing like, before Liam comes in. Liams done something to his voice (or Sitek has), sounding much clearer and with less snarl than on previous songs. Between Liams vocals there are some very Oasis-y guitar riffs from Gem Archer that sound huge. The lyrics seem to centre around life but lets be honest he’s no Noel, and i think what the song is missing is a chorus. The song ends with a Jean-Paul Marat quote (A french Revolutionist era Politician and Journalist, yeah we didn’t know who it was either) in the same way that John Lennon popped up at the end of “Out of Time” in the last Oasis album. The quote itself centers around not believing what the government says as they hide things, and are capable of sending us to do what they want, “until they with a flick of a finger tear a million of you to pieces”. Theres a message here, but im not really sure Liam knows what it is.
Listen Here
Palma Violets
I’m not gonna insult your indie credentials by thinking you haven’t heard of them (seriously if you haven’t heard of them where the fudge have you been this summer?).
We (hoover music blog) are based in London and we heard rumblings of these guys for a while back, i think as far back as the beginning of last year. The only problem was that it was near on impossible to hear any of their stuff, with the London (Lambeth to be precise) 4 piece not even having a Facebook page until late November. The only way to hear any of their stuff was to go and see them play live, something i myself didn’t get round to doing until Bestival in September, and something i was told you HAD TO DO. By this time (i think that week) the NME had got a hold of them, and proclaimed them the new new new saviours of rock, The Libertines 2.0, and what must be 2456987th reincarnation of The Strokes (note: i used to love the NME, i was a 2000s indie kid. it was my bible. its just lately its lost its bite and has got caught up in its own supposed superiority for thinking that everything that doesn’t have guitars in it is s**t).
They were right about seeing them live. Not only are Sam Fryer (Vocals and Guitar), Chillie Jesson (Vocals and Bass and holder of the best name in the band), Pete Mayhew (Keys) and Will Doyle (Drums) brilliant musicians, but they have an amazing stage presence, Chillie the Bassists especially. Running around the stage – check. Crowd surfing when not needed in some songs – check. Pointing out flashing girls by saying loudly mid-song into the mic “i can see your boobies” – check. but lets be honest, a decent stage presence and good crowd banter is wasted if you haven’t got the songs (anyone remember Viva Brother? nah me neither). Thankfully Palma Violets do have the songs, infact the had the indie-smash of the summer and for some including me and the NME, the number one song of the year: Best of Friends.
Listened and Watched? Good, i’ll continue then. i love this song. the opening rift, the explosives drums and the pulsing driving base line all helped along by a lovely synth sound and the chorus. MY GOD THE CHORUS. its impossible to not try and jump around and scream-a-long with the chorus of “I wanna be your best friend, I don’t want you to be my girl, I wanna be your friend “, kicking into a fantastic guitar solo, we are treated to one last romp through the chorus building an building until its finished, in 3.33 minutes of brilliance. i could literally go on and on and on and on about how much i love this song, but i can’t at least not today.
as well as Best of Friends they have the slower, almost Ballard-y Last of the Summer Wine, opening with building synths and guitar, in an almost sounding religious until it falls away revealing the building of the guitar rift and those crashing drums and pulsing bass again (i think we’ve found a signature sound).
Last night they announced their newest single Step Up For the Cool Cats, and it was aried on radio as Zane Lowes hottest track in the world right now. im not gonna write too much about it now as i plan to do a post about it over the weekend, what i will say is it draws some similarities to I’m A Believer by the Monkees and has again them drums and bass.
Peace Covering Bieber’s Beauty and a Beat on Live Lounge
We like covers here at Hoover Music, and we really like Radio 1s Live Lounge. In the past its thrown up one or two really good covers by some top indie bands, like The Vaccines covering Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night, Arctic Monkeys covering Katy B’s On A Mission or The Vaccines (again) covering Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Getting Back Together.
Today its the turn of one of our favorite new-ish bands Peace. The Birmingham 4-piece are at the front of a brilliant scene coming out of the town at the moment that includes Swim Deep and Jaws (two of our other favorite new bands).
Some people may think “what are they doing?” covering a song by someone who is seen as the anti-indie-christ, but they take the song and bring it down the covers route where you make it your own. With a guest vocal from who i think is O-Children lead singer Tobi O’Kandi (i’ll have to check to make sure), you’d be excused for thinking it wasnt one of their own, so enjoy.
First Post: What We Are Playing – 08/01/13
So this is the first post. i don’t think anyone is gonna read this unless you’ve gone back through all the other posts(so well done to you if you have). Today was the Tuesday 8th January 2012, and if you didn’t know Tuesday is the day we post a list of songs we are “hoovering up” at the moment. The list may not change that much, but there will always be some “moovers” and shakers and i recommend you check them all out, as i’m pretty sure there’s something for everyone. The songs may not be brand new either, and can be something discovered after watching a film or something we were reminded of so enjoy.
Today’s a special day not only is it David Bowie’s 66th birthday (HB To You!) , but its also the day hes decided to release a new single, his first in nearly 10 years, so the amazing man features twice on the list(to be honest the one song on here that is his and isnt new would have featured anyway due to it being lodged in my brain lately) . Other songs on the list include new songs by Wavves, Biffy Clyro, and Imagine Dragons, as well as some favourites still knocking around from Foals and Haim.
David Bowie – Where Are We Now?
Hoover Music Blog 