popwreckoning

Liverpool alt-rock / dance / punk / pop band the Wombats are about to release their second full album, called The Wombats Proudly Present…This Modern Glitch. (Yeah, I know, it’s a mouthful – but their first released in the UK was called The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love Loss and Desperation, so I guess they wanted to continue the trend.) There’s been a lot of hype surrounding this sophomore effort overseas. Three singles have already been released in Britain (“Tokyo [Vampires and Wolves],” “Jump in the Fog,” and “Anti-D”); they hosted a special album launch party at the tony Supper Club last week; and this week, the new album is currently riding high as this week’s Album of the Week on both Zane Lowe‘s evening BBC Radio1 program and XFM over there.

And on the whole, the hype is deserved. The proceedings start in style with “One Perfect Disease,” touching on a common subject for pop songs: being in a toxic relationship. In the light of the popularity of Phoenix‘s more dancey songs like “1901,” America should take a shine to this beat-perfect, synthy dance anthem. The mad beats continue into “Tokyo (Vampire and Wolves)”: the Japanese capitals seems a random choice for a title, but I’m not going to complain when something’s got an amazing groove. “Techno Fan” and “Walking Disasters” might not be stellar in the lyric department but again, the Wombats come through with catchy tunes.

Their current single in the UK, “Anti-D” (music video below), is unique with emotional violin and tender lyrics that might make you cry. (It’s based on lead singer Matthew Murphy‘s own addiction to anti-depressants.) It’s not hard to see this soundtracking a rom-com in the near future. Or perhaps the song after it, “Last Night I Dreamt,” which has surprisingly amusing yet incisive lyrics for a pop song: “I tend to cry in a room full of laughter / as the cheese finally slipped off of its cracker / I don’t know / I just prepare to let it go.” When the Wombats employ humor, it’s total win: in “Girls and Fast Cars,” Murphy insists, “I’m a man of simple tastes / no whiskey or caviar / what I feel is what I say / I’m not trying to be smart / I like girls…girls and fast cars!” before breaking out into a sweeping chorus.

“Jump into the Fog” seemed like a strange choice for first single; it’s not bad, but it’s slow and lumbers along – not exactly what you want to hear from a dance punk band. Of a similar vein is “1996,” which is, disappointedly, not as exciting as Neon Trees‘ “1983,” talking instead about “building telescopes” and “kissing with one eye on the TV set.” The guitar work is admirable though. The closing track, “Schumacher the Champagne,” comes in from left field compared to the whole of the album. It’s the heaviest track on the album and not designed for dancing; perhaps it should be viewed more as a grand parting shot? But even if you don’t like this song, you can’t ignore the well-crafted electronic indie rock/pop on the rest of The Wombats Proudly Present…This Modern Glitch. Yep, English electropop is alive and well – and as usual, excellent.

The Wombats Proudly Present…This Modern Glitch will be released in North America digitally on April 25 and physically on April 26 via Bright Antenna.

Track Listing:
01. Our Perfect Disease
02. Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves)
03. Jump into the Fog
04. Anti-D
05. Last Night I Dreamt
06. Techno Fan
07. 1996
08. Walking Disasters
09. Girls and Fast Cars
10. Schumacher the Champagne

Tour Dates:
May 31 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
Jun 01 – Troubadour / Los Angeles
June 03 – Rickshaw (Popscene) / San Francisco

The Wombats: website | myspace

One of the most exciting bands of the moment, Pendulum, are touring in North America right now. The Australian/British drum and bass and electronic band are playing a series of shows as support for Linkin Park, as well as headlining some of their largest shows of their own on our continent to date. I had an opportunity to ask Gareth McGrillen, bassist and co-founder of the group, some questions during a rare moment of free time while they’re on the road. He tells me how the band’s move from Australia to Britain was pivotal to their success, about their crazy fans that “destroy each other,” and how Immersion, their latest album just released this week in the U.S., differs from their two previous albums. Read on.

MC: Tell me about the beginnings of Pendulum. What was it like growing up in Perth, what is the music scene like there? How do you think it contributed to the way your band sounds and your songs?
GM: Because we started out in such an underground scene as drum and bass, but came into the scene at such a late stage, and because we had come from Perth, I think we didn’t have such strong ties to the culture of the genre. This enabled us to break the rules so to speak, and I think that’s how the sound developed so quickly. We didn’t feel out of place putting guitars and other influences we grew up with into the music, where as if we had grown up in the UK, it would have been something we’d have steered clear of.

MC:Who came up with the name, and how does it relate to what your band does musically?
GM: [Band co-founder] Rob [Swire] and I put a list together and just shortened the list until we agreed.

MC: In 2003 you moved your band from Australia to the UK. Why the UK and not America or elsewhere? Did you have any reservations/worries on making such a long distance move?
GM: At the time we were in an underground dance music scene, we had just written our first song and it blew up in a huge way in the UK (the home of electronic music), so it was an inevitable move for us, Australia was too far away from everywhere else. It’s always hard to pick up and move to such a harsh place as London when you’re young, and it was a massive struggle for a few years, but the harshness tends to push you to succeed.

MC: Did any of these worries actually come to light? Conversely, what things happened that you think would not have if you had stayed in Australia?
GM: We’d have not gotten anywhere if we had stayed in Australia, the move for us was essential. Australia is far to relaxed it makes me lazy, we needed to be pushed by a place like the UK where the music scene waits for nobody.

MC: How did you find the other members of Pendulum in the UK? Was it by newspaper advert, word of mouth, recommendation by a friend, etc.? Your music is so dynamic, I have it in my mind that you really have to have a group of people who are really in sync in order to make music that works.
GM: I had been working with Ben Verse [Benjamin Mount] as my MC in DJ shows for quite some time, so introducing him into the live show was a natural step. Perry [Peredur ap Gwynedd] had played on some of our early tracks and played guitar on other drum and bass tracks in the past. Kevin [Sawka], we found on YouTube, haha!

MC: To someone who has never heard your music before, how would you describe your sound?
GM: If you like rock and metal you’ll hear that in the music, if you like electronic music and heavy bass you’ll hear that. I think that’s why we attract so many listens from across genres – the music hits many styles all at once.

MC: I like both hard rock and dance, and I find my favourite songs of yours combines the best of those two worlds. Some of your oldest fans have stated that you have abandoned the drum and bass genre for a more commercial, alternative rock / electronic sound? How would you respond to that?
GM: The very second track we wrote had guitars and full vocals from Rob in it, back in 2003. Our first album had the guitarist and basses from the metal band Karnivool playing on it, as well as Perry playing on “Girl In The Fire,” we didn’t abandon anything, we just got more and more bored of doing the exact same thing and felt we had earnt enough of a creative license to start introducing our greater influences into the music. The fact it got big and the fact it all blew up was a secondary event. We had already done it and it turned out a lot more people wanted to hear it than we had anticipated. Selling out for us would have been continuing to write the tracks that people around us wanted us to write over and over again.

MC: I had the chance to see you play at Arena at Roskilde Festival last summer (2010). Before you got onstage and the front pits opened, fans were actually pushing and shoving each other to get the best, closest spots to the front of the stage. I got injured the night before at Biffy Clyro in the pit at the same stage, so I opted to watch you guys from a distance (probably a wise decision, as I’m small!). Is this usual for Pendulum concerts?
GM: Yes, our audiences destroy each other, it’s incredible to watch!

MC: Who does your lighting? I thought the visuals plus music were really amazing, a consummate experience.
GM: Lighting is a very important aspect to the show for us, we put in so much time and effort into the sound, so it’s also important to do the same with the visual aspect of the show.

MC: You guys have such an energetic live set. I had no idea the Scandinavians were as mental over you as the Brits. Were you surprised?
GM: All across Europe and the UK, as well as Australia, we’re getting that same reaction. I think it’s just some kind of gene we excite in people that makes them want to destroy each other.

MC: That said, it seems like the UK music scene has been more welcoming of your music than other countries – agree or disagree, and why?
GM: The UK was initially the home of what we were doing (drum and bass) so we’ve spent the longest time there, I think that’s mostly why we’re biggest in the UK. The UK in a lot of ways is the center of the universe for *new* music because of radio stations like Radio1, so a lot of new bands are broken in the UK first.

MC: Do you have a favourite show / festival moment from last year? What do you remember about it / what makes it so memorable to you in your mind?
GM: Reading Festival and Sonisphere were amazing, They all were.

MC: Your last album Immersion was released in the UK last year but is just getting released in America this month. You have some real big heavy hitters in the business on this one – Liam Howlett of the Prodigy for the track “Immunize,” for one. How did this collaboration happen?
GM: We put together a list of artists we’d like to work with and our management set about contacting them. With Liam however, we cross paths with the Prodigy guys a lot, so we were hanging out in Australia and decided to do a track to show the world we don’t hate each other.

MC: How do you feel Immersion fits in the Pendulum story so far? What are your plans for future material, are you working on new stuff now?
GM: Immersion was the best parts of Hold Your Colour and In Silico taken to the next level, we drew on our previous albums for inspiration on the third.

MC: What’s a surprising fact about you or your band that most people don’t know?
GM: We’re Australian? Many still don’t realize this.

MC: You are about to go on an extensive tour of North America, opening for Linkin Park for some dates and headlining your own shows on others. Where are you most looking forward to visiting / playing and why?
GM: America is a tough place to crack, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.

Tour Dates
Jan 28 – Xcel Energy Center / St. Paul*
Jan 29 – Sprint Center / Kansas City*
Jan 31 – Wells Fargo Center / Philadelphia*
Feb 01 – TD Garden / Boston*
Feb 02 – Guvernment / Toronto#
Feb 04 – Madison Square Garden / New York City*
Feb 05 – Irving Plaza / New York City#
Feb 07 – Bell Centre / Montreal*
Feb 08 – Air Canada Centre / Toronto*
Feb 10 – Verizon Center / Washington, DC*
Feb 11 – Mohegan Sun Arena / Uncasville, CT*
Feb 16 – Ogden Theatre / Denver#
Feb 17 – In the Venue / Salt Lake City#
Feb 19 – Showbox SoDo / Seattle#
Feb 20 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver#
Feb 23 – Fillmore / San Francisco#
Feb 25 – Wiltern / Los Angeles#
Feb 26 – House of Blues / Las Vegas#
Mar 25-27 – Ultra Music Festival / Miami
#with Innerpartysystem
*supporting Linkin Park

Pendulum: website | myspace | Immersion review

Until last summer, I didn’t know much about drum and bass band Pendulum, except that young people in the UK (the main audience of BBC Radio1) adored them so much that anything as much as a hint to new Pendulum material would cause mass shockwaves through Twitter. No one I knew on this side of the Atlantic knew who they were, and I expected a similar lack of knowledge in Scandinavia. But wow, what a reception the band got at Roskilde Festival last summer. I witnessed a manic crowd reaction, but in a way, I expected it: the genius of Pendulum – and also of Immersion, their most mainstream release to date – is the combination of heavy guitars and drums and quick-tempo emanating electronics that interest guys with dance beats and lead singer Rob Swire‘s sexy vocals that have proved quite popular with girls.

Here are the basics: Pendulum started out in Perth, Australia as a drum and bass band in the early Noughties. The group – then just Swire, bassist Gareth McGrillen, and DJ Paul Harding – soon relocated to the UK, the ancestral home of rave music (they’re now based in London). This turned out to be a fateful move, as after gaining several bandmates, the band released their 2005 debut album, Hold Your Colour, which contained their first UK singles top 40 hit, the double A-sided “Slam” / “Out Here.” Their second album, In Silico, was their first release in America. Coming up later this month, their third album, Immersion, will be released stateside, more than 6 months after the UK release of the album and its reaching #1 on the UK Top 40 albums chart the week of its release. Immersion reflects a more electronic-heavy, dance-driven sound than its two predecessors.

“Genesis” is the opening track of the album, and it begins not unlike something you’d hear on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. It sets the stage for the grandeur your ears are going to experience next, mixing right into instrumental “Salt in the Wounds.” Halfway through, the songs break down, making you think it’s going to mellow out for the rest of the 6 minutes, but in the 4th minute, it’s clear Pendulum is not done making your heart race, going back to frenetic, thudding beats. This song, along with singles “Watercolour,” “Witchcraft,” and “Crush,” are ones that make you jump up and down in a packed club of sweating bodies. Or at an open air music festival, as I witnessed at Roskilde.

But the best part of this album are “The Island – Pt. I (Dawn)” and “The Island – Pt. II (Dusk)”, two halves of a sonic masterpiece. Part one is a Rocky-esque pump-up kind of song, with programming and beats not too soft and not too heavy – just perfect. Swire’s expansive vocals, as if calling out across his homeland of Australia, are alternately sweet and sweltering. “Close your eyes / let’s forget again / as you drag me down / I will take you in / what are you waiting for? / just surrender here tonight / what are you waiting for? / as we go towards the light…” – gulp. I could listen to this track all day. Rob Swire, call me. Then part two takes over, as the electronic wizardry take center stage, the track concluding with more conventional tropical beats.

The album also has some interesting and high-profile guests. Liam Howlett of seminal big beat English electronic group the Prodigy lent his cowriting and production talents to “Immunize”; while it’s no “Breathe ” or “Invaders Must Die,” it’s still pretty good. Prog/psych band Porcupine Tree founder Steve Wilson cowrote and sings on “The Fountain,” which sounds neither proggy or psychedelic and is instead the most unique track on the album, driven by piano along with the electronic beats and drums.

Metalheads will enjoy the more instrument-driven “Comprachicos” as well as “Self vs. Self,” a more straight-forward collaboration (vocals and traditional band instruments) between Pendulum and Swedish death metal band In Flames. Understandably, the latter features more aggressive (and in my opinion, quite scary) vocals from In Flames‘ Anders Fridén. This, along with “Set Me on Fire,” with vocals sounding vaguely Will.I.Am reggae, are probably the only numbers on Immersion that feel out of place.

Immersion is the kind of album that if you are into electronic music at all, you’ll appreciate the attention to detail this band has put into every single track. A couple weeks ago I was reading a UK electronic music magazine’s interview with Swire, and there was a photo of a small sampling of the complicated electronic equipment used to create the Pendulum sound. It’s astonishing what musicians and producers can do with electronics these days to make truly exciting music. If you get the chance to see Pendulum live this year, do it – you won’t be disappointed, I promise. The band make a special live appearance at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival at the end of March; I imagine surrounded by their peers and loads of fans, that would be the ultimate way to experience them.

Immersion will be released on Atlantic Records on January 25, 2011 in America.

Tracklisting:
01. Genesis
02. Salt in the Wounds
03. Watercolour
04. Set Me on Fire
05. Crush
06. Under the Waves
07. Immunize (feat. Liam Howlett [the Prodigy])
08. The Island – Pt. I (Dawn)
09. The Island – Pt. 2 (Dusk)
10. Comprachicos
11. The Vulture
12. Witchcraft
13. Self vs Self (feat. In Flames)
14. The Fountain (feat. Steve Wilson [Porcupine Tree])
15. Encoder

Tour Dates
Jan 20 – Bank Atlantic Center / Sunrise, FL*
Jan 22 – St. Pete Times Forum / Tampa*
Jan 23 – Philips Arena / Atlanta*
Jan 25 – Joe Louis Arena / Detroit*
Jan 26 – United Center / Chicago*
Jan 28 – Xcel Energy Center / St. Paul*
Jan 29 – Sprint Center / Kansas City*
Jan 31 – Wells Fargo Center / Philadelphia*
Feb 01 – TD Garden / Boston*
Feb 02 – Guvernment / Toronto#
Feb 04 – Madison Square Garden / New York City*
Feb 05 – Irving Plaza / New York City#
Feb 07 – Bell Centre / Montreal*
Feb 08 – Air Canada Centre / Toronto*
Feb 10 – Verizon Center / Washington, DC*
Feb 11 – Mohegan Sun Arena / Uncasville, CT*
Feb 16 – Ogden Theatre / Denver#
Feb 17 – In the Venue / Salt Lake City#
Feb 19 – Showbox SoDo / Seattle#
Feb 20 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver#
Feb 23 – Fillmore / San Francisco#
Feb 25 – Wiltern / Los Angeles#
Feb 26 – House of Blues / Las Vegas#
Mar 25-27 – Ultra Music Festival / Miami
#with Innerpartysystem
*supporting Linkin Park

Pendulum: website | myspace

Exactly 1 year after a manic sold-out show at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg, English electropop / dance trio Friendly Fires have announced details of a forthcoming mix CD to be released through Rough Trade Records. The CD is one of a humorously-titled series called Bugged Out Presents Suck My Deck that has welcomed dance music acts / DJs such as Simian Mobile Disco and Brodinski to provide similar mixes. The Friendly Fires edition includes New York’s Phenomenal Handclap Band and Scandinavian disco-pop duo Lindstrom and Christabelle. While the album won’t be released until September 27, you can pre-order it now on Rough Trade’s website here.

In addition to 18 tracks hand-picked by the band from other artists, the compilation includes “Stay Here,” a collaboration with Toronto’s Azari & III. The tune will make its radio debut today on DJ Annie Mac‘s Radio1 show tonight from 7 to 9 PM GMT (that’s 2 to 4 PM ET). No worries if you miss it today, it will available for 7 days after broadcast on the BBC iPlayer.

Friendly Fires have been previewing other new tracks while on the European festival circuit this summer. Their yet-to-be-titled sophomore album is due sometime in 2011, according to various media reports. Track titles include “Running Away” and “True Love”, and the band have divulged that the new release will feature the Brazilian cuíca (commonly used in samba music) and the African kalimba.

Mix CD tracklisting:
01. The Egyptian Lover – Freak-A-Holic
02. Bot’Ox – Bearded Lady Motorcycle Show
03. The Phenomenal Handclap Band – You’ll Disappear (Munk Remix)
04. Tom Trago – Lost In The Streets of NYC (Boris Werner Lost In Malta Remix)
05. Ryan Crosson – Metro Bunker (Original Mix)
06. Lindstrom and Christabelle – Baby Can’t Stop (Aeroplane Remix)
07. Rebotini – 777 (Discodeine Remix)
08. Tensnake – Coma Cat
09. Munk – La Musica (Azari & III Remix)
10. Friendly Fires and Azari & III – Stay Here
11. Redshape – Dog Day
12. The 2 Bears – Be Strong
13. Butch – No Worries
14. George Kranz – Din Daa Daa
15. Jody “Fingers” Finch – Jack Your Big Booty (BHQ No Acid Vocal)
16. BDI – City & Industry
17. Alan Fitzpatrick – Green Light
18. Boo Williams – Mortal Trance
19. Round Two – New Day (Club Vocal Mix)

Thumbnail Photo: Mary Chang

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” | @ Paradise | Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! – 12″ Split Single

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

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”

English stadium rockers Keane have announced on their website that they will be releasing an expanded version of their debut album, Hopes and Fears, in early November. This special release features the band’s early BBC Radio1 sessions with Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley, demos, and some of their earliest released songs, including tracks from a live EP released in 2005. Championing the band early on, Lamacq contributes the text for the album’s liner notes as well.

The full tracklisting of the expanded edition is as follows:

CD ONE
01. Somewhere Only We Know
02. Bend And Break
03. We Might As Well Be Strangers
04. Everybody’s Changing
05. Your Eyes Open
06. She Has No Time
07. Can’t Stop Now
08. Sunshine
09. This Is The Last Time
10. On A Day Like Today
11 Untitled 1
12. Bedshaped
13. Somewhere Only We Know (Lamacq Live)
14. Bedshaped (Lamacq Live)
15. Bend And Break (Lamacq Live)
16. We Might As Well Be Strangers (Lamacq Live)
17. This Is The Last Time (Jo Whiley Live Lounge)
18. With Or Without You (Jo Whiley Live Lounge)
19. A Heart To Hold You (Jo Whiley Live Lounge)

CD TWO
01. Snowed Under (B-Side)
02. We Might As Well Be Strangers (DJ Shadow Remix)
03. Into The Light Demo (Unreleased)
04. Call Me What You Like Demo (Zoomorphic single 1)
05. Closer Now (Zoomorphic single 1)
06. Rubbernecking (Zoomorphic single 1)
07. Wolf At The Door (Zoomorphic single 2)
08. She Has No Time Demo (Zoomorphic single 2)
09. Call Me What You Like (Zoomorphic single 2)
10. Everybody’s Changing (Fierce Panda single 1)
11. The Way You Want It (Fierce Panda single 1)
12. This Is The Last Time Demo (Fierce Panda single 2)
13. Bedshaped Demo (Fierce Panda single 2)
14. Allemande (Fierce Panda single 2)
15. Somewhere Only We Know (Live E.P. released 3/5/05)
16. We Might As Well Be Strangers (Live E.P. released 3/5/05)
17. This Is The Last Time (Live E.P. released 3/5/05)
18. Everybody’s Changing (Live E.P. released 3/5/05)

This expanded edition of Hopes and Fears marks the final of Island Records’ Island 50 series commemorating the record label’s 50th anniversary. The album will drop on November 6 in the UK and can be pre-ordered from the band’s official online store. Also available at the store are t-shirts and a very limited number of special edition art prints signed by the band.

Keane: website | myspace | @ DAR Constitution Hall with the Helio Sequence and Mat Kearney