Editors - Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors -- An End Has A Start (2007)

Up next is one of my favorite bands of all time, with for me the best album they made so far. I had little to no inspiration today so I let Miri decide what I should post. And lets face it, she did well! Not only is this band one of my top 3 most played bands of all time, as well did she pick the right album from them to talk about. 

The album is a former number one album in England and the second album made by the band after the debut album The Back Room of course. The album is characterized by the indie rock and the post punk revival music the band plays, with the pretty unique and awesome vocals of Tom Smith obviously. Back in the post about Joy Division I said he reminded me of Ian, or the other way around... This still is the case and again I will say that they are basically Joy Division on speed, a description others often gave them over the years. The album contains hit songs like Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors, An End Has A Start and The Racing Rats and it made me absolutely fall in love with them. I bought The Back Room short after its release but didn't give it much plays back in in 2005 and 2006. I did give them a lot of attention in the summer of 2007 though, for the simple reason they were coming to Pukkelpop and I was planning to see them live. In the two weeks before Pukkelpop I played their material an awful lot and I absolutely fell in love with An End Has A Start that came out two months earlier.

The song I chose to post is Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors, because it's after Swing Life Away my favorite track I'd say. The last few days before the festival I had it constantly on repeat and when they finally played it live I just closed my eyes and had goosebumps for the total duration of the song. So it was an easy choice to make I'd say! Because of this I have picked a live version of the song as well. Before I conclude this post with an enjoy, I'd like to say that new material should be coming later this year. It's not officially announced I think but few media mention a fourth album for later this year. Enjoy!

Official site

last.fm artist page

Peace - Wraith -- In Love (2013)

We're going to England once more, Birmingham this time. Peace is a four piece band that creates melodic indie rock and brought out their debut album at the end of March. The album is decent to good after a few listens but does leave you slightly disappointed  For the simple reason they were hyped so much on the internet and compared to bands like Foals and Vampire Weekend. As well did they play on the NME (they gave the album a 9/10 as well...) Awards tour this year. So yeah it's a decent debut record, but it didn't meet the (or my) high expectations. Anyways if you are new to the band and didn't hear about them before you might actually really like this release.

The album is pretty poppy in my opinion, and is full of catchy tunes and lyrics about young love. It contains the previously released singles Follow Baby and Wraith, and the album is basically more of the same. To be honest it sounds pretty much as so many other indie rock releases. Not that this is per se a bad thing, they don't have a revolutionary new sound, but at least they are able to make some good indie pop/rock. If you are, like me, a fan of the genre then it's worth to give the album a few spins and you'll find yourself liking it. But I'm not sure if it will stick, maybe the hype will continue and the band will get a lot of airtime and media attention. But I'm afraid a lot of people might be slightly disappointed and they'll slowly disappear out of the media. Nevertheless the album is pretty good and I'd give it somewhere around a seven on ten, just don't expect to be blown away by it...

The song I'm posting is Wraith, because I know them from this song. It isn't the best on the album but at least it has an official video and it's one of the two songs most of you will already know by them. Enjoy!

Official site
last.fm artist page

The Virginmarys - Dead Man's Shoes -- King of Conflict (2013)

Right now I'll be talking about another hard(er) rock band. After Wolfmother only a day ago it will be about The Virginmarys this time. While the first band is pretty much known by most people the second one is only starting out, well not exactly since they are active since '06 already. But this activity was limited to touring extensively and releasing some ep's. The first complete record only came out last month though and it sounds pretty good. So I expect that the time of being unknown by most people will soon be over for these guys. 

The band is a trio from Macclesfield up in the North of England and they produce some very good alternative, hard/garage rockish sounding music. The record opens with the song i'm posting here: Dead Man's Shoes and it immediately shows the energy/power these lads will entertain you with. The intro is very catchy and likable and the rest of the record seems to hold up after this promising start. I'm pretty new to the band as well so I can't really say much about them, but I'd strongly advice to give this song a try and if you like what you hear I'd do the same with the complete album! The album is a double album containing the record of 12 tracks as well as a stripped album which contains mostly the same songs but in acoustic versions obviously.

The song is like I said the opener of the record and is called Dead Man's Shoes. It was the song I stumbled upon myself yesterday, it's an official video, it's a very good video and it's catchy as fuck. Reasons enough to pick this one of the record I'd say! Enjoy!

Official site
last.fm artist page

Alt-J (∆) - Breezeblocks -- An Awesome Wave (2012)

From the one year to the other, from 2011 to 2012. Like I said in the previous post the debut record of Little Comets was one of my favorites of 2011, the debut album of Alt-J is maybe my AOTY (album of the year) 2012, or at least one of my favorites of this year. The album contains lots of good tracks like tessellate, Breezeblocks, Matilda and so on. What makes these tracks so excellent in my opinion is of course the total package of the songs, but what makes Alt-J stand out from the rest this year is the sound of his voice, I really like the vocals a lot. To a lesser extent the use of unusual instruments/sounds make them stand out a bit as well.

If you didn't check this Leeds based band out yet you definitively should, at least on record they sound amazing. I would check them out live and they actually are coming to Belgium, few weeks back I saw the concert appear in the news letter of a local venue. I obviously got really excited and immediately went to the site to buy some tickets only to see the concert was sold out already, they scheduled them in the small venue where only like 100 people fit in and put some crap act in the main room that night, I was and am really pissed off for this. Because on record these guys really sound awesome so I was hoping for an excellent gig as well. Oh well if any of you guys saw them live yet feel free to leave your opinions in the comments. For now enjoy the song it's Breezeblocks, not my favorite which is Matilda, but it's the one I knew first by them and if I'm not mistaken the video is official, which is a big plus as well no?

Official site
last.fm artist page

Little Comets - Adultery -- In Search Of Elusive Little Comets (2011)

Up next  is, for me, one of the better releases from last year. With the "In Search Of Elusive Little Comets" the band, Little Comets, delivered a very catchy and like-able debut record in early 2011. The album features lots of songs with rather fast guitar-work combined with very good vocals and lyrics you just want to sing along too. At the other end the record also contains some calmer material, like the end with "Intelligent Animals" or "Her Black Eyes" which shows a bit of the range that this trio can handle. And if you ask me they can handle it very very well. 

While making this post I read a bit about the new album as well. The record called "Life Is Elsewhere" was released last month, and I honestly can't wait until I'm able to hear it. But this magical moment will be for tomorrow evening, so I have to be a bit more patient, haha. On a serious note I have to say that I really do have great expectations for this one, I'm very excited to hear the new material since the debut was that good... So let's hope they are able to meet these high expectations. Don't let me down Little Comets!

Anyways for this post I chose the song Adultery for two reasons: The obvious one is that I really like the video and the song itself of course. The second reason is the fact that it was the first song I knew by them. Combine both reasons and you have a winner, haha (I always find it difficult to pick just one song of an album). Anyways I hope you guys can live with my choice and are able to enjoy the song.  

Official site

last.fm artist page

The Answering Machine - Lightbulbs -- Another City Another Sorry (2009)

Up next (I know I use those two words an awful lot to start a new post) is The Answering Machine. A Manchester based band which I'm very fond of since the debut album in 2009, Another City, Another Sorry. I had that album on repeat for quite some time while studying for my exams back then and the exams actually went quite well. The album is very catchy with easy to sing a long to songs, some very good melodies and of course British accents, how can you not like that. 

The later album I don't know that well to be honest with you, but this first one is still one of my favorite albums of the last few years and maybe in general as well. I loved that album so much that I even went to a concert because they were the support act, not that the main act was bad or something (Tokyo Police Club, which was one of the better live performances I ever saw) but I wouldn't have gone to that gig if it wasn't for The Answering Machine. After the gig I had the chance to talk to them for a few minutes as well, while buying the special Animals EP, or they at least made me believe that, and the album I'm posting about. I also got a free poster that they signed when asked which is hanging to my right while typing this. Like most starting bands they were, and hopefully still are, extremely friendly and cheerful people to the folks who came to support them with buying stuff after the concert. Which makes starting bands ever so lovely. The song is one of my favorites of the album: Lightbulbs. I hope you guys enjoy!

Official site
last.fm artist page