popwreckoning

Australian singer/songwriter Elizabeth Morris is the frontwoman for Allo Darlin’, a London-based folk pop band that has already gotten mad props from BBC 6music DJs like Steve Lamacq and Lauren Laverne. Morris’s band have just announced plans for a club tour of America in October to occur before and after appearances at CMJ. Their first scheduled date in America is with Philadelphia band Brown Recluse on October 16.

Allo Darlin’ is signed in the UK to Fortuna Pop!, the same label as the Pains of Being at Heart. Their debut album, also called Allo Darlin’, is set to be released on October 5 in America.

Tour Dates
Oct 16 – Venue TBA / Philadelphia*
Oct 17 – Velvet Lounge / Washington, DC
Oct 18 – P.A.’s Lounge / – Boston, MA
Oct 19 – House Show – New Brunswick, NJ
Oct 20-21 – CMJ – New York, NY
Oct 25 – Spaceland / Los Angeles
Oct 27 – Rickshaw Stop / San Francisco
Oct 28 – Venue TBA / Portland
Oct 29 – Rendezvous / Seattle
Oct 30 – Mondo-ween at the Rock Shop / Brooklyn
* with Brown Recluse

Allo Darlin’: website | myspace

The nominations for the 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Prize – awarded to the album deemed the best released during the prior year from the United Kingdom and Ireland – were announced earlier today, July 20, at a London ceremony by BBC 6music radio host Lauren Laverne. You may recognize several of this year’s nominees as acts previously featured on PopWreckoning.

Here are the 12 nominees for this year’s Mercury Prize:

Biffy Clyro – Only Revolutions
Corinne Bailey Rae – The Sea
Dizzee Rascal – Tongue N’ Cheek
Foals – Total Life Forever
I Am Kloot – Sky At Night
Kit Downes Trio – Golden
Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
Paul Weller – Wake Up The Nation
Villagers - Becoming A Jackal
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
The xx – xx

Receiving a Mercury Prize nomination (and/or winning it) generally leads to increased album sales and increased celebrity profile for a band. London rapper Speech Debelle received the honor in 2009. The 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Prize will be awarded in London on September 7. The winning act will receive a cash award of £20,000 (over $30,000 US).

One very good option this past boiling Friday night in Washington was to head into the decidedly more comfy confines (read: well air-conditioned) of the Black Cat to see We Are Scientists gig on the main stage. This time, they’d brought with them two opening acts, girl group Bad Girlfriend and Lightspeed Champion (aka Dev Hynes).

I tend to be overly critical of girl bands. Especially if they’ve got long blonde locks and are dressed in polka-dotted, super short dresses. But the truth is, they have so much to prove in the male-dominated music industry, and that means they have to really rock and prove themselves a hundred times over to audiences and critics. With the unsigned Brooklyn band Bad Girlfriend, I wasn’t too impressed with their vocals – a song titled “Blonde Rocket” isn’t really my thing – but their garage fierce guitar-playing leads me to think there’s something there, if it’s not obvious on the surface. The sound is very Californian – jangly guitars with vocals, kind of similar to what the Like and Surfer Blood are doing these days (somewhat aping the Beach Boys‘s vibe), but the songs aren’t as strong as those groups.

Next up was Lightspeed Champion. I first came to know of Dev Hynes‘s solo work by hearing the ‘tude-filled and hook-laden “Marlene” on BBC 6music, so I was expecting to hear this recent single at this show. No such luck. Hynes, seemingly always wearing his New York Yankees baseball cap, played Friday night with nothing but his guitar and a Macbook for backing. If you’re into uncomplicated sweet pop songs, this would have been the set for you.

One girl at the front knew every word to every song Hynes played, so I’m glad she was up front, but I think I can speak for the rest of the crowd, we were mostly lost. For example, “Galaxy of the Lost”, with the lyrics of ” well kiss my open wounds, and add some ice, and choke on my sick vice,” is more heart-wrenching and probably would have worked better with a less happy-go-lucky, indie rock band than We Are Scientists. Hynes has a strong singing voice as evidenced by songs like “Midnight Surprise”, it’s just that the audience there that night at the Black Cat were mostly the kind who didn’t appreciate his type of mostly baroque pop.

We Are Scientists began their set shortly after 11. By this time, the club had mostly filled up and it was feeling a little cramped in the front. The Black Cat hosts mostly all-ages shows, so by now, those who could drink had already thrown back a couple and were being generally obnoxious. The band’s latest album Barbara was just released in mid-June so I knew they’d be playing songs from that album. The most disappointing thing about the whole night was that it became crystal clear to me that most people there didn’t have a clue that the band had new songs, let alone that they had a new album out. Um, there’s this thing called the internet? “Nice Guys” started the set with appropriate high energy, but the crowd wasn’t with lead singer / guitarist Keith Murray and bassist Chris Cain. I love the song, the way it’s frenetic and poppy. But the crowd wasn’t feeling it.

The next song, “This Scene is Dead” from their debut With Love and Squalor, went down far better, everyone in the club dancing along. As the night went on, it was obvious the old favorites – “Inaction,” “Dinosaurs”, and “The Great Escape” (introduced by Cain as their best dance song) just three examples – that the majority of the crowd had come to see. Peppered throughout the band’s set was Murray and Cain’s always funny conversations with each other and with the crowd; I’m not sure if all the joking was causing them to make count-in mistakes, but it really didn’t matter because like cats, they always landed on their feet with something terribly amusing to say to us and everyone forgot that there was a “mistake” in the first place. Another mistake I spied was by a girl who had pushed herself to the front and had elbowed all of us out of the way. In her effort to be “seen” by the band, she waved her arms frantically during the last third of the set, and then clapped enthusiastically to new song “Jack and Ginger,” blissfully unaware that she was clapping completely off the rhythm. She also stole a set list from the stage later, which all regular Cat gig-goers know is bad etiquette.

I don’t know about you, but to me, a We Are Scientists gig seems to be the last place you’d see canoodling. But there was a couple right up front, making out during “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt” while me and new friends I’d made at the concert rolled our eyes and looked away to stop ourselves from getting sick. I guess if you had to choose a song to make out to, that would be the one. I just wasn’t expecting anyone to do it at a gig. I mean, really. Get a room. Or at least go to the side and get out of our way. We want to groove to “Chick Lit” and “It’s a Hit” and you’re really distracting us.

An aborted attempt of Cain’s to start encore song “Cash Cow” causes him to fool around with this bass, concocting several possible lines to be Murray’s “theme song” until Murray is happy with it and the audience cheers for him at the just the right moment. See, with any other band, five false starts would be cause for cat-calls and groaning. But not for our We Are Scientists. They’re funny, they’re real, and for goodness sakes, they play some great rock. And if you haven’t seen them live yet, go. You are in for a real treat.

