Heaneyland!

Best of 2007, #7 and #8

#7: Georgie James, "Places"

Here's a band I first heard on the radio, I mean internet. Their fast songs remind me a lot of early New Pornographers, although there are clearly other influences in there. (Rose hears a lot of Paul McCartney and XTC, for instance, and I hear some Todd Rundgren in "Hard Feelings".) I guess I should point out that half the songwriting team in this band is a guy formerly from another, noisier band that broke up, Q And Not U, since that's the sort of thing that people point out, except I'm not especially into Q And Not U. So, good job, leaving that band to co-found a band I like better! (Watch as now I end up retroactively becoming a Q And Not U fan and buying their entire back catalog, as punishment for my hubristic scoffing.) Anyway, to sum up: they're as catchy as hell and wooo yeah, I'm ready to hear some of their songs right now!!

Click through for download links for "Look Me Up" and "Long Week". Also, special bonus! This song's not on the album, it's not even a B-side (though perhaps it will be eventually), and it's great. It seems like it was from an early version of the album tracklisting but got cut...but I'm glad it got leaked, since apparently the band was only too happy to say, "Ooh, what a great song we just wrote and recorded, why don't we NOT RELEASE IT?" Here it is: "Simplify".

#8: The Bees, "Octopus"

Or, as they are known in the U.S., A Band of Bees, since there's another band in these parts called the Bees. My friend Todd turned me on to this band; they're sort of retro-60s-psychedelic-pop. (So, not psychedelic like Iron Butterfly. Psychedelic like Strawberry Alarm Clock.) I like all their albums, just as I like so many albums that are faithful yet original recreations of songwriting styles that few if any other people are currently working in, but this might be my favorite so far of theirs.

Get your groove on with "Listening Man" and "End of the Street". (And Todd, I don't know if you've kept up with the Bees yourself, but if you haven't, you really should listen to "End of the Street"; I think it's just your sort of novelty song.)

(Buy "Places" and/or "Octopus".)

Posted by Francis at 02:03 AM