popwreckoning

The Temper Trap have been touring so much and in so many places in 2010, I’ve lost count. So I consider the Trocadero gig in Philadelphia the start of their “latest and greatest” North American tour, if you will. The Melbourne-based band played to an enthused crowd there Sunday night. It’s pretty uncommon for me to know about all three bands on a tour – usually I’ll know the headliner and probably one of the headliners peripherally, but on this tour, I was stoked beyond belief that two of the best electronic bands of the moment would be support for the Temper Trap.

Brooklyn’s the Hundred in the Hands have just released their self-titled debut album on Warp Records last week, and it’s an amazing effort. Definitely in my top 5 of albums of 2010, I think it would handily beat out LCD Soundsystem’s This is Happening in a head-to-head contest on the dance floor. You always wonder how electronic bands translate (or don’t) in the live environment, and I can say without a doubt the Hundred in the Hands passes with flying colors. The only issue I had was with some of the instrumentation getting muddled, which I think was more of a fault of the venue’s sound system and not a reflection on the duo. Weirdly, the front row of the standing crowd stock still for the entire night, and it was us and my new friends in the second row that were kicking up our heels to the Brooklyn duo (and the rest of the night for that matter).

Eleanore Everdell (lead vocals / synths) sings, at times, with a yelping howl not unlike Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes but I think Everdell does this better, because her disaffected voice is perfect for dance music. Check out the amazing “Last City,” the opening track on their album, with its “oh oh oh OH ohs” that will make this an earworm for sure, and even better live. “Pigeons,” a single getting a lot of airplay on British radio, is another gem. A fascinating sidenote: Hundred’s guitarist (and also beat master) Jason Friedman has the same model of Rickenbacker as Delphic’s Matt Cocksedge, so I was doubly blown away by equipment prettiness.

So the next two bands of the night I had been lucky enough to have seen last at Roskilde Festival in very sunny Denmark in July. Delphic released two singles, “Counterpoint” and “This Momentary,” in their home country in 2009. While these didn’t race up the UK singles chart, they generated enough interest such that when the Manchester, England band let loose their debut album, Acolyte, early this year on their own Polydor imprint Chimeric, the buzz was enormous. I was already a big fan of theirs after hearing Acolyte in January, and it quickly became the soundtrack to my cardiovascular workouts for the rest of the DC winter (read: shoveling during the second biggest snowfall ever recorded in Washington). The band have no idea of this particular reason for my great affection for their music. Interestingly, it became clear Sunday night that I, along with the aforementioned second row of fans at the Trocadero, were going to use Delphic to soundtrack quite a workout.

I should probably mention that despite it being autumn on the East Coast already, the inside of the Trocadero was hot. Steamy. Boiling. By the time Delphic started their second song, the synthtastic “Doubt”, the shirt of lead singer/bassist James Cook was already soaking wet with sweat. He seemed unperturbed by this, singing his heart out on tunes like “Red Lights,” complete with requisite red lighting and concluding with a monster synth outro – just what you’d expect from three English boys who are self-described “synthesizer geeks.” Keyboards/synths man Rick Boardman surprised me, singing his backing vocals with so much enthusiasm, I was floored. He sings in a higher register than Cook and frankly, you haven’t heard sexier high-pitched male vocals in a dance song since the Bee Gees days. “Halcyon,” the song that cemented my love for the band (used somewhat freakily for a UK mobile phone advert, I can’t be the only one who thinks James Cook singing “give me something I can believe in” has absolutely nothing to do with mobile phones), was fantastic, with guitarist Matt Cocksedge ripping his now famous guitar solo.

Even though it appeared that myself and one other guy next to me (clutching a Delphic press clipping from NME, no less) were the only people in the whole club to even know who they were and what they sounded like, by the time the set closer “Counterpoint”, with the swells of its guitar and synth and Cook’s upbeat yet sad lyrics of “but you don’t come back around / it seems to me that we will never be” and his emphatic declaration that “nothing’s wrong / nothing’s wrong with today,“ everyone was already on their side, pumping their fists in the air. See, Delphic may write songs about love and heartbreak like other bands, but they write and play them in a way you will force you to take notice, because you won’t be able to keep still. This is music that makes you want to dance.