We Are Scientists Set List
Nice Guys
This Scene is Dead
Inaction
I Don’t Bite
Impatience
Let’s See It
Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt
Rules Don’t Stop
Chick Lit
Pittsburgh
Ambition
It’s a Hit
Dinosaurs
The Great Escape
Jack and Ginger
After Hours
//
Cash Cow

Tour Dates:
Jul 19 – Horseshoe Tavern / Toronto
Jul 20 – Blind Pig / Ann Arbor, MI
Jul 21 – Bottom Lounge / Chicago
Jul 23 – Larimer Lounge / Denver
Jul 26 – Doug Fir / Portland
Jul 27 – Biltmore Cabaret / Vancouver
Jul 28 – Neumo’s / Seattle
Aug 06 – Troubadour / Los Angeles
Aug 07 – Slim’s / San Francisco
Aug 08 – Cellar Door / Visalia, CA
Aug 10 – Kilby Court / Salt Lake City
Aug 12 – Record Bar / Kansas City, MO
Aug 13 – Old Rock House / St. Louis
Aug 14 – Basement / Columbus
Aug 15 – Brillobox / Pittsburgh
Sept 03 – Fountain Square / Cincinnati

We Are Scientists: website | myspace | Brain Thrust Mastery review | @ Johnny Brenda’s | @ Austin Music Hall | @ Electric Factory | @ Black Cat, January 2010 | MP3 Minute: “Rules Don’t Stop” | We Are Scientists Debut “Nice Guys” Single | Interview with: Chris Cain of We Are Scientists | Barbara review
Lightspeed Champion: website | myspace
Bad Girlfriend: myspace

Alex Frankel, one half of New York City electronic act Holy Ghost!, was kind enough to lend his typing fingers and answer some questions for me while he and his partner in crime Nick Millhiser are busy touring North America as support for LCD Soundsystem. The duo recently released their first “album” of material, the Static on the Wire EP, and they’re set for a summer full of shows and festival appearances. I ask him about how they got into recording music, his philosophy behind “good” dance music, and their recent cover of Friendly Fires‘ “On Board,” amongst other things. Have a read.

Mary Chang, PopWreckoning: I’ve read that you two met in grade school.  Did you bond immediately over music, certain bands, in band class, etc.?  How did you become friends?
Alex Frankel, Holy Ghost!: Nick was more skateboardy and I was more, sweat pantsy? We did play in a band in 5th grade (ages 9/10, respectively) that practiced in “The Cage” [a storage space in their elementary school] and was instructed by our social science teacher, Mrs. Preston, who was a very cosmic lady seemingly stuck in the late 1970s. But yeah, we always were doing some music here and there together.

MC: I’ve also read that you were members of a short-lived teen hip hop act in the ’90s called Automato. What instruments did you play, did you sing…? What happened with it?
AF: Nick played drums, I played keys. It started when we were 15 but we did it until 2005 actually. It’s how we met James [Murphy] and Tim [Goldsworthy, founders of independent label DFA Records], who produced the record. It faded out, too many cooks in the kitchen, too long spent on the same bunch of songs…we’re all still friends.

MC: How did you get involved with spinning and the making of dance music? Do you each have a personal philosophy towards dance music and what makes it great for you? Is this philosophy different when you yourselves are enjoying the beats in a club vs. when you’re DJaying or performing live?
AF: I like music that I have a pleasurable physical response to. I usually go “oooooooohhh” if I like something. And that means some wiring in my brain has been stimulated by the sounds or chords or whatever. But I guess what makes it GREAT is when the physical thing is there, but additionally there is also something emotional that I relate to on top of the music…like lyrics. Like LCD Soundsystem. Or Chic. Or David Bowie. Or Talking Heads.

MC: There are so many great clubs in New York. What are your favorites to spin at? What about when you’ve got a day off and you just want to hear good music and/or dance?
AF: This is such an interesting question because everyone asks it and here’s the deal: New York clubs rotate their musical style on a night to night basis these days. Meaning, one night the same club has techno, the next night is ska-fusion night. So, there are no clubs that are ALWAYS good. Like Paradise Garage once was. So I don’t know anyone who just “goes out to dance” and “hopes it’ll be good.” We go to places we know our friends or artists we like listening to will be at. But that venue changes every night. Places of interest are le poisson rouge, Santos Party House, Glasslands.

MC: As for dance scenes, do you each have a favorite?  London?  Ibiza?  Berlin?
AF: I’m not sure how to answer that, I guess every place is different? I really love the classic sounds of New York City and Chicago and Detroit. The grit. But I also love the clean, sharp music from Germany, starting from Kraftwerk all the way up to today. We’re pretty open-minded.

MC: Your 2008 single “Hold On” has really taken on a life of its own.  During an informal trawling of the Web, I found evidence that fans of dance music think it’s one of those tracks that will live on in dance music history forever (for one, check this link out).  Did you have any idea that “Hold On” was going to blow up as big as it did?
AF: Absolutely no idea it would go beyond our circle of friends!!

MC: When you started writing and recording music as Holy Ghost!, did you already have an idea of where you wanted to go musically? Did you / do you feel influenced by any artists past or present, dance or not?
AF: We wanted to make something that didn’t embarrass our friends, and we wanted to make something that sounded like the music we liked. We wanted to make music that people could dance to but that also was in line with our love of pop music structures.

MC: Let’s switch gears and talk about your releases for this year. In March, you put out a split single with one of PopWreckoning’s favorites, Friendly Fires. The BBC and British music media did a pretty good job of covering their side of what happened on this came about.  Is it true that the idea came up over a drunken haze at Calvi on the Rocks in Ibiza last summer?  How do you guys know each other?  Tell us more.
AF: Haha! Yeah, me and Ed [Macfarlane] met at Calvi last year during our DJ set, and I think about 30 minutes later we had agreed on a cover swap. Just clicked right off the bat. Good bloke.

MC: I really liked what you did with “On Board”, the DFA Celestial Choir was a nice touch, as was the bounce of “don’t stop, don’t stop” in the middle.  How did you choose that track, and how did you approach doing this cover?
AF: Thanks!!! It took forever. There were a bunch of huge personal and technical setbacks during the recording, and it took about 6 weeks. In the end we were really happy with it, felt like we made it our own but kept their original ideas relatively intact. Really fun project.

MC: It must have felt really different doing a full-fledged cover than a remix, being so famous for doing remixes for such high-profile friends like Moby and James Murphy / LCD Soundsystem.
AF: Eh, not really. Our “remixes” are often times covers. See the Moby remix (“I Love to Move in Here”) for evidence, where not one sound from the original was used, including vocals.

