Show Review: French Kicks @ Johnny Brenda's 2/12/09
2 comments Posted by musicunderfire at 2/16/2009We've waited quite some time to see one of our top groups from 2008 show up in Philly. At Johnny Brenda's this past Thursday we were treated to one big surprise by Gildon Works and a performance we had been anticipating for quite some time following French Kick's Swimming album dropping this past year.
Gildon Works
The big surprise was the first act, Gildon Works, the Philly band from "fishtown" comprised of Gerard Angelini, Dave Moylan, Chris Wilson, Cody Ferdinand, Josh Cicetti and Stacy Shevlin. The group, who describe themselves as Hawaiian / Jungle / Powerpop, were packed six-deep on stage and brought quite a bit of emotion with their jangly guitars and supersonic breakdowns.
The group's chemistry mixed well with their style. Three guitars made up the forefront, keyboards, percussions and drums made up the other three. The guitar melodies themselves brought the band onto a new plane; their riffs remniscent of electro-engineered bands such as Radiohead, and GW's professionalism was astounding with their instrumental experimentalism extending their song endings as much as a minute or two with such gusto. More notable was the strong impact the basslines had on each song, something underplayed by many groups, yet one of Gildon Works most powerful plays in their performance.
After a quite pleasing and unexpected stellar performance, Gildon Works seems ready for bigger things. Their MySpace page says "New record in the works", but we strongly suggest picking up Artful Rifle and check these guys out if you see them coming your way. The night was late already, but Gildon Works were an early favorite.
MP3: Gildon Works - Sight Unseen (buy)
Buy Artful Rifle on iTunes.
Ferraby Lionheart
Lead vocalist, Ferraby, led the self-labeled folk band Ferraby Lionheart into a more relaxing, soothing set. There were hints of certain groups we like, such as Air Traffic (without the rock) with their slower songs and singer-songwriting talents by Ferraby himself. Much of the set was more down-tempo than anything with many slow songs swinging from an acoustic-backed ballad to a keyboard driven song.
What made more of an appealing set was their keyboardist / xylophonist (shown on the left in picture below). The keyboards had tweaks of ambience, which added an unusually welcomed appeal to FL's set. The xylophone fit right into their set as well, with many songs of the gleeful type ranging from songs about girls in "Dear Corinne" and "Small Planet".
Ferraby was more of the story-telling type of band. Looking to a band such as French Kicks, whose harmonics are their strong points made a tough switch to focus solely on songs mainly driven by a single lead singer sans the shimmering guitars we love so much. Albeit our differences in music tastes, Ferraby proved to have a well performed set and has a handful of songs that are surely a hit with the well-stacked crowd who came to see them.
MP3: Ferraby Lionheart - Small Planet (buy)
French Kicks
French Kicks, the band from Brooklyn, who are known for their modular melodies and gleaming guitar pedals took stage around 12 AM. The already late set had most who had came to see them heavily anticipating how they make their unorthodox sound into a live show. The brunt of the action was taken care of by the talented tall Nick Stumpf taking lead vocals and guitar. The group themselves set three wide on guitars and drums.
As expected in their live performance, the subtleties were their strong points - songs such as "Abandon", "New Man" or "Said So What", which had been criticized for being to subtle for their own good were clearly fan favorites as the night went on. Whether it was the bands intention or not, problems with their amp flared up at the end of the show, which made the members switch from bass to lead-guitar alternately between songs. The appeal of their set was not only the diversity between the guitars and their matching vocals, but the versatility of the guitar pedals they used.
Josh Wise (above) took the lead on a few songs. More songs that crept up and became so likable throughout the show were "All Our Weekends" and one of my recent favorites "Love In The Ruins". Wise truly had a big impact on the performance, showing the band had a strong duality in vocals and guitar.
The band's 2008 album, Swimming, was played for the most part, but a few tracks were played from their 2006 album Two Thousand, such as "So Far We Are". These guys were definitely worth taking the trip to "fishtown" in Philadelphia.
MP3: French Kicks - Love In The Ruins (buy)
Buy Swimming on iTunes
The list continues... If you missed the first 20 or you want to see where our list headed, hit up the links below.