Delphic Set List
Clarion Call
Doubt
Red Lights
This Momentary
Halcyon
Counterpoint

The way things are going for the Temper Trap, I think they could very well be playing stadiums in the near future. They have the swagger, they have the confidence, and they certainly have devoted fans. In Washington, maybe a quarter of the attendees show up before or around doors and the rest amble in at the appointed set time for the headliner. Not so with Sunday’s Temper Trap show. I have never in my life seen such a long line outside a venue before doors, going for what seemed like miles down Arch Street. Thanks to two wonderful openers, the Trocadero crowd was drenched in perspiration and ready for the headliner.

All too predictably, “Sweet Disposition,” the song on the “500 Days of Summer” soundtrack that made the Temper Trap a household name in America, got the loudest crowd reaction. But my buddies and I in second row standing had a good time pogo-ing to “Fader,” “Love Lost,” and even “Down River,” the latter with its unusually plodding verses but endearing, shoutable chorus of “Down river! Down river!” and odd spoken lyrics from bassist Jonathan Aherne. I think a lot of people went to this show knowing nothing but “Sweet Disposition” and maybe “Fader,” but they all came away with a feeling of euphoria, seeing a band close to or at its peak in performance terms. Dougy Mandagi grinned through the entire set, later reaching out to the crowd at the end to shake as many hands as he could.

The light show for their final song, “Science of Fear,” was a war between strobes and blue spotlights. This is the level of light show Muse uses on tour. So it’s not a far stretch of the imagination to imagine envision the Temper Trap playing Madison Square Garden or the Meadowlands sometime soon. They won’t be playing clubs for much longer. Watch this space.

The Temper Trap Set List
introduction
Rest
Fader
Fools
Down River
Love Lost
Soldier On
Sweet Disposition
Resurrection
Drumming Song
//
Rabbit Hole
Science of Fear

Tour Dates (dates with all three bands except those noted)
Sept 29 – House of Blues / Boston
Sept 30 – Wellmont / Montclair, NJ
Oct 01 – Terminal 5 / New York City
Oct 02 – Le National / Montreal
Oct 03 – Capital Music Hall / Ottawa
Oct 05 – Phoenix / Toronto
Oct 07 – Newport Music Hall / Columbus
Oct 08 – DC9 / Washington, DC^
Oct 09 – Austin City Limits / Austin*
Oct 09 – MOTR Club / Cincinnati%
Oct 11 – St. Andrews / Detroit
Oct 12 – Metro / Chicago
Oct 13 – Turner Hall / Milwaukee
Oct 14 – First Avenue / Minneapolis
Oct 18 – Crocodile / Seattle%
Oct 19 – Woods / Portland%
Oct 21 – Popscene / San Francisco&
Oct 22 – Fox / Pomona, CA
Oct 23 – Club Nokia / Los Angeles
^ Delphic only
* the Temper Trap only (festival appearance)
% the Hundred in the Hands only
& Delphic and the Hundred in the Hands only

The Temper Trap: website | myspace | @ 9:30 Club | @ Bonnaroo 2010, Day 1 | The Temper Trap Announce August-October North American Tour with Delphic and The Hundred in the Hands | @ Showbox at the Market
Delphic: website | myspace | American Release Details of Delphic EP | Delphic’s Debut Album Streaming on Their MySpace
The Hundred in the Hands: website | myspace | ‘Pigeons’ takes flight with Foals’ remix

After conquering the world with their high-powered rock shows, Melbourne, Australia-based band the Temper Trap will return to North America for an extensive tour August through October. The openers on this tour will be Manchester’s electropop/dance trio Delphic (who will join the tour in September) and Brooklyn duo The Hundred in the Hands. Presale tickets are already available from the Temper Trap‘s official website but the general ticket sale begins on July 9. The Temper Trap will also make appearances at Lollapalooza in Chicago, Outside Lands in San Francisco, and Austin City Limits.