MC: Your first album-type release, the Static on the Wire EP, was released last month (May 18) on DFA Records. Only four songs but I think it’s a great taster to get people into what Holy Ghost! the recording act is all about.  How long did it take to record them? Was it quick from start to finish or have these ideas been percolating since the days of “Hold On”?
AF: I don’t know, it’s hard to distinguish things in retrospect. But we’ve been working on a batch of about 13 to 14 songs for 2 or 3 years. These are four. The rest are on the album.

MC: Last month you played your first live, non-DJ gig at Under 100 on May 15. I didn’t have the privilege of being there but some friends were there and really enjoyed the show. What was going through your mind before you went on?
AF: STAGE FRIGHT!!!! (Alex provided us with the below YouTube link)

MC: What’s it been like touring with LCD Soundsystem on your first “tour” of the continent?
AF: AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING. BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. BEST BAND IN THE WORLD. WE WAKE UP SO HAPPY EVERY DAY.

MC: You have some high profile appearances in Europe coming up this summer – Calvi on the Rocks to do a live set, London appearances at [the now endangered] Fabric club and the Groove Armada-founded festival Lovebox, and a festival slot at Germany’s Melt. Are there any particular shows that you are most looking forward to? I know I’m looking forward to your appearance in DC at the U Street Music Hall in less than 3 weeks.
AF: Actually, aside from Calvi, I’m most psyched for U Street. I’ve heard unbelievable things about the club! Oh, and Summerstage in Central Park because my mom and dad can walk from their houses.

MC: When will your first full-length album hit store shelves? (Or maybe “available for electronic download” is a more appropriate phrase.) Anything you can tell us about it now?
AF: It’s not dissimilar from what you’ve heard already. Some shorter, “poppier” songs, but not really. It’s funky. I hope. January [2011 release]?

MC: Some last questions. Your name Holy Ghost! with the exclamation point – who came up with it? Were you ever concerned about the obvious religious connotation?
AF: It’s from a Bar-Kays‘s song [a soul, r&b, and funk band founded in the mid-60s that had a single called "Holy Ghost Pt. I / Holy Ghost Pt. II" in 1975], we needed a name. We think it looks cool too.

Holy Ghost!‘s Static on the Wire EP is available from DFA Records now.

Tour Dates
Jun 04 – Hollywood Palladium / Los Angeles*
Jun 05 – Standard Hotel – Los Angeles
Jun 08 – Stubb’s / Austin*
Jun 09 – Palladium / Dallas*
Jun 12 – 88 Palace / New York City (DJ set)
Jun 18 – Sonar / Baltimore
Jun 19 – U Street Music Hall / Washington, DC
Jun 25 – Making Time / Philadelphia
Jun 25 – Vinyl / Denver (DJ set)
Jul 26 – 9:30 Club / Washington, DC#
Jul 27 – Trocadero / Philadelphia#
Jul 29 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City#
Jul 30 – MEG Festival / Montreal#
Aug 02 – Capital Music Hall / Ottawa#
Aug 03 – Phoenix / Toronto#
Aug 04 – Central Park SummerStage / New York City^
Aug 05 – Majestic Theater / Detroit#
Aug 06 – Lollapalooza / Chicago
Aug 07 – First Avenue / Minneapolis#
Aug 10 – Flames Central / Calgary#
Aug 11 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver#
Aug 12 – Showbox Market / Seattle#
Aug 13 – Roseland Ballroom / Portland#
Aug 16 – House of Blues / San Diego#
Aug 19 – Twilight Concert Series / Salt Lake City
Aug 20 – Ogden Theater / Denver#
Aug 24 – Stubb’s / Austin#
Aug 25 – Palladium / Dallas#
Aug 26 – Cannery Ballroom / Nashville#
Aug 27 – Masquerade / Atlanta#
* supporting LCD Soundsystem
^ with Hot Chip
# with Chromeo

Holy Ghost!: website | myspace | Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! – 12” Split Single

Okay, so I readily admit it. I don’t listen to a lot of American bands. I do, however, have a defense: if you turn on your car radio in Washington, DC, scroll up and down the dial all you want, but you won’t be able to find a good station that plays all “new” American rock ‘n’ roll. (There is a rock station in the area that I like, but the problem is they play a lot of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana, which is fine if you want to relive the ’90s but not if you want to discover new bands.) To seek out the next biggest American rock band, I’ve used one of two methods: either listen to the good mix of stuff played on BBC 6music (through which I found out about the Airborne Toxic Event, the Gaslight Anthem, and Titus Andronicus) or show up early to gigs as to check out opening bands.

The latter method applies to how I found out about New York band the Dig, who supported Editors in February at the 9:30 Club. I always feel bad for opening bands. Unless you happen to be lucky and are already famous before you’ve agreed to sign on to support a bigger band on their headlining tour, the venue is likely to be mostly empty when it comes time for you to play. This was true at the 9:30, but the Dig worked it like pros, and by the end of their set everyone around me was smiling, obviously converted into fans. Workhorses of the American rock world, this band has toured around the country a lot, and it showed in their pretty much seamless live performance. Live shows are one thing; but can the band deliver on record, on their debut Electric Toys? I would say yes, a resounding yes. One better: this debut effort was produced by Bryce Goggin, who has previously worked with Pavement (on their 1994 opus Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain) and Antony and the Johnsons. Intrigued?

Like New Hampshire band Wild Light, the Dig features different members switching off for who sings lead. Bassist Emile Mosseri takes lead vocals on what I consider the more middle of the road radio-friendly tunes. “You’re Already Gone” tells the story about, from what I gather, the morning after but with a twist – the emotionally unavailable woman has split and the man is lamenting that she’s left so quickly. The result? A peculiar but wholly romantic tune (with lyrics like “I just want to hear you say good night again” and “all the city lights will light your skin“) with a wicked guitar groove. Tom Chaplin (Keane)-like vocals feature in “Carry Me Home,” just that electric guitars are the prominent instrument on this song, not keyboards. ” The drums by Jamie Alegre drive “Sick Sad Morning” along as Mosseri pleads, “why don’t you pick up the phone?” and later yelps in yearning.

In contrast, guitarist David Baldwin sings lead on “I Just Wanna Talk to You,” a tune with almost Southern swagger. Take that, Kings of Leon. “She’s Going to Kill That Boy” and “Two Sisters in Love” are equally searing, with rocking choruses. “He’s a Woman” has a psychedelic bent, with crashing drums and swirly guitars. These are the kind of songs you want to have along for a long car ride in the summer, windows rolled down, speakers blasting. The album cover of Electric Toys features a red velvet cupcake, cream cheese frosting, and a perfect maraschino cherry. I highly recommend taking a great big bite. Dig in.

Electric Toys will be released in America on June 8 on Megaforce Distribution.

