Spring Break
The five best bands no one's heard of . . . yet
Erin Shea
Issue date: 9/19/07 Section: Entertainment
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09/19/07 - After wading through the piles of unknowns currently floating around the music world, I've narrowed the list down to the five bands I think are screaming for attention.
Here's a quick rundown of what you're missing:
5. Louis XIV
For a group of horny guys from San Diego with fake British accents, Louis XIV's debut The Best Little Secrets Are Kept, released back in 2005, is actually pretty damn good.
Sexist? Yes. Sure to offend? Certainly. And yet, their brash, guitar-driven rock is impossible to ignore. You can just hear the swagger in lead singer Jason Hill's voice as he puts to music his very perverse thoughts.
Louis XIV is not meant for the politically correct among us. It's dirty, it's rowdy, it's sex, drugs and rock and roll in a CD format but, as Hill sneers on "Paper Doll," "If you want clean fun, go buy a kite."
4. Stars
A far cry from the mountains of lo-fi, simplistic music coming out today, Stars' grand, sweeping sound beautifully amplifies Amy Milan and Torquil Campbell's perfect harmonies.
Songs that tell tales of modern romance in all its various incarnations abound. The often melodramatic lyrics are offset by Milan's innocent, girlish vocals and at the same time enhanced by Campbell's more seductive, throaty ones.
Stars' music is a myriad of contradictions, but it's those very contradictions that help produce some of the most exuberantly dark, dreamy sounding pop music to hit the music scene in recent history.
3. Broken Social Scene
After growing from a duo into a supergroup of around fifteen members, Broken Social Scene grew to become one of Canada's most popular bands.
Featuring everyone from The Dears' Murray Lightburn to Metric's Emily Haines to Stars' Amy Milan and Torquil Campbell, Broken Social Scene is all about camaraderie and freedom, and that feeling is palpable in their music.
There's an infectious energy that bursts forth from a Broken Social Scene record, an almost epic feeling that comes from its lushly experimental music that, while being categorized as indie rock, often defies genres.
Here's a quick rundown of what you're missing:
5. Louis XIV
For a group of horny guys from San Diego with fake British accents, Louis XIV's debut The Best Little Secrets Are Kept, released back in 2005, is actually pretty damn good.
Sexist? Yes. Sure to offend? Certainly. And yet, their brash, guitar-driven rock is impossible to ignore. You can just hear the swagger in lead singer Jason Hill's voice as he puts to music his very perverse thoughts.
Louis XIV is not meant for the politically correct among us. It's dirty, it's rowdy, it's sex, drugs and rock and roll in a CD format but, as Hill sneers on "Paper Doll," "If you want clean fun, go buy a kite."
4. Stars
A far cry from the mountains of lo-fi, simplistic music coming out today, Stars' grand, sweeping sound beautifully amplifies Amy Milan and Torquil Campbell's perfect harmonies.
Songs that tell tales of modern romance in all its various incarnations abound. The often melodramatic lyrics are offset by Milan's innocent, girlish vocals and at the same time enhanced by Campbell's more seductive, throaty ones.
Stars' music is a myriad of contradictions, but it's those very contradictions that help produce some of the most exuberantly dark, dreamy sounding pop music to hit the music scene in recent history.
3. Broken Social Scene
After growing from a duo into a supergroup of around fifteen members, Broken Social Scene grew to become one of Canada's most popular bands.
Featuring everyone from The Dears' Murray Lightburn to Metric's Emily Haines to Stars' Amy Milan and Torquil Campbell, Broken Social Scene is all about camaraderie and freedom, and that feeling is palpable in their music.
There's an infectious energy that bursts forth from a Broken Social Scene record, an almost epic feeling that comes from its lushly experimental music that, while being categorized as indie rock, often defies genres.
