anatomy · of · distance

I trekked down to Brixton last night to see Suburban Kids With Biblical Names. They were really good; classic indie pop with jangly guitars, trumpets, bongos, catchy melodies and harmonies, and sufficiently unusual/tricky rhythms and arrangement to keep things interesting. I picked up one of the 3 copies of their CD they had with them, and am listening to it now.

(There are so many good bands coming out of Sweden these days. Let's see: SKWBN, Jens Lekman, The Radio Dept. and Sambassadeur, to name just four.)

The other bands were OK too; Farfarlo were decent indiepop circa Sounds-of-Leamington-Spa, though some say they're in danger of turning Coldplay-smooth* and bland (I only saw a few of their songs, though). The Bleeding Hearts were OK though unexceptional; the most remarkable thing about them was that the frontman looked like Nosferatu crossed with Marilyn Manson, which didn't at all go with the music. Michaelmas were fun again, reminding me a bit of The Rumours.

The DJ also played the new Belle & Sebastian single. To my ears, it sounds a bit like the New Radicals' "Get What You Give" Toploader's "Dancing In The Moonlight". Which, for a released single, is probably a good thing.

* Talking point: Are Coldplay, Keane and Badly Drawn Boy are the inevitable logical consequences of C86/Sarah Records-style twee/non-macho indiepop? Discuss.