Track Listing
01. Carry Me Home
02. Two Sisters in Love
03. You’re Already Gone
04. She’s Going to Kill That Boy
05. Penitentiary
06. Sick Sad Morning
07. He’s a Woman
08. Look Inside
09. For All Your Sins
10. Shadow
11. I Just Wanna Talk to You
12. Feel Like Somebody Else

The Dig: myspace | @ 9:30 Club | The Joy Formidable / The Dig Live Performances / Webchat on May 10 | Thrice announce 2nd leg of Summer tour w/Kevin Devine, Bad Veins & The Dig

The more acts I see perform and talk to, the more I am amazed by just how famous the 9:30 Club is internationally. “We’ve heard a lot about this city and this venue…” Marcus Mumford, leader of London-based folk outfit Mumford and Sons, admitted to a Washington D.C. crowd. He and his band had just played the title track of their debut album, Sigh No More, to a very excited audience. Smiling broadly, he continued with, “…and it’s lived up to all of our expectations!” Based on the crazy reaction I witnessed both physically and audibly on the floor, I’d say the feeling was mutual. The quartet stopped Thursday night in D.C., just one of the dates on a sold-out, 5-week tour across North America.

Their mates for this tour are the Middle East, a seven-piece indie band hailing from Townsville, Queensland, Australia. Before this current tour with Mumford and Sons, these Aussies played a well-received set at fellow blog BrooklynVegan’s showcase at South by Southwest in March, then supported Frightened Rabbit when the Scots toured America. Musically, they were a good match for Mumford, with both soft, folk-tinged (“The Darkest Side”) and harder, borderline folky (“Beleriand”) songs. The band closed their set with “Blood,” a song from the band’s self-titled EP last year that got radio stations across the globe buzzing about them. Live, the joyous, harmonious vocalizing was simply beautiful. So really, it’s no surprise that for an opening band, they were able to attract as well as wow a sizeable crowd over an hour before the headliner was due onstage.

I remember the first time I heard Mumford and Sons. Their single “Little Lion Man” was all over BBC Radio last summer, and from one whiff of the confident lyrics and blazing folk instrumentation, I was hooked. A couple weeks ago I read on the 9:30 Club website that the show was sold out. Huh? I thought I was the only one in town who’d heard of them. In this case, I’d like to thank the internet, because I’m pretty sure it was electronic word of mouth that has helped spread word about this quartet of fine musicians.

The sultry darkness of tearful broken heartedness was explored brilliantly in “I Gave You All” and “White Blank Page.” But the band can incite spontaneous hoedowns, as in the case of “The Cave.” What surprised me the most was how chaotically they could play their instruments; this is more what you would expect in a metal band, not a folk one. Just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (or rather judge a band by the songs on their album). Three new songs were previewed – “Nothing is Written,” “Lover of the Light,” and “Whispers in the Dark,” the latter being the only song played in the encore, much to the disgust of fans who, probably just like me, were disappointed that they did not play the gorgeous love song “Winter Winds.”

“Roll Away Your Stone” was the definite highlight of the night. As the audience was whipped into a frenzy as Mumford and company threw all caution to the wind, arms flying as they played their instruments with fury, members of the Middle East reappeared onstage, some of them only in their boxers, dancing around Mumford’s troupe, shaking all sorts of hand percussion. It was definitely one of those “caught up in the moment” experiences, as everyone around me pogo-ed, shrieked in delight, or the combination of the two. Think folk music is boring? Mumford and Sons will make you think twice. Don’t believe me? Check out this tv appearance on “Later Live with Jools Holland” from the first week of May. (Sorry, no one in underwear in this version.)

Mumford and Sons Set List
Sigh No More
Awake My Soul
The Cave
I Gave You All
White Blank Page
Nothing is Written (new song)
Little Lion Man
Lover of the Light (new song)
Thistle and Weeds
Timshel
Roll Away Your Stone
Dust Bowl Dance
/
Whispers in the Dark (new song)

Tour Dates
May 21 – Beachland Ballroom / Cleveland*
May 22 – Wexner Center / Columbus*
May 24 - Lincoln Hall / Chicago*
May 25 – Varsity Theatre / Minneapolis*
May 29 – Sasquatch Music Festival / George, WA*
May 30 – 560 Club / Vancouver*
May 31 – Aladdin Theatre / Portland*
Jun 03 – Great American Music Hall / San Francisco*
Jun 04 – Henry Fonda Theatre / Los Angeles*
Jun 07 – Rhythm Room / Phoenix*
Jun 09 – Antone’s / Austin*
Jun 10 – House of Blues / Dallas*
Jun 12 – Bonnaroo Music Festival / Manchester, TN
Jun 14 – Bluebird / Bloomington, IN
Jun 15 – Off Broadway / St. Louis
Jun 16 – Record Bar / Kansas City, KS
*with the Middle East

Mumford and Sons: website | myspace | MP3 Minute: Mumford and Sons Cover Vampire Weekend | Sigh No More review
The Middle East: website | myspace | The Middle East Announces North American Festival Dates, Spring Tour with Mumford and Sons

Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club was pretty much universally hotly tipped by British music critics last year even before their debut album Tourist History even made it to store shelves in early March 2010. The band received further validation as a one of only of 15 acts to make it on the BBC Sound of 2010 long list. Despite accolades like these, the band have not rested on their laurels, relentlessly touring and easily gaining new fans with their brand of pop / punky hybrid rock, first across Britain and the rest of Europe. Now it appears North America has caught the Two Door bug, with many of the dates on their first-ever headlining tour of our continent selling out. High off playing a great gig the night before at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, they performed at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood last Thursday with two opening acts, Million Young and Bad Veins.

Florida’s Million Young took to the stage first. Frontman Mike Diaz (guitar, programming) sings dreamy lyrics but is backed by synths and Afrobeat. They sound like what you might imagine would result if Beach House went to the islands and decided to make a record. That’s my impression anyway – other people have compared the band’s sound to South Carolinan Toro y Moi. The vocals are too new age-y for me, but I was really digging the synth and drum sections. Songs like “Mien” and “Cynthia” set early gig-goers gyrating.

I’d seen Bad Veins before, also in the second spot on the bill; they supported We Were Promised Jetpacks in DC in February. Thankfully, singer Benjamin Davis still rocks the telephonic vocals, and drummer Sebastien Schultz is still pounding out the militant beats that pair so well with Davis’ style of sometimes drawn out, sometimes disaffected and Beck-ish, and sometimes theatrical rock singing style. Their tape player, Irene, was employed to add further warmth to the music with strings and brass. Davis commented that “her” location stage right was unusual (usually the tape player is set up in the middle of the stage between them, so that Schultz can reach the play and stop buttons).