Tour Dates
Aug 04 – House of Blues / San Diego, CA
Aug 06 – House of Blues / Cleveland
Aug 08 – Lollapalooza / Chicago
Aug 10 – Ogden Theater / Denver
Aug 11 – Depot / Salt Lake City
Aug 13 – Showbox / Seattle
Aug 14 – Roseland Theater / Portland
Aug 15 – Outside Lands Festival / San Francisco
Sept 26 – Trocadero / Philadelphia
Sept 29 – House of Blues / Boston
Sept 30 – Wellmont / Montclair, NJ
Oct 01 – Terminal 5 / New York City
Oct 02 – Le National / Montreal
Oct 03 – Capital Music Hall / Ottawa
Oct 05 – Phoenix / Toronto
Oct 09 – Austin City Limits / Austin
Oct 11 – St. Andrews / Detroit
Oct 13 – Turner Hall / Milwaukee
Oct 14 – First Avenue / Minneapolis
Oct 22 - Fox / Pomona, CA
Oct 23 – Club Nokia / Los Angeles

The Temper Trap: website | myspace | @ 9:30 Club | @ Bonnaroo 2010, Day 1
Delphic: website | myspace | Delphic’s Debut Album Streaming on MySpace
The Hundred in the Hands: website | myspace | The Hundred in the Hands’ ‘Pigeons’ takes flight with Foals’ remix

Photo: Mary Chang

All 10 tracks from the debut album of Manchester, England-based electropop dance band Delphic are now available for streaming on their Myspace. The album Acolyte was released in January in the UK on Kitsune Maison but just saw stateside release last week on June 29 on Dangerbird Records, the California label of Silversun Pickups and Bad Veins.

The band – lead singer/bassist James Cook, guitarist Matt Cocksedge, and multi-instrumentalist Rick Boardman – recently played shows in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in June prior to the American album release date. But there are rumors the English trio will return to America for shows in October. I just saw these guys last week at Roskilde Festival and they’re definitely ones to watch. Check out the promo video for “Halcyon” below.

Delphic: website | myspace

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

2010 just might be the year female English singers break through big in America. Just like electropop goddesses La Roux and Little Boots, (Vanessa) VV Brown is already a major deal at home in England. But she’s cut from a slightly different cloth. Originally from Northampton, the 5-foot, 11-inch tall songstress is a model (recently scoring an advertising deal with UK supermarket chain Marks and Spencer) and has her own online vintage clothing store, in addition to being a successful songwriter not only for her own music but for other artists as well. Friday night Brown played to a packed club during Liberation Dance Party at Washington’s DC9. D.C. was just one of four stops on her first-ever headlining tour of America.

One of my picks for best bet in town, Liberation Dance Party goes on at DC9 every Friday night. I love it because Bill Spieler, the DJ / compère, does his research and always spins great dance, pop, and electronic tracks, mostly stuff I know well and mostly English. Right up my alley. Here’s a short list to give you an idea of what kind of music they played:

Editors – “Papillon”
the Drums - “I Feel Stupid”
Ellie Goulding – “Under the Sheets”
Friendly Fires – “Hold On” (Holy Ghost! cover)
Delphic – “Halcyon”
the Courteeners - “You Overdid It Doll”
Marina and the Diamonds - “Hollywood”
Florence and the Machine - “You’ve Got the Love” (the Source / Candi Staton cover)
Passion Pit - “Sleepyhead”
Ladyhawke – “Magic”

Brown and her three-piece band arrived on stage to loud, appreciative cheering. Her headgear should have been my first clue that this show was going to be as crazy as a Mardi Gras celebration, just 3 days late. I was a bit disappointed that her trademark retro hairdo and most of her face was obscured by a red, glittery, feathered headdress. But this was just part of the VV Brown spectacle. During her less than 40-minute set, she played most of the songs off her debut album released last year in the UK, Travelling Like the Light, written about a failed relationship.