Part 1: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (81-100)
Part 3: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (41-60)
Part 4: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (21-40)
Part 5: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (1-20)
80. Delorentos - All This Time (buy)
Why: Delorentos have a pop-appeal as well as an indie rock appeal, which makes them versatile to blend into multiple crowds. Keep an eye out for more from them in 2009.
79. This Will Destroy You - Threads (buy)
Why: It was hard to find any instrumental rock album better than this one. "Threads" set this ambient poetry in motion and it truly is something you can't find anywhere else. You won't be disappointed in the rest of the album either!
78. The Helio Sequence - Shed Your Love (buy)
Why: Although most wouldn't put up this song on any 'best of' list, I found this mellow tune quite appealing and one of my favorite songs off of Keep Your Eyes Ahead. Its subtleties such as the quiet wind noises in the background throughout the song make this for one of the most relaxing songs of the year.
77. School of Seven Bells - Connjur (buy)
Why: Something SOSBs does so well is bring their harmony to a bubbling point. The building and breakdowns on this song in particular was tops for Alpinisms.
76 Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor (buy)
Why: This song grew and grew. Perhaps it was the tons of remixes done for this or maybe it was the odd unity Hot Chip carries that makes their best song off of Made In The Dark stick so well. This was was stuck in my head for quite a few weeks and continues to be a fun, upbeat song.
75. Tigers Can Bite You - Opener (buy)
Why: Although I cannot fully acknowledge the rest of the album for being the same caliber, there were two songs these Tigers created that I listened to for months on end. "Opener" was a perfect beginning to this album. Its a shame the rest of their songs could not follow the same gusto, yet still, I'm now carefully watching how this band grows and learns from their strengths and weaknesses.
74. Cartridge - The Reverend And The Scientist (buy)
Why: The Danish flair busts loose with a top-to-bottom gliding bass and pleasantly sporadic electric guitar. It's no surprise Cartridge found a song in the top 100, as their album Fractures reached #19 in our top albums of 2008. Nyde!
73. Low Vs Diamond - Don't Forget Sister (buy)
Why: Lucas Field and co. can really piece together some great songwriting to equally fitting music to back it up. Just as many of their songs off of their self-titled debut, "Don't Forget Sister" marked one of my many favorite songs from this album, but rose above most due to its guitar breakdowns and rhythm that just gets me every time.
72. Dr. Dog - The Old Days (buy)
Why: Different music is always inspiring and refreshing to hear, especially when everyone seems to be following each other's paths. "The Old Days" doesn't only have that charismatic presence like it was created in the olden days, but rocked the indie world this year with their unique approach.
71. Cut Copy - Nobody Lost, Nobody Found (buy)
Why: In short, this album was out-of-this-world and this song was one of many that justified the album as so.
70. Plants and Animals - Faerie Dance (buy)
Why: Two phenomenal songs wound into one 7:06 journey. If Plants and Animals didn't hit a nerve with you here, make sure to check out the rest of their Parc Avenue album.
69. Tokyo Police Club - Sixties Remake (buy)
Why: Quick drums, some clever lyrics and a catchy song title to work into one of Tokyo Police Club's many perky songs made this song one of the best on the album.
68. Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes (buy)
Why: While many were caught gawking at Santi telling the public she in no way affiliated with the rap/rock combo, others were licking their chops over this versatile song. Remixed in more ways than one, "L.E.S. Artistes" was the best song off of her nationally attention-grabbing debut album.
67. French Kicks - Over The World (buy)
Why: There's no reason this song shouldn't be on your next playlist. Make it start with something depressing, then a mellow happy song, and mix in "Over The World" by French Kicks. There are more reasons than one that I can't listen to this song enough, and really, this song was ranked down so much because we had to share the limelight with so many other groups.
66. The Black Ghosts - Full Moon (buy)
Why: Although Twilight attacted movie goers, The Black Ghosts were there the whole year in the background coming out with great remixes and perfecting songs such as this one featured on this particular film's soundtrack. We're always on the look-out for more from The Black Ghosts.