However, their set did not seem to be affected by this at all. Songs like the yearning “Gold and Warm” and the groovy “Crosseyed” and “Falling Tide” captivated the audience so much that the crowd was won over, with several fans on the floor and in the balcony shouting with much displeasure when Davis announced they only had one song left. I’m impressed by all that these two guys from Cincinnati can musically and their performance in Philadelphia was no exception. Watch this video of “The Lie” below from South by Southwest 2009, just gorgeous. Definitely check them out. Really, they should be much bigger in America than they are.

For most of the bands I like from overseas, it takes a long time for America to catch on and to ever see them on network television, so I take Two Door Cinema Club‘s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this month as an excellent sign that they’ve already been recognized in America as a good bet. (Catch one of the songs they performed for Kimmel below.) When it came time for Two Door’s set on Thursday, there were several teasing moments where the lights went down and went back up again as guitars and gear were checked and re-checked. This gave ample time for latecomers to fill in on both floors when the band finally took the stage, beginning with the engaging love song “Cigarettes in the Theatre,” which I imagine will be their trademark set starter for the foreseeable future.

Listening to a record in the comfort of your bedroom or car is different than seeing that band live, and this can’t be stressed enough in the case of Two Door Cinema Club. Watch for the frenetically played, flying guitars being played by the principal members, bassist Kev Baird, lead guitarist Sam Halliday, and lead singer / guitarist Alex Trimble. Drumsticks also fly courtesy of Brighton, England touring drummer Ben Thompson, personally chosen by the band in October to replace the Mac programming employed on their recordings. This is just fun, fast-paced guitar pop with good lyrics. Watching gig-goers go into near trances over the great music made me smile.

The surprises of the evening were the playing of two little-known b-sides, “Hands Off My Cash, Monty” (introduced by Baird with the warning, “you won’t know this one, unless you are a super fan or something“) and “Kids,” which wasn’t the MGMT cover some of us at the front had guessed jokingly when the set lists were first laid out on the stage floor. Both of these sound great live and in truth, either of them would have felt right at home on Tourist History. The crowd enthusiastically clapped in time to the bridge of “Costume Party,” leading me to believe that many of them had already gotten their free mp3 of the song from joining the band’s mailing list.

But if I were to pick the highlights of the night, hands down they would be the songs from the encore. The printed set list did not indicate there would be one, but a big fan at the front commented loudly to the rest of us, “They have to come back. They haven’t played ‘I Can Talk’ yet!” Wise words. After the audience’s insistent chant of “one more song!” the band returned to play “Come Back Home” followed by “I Can Talk.” By then, these lads from Bangor had the Philly crowd eating out of their hand. World domination is next.

Two Door Cinema Club Set List
Cigarettes in the Theatre
Undercover Martyn
Hands Off My Cash, Monty
Do You Want It All
Something Good Can Work
This is the Life
Kids
Costume Party
You’re Not Stubborn
What You Know
Eat That Up, It’s Good for You
//
Come Back Home
I Can Talk

Two Door Cinema Club: website | myspace | Two Door Cinema Club To Tour with Phoenix in Spring, Headline First North American Tour | “Something Good Can Work” video | @ Constitution Hall | Interview with: Sam Halliday of Two Door Cinema Club
Million Young: website | myspace
Bad Veins: website | myspace | @ Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel

I recently had a chat with guitarist Sam Halliday of up-and-coming Irish indie rock/pop band Two Door Cinema Club. The band was in New York City to do requisite press before getting ready for two shows in the city. Sam tells me about how much they enjoyed Austin (and their tasty food in large quantities) and the music festival experience, and we talk about their debut album Tourist History and their promo videos. Read on.

Mary Chang, PopWreckoning: Hello Sam. So how are you guys, where are you guys at the moment? And what are you doing?
Sam Halliday, Two Door Cinema Club: Yeah, we’re good. We’re presently in New York City at our hotel in Manhattan. We have a bit of promo today, then we have a show in Brooklyn tomorrow and at the Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday.
MC: So how are you enjoying New York? Is it your first time there?
SH: No, it’s my third time. But the other guys [guitarist/lead singer Alex Trimble and bassist Kev Baird], it’s their first time. We arrived at about 2 a.m…
MC: Oh wow…!
SH: Yeah, and we went straight out to, sort of, go see Times Square. They’d never been here before so…
MC: Excellent. So I guess you’re the globetrotter of the group then?
SH: Yes, I guess, yeah! (laughs)

MC: So let’s talk about your debut album, Tourist History. I’ve been playing it a lot since it came out. It’s really fantastic. If you had to explain what you sounded like to an American who’d never hear any of your songs, how would you describe it?
SH: Um, I think it’s not quite rock music; it’s not quite indie music; it’s not quite electro music. I think if you’re open to any type of music I think you might like it. It’s very accessible. You know, it’s a lot of upbeat [sound]. And you know, I mean, we love it, we think it’s a great album. We think it’s for everybody. We loved bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse and Bloc Party; they’re kind of the bands that we agreed on early. We love all types of music but those were the bands we bond over most.

MC: So your name…back in February I sat in on an interactive chat with the Gigwise folks the three of you did in London…
SH: Yes!
MC: …during which you replied to an English fan that it came from the Tudor Cinema near where you lived in Ireland.
SH: Yes…
MC: I’m sure everyone’s asking you about the band name on this tour and where it comes from. (Sam laughs) Have you been back since to tell the proprietor of the Tudor Cinema that his theatre is now famous?
SH: We went back [to Ireland] before we kinda became a bit big, we went back and recorded like a music video, for “Something Good Can Work.” This was a couple years ago. Just a friend did it with us recorded it over there. We moved off to doing different things and we can’t see him anymore, sadly. And then we kind of did the official one. Yeah, we haven’t been back as a band. Yeah, it would be good to go back, I think.

MC: The three of you are from Bangor, in Northern Ireland, right?
SH: Yes.
MC: But I’ve heard that you now call London home.
SH: Ohhh…I wouldn’t personally call London home.
MC: Okay, so it’s a temporary home then?
SH: It’s more of a base. I call it a base. We have a band flat there. You know, it’s great because it’s easy to get flights from Heathrow [Airport] and things, it’s just very handy that way. And honestly, we have our management there, and there’s lots of press people in London. So it’s a good place to have a base. But you go home and have friends and family in Bangor.
MC: What has been your family and friends’ reaction to all that’s happened to you guys so far?
SH: They’re very supportive and very happy, yeah. In my experience, my mum would always be on our Facebook page and our Twitter page, paying attention and telling me before I read it what people are saying on things, read reviews. It’s very exciting [for her] I think.

