So, I’ve heard some new bands out of Holland, recently: The Very Sexuals and Silence is Sexy. Both are offering a full record for free, so do click the links.
The Very Sexuals have a kind of retro indie rock feel, along the same lines as the Wrens, The Comas and (a very little bit of) the Pixies with calming, nice male/female vocals. Clearly, it’s a side project from the joke-y titles (Sample: “Billy Idol Lookalike Contest”) to the studio quality, but it’s got that nice ‘swirly’ feel that I dig so much. Add a little jangle, and you've got an American band, so don't worry about it sounding "Foreign"
Silence is Sexy, on the other hand, is clearly a serious proposition. This is melodramatic, cinematic post-punk rock, like Radiohead’s pop moments, Coldplay, Muse et al. However, there’s a certain”indie” rawness that aligns them more, to me, with a band like North Carolina’s Cities. Named after the Einsturzende Neubauten album, you could be forgiven for expecting industrial/ Avante Garde abrasiveness. Instead, there’s more of an orchestral lushness (they even re-recorded some of their songs with The Cuban Royal Republican Orchestra) which means that they’ve got more in common with British pomp than German Klang und Drang.
But, again, you can hear for yourself, for free, and I’d suggest you give them a chance. Besides, Dutch accents are cool!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
A Continuation
This will now be my blog for my pop culture stuff. I think I'll keep my Vox site available just for a photo archive ( http://maxvan.vox.com/ ) but I'm finally done with Vox. Blogger has its frustrations, but Vox well and truly sucks. I'll be sending this message to those few folks who care. I'll try to dump some content on this site ASAP, as well.
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