Exploding onto the UK indie circuit whilst still at school, North London-based outfit Bombay Bicycle Club spent their formative years juggling A-levels and a fledgling musical career. Tagged as ‘the hottest band to come from North London for quite some time’ by the NME as far back as May 2007, the four-piece released their debut [...]
They’ve been dubbed the best connected band in Britain thanks to guitarist Robbie Furze’s previous incarnation as record label boss and talent scout, but strip back the layers of industry hype and friendships with Klaxons, Little Boots and Florence Welch that surround London-based duo The Big Pink and you’ll find a band delivering some of [...]
The Vandelles have staked an early claim for my favourite new band of 2010 with their apocalyptic indie-fuzz. Another bunch of New Yorkers with a penchant for fusing sixties girl group melodies with ear-shredding distortion, their eponymous debut EP is released through SVC Records in the UK on January 18 and is well worth risking [...]
2010 is already shaping up to be one hell of a year for North East music. With debut albums from Detroit Social Club, Beth Jeans Houghton and Little Comets set to land in the coming months, it looks like Tyneside’s burgeoning independent scene will finally gain the nationwide recognition it deserves. Here are ten acts [...]
You’d have thought I lived in New York rather than Newcastle with the amount I’ve been banging on about Big Apple bands of late. But when the banks of the Hudson river can spew forth the indie-pop genius of The Drums, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Acrylics, who can blame me? Check [...]
I love Acrylics. I mean, I fucking love them. The Brooklyn-based outfit’s seventies-tinged lo-fi indie makes a refreshing change to the too-cool-for-school post-punk that dominates much of the city’s output. Built around the songwriting partnership of Molly Shea and Jason Klauber, the band’s sound owes more to the mega-selling Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac than regular NYC [...]
Newcomers Mansfield Holiday are already making waves in the right places. Tipped for greatness by music journo legend John Robb on his Twitter page this week,the Newcastle-based five-piece look set to follow Frankie & The Heartstrings to the top of the region’s indie-pop tree. Mansfield Holiday are supporting Hatcham Social at The End on December [...]
I’ve been listening to Cymbals Eat Guitars for a while now and still haven’t found a pigeonhole to put them in. Shoegaze-y psychedelia? Atmospheric indie? Cinematic alt-rock? Riff-driven grunge? All tags fit this extraordinary band that only formed in 2008. Debut album Why There Are Mountains is a genre-jumping DIY masterpiece. Location Staten Island, New [...]
We love The Drums. Since their debut mini-album Summertime! landed in our letterbox a week or so ago, their incandescent fusion of embryonic UK post-punk and sunkissed California surf has rarely been of the toonwaves playlist. Who? Jonathan Price (vocals), Jacob Graham (guitars), Adam Kessler (guitars), Connor Hanwick (drums) Where? Brooklyn, New York When? Debut [...]