MC: So it sounds like you’ve barely been able to take a breath with all the relentless touring. You’ve been around Europe and then America with Phoenix, and now are in the middle of your first headlining tour of North America. From what I hear, your shows have been going down great with the locals and you’re selling out most everywhere, so congratulations on that.
SH: Thanks.
MC: What’s been your most memorable show so far this year?
SH: (whistles) Well, it was only last week, but I think one of the real highlights was when we played in L.A. last week. You know, the Troubadour show? It’s just crazy, because it’s kind of our first headline show of America. Having been from somewhere small and having never played here, and we’ve never come here before. It’s crazy that how well we were received! It’s just amazing, feeling like we’ve “gone” somewhere! It was cool. Other than that, since the album has been released, all the shows, you know, have kind of stepped up in attendance and it’s really been amazing, because people know more of the songs and they sing a bit more, because they enjoy the album. The [album] launches were great in Belfast, in London, and in Paris.

MC: Great. Do you have a worst moment? Or any funny tour stories you care to share?
SH: Ooh…um… (laughs) oh boy…you know, everything’s been great, really. It really has. Touring with Phoenix was a great experience, they’re lovely, lovely guys. It was so great to tour with a band that was much better and more experienced. You learn so much, in terms how they act, how they play their sets. I can’t think of any stories off the top of my head…I dunno! (laughs)

MC: Before coming over to North America, how did you prepare for your first-ever shows on this side of the pond?
SH: Oh, I dunno, I guess we’ve been so busy! Over the past year touring all over Europe. So we were really excited to go somewhere new. It’s always really great to go somewhere new. It’s great to go to places you’ve played before, but it’s somewhere new. It’s just real exciting. I think we’ve been playing together for long enough that we’re confident in our live show – well, I am. So we weren’t too nervous about the show, we were more excited to play to new people.
MC: I think it was Fearne Cotton’s Radio1 programme in February when you guys did a set and a short interview…she asked you what you were looking forward to, and this was far, far in advance of you guys coming over here. And one of you said visiting Texas. I know you guys have been to Texas now, and you were in Austin. I read on your Twitter that when you were in Austin, Kev got a tattoo and you bought a guitar…?
SH: Haha, yeah, that’s right.
MC: So what did you think of Texas? Did it live up to everything you thought it was going to be?
SH: Yeah, it was brilliant. It’s just so different. Everywhere in America is so different between cities and states. But Texas was really cool. We got to spend a couple days in Austin in particular. Great weather, being able to sit in our dressing room, outside, in the late hours of the night. Just kind of laid-back atmosphere sort of a city. Yeah, um, obviously Kevin got a tattoo…(I laugh)…of the cat’s eyes from our album [cover]. And then we went to a pawn shop. We wanted to do a kind of typical American thing and so we would go around to pawn shops and picked around. And we went and found this amazing old guitar. I really wanted to get a guitar from this tour, to kind of have something to remember it by, so it was a great find.
MC: That’s cool.
SH: And we had some great Texas barbecue.
MC: How does it compare to the food at home?
SH: Oh, there’s a lot more of it here!
MC: (laughs) That’s what most people [from outside America] tell me!
SH: The portions are, very, uh, large.
MC: Yeah, sometimes they last for days, usually.
SH: Yeah! We actually have a competition, it’s quite sad. We have a competition, because we knew your American food was very tasty and very big. So we have a competition to see…we’ve documented each other’s weights, so we’re having a competition to see who put on the most [weight from the tour]. Whoever puts on the most has to take the person who puts on the least out to dinner.
MC: Oh, okay.
SH: I know, not very rock ‘n’ roll. (both laugh)

MC: So I’ve had a look at your very busy summer schedule. You’ve confirmed festival appearances at Glasto[nbury] (England), Hove (Norway), Benicassim (Spain), Summersonic (Japan), and Reading/Leeds (England) among many others. You played Glastonbury for the first time last year…what are your feelings on the summer festival circuit?
SH: Ah, they’re so much fun, it’s kind of great, because you see so many bands. Like, being on tour all the time, you don’t get to see that many, unless you they ask you to tour with them. But being at festivals is amazing because…especially at Glastonbury, we’re spending the whole weekend there, so we’ll get to see loads of bands, which will be cool. We’re real excited to be doing all the European ones this year, and Australia and Japan, because you know, last year we only did one outside the UK. It was amazing, it was our favorite last year. It’s called Riga in Latvia. It’s a totally different kind of vibe than the European ones. So it’ll be great to experience all those.

MC: So you have signed to the French label Kitsune Maison for your European releases and Glassnote Records here in America. How did the Kitsune people find you?
SH: They were trying to put another one of their parties in Paris, and they were trying to find an up-and-coming UK band to bring over. And so a promoter in France told them about us, and then whenever they listened to us, I think they liked us a lot more than they thought they would, and [they] wanted to put out our single. And then our relationship just grew from there. And then they released our single and finally our album. It’s great. It all felt really natural.
MC: What is it like being Irish on a French label? Did it seem weird that a British label didn’t come to you first, or another European one?
SH: I mean, yeah, maybe it sounds a little weird. But for us, being from Bangor, we weren’t really connected to the London music scene all that much. We’d only played in London a couple times before we signed the record deal, and it’s just…it’s don’t really have a connection with that sort of scene. For us, we feel apart from that, just as much as we feel part from the Paris music scene. And they seemed like the right label for us, we didn’t want to go with a major label, and they were really passionate about working with us.
MC: Have you been able to hang out with the other UK bands they’ve signed like Delphic and La Roux?
SH: Well, we got a chance to tour with Delphic back in October in the UK. Yeah, we really hit it off with them, they were really great guys, into the same, similar stuff. So we formed a little friendship with them. We’ve seen them a few times since, they’re fun. Can’t really think of any other people…Kitsune is really good with DJs and things, some great people have remixed our stuff through Kitsune. That sort of thing.

MC: Going back to your debut album, Tourist History, is definitely one of my fave releases of 2010 so far, I really love the album. Loads of fun, poppy, peppy, and brilliant. How long did it take to record everything and put together?
SH: The one thing we do, once we write a song, we would demo it ourselves, and kind of get it to the point where it’s not the best recording, but we know where all the parts are, of what we’d want to be in the song. So we had this whole album demoed ourselves, and then it was about getting to a studio and doing it professionally, you know, getting a producer’s point of view and things, and trying different things like. So then we went to the end of June then we finished tracking by the end of July, and it took a month to mix the album. Once that was finished, we had some further mixing done with Philippe Zadr [the producer of Phoenix's albums United and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and a member of French house duo Cassius] in his studio in Paris, and for the songs that might be singles. It was great getting people’s different perspectives on our music and we respect their work, so it was amazing.

