NEW MUSIC:What a beautiful noise. That's the reaction which Post-Nothing, the debut album from Vancouver guitar-and-drums duo Japandroids, will elicit from many when it hits them between their ears. This is pedigree scratchy, fuzzy garage rock ramalama which throws enough nods at Hüsker Dü and winks towards No Age to keep everyone happy. These are anthems for a sunny day out in Thrash City just watching the world go by.
Then you hear Young Hearts Spark Fireand you realise that Brian King and David Prowse are more than riffs and the buzz. It's an extraordinary, monstrous racket, boasting an emotional pitch which appears to get brasher and louder as the track goes on. You really have to check that it's just the work of two dudes and that there's not a Greek chorus of punk-rock oiks in plaid shirts toiling away behind the scenes.
King and Prowse met at the University of Victoria in 2006 where studies took a back seat to the music.
There were originally plans to hire a third member (“a hot girl”) before the pair decided they could do as well without her. There could be another reason. “They didn’t want to spend any time with us,” King admits.
A couple of EPs got the ball rolling before the band started recording Post-Nothingat night while working by day. "In our mind, we're a mixture of 50 years of rock'n'roll," says King. "We'll steal from it all."
Originally released on Canuck label Unfamiliar, Post-Nothinghas now been picked up by Polyvinyl for a wider release. Expect the raving about the duo to spread far beyond their native land.
- www.myspace.com/ janandroids
Everything Everything: some bands have it all
With every new release, it’s becoming clearer that we’re dealing with some very smart cookies here. From Manchester via Newcastle and Kent, Everything Everything obviously believe that there is no point in just doing one thing when you can do three, four or five things just as well.
Case in point: those three singles to date – as fabulous a hat-trick as any new band has mustered in an age. Opening salvo
Suffragette Suffragette, the beefy, brainy
Photoshop Handsomeand soon-to-follow heavyweight groove machine
My Keys, Your Boyfrienddemonstrate EE's adherence to a manifesto which calls for them to merrily rip things up and start all over again at every juncture. We're sure the A&R folks currently trying to be the band's new best mates are finding it tough to get their heads around that.
But even with EE flirting with every sound they can find, there are certain constants uniting their art-rock yearnings. Without their dashing hooks, infectious harmonies and sharp-as-a-knife lyrics, EE would simply be a bunch of ideas in search of a tune. As things stand, they’ve already a fine haul of the latter for what will be a very handsome debut album.
- www.myspace.com/ everythingeverythinguk
The Dispatches
French Horn Rebellion
The duo who produced MGMT's debut EP don headbands and grab a slice of the action with the Beaches & FriendsEP. www.myspace.com/frenchhornrebellion
Grammatics
Leeds combo with a fine handle on stroppy, stunning, emotional art-rock.
www.myspace.com/grammatics
Teengirl Fantasy
Ohio duo whose post-bedroom pop has landed them gigs with Dan Deacon, Telepathe and Pictureplane. Playing Thomas House, Dublin on September 26th.
www.myspace.com/teengirlfantasy
Forest Fire
Brooklyn quartet still making friends with last year's Survivaldebut album and its raw, nervy, hypnotic tunes.
www.myspace.com/fuckforestfire