65. +/- {PlusMinus} - Snowblind (buy)
Why: Build-up is important to certain songs. It can be dulling if not done right. "Snowblind" made itself quite a phenomenon as far as free downloads when it came to the blogosphere. The band did it right and this song's shimmering melodies were near perfect in this song.
64. Fleet Foxes - Your Protector (buy)
Why: Fleet Foxes are great at harmonizing and sending the subconscious far, far away. We could have put many songs from their album here, but this one deserved a place due to a tempered progression alive with FF's folk ensemble.
63. Bell X1 - Rocky Took A Lover (acoustic) (buy)
Why: Although their last album Flock came out in Ireland in 2005, it was re-released in the US in 2008. Since we couldn't necessarily put one of their original songs on our list, we were stunned when Bell X1 visited Philly and played an acoustic set featuring everyone's favorite song by the band, "Rocky Took A Lover".
62. The Stills - Being Here (buy)
Why: As far as alt-rock songs go, "Being Here" could be considered one of this year's best in terms of consistent efforts laid down on any album in 2008. Although this is our only song from The Stills on this list, we highly recommend listening to the rest of their Oceans Will Rise album.
61. Delta Spirit - Streetwalker (buy)
Why: We're getting down to some great songs now... Delta Spirit was composed of 4/5ths percussionists and "Streetwalker" is one of a few examples that demonstrates this. Such a classic sound and easy use for any group to listen to, it was tough not to mark this one up even higher had we not heard so many great songs come from this album.
Just to preface our best of list of 2008: Some songs may deserve a higher spot than others, but the time it took just to compile our list should give each and every song on here enough deserved attention. We did our best to make a list of 100 songs we thought were great and left a lot of songs off we begrudgingly had to remove to abide by the 100 song limit. Our list is as accurate as we could make it, so song 100 all the way to number one represent our favorite songs and artists of this year.
We seperated our list into 5 parts because there was just too much to put onto one post. We hope you enjoy our favorite songs of this 2008!
Part 2: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (61-80)
Part 3: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (41-60)
Part 4: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (21-40)
Part 5: MUF's Top 100 Songs of 2008 (1-20)
100. Keane - Lovers Are Losing (buy)
Why: Spiraling struggled but the personal touch from this track mid-way through helped boost the overall album enough to make it bearable.
99. The Shore - Open Up The Light (buy)
Why: Coming back from a long wait, The Shore delivered a great album. Their most notable song won't be found here, but this one may be as perfectly chilled-out as rock comes.
98. Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart (buy)
Why: Eight minutes and twenty-six seconds of cinematic gusto from a group that really doesn't have too many tracks longer than five minutes. Overall, a well thought-out song considering every instrument in the group grabs some of the spotlight.
97. Department of Eagles - No One Does it Like You (buy)
Why: Bass thumps and clapping ensues as the humble, yet budding group Department of Eagles made their presence known in 2008. Nobody does this like them in this gem with the harmonizing and the eerie playfulness of this song.
96. The Little Ones - Morning Tide (buy)
Why: Hearing The Little Ones and keeping a smile on of your face are synonymous with each other. "Morning Tide" clearly set the Cali natives back on track after their struggle to find a label and get their sound right.
95. Pictures and Sound - 100 Directions (buy)
Why: Luke Reynolds' latest project couldn't please fans more when transitioning from his older work. Now laced with some mild funk, "100 Directions" settles in behind light drum rapping and a heavy bass before slowly building up for a finale worth waiting for. Check out our live video of this song here.
94. Nada Surf - See These Bones (buy)
Why: Opening Lucky with their strongest song set the tempo for another great effort from Nada Surf. Perhaps this song layers a bit much as it goes on, but nothing takes away from the professional and well-timed shown here.
93. The Shore - Lose My Breath (buy)
Why: We doubled up listing the Shore in this section of our top 100, but that's okay since The Shore have so many good songs to list here. Neither this one or "Open Up The Light" could really be picked over the other, so really think of this as just another song you need to listen to and an album to own.