MC: Your promo videos. The “I Can Talk” video was actually the first videos of yours I ever saw. It was so frenetic, Alex’s head was coming off, clothes were flying around…whose idea was that?
SH: That was a French team called Megaforce, that was from a suggestion of Kitsune’s. They came out with that.
MC: It’s a real cool-looking video!
SH: Yeah, it was the first proper video. And we shot it in a really crammed chateau in Paris.
MC: Yeah, I was wondering about that. Because it has a very old-fashioned dollhouse kind of feeling, almost.
SH: Yeah, you don’t really see a lot of it in the video.

MC: A while ago you guys released a newish video for “Something Good Can Work” [watch video here]. In this new one, you guys are at a fancy resort, the forest, the desert, an amusement park. Where did you go to film all the scenes for it?
SH: We got to go to Gran Canaria [the second most populous island of the Canary Islands], and everything was shot there. Yeah, they’ve got a little different kind of scenes there, they have forest, and mountains, and nice beaches and sand dunes and things.
MC: Hopefully you got some vacation time in then?
SH: No, unfortunately we were only there for 2 days.
MC: Only 2 days? Golly. Well I hope you get to spend some time there in the future, because it looked so beautiful on screen. When I first saw it in March, I was thinking, “this is the perfect summer song.”
SH: We wanted to capture that kind of sunshine, the summery feel with it.

MC: I have Steve Lamacq to thank for playing “Something Good Can Work,” a long while ago it feels like, on his 6music programme. I have my own strong opinion on the subject, but what are your thoughts on the BBC’s proposed closure of 6music? [In early March, Director General Mark Thompson of the BBC Trust announced that BBC 6music, along with the Asian Network, may be closed due to budget cuts.]
SH: Oh yeah, it’s awful. I mean, especially because Radio1 is kind of being taken over by r&b and just bland pop tunes. There’s really not a lot of room for up-and-coming or not commercially appealing bands. So yeah, and especially because we got our first airplay on 6music, and without it we wouldn’t have gotten so much attention.

MC: Speaking of the UK, have you been following the general election while you have been in America?
SH: Yes, we have been, just on the BBC News website. I’m not really too involved in our politics.
MC: Any of you endorsing any particular political party?
SH: I think this is the problem, I don’t think anyone wants to be in government. Completely. I think that’s the problem here. I dunno, I don’t really know too much about it.
MC: Neither do I, but it was interesting watching everything unfold real time on the website.
SH: Yeah.

SH: I’m being told I need to move on…
MC: Okay, so one final question. Based on the crazy reception for your first tour of America, so when are you guys coming back here?
SH: We’re going to come back in October.
MC: Great.
SH: Yeah, very soon.
MC: Well, thank you so much Sam, I appreciate it, I know you’re very busy doing a lot of press. So enjoy New York and I will see you guys on Thursday [in Philadelphia].
SH: Brilliant, can’t wait!
MC: Take care.
SH: Thanks.

Two Door Cinema Club‘s debut album Tourist History is available now from Glassnote Records. The band has several more dates in North America before their first headlining tour of our continent ends May 17 in Toronto.

Tour Dates
May 11 – Bell House / Brooklyn
May 12 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
May 13 – Johnny Brenda’s / Philadelphia
May 15 – Great Scott / Boston
May 16 – Salla Rossa / Montreal
May 17 – Wrongbar / Toronto

Two Door Cinema Club: website | myspace | Two Door Cinema Club To Tour with Phoenix in Spring, Headline First North American Tour | “Something Good Can Work” video | @ Constitution Hall

Like Passion Pit, Hockey is an American band I was introduced to last winter not by American radio but by the lovely Nemone Metaxas, one of my favorite DJs on BBC 6music. I loved the exuberant “Too Fake” the first time I heard its electronic dance pop goodness through my computer speakers. My interest in the Portland band was further piqued when I learned they had toured in the UK in early 2009 as support for Friendly Fires. The problem was getting a chance to see the band stateside. The band has toured North America a couple times now, but had never played in D.C., so when I got the alert a while back that they would be playing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel, I was chomping at the bit.

The opening act for the night were the Postelles, a New York City band that Rolling Stone has described as “channel[ing] Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello and – more recently – the Arctic Monkeys and the Strokes, building songs from brief guitar stabs and sounding like the wound-up early hours of what will be a long Saturday night on the town. There are elements of both mod and post-punk, but the Postelles have a sneering attitude all their own…” Interesting description. Frankly, they sound to me more similar to New York-based indie rockers Locksley and Sunderland, England’s Frankie and the Heartstrings, bands that have gone back in time to perfect the ‘60s pop / rock ‘n’ roll band model.

Make no mistake: the Postelles have a sound all their own and they sound great live, led by lead singer/guitarist Daniel Balk’s yearning vocals. Sometimes I wish I had the talent to come up with a good pop melody. The Postelles definitely can, as evidenced by the guitar-jangly “Sleep on the Dance Floor,” one of their set’s highlights. The title of the song “Hey Little Sister” sounds like it was written by Lennon/McCartney (do “Hello Little Girl” and “Little Child” ring any bells?), and I thought it was just amazing live, guitarist David Dargahi taking on lead vocals and mixing things up a bit. In a way, I was glad the Constellations canceled, because that meant we got a longer set from the Postelles than fans in other cities. The band’s debut EP White Nights was released the first week of March on Capitol Records / Astralwerks and is available now.

The Postelles Set List
Looking Glass
White Nights
She She
New song
Beat on the Brat (Ramones cover)
Stella
Hey Little Sister
Can’t Stand Still
Sleep on the Dance Floor
1, 2, 3 Stop

Hockey were supposed to go on at 10 (with the Postelles at 9) but they didn’t actually get on stage until 10:40, fortuitous for latecomers who crammed in at the front of the stage. When the band came on stage to tinker with their instruments, lead singer Ben Grubin flashed me a grin, so I knew I was in for a good show. Their debut album Mind Chaos is such a fun, fun record that I had way too high expectations, envisioning that they’d all appear dressed as colorfully as their record with hats and bandannas, and be jumping all over the stage. No such luck.

Instead, Grubin came on in a trademark hoodie but soon peeled it off to reveal a stripy white and orange tunic over black jeans. He was bopping around the stage excitedly and man-handling his microphone reminiscent of another of my favorite musicians, Londoner Patrick Wolf. Alternately between guitar, harmonica (for the folky “Four Holy Photos,” proving the band’s versatility), and a percussion set-up, he was clearly the star of the night. Seeing that Wednesday was St. Patrick’s Day and the crowd at the RnR was rowdier than normal for a weeknight, a new song that I think is called “DJ” seemed entirely appropriate, introduced by Grubin as “[Irish] jig and bluegrass music.”

