Young persons listening to "jazz" music in "discos."

[reddragdiva]

I occasionally feel a foolish duty to keep up with the world of popular beat combos and so had a listen to a few Arctic Monkeys songs. Blow me down if they don't sound like a bunch of Fall fans. They sound about as much like the Fall as (say) Yeah Yeah Noh did (they don't sound like them either), but that's what the particular abrasiveness brings to mind. And a bit of Gang Of Four in the rhythms, but all these kids' bands have that these days. (One day the Pop Group will hit their memepool.) What do you other old buggers think? (I'm looking at you, hirez.) Particularly the bit where they take that sort of obnoxiousness into the charts. In a well-structured and accessible manner, of course.

Update: The Pop Group may already be in their memepool — the intro to "A Certain Romance" bears a strong family resemblance to that of "Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag."

Comments

[littlemsmortis.livejournal.com]

I like the Arctic Monkeys and other bands of that ilk.

[jozafeen.livejournal.com]

I mustardmit that I'm liking bands like the Arctics, Bochum Parkway, Milburn and suchlike far more than any dirty gothic stuff at the moment.

Oh and BBC4 tonight - Mark E Smith documentary :-)

[reddragdiva]

All the dirty gothic stuff I've liked in the last several years has gone "bleep." EBM is popular because it has good pop songs.

[secretlondon.livejournal.com]

I don't think anything of the Arctic Monkeys to be honest. They are certainly catchy but their lyrics are pretty poor - and I'm quite lyric-fascist.

They sound like a bunch of middle class boys singing about things that go on in the inner cities through the stuff they've read in the papers... However I think I've become oversensitive by having [[Chav]] on my Wikipedia watchlist.

I'm loving all the indie dance/electronica currently. Hot Chip anyone?

[reddragdiva]

I didn't listen closely to the lyrics, just one play of a bunch of random songs found on download. I was particularly surprised to like the music as much as I did. The kids are exploring the right eighties, at least.

[jozafeen.livejournal.com]

... and they aiten't middle class but they are very 'local' hence my hometown glee about them.

[gothgeekgirl.livejournal.com]

Another vote for the Arctic Monkeys here, darling, and I'm lots closer to Olde Pharte-hood than you are. Their album and Goldfrapp's Supernature (yes, like them too) appeared in my mailbox in recent months from KCRW (http://www.kcrw.com/)'s "10 9 CD Club" and their last fund drive.

[secretlondon.livejournal.com]

Love Goldfrapp :)

[reddragdiva]

I didn't note here that I recently did in fact wander into HMV and buy Supernature and Black Cherry on special. Haven't played or tried to rip them yet ... I'll go shove 'em in the Mac now and see what happens.

[secretlondon.livejournal.com]

You should get felt mountain too...

[hirez.livejournal.com]

The various Goldfrapp remixes are all stormers. I'm still working my way backwards from the most recent album and not even trying to get her/their Glasto performance out of my head (Why yes, some young woman with a horse tail madly soloing on a theremin wedged between her thighs was a bit of a moment.) which sort of led me off on the track of a set of other 6/8 tracks. Which is how I found 'Some girls' by Rachel Stevens. A work of pop genius. Not unlike the Sugababes version of 'I bet you look good on the dancefloor' that I think that could have done with some heavy leaning on the Giorgio Moroder button, rather than sounding exactly like the Nilon Bombers (A legendary lost Cheltenham band).

I await the Girls Aloud version of 'Fiery Jack' with interest.

There's a new Futureheads album, too.

(Hm. Potentially commenting in the wrong place. Oops...)

[secretlondon.livejournal.com]

I've had an image of a woman soloing an electro-magnetic device between her thighs all day ;)

[reddragdiva]

And shoving 'em into the Mac did work and they are ripped and I played them lots last night. Jolly good. Apparently by not using a Winders box I miss the wacky Opendisc extras, but oh well.

[steer.livejournal.com]

I love the Arctic Monkeys stuff. To me the lyrics are clever and ring true without being manufactured. Whether they can make that through to a second album when they are wealthy and removed from the northern working class experience which gives them their edge is interesting.

However, for the moment, they are clever in a way that only the northern working class can be.