92. MGMT - Kids (buy)
Why: The main five-star songs on Oracular Spectacular flew across the blogosphere faster than the drug-inspired artists could imagine. "Kids" takes the teenage mentality of the duo along the same lines as the other greats on the album while still being incredibly original and addictive.
91. Kings of Leon - Sex On Fire (buy)
Why: The most pop-friendly song on this good effort and most listed throughout the blogsphere. That's not why we listed it however. The boldness of this song earned its place on our list. Saying someone's sex is on fire is quite a compliment to dish out, so kudos KOL.
90. French Kicks - With the Fishes (buy)
Why: Drowned out guitar meets sad, lonely singing. I don't know what does it for me on this song, but the chemistry is perfect, the guitar isn't too much and the vocals kill it every time. Everything down to the drums marks this album a materpiece in my mind.
89. Athlete - Flying Over Bus Stops (Acoustic) (buy)
Why: A song featured on their 2007 Beyond The Neighbourhood album, Athlete topped themselves with an acoustic version on their The Outsideres EP released earlier on this year.
88. The Notwist - Good Lies (buy)
Why: The Devil, You + Me opened with this low-key instrumentally and vocally sound track and the result helped the album as a whole. Seeing this song anywhere else in the Top 100 would be merited as it subtly speaks volumes to every ear that listens to it. Thanks to Pitchfork for the legal mp3.
87. The Republic Tigers - Buildings & Mountains (buy)
Why: Encompassing the ideals the Kansas City crew brought to Keep Color, this track harmonizes, entrances and hooks in like a cult does to its followers.
86. Greg Laswell - Comes and Goes (In Waves) (buy)
Why: Simple melodies and some nice harmonizing was enough to add this to our list. Laswell has sparked our interest this past year and this song was one of his most well-produced pieces.
85. Plants and Animals - Good Friend (buy)
Why: Parc Avenue's ground-work was put down here and the rest of the album benefited from it. "It takes a good friend to meet you in the park in the dark."
84. The Walkmen - In The New Year (buy)
Why: These guys went for a particular sound on thier album this year, and their nailed it with You & Me. "In The New Year" is something like we've never heard before with its rhinestone jangling riffs and slack-jawed singing. Where else could you find a better song with featuring an organ?
83. The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be (buy)
Why: Konk would not be found anywhere near our top albums of this year, but our beloved UK rockers did score one song we couldn't resist to list here. They've once again managed to feature one song bound to be syndicated all over God's creation.
82. Elbow - Weather To Fly (buy)
Why: The Mercury Prize winners in 2008 claimed their spot on our list, particularly with one of their magnificently assembled songs listed here. Elbow didn't just surpass all of their previous albums, they made a name for themselves in 2008. This song shows everything we love and have loved about Garvey and Co..
81. Beck - Gamma Ray (buy)
Why: Beck highlighted this song on his website which promoted Modern Guilt and it fit perfectly for any returning fan as maintains the zany vibe Beck had back when he released Midnight Vultures almost ten years prior. Saying it is the best on the album isn't entirely accurate although it could be the addictive ingredient Beck albums consistently contain.
Toronto's Rikers immediately struck us here at MUF and immediately snapped us out of our search for Christmas music and moved right back into some excellent indie rock.
The band's influences (New Order, early U2, the Bunnymen, Everly Brothers) tie only a piece together of what the band sounds like. With the dramatic Springsteen-esque vocals of Ryan Kennedy (vocals) and the shimmering guitarwork of Russ Davidson, we were caught head over heels in all of their rock glory with their track below, "Easter Eyes". Surprisingly, the band has only been in existence since this past summer; such immediate chemistry would beg to differ.
Their upcoming release, Kings English EP was mixed in New York by Kevin McMahon (The Walkmen, French Kicks), and will be available for digital download within the month (what better than to spend your iTunes gift cards on?).
To listen to their song "Curtain Call", head over to their website.
MP3: Rikers - Easter Eyes (buy)
When did your band form?
We formed this past summer (2008). Rikers started out a bedroom project for myself and the other main songwriter. Once we started to get a feel for the direction that we wanted to go, it turned into a more concentrated effort to finish some recordings and put a live band together.
Who makes up Rikers?
Rikers is made up of myself ( Ryan Kennedy) on vocals and Russ Davidson on guitar / keyboards. We both contribute equally to the songwriting and we have a rotating cast of musicians that fill out our live band.
Do you plan on touring any time soon?
We've been waiting until we have something released to start touring but it will be a big priority for us. We've got an agent in the UK/Europe and we've been across Canada enough times in previous bands that keeping ourselves busy shouldn't be a problem.
What is the name of your EP?
Our EP is called 'Kings English'. We recorded a lot of it ourselves and then went to Ottawa to do vocals and overdubs with Shawn Bradley ( Mellowdrone ). Then we sent it to New York to be mixed by Kevin McMahon ( The Walkmen, French Kicks).
Thanks again to Ryan Kennedy of Rikers for sending us this track! Please visit them through the respective links below:
Official - http://www.rikersmusic.com/
MySpace - www.myspace.com/rikersrikers
This week has some of the most music in one seven day stretch than any other week we've stumbled upon this year... but it doesn't make much of difference if there isn't some good music contained in that list to begin with, so let's get started. Cold War Kids, whose Loyalty to Loyalty is the one we're looking forward to the most. This is the Fullerton, CA group's follow up to their much acclaimed album from last year Robbers & Cowards.
Also on our fingertips is Thievery Corporation's Radio Retaliation. This is the DJ duo Rob Garza and Eric Hilton's seventh full length album since their beginnings back in 1997. Could this be better than our favorite The Cosmic Game?
Blitzen Trapper makes some noise for SubPop and French Kicks reveal their Covers EP, which we talked about last week. Covers EP is available digitally this week. Let's not forget Kings of Leon, whom we mentioned could be out with their best yet this time around, or Peter, Bjorn & John, who's single "Young Folks" made them infamous last year - they're newest, Seaside Rock, should be worth checking out.
Lastly, Mogwai and TV On The Radio arrive this week with a new album each. Need we say more? Get listening!
MP3: Blitzen Trapper - Furr (buy)
MP3: TV On The Radio - Golden Age (buy)
MP3: Peter Bjorn & John - Needles and Pills (buy)
Akimbo - Jersey Shores (Official) (MySpace)
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Looking Into It (Official) (MySpace)
Astronautalis - Pomegranate (Official) (MySpace)
Bang! Bang! - Industry Box (Official) (MySpace)
Blitzen Trapper - Furr (Official) (MySpace)
Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin (Official) (MySpace)
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Town Topic (Official) (MySpace)
CAW! CAW! - Wait Outside EP (Official) (MySpace)
Cold War Kids - Loyalty to Loyalty (Official) (MySpace)
Conifer - Crown Fire (Official) (MySpace)
Cotton Jones Basket Ride - River Strumming (Official) (MySpace)
Donovan Quinn & The 13th Month - Donovan Quinn & The 13th Month (Official) (MySpace)
Dynamite Club - Fusion Era (Official) (MySpace)
Eleh - Floating Frequencies (Official) (MySpace)
Elvin Bishop - The Blues Roll On (Official) (MySpace)
Everlast - Love, War and The Ghost Of Whitey Ford (Official) (MySpace)
Faun Fables - A Table Forgotten EP (Official) (MySpace)
French Kicks - Covers EP (digital release) (Official) (MySpace)
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires (Official) (MySpace)
Ghengis Tron - Board Up The House Remix (Official) (MySpace)
Girl Talk - Feed The Animals (physical release) (Official) (MySpace)
High Places - High Places (Official) (MySpace)
Holy Sons - Decline of the West (Official) (MySpace)
House of Heroes - The End is Not the End (Official) (MySpace)
I Heart Lung - Interoceans (Official) (MySpace)
Jackson Browne - Time For Conquer (Official) (MySpace)
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue (Official) (MySpace)
Karl Blau - Nature's Got Away (Official) (MySpace)
Kid Sister - Dream Date (Official) (MySpace)
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night (Official) (MySpace)
Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat - Nebulous Dreams (Official) (MySpace)
Koufax - Strugglers (Official) (MySpace)