She has excellent stage presence, giving insight into her songs, and effectively pumping up the crowd. Brown described one of her major hits, “Crying Blood,” as “the first song I ever wrote, the first song I ever released on 7″, the first song I ever wrote on a one-string guitar.” This is a good example of her music, with Brown’s punchy vocals, driving drums, and an overall infectious retro sound that mixes elements of pop and soul. After playing this, she talked about her background – her mother is Jamaican, and her father is Puerto Rican – and in honor of her heritage did a shortened version of the song in a reggae style, encouraging everyone in the club to raise their hands in the air and sway along to the island beat. “Back in Time,” a song about love and time travel, was prefaced with Brown’s cheeky insistence, “I would date Albert Einstein if I could.”

The most surprising moment of the night? Brown asking the audience, “Do you like hip hop? Can I do a cover of Drake‘s ‘Best I Ever Had’? Will you all go fuckin’ crazy?” What kind of questions are those for a D.C audience? Of course the crowd went crazy as she launched into her take of the Drake hit. The best moment of the night? Hands down it was “Shark in the Water,” the whole crowd bouncing to the rhythm and singing along to the fun chorus of the unconventional poppy love song. The smile on Brown’s face made me melt. Check out this live performance of the song on ITV’s “This Morning” show from last year.

After Brown and company left the stage, Spieler reappeared, encouraging us to make some noise for Brown and her band. The crowd’s efforts at hooting and hollering worked; they returned for a one-song encore to play what Brown admitted was a complete improvisation. (I really don’t think she was expecting this kind of reception in D.C. at all and looked sincerely touched by the adulation.) But it didn’t matter: with all arms waving in the air and gig goers shouting back lyrics to Brown, it was clear she had already won over the crowd with her animated live act.

It was sheer magic to witness the realization of a dream for the young woman standing before us. Years ago she wrote songs, alone in her bedroom, hoping for success one day. The audience’s excitement was not lost on Brown, who after the show Tweeted, “this was an absolutley [sic] fuckin unbelievable gig !!! sold out gig, absolutley [sic] amazing !! Im totally on a high !!! big time !!!!” And I agree. If Friday’s show was any indication, Brown is ready to take on the world.

VV Brown has another headlining date at the Great Scott in Allston, Massachusetts, on Monday before going on tour as a supporting act for Swedish electronic band Little Dragon starting in March. If you can’t see her live on this go-around, no worries, you’ll be able to see Brown on the small screen in the near future: she announced at the DC9 show that she and her band will be appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and the Late Show with David Letterman soon.

Tour Dates:
Feb 22 – Great Scott / Allston, MA
Mar 22 – Rapture / Charlottesville, VA*
Mar 25 – Music Hall of Williamsburg / Brooklyn*
Apr 01 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago*
Apr 04 – Walnut Lounge / Denver*
Apr 05 – Urban Lounge / Salt Lake City*
Apr 09 – Nectar Lounge / Seattle*
Apr 11 – Wild Buffalo / Bellingham, WA*
Apr 12 – Mississippi Studios / Portland*
Apr 13-14 - Independent / San Francisco*
* supporting Little Dragon

Currently my favorite Northern Irish band, electropop / indie rock trio Two Door Cinema Club have announced they will be playing in North America for the first time this spring. Following European dates in late March supporting French indie rockers Phoenix, the trio will be joining Phoenix on nine dates of the French band’s North American tour starting in late April. Following this support slot, Two Door Cinema Club will embark on their first headlining tour of North America, starting on May 2 at West Hollywood’s Troubadour through to May 17 at Toronto’s Wrongbar.

