JIM CARROLL's future sounds...
Little Red: old-fashioned rock'n'roll from Oz
Bloody hell mate, what’s with all these Australian bands knocking around New Music these days? Is this some payback for all the Irish lads and lasses heading down under with Coronas and Blizzards tunes in their iPods? It really does seem as if there’s a non-stop clatter of quality new music coming from the Antipodes this weather, and long may it continue.
n the case of Melbourne’s Little Red, the whip-smart single It’s Alright is doing all the hawking for them. Plucked from their Listen to Little Red debut album,
It’s Alright
is a bright, breezy, summery slice of radio-friendly doo-wop punk, a tune to remind you of good times and good cheer. Indeed, both it and the
B-side Coca-Cola
(a swaggering, fizzy tune with a slice of lemon on top) sound as if they’ve been hanging around on some dusty shelf, waiting to be discovered, since the 1950s.
A band who took their name from Willie Dixon's Little Red Rooster, this all-singing and all-dancing five-piece seem to know their rock'n'roll history. They've had a rapid rise at home since forming in 2005. Victory in a nationwide battle of the bands competition led to slots on festival bills across the country.
The next plan is a European invasion. The album will be getting a release on this side of the globe via Lucky Number, while US tastemaker boutique label Neon Gold helps with the single release.
Naturally, live shows will follow and, per vocalist Tom Hartney, folks can expect “to just end up smiling or dancing. We have a good time, and I think that it’s conveyed to the audience that we’re having just as good a time as anyone else. It’s just an old fashioned rock’n’roll show.”
www.myspace.com/littleredmusic
Surfer Blood: Florida keys
Expect the buzz about Surfer Blood to get louder and louder in the next few months. From West Palm Beach, Florida, these four kids already have an expert handle on catchy indie rock hooks and harmonies.
Anthemic tunes such as Floating Vibesand Swimhit all the right hot-spots, perfectly combining melody, melancholy and a sense of mischief with intoxicating surfarama harmonies and timeless power-pop chords.
The Surfer Blood story begins, like all the best stories, at a party. This one saw the four chaps spend the night bantering about music, so the natural thing to do the morning after was to form a band.
After a bunch of studio sessions which just didn't sound right, Surfer Blood set up camp in a dormitory room at the University of Florida, spent their scholarship cash on equipment and recorded debut album Astro Coast.
That album gets a release in January on Kanine, the same label that introduced Grizzly Bear and Chairlift to the world. The band’s raved-about appearances at the recent CMJ festival in New York City have further increased anticipation for that release.
www.myspace.com/surferblood
Three more
Three more acts worth checking out...
Kopek
Powerhouse rock'n'roll from Dublin three-piece whose White Collar Liesdebut album is ready to roll. The Love Is Deadtune will serve them well on big stages in big fields. www.myspace.com/kopek
Resurrection Fern
From Athlone, Bean Dolan and friends do the sepia-tinged hippie-folk thing with well-rounded and robust acoustically powered tunes such as Lions and Tigers. www.myspace.com/resurrectionfern
Crimea X
Cosmic disco for the masses from Italian duo DJ Rocca and Jukka Reverberi, whose Phoros EPfor Hell Yeah contains many moments of atmospheric, lush, bliss. www.myspace.com/crimeax