La Dusseldorf - La Dusseldorf (Official) (MySpace)
Left Spine Down - Fighting For Voltage (Official) (MySpace)
Mamiffer - Hirror Enniffer (Official) (MySpace)
Marmoset - Record in Red (Official) (MySpace)
Max Richter - 24 Postcards in Full Color (Official) (MySpace)
Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling (Official) (MySpace)
Old Crow Medicine - Tennessee Pusher (Official) (MySpace)
Paul Flaherty - Aria Nativa (Official) (MySpace)
Peter Broderick - Home (Official) (MySpace)
Peter, Bjorn and John - Seaside Rock (Official) (MySpace)
Signal Hill Transmission - Starting Gun (Official) (MySpace)
Sing It Loud - Come Around (Official) (MySpace)
Tecumseh - Avalanche & Inundation (Official) (MySpace)
Ten Kens - Ten Kens (Official) (MySpace)
Terry Lynn - Kingstonlogic (Official) (MySpace)
The Mojomatics - Don't Pretend That You Know Me (Official) (MySpace)
The Morning Light - The Morning Light (Official) (MySpace)
The Pink Spiders - Sweat It Out (Official) (MySpace)
The Pretenders - Break Up The Concrete (Official) (MySpace)
The Week That Was - The Week That Was (Official) (MySpace)
Thievery Corporation - Radio Retaliation (Official) (MySpace)
Tracy Shedd - Cigarettes & Smoke Machines (Official) (MySpace)
TV on the Radio - Dear Science, (Official) (MySpace)
Woven - Designer Codes (Official) (MySpace)
The French Kicks, the melodically, downplayed suprise of the year with their Swimming album back in early April, have arose again, this time with nothing but covers. That's much easier than putting together an ace album again, right? Sure it is, but they didn't do it for those reasons. As quoted on Stereogum:
We've always loved the Beach Boys' Party! record where the Beach Boys went into a studio room with some friends and played really loose and live, mainly cover songs, and then put it out ...Who doesn't like the Beach Boys Party! record??? The Covers EP is out 9/23/08 (next Tuesday!). We raved about French Kicks back in March, but you can check out more of our 'Bands You Must Know' right here.
Here's the Covers EP tracklist:
1. "Trouble" (Lindsey Buckingham)
2. "Questioningly" (The Ramones)
3. "Carolina Goodbye" (Colin Blunstone)
4. "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" (The Shirelles)
MP3: French Kicks - New Man [buy]
MP3: French Kicks - Trouble [buy]
They will also be touring starting today up in Canada:
09/16 - Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
09/17 - Toronto, ON @ The Horseshoe
09/18 - Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room
09/19 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
09/20 - St. Louis, MO @ PLAY:stl Festival (Blueberry Hill Duck Room)
09/22 - Newport, KY @ Southgate House
09/23 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theatre
09/24 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
April was the best month for music thus far this year, although the months to come hold much in store, particularly with Death Cab For Cutie's Narrow Stairs album hitting stores on May 13th. This month we were able to get lots of sneak peeks at the album, especially with the release of their Daytrotter Sessions, which we were able to hear "Talking Bird" and "Cath...".
My favorite song this month has to be Angel Pier's "Sacrifice", and although this song isn't yet available for download, you can have a listen on their MySpace page. As far as odd songs that I keep coming back to, Helvetia's "Old, New Bicycle" surprised me with the excellent guitar solos matched with the sullen vocals, yet still kept the song so laid back with an eerie summer vibe to it. Delorentos exhibited one of my favorite finds this month with "Do You Realise", which we made a song of the week.
A few albums I can't take out of my CD player/iPod are French Kicks' (check out "Said So What") latest along with Cut Copy's synth techno-rock/pop and Your Vegas' downright collossal release of A Town And Two Cities. A few others to point out in the bunch are Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin's infections, yet mellow "Modern Mystery" and the whimsical group/crowd who make up I'm From Barcelona, with their song "This Boy", which is actually the song in the background on the new Chrysler commercials.
