We’re not big on keeping you up to date with how many breaths a particular band has drawn during the given day, but whenever TV On The Radio do anything, we do feel compelled to spill some coverage their way. I mean… we say “anything”, but there is some sort of threshold that needs to be exceeded… So when we heard that Dave Sitek and the most gloriously named musician in the history of musicians, Tunde Adebimpe, et al, have uploaded the first song from forthcoming album Nine Types of Light onto the internet, we couldn’t help writing… This.
Regardless of whether you think that 2008’s Dear Science was as genre-defining as so many/all critics claimed it to be, the release of Nine Types of Light on April 12th will surely be one of the most anticipated album releases this year. And whilst it might pale in comparison with the excessive furore (that we, admittedly, got carried away with – it was just that time of month) surrounding The King of Limbs due mostly to the fact that Tunde Adebimpe, as well as having an addictive name, has a solid head on him and would quite like to exchange his band’s new album in either physical or digital format on April 12th in return for some currency, and not a day earlier. If there was a pre-order link yet, we’d give you one, but for the moment, you’ll have to be placated by album taster “Will Do”, an exceptional return by anyone’s standards. It more than justifies the pedestal that they’re placed on – and it should keep us happy until April 12th, but, in truth, it’s just made us more desperate for that date to come closer.
For better or for worse, I think I can say with unwavering certainty that there are few music bloggers out there who can start an article by honestly saying: “I was just driving back from rugby training when I stumbled across my favourite new band on the radio.” Anyway, so there I was, sweaty and shattered, and there’s the usual constantly-breathlessly-excited voice of Zane Lowe chuntering away on the radio as if he’s just discovered the medium of music for the good of the entire human race (on a non cynical note Zane is a supporter of huge amounts of great music). And then he puts on a track, which as it turns out is “Blow It Up” by The Vaccines.
My first thought of the post-Jesus & Mary Chain shoegaze meets rootsy Black Keys rock & roll was to assume it was Glasvegas’ comeback single. My second thought was that it just couldn’t be, because I’d vaguely heard something about the drummer leaving and the emotional lead singer had gone on a bit of an emotional drugs bender. But then my third reaction was that feeling that journalists, bloggers, editors, music lovers and geeks that world over yearn for; the thrill of discovery. Listening to a new track and knowing that as soon as humanly possible you’re going to be on the internet illegally downloading every glorious second, writing an article that tries very hard to meld together the very distinct disciplines of rugby and indie rock but is, essentially, the best and only way you have to share with the world a new band that needs to be heard. And so that is what I’ve done.
As it turns out, The Vaccines had been, up to that point, one of those curious bands who received an enormous amount of hype based on one song and a couple of live performances. Of course I’d already downloaded the incendiary “If You Wanna” which is essentially an enormous pop hook disguised as rock & roll, but isolated I had thought it slightly below the threshold of actually giving too much of a fuck about and had reverted to my natural cynicism of anything that comes with a level of hype that seems to be unjustified. “Blow It Up”, if you hadn’t already guessed, more than justifies those initial whisperings. If “If You Wanna” is the Black Keys/White Denim party single then “Blow It Up” is the band relaxing into themselves and sounding more self-assured, vitriolic and mature. You might think that music has got up and moved on. It’s all about chillwave, drag, and illegal copies of Ableton. Well, you’d be wrong. As long as people keep penning their innermost thoughts, picking up a guitar and knocking them out, those qualities of honesty, humanity and verve won’t be replaced. The press is there, the music is more than there; these boys are headed to the top if they even half try so don’t let them pass you over now.
It often seems like Parenthetical Girls are trying to be difficult. Their name itself contains a word that most people wouldn’t even understand the dictionary definition of; their lead singer has been known to number their EPs in his own blood; and latest album “Privilege” is being released as 5 limited edition 12” EPs over 15 months. Part II – “The Past Imperfect” was unleashed on 21st September and given their own obstinate methods of release (on their own label, no less), we’d be less than surprised if you hadn’t heard it yet, and yet less surprised if you agree with us that it’s the sort of sinister pop music that should receive much more media attention.
We know that the music industry is fucked and that the way that music is distributed is going to have to change; but we’re pretty sure that this is not the answer. This, though, is part of the delightful difficulty of Parenthetical Girls. It’s also one of the reasons why they will always be (a band in brackets) and never higher up the bill, despite their tendency to make artfully constructed but easily accessible music (I parenthetically have my doubts about how much they care). “Young Throats” from the second EP in the “Privilege” project sounds like a pounding and emphatic mélange of Jack Steadman’s quivering vocals, the industrial buzz of Cold Cave, a bearable touch of the Killers’ dramatics and melody, and even a gesture of The Horrors’ nouveau-emo outlook on music (just in case there weren’t enough band comparisons already). And it’s free. That, perhaps, is the answer to music distribution’s problems. And even if it’s not, we just got our favourite mp3 of September for nothing.
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