Partly triggered by a comment I heard on TV a few days ago, that they’re the kind of English band the American market will ‘get’…just wondering if anyone’s heard of them yet, at all?
(If not - they’ve appeared out of almost-nowhere in a few months, not least because of self-publicity on the web, including encouraging sharing recordings of their gigs etc. And they’re great 
)
I just read about them in this Slate article. That’s the first I’d heard of them (although I’m not particularly tuned in to the indie scene). I gave their stuff a listen. It was pretty good, although it didn’t instantly grab me (as, say, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah did when I first heard them). But I think it’s the type of music that will grow on me as I listen to it, so I am planning on picking up the album when it comes out.
I’ve known and have had an album by them since the beginning of the summer - just a band I stumbled onto one day on my search for anything indie. I thought they were some obscure indie band no one had heard of, so I told everyone about them, the best I could. Later on, I read a Pitchfork anticipation on their new album, and it discussed how this new album was destined to never stay on a store shelf for long in the UK. I was absolutely stunned, to say the least, that what was so huge in England was unheard of in the Mother Land.
Maybe it’s a New Poronographer style phenome?
Now that I read that article, I suppose I have a demo of theirs. That debut looks tasty, and I think I will have to indulge myself.
Not to hijack the thread (ok, that’s what I’m doing), but is this a new trend? Building hype by releasing demo tapes out into the wild? I remember people going nuts over M.I.A. because of some leaked demos…
The M.I.A. hype was built around a mixtape, not demos. The mixtape was essentially an extended DJ mix by Diplo, who produced some of the tracks on the final album, putting M.I.A.'s vocals over famous instrumentals and remixed beats. It was far better than the eventual full-length album that arrived.
No idea, but I do know a promo Arcade Fire album really helped get the word out back in 2004. Also, if you remember, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah some how managed to release three songs on their website this summer with no ad agency and no label and yet built such a large fanbase that they sold out of all (2500?) of their own copies until they could resume production, by which time just about everyone knew of them and wanted a copy. Tilly and the Wall, back in probably 2003, only had their label going for them (IOW, Oberst’s name recognition), but by putting their album on their site, they soon became an art college dorm room name soon enough. Even earlier, Mountain Goats way back in the day used to release some demo cassettes, but they have always been a niche market. So, it’s been around, but I think it just might be more popular.
Really, though, I think it’s a multitude of things. The fact that some great bands release a demo and no one reacts (Jolie Holland, anyone?) while an equally great band does the same and has the indie world explode suggests other factors are at work. It’s really, really interesting to see which indie bands get what press and why, how much some sell, and which ones break into the mainstream. Indie music has turned into such an underground, seemingly unmarketable industry in the last few decades, and I honestly believe more is left to chance than is seen in mainstream music markets.
They’ve done more than set demos loose - they’ve encouraged fans to record gigs, they’ve taken part in online dicussions about various versions of songs, etc.
They’re making some noise in NYC. They seem to be the next indie big thing. This year’s Arcade Fire. They sold out a show at Webster Hall in April in a day, and that’s a reasonably sized venue.
I bought the record today. Bloody hell, it’s good. Finally this month’s “biggest thing since Kajagoogoo” is worthwhile.
The lyrics are great, but the fact that at this stage they are a band and not a bunch of sidekicks waiting to be sacked stands out. I hope they get to be this good for a while. And I do like a ruff-centric drummer.
As I recall the Arctic Monkeys got some play on the local rock/alternative station 99x a few days ago. They had talked about them being an up and coming British band. I can’t say I remember the song, but it seems like I recall hearing them talking about them…