Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Keys To 2008

22 days into the New Year, Parallax View presents 21 bands to unlock sonic delights in 2008.

We start in an appropriately biblical sense with an Adam. Adam Kesher that is, a French band whose gallic drone-pop deserves some cross-channel contemplation.

If Beestung Lips can translate half the energy and spite they mustered live at Supersonic last year into their recorded output they'll be one of the bands of the year, for sure.

Emerging from Crouch End, Highgate and Tufnell Park, young Londoners Bombay Bicycle Club are similar enough to what's going around to ride the charts high, but have a lead singer with distinctive enough vocals to make us care.

Bugners Eye is urban slang for flapless female genitalia but you wouldn't go round calling this ferocious Birmingham blues band pussies as their pulsating pubrock takes no prisoners.

Gorgeous Emmy The Great seems to have been around for ages now, but her guest backing turns on the raved-about Lightspeed Champion record may sufficiently raise her profile for deserved success when her debut album finally surfaces later this year.

We saw Johnny Foreigner support Los Campesinos! last March, and will do so again this February, because we liked what we saw and their mini-LP 'Arcs Across The City' has whetted our appetites for more of their stroppy, sarky take on US alt.rock.

Another band to leave their calling card late last year were Montreal's Land Of Talk whose 'Applause Cheer Boo Hiss' channelled the sounds of Howling Bells and Metric into something sleeker, sexier but equally demanding of attention.

Leila isn't exactly a new name, but since it's been eight years since her last record, news of an imminent release in 2008 is worth flagging up for your attention.

Gothenbourg's Liechtenstein are an all-girl pop group who hail The Modettes as a primary influence, what's not to like?

Brooklyn's MGMT administer surprisingly thoughtful electropop that's smart enough to make you want to dress to impress. Album 'Oracular Spectacular' is due out in the UK this week.

Californians The Mae Shi have been around for a few years but a new poppier sound sees them sounding like The Go! Team trying on The Polyphonic Spree's tunics for size and having a lot of demented fun in the process.

Make Model seem to have been overlooked by the pundits for this year's predictions, but the anthemic punch of last autumn's single 'The Was' suggested the Glaswegians have what it takes to construct a viable future.

Cardiff's The School bring a DIY aesthetic to some zinging pop choons for adorable results. Recently signed to Elefant Records this is a group you'll never want to forget.

StrangeTime won't be new names to Parallax View readers either, but the spiky threesome who were too sexy/scary for Walsall look destined to rattle cages further afield with a new ep out soon and Sky TV starting to pay attention.

The Ting Tings won a coveted Parallax View Single Of The Week last May with 'That's Not My Name' and things are continuing to ring loudly for the Salford songsmiths as they've gotten themselves a slot on next month's NME tour supporting The Cribs, Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong and Does It Offend You, Yeah?.

Back in the West Midlands The Voluntary Butler Scheme looks set to put Stourbridge back on the map serving up his eccentric but decidely dreamy folk-pop ditties.

Manchester's The Whip should have a cracking start to 2008 unless their fun brand of danceable electro-pop suffers as a result of the inevitable nu-rave backlash, of course...

Thomas Tantrum are another band who emerged last Autumn with spiky pop splendour and a Parallax View Single Of The Week (for 'Shake It! Shake It!') and our expectations for further brilliant output has yet to be tempered.

Imagine TV On The Radio if they decided to just sit back and relax in the sun for a while and you get somewhere near the sound of Brooklyn's Yeasayer whose 'All Hour Cymbals' came out the back end of last year and looks set to be one of this year's sleeper breakouts.

If 2007's taste for genre fusions continues in the New Year then Telford's You And What Army? look set to profit with their rap/trance/prog/metal shenanigans regularly causing a live stir.

Finally, it's back up to Glasgow for Zoey Van Goey whose offbeat take on West Coast pop could charm the scarves and knives off an Old Firm derby crowd.

That should keep you going for a while, but remember you can use the comments to register your outrage, point out the glaring omissions and broken links, and hawk your band or blog.

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