Lastly, another shout to Tokyo Police Club and Annuals, who have really made this month for me along with the Brad Melhdau Trio who's incredible jazz remake of "Wonderwall" will have me looking for more rock-turned-jazz remakes in the coming month. If anyone has any recommendations of other jazz rock songs, please pass them on. Enjoy this month's best-of.
Angel Pier - Sacrifice (buy)
The Whigs - Right Hand On My Heart (buy)
Delorentos - Do You Realise (buy)
Helvetia - Old, New Bicycle (buy)
Auburn Lull - Arc of an Outsider (buy)
The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be (buy)
Tokyo Police Club - Tessellate (buy)
French Kicks - Said So What (buy)
Unwed Sailor - Little Wars (buy)
South - Better Things (buy)
Coldplay - Violent Hill (buy)
MGMT - Electric Feel (buy)
M83 - Graveyard Girl (buy)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Modern Mystery (buy)
I'm From Barcelona - This Boy (feat. Loney, Dear) (buy)
Phantom Planet - Leader (buy)
Shout Out Louds - Impossible (Possible Remake by Studio) (buy)
American Princes - Auditorium (buy)
The Details - The Height of Land (buy)
Annuals - Sore (buy)
Cassettes Won't Listen - Freeze & Explode (buy)
Brad Melhdau Trio - Wonderwall (buy)
The Kooks - See The World (live) (buy)
French Kicks - Abandon (buy)
Tokyo Police Club - In A Cave (buy)
Cut Copy - Out There On The Ice (buy)
Cut Copy - Lights And Music (buy)
Your Vegas - Troubled Times (buy)
Your Vegas - Birds of Paradise (buy)
This is a bit different than other articles we've done for our 'Bands You Must Know' series, since this band has bit more experience than many others we stumble upon. The New York City based French Kicks have been around since 1999, but are certainly no exception to this list.
The wheels are set in motion and French Kicks seem to have things prepped just right for their upcoming fourth studio album, which will be released on April 1st. With Spring now in the air, and a tender warmth flowing through our blood, their new album Swimming has already made an impression on me with the release of "Abandon", a song I was truly stunned my first listen through. If this song is any indication of what to expect, then get your dirty paws ready come the turning of this month.
"Abandon" captures that same upbeat tone set in their previous efforts, with a small tweak of tighter production. The vocals from Nick Stumpf are sordid, yet uplifting like that of the Shout Out Louds' Adam Olenius. The drums are poignant like those of militant marching beat and the melodies and harmoinzing glues it all together. It somewhat reminds me of one of my favorite songs from last year, "Lake Michigan" by Rogue Wave. This track is amazing and needs to be on your next playlist. We also recommend listening to "Also Ran" (below).
MP3: French Kicks - Abandon (buy) (from Swimming 2008)
MP3: French Kicks - Also Ran (buy) ( from Two Thousand 2006)
MP3: French Kicks - One More Time (buy) (from The Trial Of The Century 2004)
MP3: French Kicks - When You Heard You (buy) (from One Time Bells 2002)
Buy more French Kicks music on iTunes! You can also visit them on their MySpace page, Last.fm and iLike.
Here are their upcoming tour dates, including one stop in our home of Philadelphia:
Apr 1 2008 8:00PM - Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Apr 4 2008 9:00PM - Middle East Club (Upstairs) Cambridge, Massachusetts
Apr 5 2008 9:30PM - Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Apr 8 2008 8:00PM - Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Apr 15 2008 8:00PM - Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Apr 24 2008 8:30PM - Rock N Roll Hotel Washington DC, Washington DC
Apr 25 2008 9:00PM - Local 506 Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Apr 26 2008 9:00PM - The Earl Atlanta, Georgia
Apr 27 2008 9:00PM - Grey Eagle Asheville, North Carolina
May 15 2008 8:00PM - Doug Fir Portland, Oregon
May 16 2008 8:00PM - Chop Suey Seattle, Washington
May 18 2008 8:00PM - The Independent San Francisco, California
May 19 2008 8:00PM - Blue Lamp Sacramento, California
May 22 2008 8:00PM - The Echo Los Angeles, California
May 23 2008 8:00PM - Casbah San Diego, California
Video: French Kicks - Trial Of The Century
