NEW MUSIC:Memo to all new bands: you will never go wrong with harmonies. There are many things you may do which could be seen as a bad idea – your name, your drummer's T-shirt, that decision to stalk a national radio station DJ – but harmonies will always see you right.
California's Local Nativesgot that memo, blew it up and pinned it up on the wall of their shared house. Every track, from the glorious sweep of Airplanesto the confident, airy wallop of their debut single Sun Hands(now released on Chess Club), is blessed with divine vocals. They can even re-purpose a Talking Heads song like Warning Signas an airy ode rolling down from the mountains.
The band first popped up on the talent-spotting radar at this year’s South By Southwest festival in Texas. This writer saw their first show there and, at a pre-noon show with the sound from the terrible band upstairs leaking into the room, you could tell there was something special about these five chaps.
Every subsequent show they played at SXSW attracted more people as the word spread about these space-cadets from out west singing like choirboys. In talent-spotting shorthand, they resemble Fleet Foxes backed by a Band Of Horses trying out Grizzly Bear songs for size. I know, that last sentence really does not have a place in civil society, but you get the picture.
Of course, given the current fondness for all of the above acts, the timing could not be better for these Natives. Their debut album Gorilla Manoris ready to go once they can find a label. That, though, shouldn't take too long.
- www.myspace.com/ localnatives
Housse de Racket: Daft Punk's little brother
FUTURE SOUNDS:The French are coming - again. Housse de Racket are in the next wave of chic Gallic acts, a duo who look upon the likes of Daft Punk and Air as older brothers.
And as befits a younger generation seeking to take over the world, these kids from the Parisian suburbs come with a cheeky swagger as much to the fore as their twisted mix of rock, pop and electro.
Pierre Le Manse and Victor Leroux also come this way with a bit of a thing for tennis. There's the band name ("racket cover" for those who've lost their French-English dictionary), the title of their debut album (
Forty Love) and an onstage fondness for clobber usually only seen on court.
But they don't have to rely on such gimmicks to catch your attention.
Forty Loveis a riot of creamy, funky pop with the duo's fresh ideas and sound fine-tuned by producers Gonzales and Renaud Letang. The band talk it up as a Bowie-like concept album which makes it
Ziggy Stardustfor ball-boys and girls everywhere. Game, set and match.
- Housse de Racket play the Let's French festival at the Twisted Pepper, Dublin on June 20th. www.myspace.com/ houssederacket
FOUR MORE
Fly Girlz
Superfly old-school hip-hop from a bunch of 12- to 14-year-old students at Brooklyn's Brownsville Middle School
www.myspace.com/representingnyc
Hundred In The Hands
Snappy, angular indie grooves from a New York City duo featuring TV On The Radio accomplice Eleanore Everdell
www.thehundredinthehands.com
EleventyFour
Cork-born actress Dorothy Cotter singing cute-as-a-button Kimya Dawson-like songs.
www.myspace.com/eleventyfour
Rubik
The Finnish band's new album Dada Bandits is a brilliantly sculpted rush of blood to the head. One for Arcade Fire, Flaming Lips and Animal Collective fans.
www.myspace.com/rubikband
More news and views on Jim's blog: www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord
