![]() Not just because the groups concerned are pretty good, but also on account of what it might mean.įor a start, the nick-nick renaissance marks a belated rediscovery of what British musicians are probably best at. ![]() The genre's revival - by the likes of Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand and such upcoming talent as Eastern Lane and the Longcut - marks one of this year's most welcome developments. The Futureheads are emblematic of a strain of British music that dates back to the aftermath of punk rock (XTC, Gang of Four, et al), in which arty-farty intentions meld with the imperative to play loud and fast, modern mores are decried in a hail of staccato chords and weird time signatures, and the resultant noise does indeed go "nick-nick". It just goes nick-nick-nick." He was right, after a fashion. I mentioned all this to the other day to a music journalist friend, who greeted my enthusiasm with a hiss of derision. No matter that their self-titled debut album has only scraped into the lower reaches of most publications' end-of-year listings: its collision of impossibly inventive music and wry sociopolitical dissent makes it a gleaming winner, and their convulsive cover of Kate Bush's Hounds of Love - out early next year - will surely be a colossal hit. For some reason, the NME neglected to play Elton anything by ascendant Sunderland art-punkers the Futureheads - and they thus remain my band of the year. If an endorsement from royalty's favourite singing pianist might put you off some of your favourite leftfield talent, it's nice to know that one group remains unscathed. ![]() That's not a joke: "I do really like that record," Elt tells the NME, "and I think the Others are gonna have a great 2005." So close is Sir Elton to the cutting edge that if Diana had lived, she would surely have been round to his house to party hard and dance to the Others' This Is for the Poor.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |