Thao And The Get Down Stay Down - Nobody Dies

1.    Who is this fine musician?

Thao and The Get Down Stay Down are an indie folk rock band from San Franciso by way of Church Falls, Virginia. Plying their trade since 2003 they have four long players in the bag. Nobody Dies (Dec’15) rattles and shakes off A Man Alive (March’16).
 

2. What’s the word?

Nobody Dies is a rollicking, rolling, indie rocker; forget the folk. Handclaps? Indeed. Curious vocal performance? Present and accounted for. Deeply personal lyrical content? You betcha. Hooks? More than a Chinese trawler in illegal waters. Personal favorite? The vocal and handclap breakdown.
 

3. Who do Thao and the far too long band name sound like?

Comparisons have been made to St. Vincent and tUnE-yArDs. Really people? At this rate we are a generation away from just grunting at each other.
 

4. What pearls of enlightenment have the princes of the press dropped for us minions to devour like manna from heaven?

“A lilting, gnarled, bass heavy track” – NPR.

“Guitars warp and fade in a lackadaisical jangle” – Consequence Of Sound.

“Infectious stomp-along” – All Music.

5. Which bands have shone the light on the path to musical enlightenment for Thao and The Get Down Stay Down?

Thao Nguyen is influenced by country music, Blues, Motown and Lucinda Williams.

6. Why should I give Nobody Dies a chance to impress?

Nobody Dies juxtaposes melancholy with bouncy, joyous, rock'n'roll and plumbs the depths of both.


7. Do Thao and The Get Down Stay Down have any more pearlers?

Nobody Dies is the top of the crop.


8. Any more drivel?

Merrill Garbus of Tune-yards produced the new album.

“You made a cruel kid, come look what you did”

The Futureheads were a post-punk band from Sunderland, England. From 2000-2013 they coughed up five long players. Decent Days and Nights was the second single from their debut album The Futureheads (2004) and is a song NME called, “multi-faceted brilliance.” It's a belter.

 

“If the least you can do is show some restraint,

Then the most you can do is get carried away”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - The Royal Concept

The Royal Concept came kicking out of Stockholm, Sweden in 2012. Fashion (Aug’15) comes off their third short player Smile (Aug’15). The band have one album to their name Gold Rushed (2013). Fashion is said to "...strut from a funky guitar into a disco-chant replete with sizzling falsetto and unshakeable beat."  The Royal Concept's music has been described as "sun-baked pop and compelling rock." The band's influences are Daft Punk, Paul Simon and The Strokes.

 

 

 

 

Fashion is a frivilous, rollicking number that saunters along with flashes off Rolling Stones-esque guitar and beat and then goes all Scissor Sisters in the choral choruses. Other tunes it minds me off are Spoon Rent I Pay and The Kooks Bad Habit. A song about feeling inadequate in a relationship it may be vacuous, but Fashion is as much fun as sex on methamphetimines and one of the best indie songs of 2015.
 

“I dress like shit, call it fashion

But your fashions the shit”

 

 
 

Shit you need to know:

The Royal Concept are often compared to Phoenix but I’m thinking New Politics, Youngblood Hawke or Grouplove.

The new EP Smile was produced by Tony Hoffer who did the same for Phoenix, The Kooks, M83 and Depeche Mode.

The music on the new short player has “...sunsoaked flavor, upbeat swing, and uncontainable energy” and a glam inspired change of musical direction.The band are big fans of St Vincent.

The Royal Concept's music has been called "electro-funk" and "nu-disco".

The Royal Concept have supported The Wombats, Misterwives and Switchfoot.

More feel good and get-off-your-arse and dance Royal Concept tracks are On Our Way, Smile and Higher Than Love.
 

 

Twice the love for the price of one comes courtesy of these two Swedish and Malawi musicians The Very Best. Makes A King (May'15) is a song that transcends cultural differences to provide a sublime musical experience. True to their name this tune is out-fucking-standing.