“3 A.M. Spanish” was a high point of their set, the bass lines from Brian White and hot beats from touring keyboardist Ryan Dolliver just fabulous with Grubin’s hip hoppy vocal approach, punctuated by yelps for the chorus. They also didn’t disappoint with my absolute favorite song from Mind Chaos, “Song Away.” If there was ever a song that could lift your spirits, this is definitely it, with its refrain of “tomorrow’s just a song away.” And really, it is, isn’t it?

Check out this video of the song from their performance at Lollapalooza last summer. I hope this explains why I don’t have too many good photos of him, the man cannot keep still! Just thinking about it, I’m so eager to see the band again very soon.

Hockey Set List
Work
Learn to Lose
Rebels Marry Young (new song)
3 A.M. Spanish
Four Holy Photos
DJ (new song)
Curse This City
Song Away
Preacher
Wanna Be Black
Everyone’s the Same Age
Too Fake
Put the Game Down

Tour Dates
Mar 21 – Snug Harbor / Charlotte
Mar 23 – Mercy Lounge / Nashville*
Mar 24 – Drunken Unicorn / Atlanta*
Mar 25 – Cafe 11 / St. Augustine, FL*
Mar 26 – Club Downunder / Tallahassee, FL*
Mar 27 – Bottletree / Birmingham*
Mar 29 – Thirsty Hippo / Hattiesburg, MS*
Mar 30 – Spanish Moon / Baton Rouge*
Apr 01 – Warehouse Live / Houston*
Apr 02 – Emo’s / Austin*
Apr 03 – Loft / Dallas*
Apr 05 – Brewing Company / Santa Fe*
Apr 06 – Larimer Lounge / Denver*
Apr 07 – Kilby Court / Salt Lake City
Apr 08 – Neurolux / Boise*
Apr 10 – Wonder Ballroom / Portland*
Apr 16 – Coachella Music Festival / Indio, CA
* with the Postelles

Hockey: website | myspace | @ Lollapalooza 2009 | interview with | @ Midland
The Postelles: website | myspace

I have a love/hate relationship with BBC Radio1 evening show host Zane Lowe. He often gets on my nerves because he likes to shout. A lot. I chalk this up to the fact that he has the privilege of talking to rock stars on a regular basis, and should I ever get a cushy job like that, I would probably be overexcited and shouty as well. However, I digress. It’s thanks to Lowe’s regular choosing of the “Hottest Record in the World” (at 7:30 PM GMT most evenings Monday through Thursday) that I get to hear some of the most hotly-tipped songs before their official release. And here is a prime example of his good taste – PopWreckoning favorites Friendly Fires covering Holy Ghost!‘s now classic “Hold On,” which was chosen as a “Hottest Record” for February 4.

I’ve done research in the blogosphere and heard quite a bit about the backstory of this single from interviews the BBC did last month with Friendly Fires‘s Ed Macfarlane (vocals / bass / synths). What I’ve gathered is that the two acts ran into each other last summer at the dance music festival Calvi on the Rocks in Corsica. It’s unclear which parties were inebriated but Holy Ghost!‘s Alex Frankel made the suggestion of recording covers of each other’s songs. Macfarlane, a self-admitted fanatic of Holy Ghost!‘s work, concurred. Further, Macfarlane told a BBC 6music news reporter that he spent so much time and effort remixing Phoenix‘s “Fences” that given the choice, his preference with respect to Holy Ghost! was to do “a proper reinterpretation” of one of their songs rather than simply a remix.

You may wonder, “if they talked about doing this last summer, why is it taking so long for it to be released?” Further in the folklore is that Friendly Fires, so enthused about the project, got their cover finished quickly. However, Holy Ghost!‘s recording of their track was riddled by bad luck. Word on the street is that their already recorded session tapes and vocal tracks vanished, and they suffered a hard drive meltdown. It should also be noted that there was further delay caused by the untimely death of !!!/LCD Soundsystem drummer Jerry Fuchs. (Incidentally, the “On Board” track is one of the last recordings Fuchs played on.)

If you’ve listened to Friendly Fires‘s “Paris” as many times as I have, the intro to their cover of Holy Ghost!’s “Hold on” should sound welcome as an old friend. The pronounced bass line, as well as winning cowbell and agogô – hallmarks of tracks by this XL Recordings act – make this cover memorably different than the original. The disco dancefloor vibe and the short-sounding lyrics have gone, replaced by in-your-face percussion (thanks to surely one of music’s hardest-working drummers, Jack Savidge) and sexy as hell lead vocals. Edd Gibson‘s guitar riffs three-quarters of the way in are also a totally appreciated addition.

DFA Records duo Holy Ghost! decided they wanted to put their own stamp on the Friendly Fires‘s boisterous singalong “On Board.” (You may recall hearing the original on commercials for the Wii Fit and Gran Turismo 5.) Their take features, as should be expected from them, a disco sensibility; however, it also comes complete with angelic female voices credited as “the DFA Celestial Choir,” lending a vocal richness not present in the original. The lead vocal is more intelligible as well. (Sorry Ed Mac, but if someone hadn’t told me the lyrics included “without your own defiling / you’d backwards circle right above our heads“, I never would have guessed). I also really dig the tacking-on of the catchy, repeated “Don’t stop! Don’t stop!” squarely in the middle of the track.

Because of the mutual admiration Friendly Fires and Holy Ghost! have for each other, I think it’s safe to say that should these two dance music acts ever decide to go on tour together, that would make for one hell of a bill.

The “Hold On” / “On Board” double-A-sided single will be released on 12″ vinyl and digitally on March 8 by XL Recordings. Check out the original versions of both below (Holy Ghost! don’t have a promo video for “Hold On” so only audio is available for that one.)

Friendly Fires - “On Board”

Holy Ghost! - “Hold On”

Track Listing
1. Friendly Fires – Hold On
2. Friendly Fires – Hold On (instrumental)
3. Holy Ghost! – On Board
4. Holy Ghost! – On Board (instrumental)
5. Holy Ghost! – On Board (dub – on download version only)

Friendly Fires: website | myspace | Friendly Fires review | Remix Monday: “Skeleton Boy” | @ Black Cat | @ Dot to Dot Festival | interview with pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3 | Mercury Prize Nominations Announced | New Video on MTV, To Play Jimmy Kimmel and Winter Nylon Tour, Release Expanded Version of Debut Album | @ Lollapalooza 2009 | @ le poisson rouge | @ Music Hall of Williamsburg | on Jimmy Kimmel | Remix Monday: “Paris” | Remix Monday: Phoenix’s “Fences” | NYLON Winter Music Tour Starring Friendly Fires with the xx @ Paradise Rock Club, Boston
Holy Ghost!: website | myspace | Remix Monday: Cut Copy “Hearts on Fire” | Remix Monday: Phoenix “Lisztomania”