A product of London’s seedy underbelly (or, more likely, its smoky, velvet-wallpapered pubs), Gallon Drunk rose to prominence in Britain through a series of highly touted 7-inch singles and some ferocious live performances. The quartet’s rumbling, expansive sound sweeps up chunks of rock and pop history — notably a primal beat and nerve from the…
Thoroughly wistful and eternally childlike, Glasgow’s Pastels exemplify a much maligned style of UK music that was, for a time, referred to as “anorak pop.” Characterized by an amateurish devotion to ’60s pop conventions and wide- eyed na‹veté, the sound is as lovable as it is easily copied. The Pastels have the distinction of being…
With members drawn from other notable New Zealand groups (Look Blue Go Purple, Exploding Budgies, Bird Nest Roys, Goblin Mix), the 3Ds have achieved a nearly perfect amalgam: brash, head-butting guitar lines that shape themselves around irresistible hooks and colorful song structures supported by burly rhythms. The band (named for founders David Saunders, Denise Roughan…
The Bats’ taut jangle has become nearly synonymous with both New Zealand’s pop underground and Flying Nun’s rich roster. The quartet of singer/guitarists Robert Scott and Kaye Woodward, bassist Paul Kean and drummer Malcolm Grant has been writing and recording delicious pop gems since 1983, but didn’t get around to recording a proper full-length album…
It’s not just the Dirty Three’s unusual lineup — violin, guitar and drums — that makes the Melbourne, Australia, trio special. The group’s rumbling, kinetic sound bypasses the pure pleasure of surf instrumentals and even the heavier reality of Australia’s fine swamp-rock tradition for something altogether more dynamic. Led by violin player Warren Ellis (a…
Without fitting into any particular scene, Heidi Berry (born in Boston but raised in the UK) has developed her own aesthetic, one clearly based on early folk/rock singer/songwriter models and approached from a Celtic angle. Nonetheless, her wavering, emotive soprano refracts other styles, and Firefly fits in comfortably with Creation’s late-’80s stable. Backing her on…
Vancouver’s Mecca Normal is a singular group, one that draws only minimally from the past and which couldn’t possibly have sprung from any other group of individuals than poet/vocalist Jean Smith and guitarist David Lester. Though the duo’s sometimes-strident music can be more admired than enjoyed, its strong vision and determined individuality richly rewards those…
Biff Bang Pow! — the music-making endeavor of Creation Records founder Alan McGee — was for a long time a touchstone for the influential label’s definition and development, albeit one that never assumed the limelight or achieved any major hits. (Having named his label for the great ’60s aggro-art-mod group, it was probably inevitable that…
As the name (which actually comes from a DNA song) suggests, New York’s Blonde Redhead incorporates a rich variety of sometimes contrasting ideas. Formed by twin Italian brothers (on guitar and drums) and two unrelated Japanese women (on guitar and bass), the group fuses a hodgepodge of post-punk sounds into a tasty melting pot. The…
When London’s Seefeel released its first EP in 1993, the quartet was one of the few bands using guitars as a primary instrument in creating largely textural pieces, more in line with the ambient sounds of contemporary electronic bands. As the band developed, it gradually grew out of its blissed-out, post-My Bloody Valentine cocoon and…
Actually the work of a person rather than a band, My Dad Is Dead’s voluminous output has plainly explored the troubled waters of the soul, both personal and philosophical. Under his open-to-misinterpretation nom de disc, Cleveland (later transplanted to North Carolina) singer-writer-one-man-band Mark Edwards makes music whose appeal lies largely in its matter-of-fact handling of…
Graeme Jefferies has made an indelible mark on New Zealand’s fertile underground scene, most notably with Cakekitchen and his prior band, This Kind of Punishment, a collaboration with his equally influential brother Peter. Both men possess thick, deep voices which, along with their use of 4- and 8-track recording equipment, elemental sounds and non-traditional rock…
