All The Right Places

This is rather of a two bands in one go thing as I usually find it hard to love (well, ok, obsess about) just one song at the time. My tracks of the day/week/etc. vary from the old and hidden gems of b-side land to the next big thing (I just had to use that expression). So, let’s get down to business, as one might say.

Magistrates – Heartbreak

I was zapping the TV channels one night and, for a reason or another, I stopped at MTV. Which, as someone noticed, is turning into a really elitist music channel. So ‘indie’ is a must. Preferably for a whole hour with no reason whatsoever. And there they were. Four guys with instruments and an 80s-inspired song. Nothing new, right? Yet, I loved every chord and every word. And the way they look. I’ve realized that, no matter how many bands walk around pretending they’re Brett Anderson (hence sexually ambiguous) and wear skinny jeans, winkle pickles and large sweaters, I still think they look too cool for words.

I guess Magistrates’ ‘Heartbreak’ is a classic exemple of a bloody catchy tune. It’s a perfect pop song, even though it might not seem incredibly original or unique. But the voice fits the instrumental (the oh-so-sexy instrumental) so well and is even heartbreaking (oh, isn’t it funny?) at times. It also has this weird tempo and a groovy white kids funk beat that would make Talking Heads proud that the band lists them as influences. It’s safe to say the song serves its purpose perfectly. It creeps inside your head slowly and steadily and gets you hooked. And I have to admit, it made me dance and sing along like few songs have been able to do recently. No wonder I’ve had it on repeat for the past few days.

Manchester Orchestra – I’ve Got Friends

What I’m going to say just goes to prove anything can help you discover new bands. Well, sort of anything. After all, you can’t really say Euronews’ Le Mag is just a random thing. It is about art, hence music. And it wasn’t exactly a new band I saw on Le Mag. See, two Manchester Orchestra albums have been lying in my music folder for what might seem ages. I never got myself to actually listen to them because of the ‘indie band’ tag and because they were American. So I sort of expected something in the vein of folk indie. The beards didn’t really help.

Alas, I was mistaken! For their beards exist so they could stroke them when they listen to the end result of their work. The intro caught my attention due to the striking resemblance with … well, Idiot Pilot. Which is a bit weird because Idiot Pilot go around being called a ‘post-hardcore’ band (with some prog-rock and very Muse-y moments… but post-hardcore). The voice (which reminds me a bit of Band Of Horses) kicks in and it’s all melodic and fine and mellow so you think ‘will he shout and scream during the chorus?’. No, not really. Well, actually a bit towards the end when the instrumental also goes insane and all multi-layered (with the little progressive chords as the first layer… hey, this is atmospheric!). And you can almost imagine the veins on his throat popping. And the rocker in you feels like they should maybe head bang a little. And when you reach minute 4:57, you just press play again.