Tourist History, the band’s debut album, is set to be released on March 1 in the UK by French label Kitsuné Maison (the same folks that signed English electropop acts Delphic and La Roux). “Undercover Martyn,” the band’s third single to be released ahead of Tourist History, will be released in the UK on February 22. But I fell in love with them upon hearing “I Can Talk,” a frenetically-paced pop tour de force. You can watch the equally frenetic promo video below.

Tour Dates
Apr 20 – Schubas / Chicago
Apr 21 – Uptown / Kansas City, MO*
Apr 22 – Louisville Palace / Louisville, KY*
Apr 23 – Vanderbilt / Nashville*
Apr 24 – Tabernacle / Atlanta*
Apr 26 – Constitution Hall / Washington, DC*
Apr 27 – Norva / Norfolk, VA*
Apr 29 – Stubb’s / Austin*
Apr 30 – Verizon Wireless Theatre / Houston*
May 01 – Edgefest / Dallas*
May 05 – Troubadour / West Hollywood
May 06 – Popscene / San Francisco (tickets only available night of show)
May 07 – Doug Fir / Portland
May 08 – Nectar Lounge / Seattle
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
* supporting Phoenix

Two Door Cinema Club: website | myspace
Phoenix: website | myspace

On their website, Manchester, England electronica / pop trio Delphic have announced that Modular Recordings will be releasing their debut EP in America in March. They have confirmed the EP will be available digitally on March 02, followed by an extremely limited 12″ vinyl run on March 16, just ahead of their appearance at this year’s Coachella on April 18. The band are already a big deal in their native England, coming in second in the BBC’s Sound of 2010 poll and having already sold out dates on their March UK tour.

The full track listings of the various packages are as follows:

12″ Vinyl
A1. Counterpoint (Original)
A2. Counterpoint (Renaissance Man Remix)
B1. This Momentary (Original)
B2. This Momentary (Nightmoves Remix)

Digital Bundle
01. Counterpoint (Original)
02. This Momentary (Original)
03. Sanctuary (Original)
04. Counterpoint (Renaissance Man Remix)
05. This Momentary (Nightmoves Remix)

Digital Bundle (iTunes Exclusive)
01. Counterpoint (Original)
02. This Momentary (Original)
03. Sanctuary (Original)
04. Counterpoint (Renaissance Man Remix)
05. This Momentary (Nightmoves Remix)
06. This Momentary (Everything Everything Remix)

Should you need convincing, watch the band’s live performance of “Doubt” (their latest single at home, released on January 04) a couple weeks back on the UK late night music tv program “Later with Jools Holland.”

Delphic’s debut album Acolyte was released in the UK by Kitsune Maison on January 11.

Delphic: website | myspace

Everything Everything is a British rock band that’s started to get on the scene. I don’t know too much about them, but they’ve had some good tracks out. I don’t even know if they have an album. But the BBC says they are a band to watch out for in 2010.

.Everything Everything – “My Keys, Your Boyfriend”
Love the title of this track. The song is tough to describe. It definitely feels like a pop song, though has a little more edge than typical ones. It’s softer than rock but rockier than electronic music, certainly combing the styles of both. The vocals are somewhere between being sung and rapped. It’s enjoyable and unique.

.Delphic Remix
Delphic’s remix is the reason I found out about the song. Delphic is an electronic group from England, another one hailed by the BBC a band to watch for 2010. Their stuff has been very good so far, certainly evidenced by the remix they do here. They convert the song from the fast, jumpy number it is, into a dreamy, electronic tune. The vocals are bare, focusing on the intro whispers of the original. A haunting mysticism is delivered from Delphic.

.Portmanteau Remix
The Portmanteau remix combines elements of both the original and the Delphic mix in a sense. The rapping/sung style vocals are kepy, the rock aesthetic is gone and an electronic one takes it place. But this is slightly jarring and uncomfortable. The mix here seems confused with too much. It has moments but the main riff could drive someone insane.

Everything Everything: myspace