I don't like American records all that much. There. I said it. American bands have little charm, no wit, and too much rotation on MTV. These are a few of my favourite Brit bands that also happen to be snubbed by the American press. Read on, listen, and I hope you get hooked.
Any artist that calmly admits they "f---ing hate boy bands, and I f---ing hate nü-metal," is worthy of our adoration. However, Ed Harcourt actually backs up his jovial refererences with songs worthy of their "Beatles meets Tom Waits" comparisons. Slickly produced yet endearingly honest, "Be Here Monsters" presents some of the finest UK pop/rock/singer/songwriter work in the past 10 years. Be prepared to have "She Fell Into My Arms" stuck in your head for hours.
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Sadly, Dubstar broke up in 2001. Perhaps the label of synth pop strangled their chances in America. Or maybe it was one reviewer's description of Dubstar as an electronic but female fronted version of the Smiths. Perhaps it was the biting lyrics riddled with bullets of cynicism. Perhaps they didn't want to tour in Magic America. I'm just happy Ash brought be back their last album from England : )
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Some call pop music
a bad thing. They find pop evil, as promoted by hundreds of producers
slaving over a Britney Spears record. St. Etienne make pop music
for smart people. They always create the equivalent of a James
Bond film: a rollicking chase, a dry martini, a dash of exotic
local, the posh eatery, beautiful people, sarcasm.
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Americans know Blur by Song 2, aka "the Woo-Hoo song, man!" Blur is not a band to be worship during NBA games nor danced to at Frat melees. Stop the woo-hooing. Woo-hooing helps no one. Previous albums Parklife, the Great Escape, and Modern Life Is Rubbish are Seinfeldian looks at Brit culture. However, Think Tank is poo.
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"That
thing `miserabalism' is just a big lie. People say `if you're
depressed; listen to Morrissey's gothic, gloomy music.' Just look
at my audience, they are very healthy and are not gloomy people.
They just want to listen to a human voice, and that's me."
- Morrissey
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