Good Noise: Volume 8
This week I’m recommending another 5 signed/established bands who are favourites of mine:
1) I got into this Seattle band 10 years ago when I bought their CD for £2.50 from the used section of one of my favourite record shops (which shut down 6 years ago and I was most upset) simply because the cover looked interesting. I met the band 3 years later in 1999 when I went to Seattle for a fortnight. The band - Goodness - are no longer together, but they’ll always be one of my favourites - they did straight-up female fronted indie rock - nowt wrong with that.
Goodness - Superwise: www.myspace.com/justfourofus
2) One of my favourite bands is Half Man Half Biscuit - the Liverpudlian four-piece (fronted by Nigel Blackwell) who write very dry, very funny songs packed full of observations about British life. A favourite band of the late John Peel, and most definitely a favourite band for me and the fella. We’ve seen them live three times, and I want to keep on seeing them until they finally disband (which I hope won’t be for a long time) - because they are funny as f*ck. This song is taken from a Peel Session, and I’ve picked it because I think it’s very well written - Nigel sings about how a Cambridgeshire town is very nice but just not the same without his lady love there. Oh, just listen to it, and love the lyrics.
Half Man Half Biscuit - For What Is Chatteris: http://cobweb.businesscollaborator.com/hmhb/audio/index.htm
3) Just a fantastic song from a fantastic Irish rock band - Therapy? - a band who it seems I am always doomed to miss on tour. I feel sixteen again when I hear this. This is on their 1994 album, ‘Troublegum’, which is a wonderful angsty album to listen to when you’re a angsty teen : )
Therapy? - Screamager: www.myspace.com/therapyquestionmark
4) This Scottish trio shot to fame with their song ‘Kandy Pop’ in the late 90s, but I think the song I’ve picked shows a band who matured musically and managed not to sacrifice their initial energy, youth, and quirkiness when they gained a more mature electro-beats sound. I think you’ll either love it, or hate it, and think I’m talking rubbish. This song is taken from the album ‘Social Dancing’ - an album that I couldn’t stop listening to for ages when I bought it in 1999.
Bis - Eurodisco: www.myspace.com/bismusic
5) Gorgeous quirky power-pop from Redd Kross - an LA based band fronted by brothers Steven and Jeff McDonald. This band have been around for like, forever. I love their music - they just do their own thing, and it sounds really good:
Redd Kross - Jimmy’s Fantasy: www.myspace.com/reddkross