I sincerely hate when bands leave their unique formula and sound, in order to pursue the easy and proven way to success.
One of the most successful rock bands of the past few years have been Kings of Leon. I do not intend to discuss them and their music, as I do not particularly fancy them, neither do I despise them. They have however been extraordinarily good at what they do. They've brought back an old-fashioned twang to a scene that has become increasingly indie-schmindie. Everyone seems to want to be up the arse of skinny-jeaned youths (such as myself) with accessible, electronically flirting indie-electro hybrids of different sorts.
The last years time, I've seen a few bands trying to copy Kings of Leon's succesful formula. One of them have been The Temper Trap, who by the way were announced for Roskilde Festival today. Props on that. Roskilde have the last few years been a bit weak in booking bands "just in" from undergrounddom. Where the hell were La Roux last year? The amiable Aussies in The Temper Trap aren't Kings of Leon, but they managed to barely squeeze into the little vault of oxygen that is still breathable for bands like this post the Followill brothers' rise to superstardom. I'm looking forward to seeing them this summer. Everyone probably knows 'Sweet Disposition', but 'Fader' here is another good one.
The misery really hit home when I head The Floor Is Made Of Lava's new single, 'All Outta Love' from their forthcoming sophomore release (find it on their myspace). Come on! Anyone who can't hear the clear and clumsy Kings of Leon inspiration here must be deaf, and it's really a shame. The Lava (for short...) were one of the most interesting up-and-coming outfits on the Danish stage two-three years ago, with their festive, riff-based indie (although one could argue that they then just went along the lines of one of the newly risen major bands back then, Arctic Monkeys), which they have almost completely thrashed on the new single. Let's hope this here single is one-of-a-kind on this record, or The Floor Is Made of Lava will lose their relevance. Fast.
I actually intended this as just a quick sort of start pedal for blogging post my aaliyah to Denmark. Quite a few bands were released for Roskilde these past weeks, and I have yet to check all of them out. Jack Johnson is the obvious crowdpleaser headline, and he is a delightful addition, although my attendance at his show is far from set in stone. He will be a surefire winner friday afternoon on Orange though. I just checked out FM Belfast of Iceland, who were announced alongside The Temper Trap and young danish electro-duo Electrojuice today. At first listen they seem a potentialful outfit that just might fit into my schedule, or might not. They're somewhere along the lines of New Young Pony Club, albeit with miles better vocals (can it be worse than NYPC?). Check out 'Par Avion' here.
I'd also like to just point out Caribou's (formerly Manitoba) new single, 'Odessa', which sounds really, really promising.
Oh, and, why no mention of the one and only Trespassers? I haven't got it yet. I know that's miserable, but Denmark is snowed over and mail is delayed. Much more on Trespassers, and a few other new albums such as Delphic's magnificent Acolyte next time around.
