Just got an e-mail saying they are out. Probably because of the pure slander of putting them on at 2 in the afternoon. Either way, Jack Sad.
One Liner: Kick ass rock and roll like if Arctic Monkeys stayed good
Poster Position: 8
Both Weekends
Friday at 2:25 (!!!!!!!!!).
Honda Stage.
Thoughts: [EDIT now that I see they are at 2:25 on Friday] WTFFFFFFFFFFF!?!?!?!?! Why is a band from the 8th line getting done dirty like this? This is one of the best things on the whole poster? WTFFFFFFF!?!?!?!?!?!
They were last here in 2016, which is kind of surprising to me. I figured they had been back since then. I really enjoyed their show back then, and am still listening to the tunes today. Speaking of tunes, I have to assume that a new album is coming soon - their most recent disc is still The Balance from 2019. Lame-o.
As I was jamming their catalog a few more times, I was thinking to myself how interesting it would be to hear how great but dead bands would sound today. Like, would Simon and Garfunkle have made Graceland and would it be better or worse? Would The Beatles have gone disco or remained the world-melting force they were? Was R.E.M. going to make progressively worse music until they were Maroon 5? Would The Grateful Dead have gone Nashville country if Jerry hadn't died? Or gone techno to stay relevant to the drug people? Like, think about the weird ways that a band like Radiohead has transformed over the years into a completely different thing. Or the way U2 continues to release music but to varying degrees of usefulness. But then also to think about what Oasis or Led Zeppelin or Nirvana would sound like today, that is fascinating. I think this band has enough Oasis in it to have gotten me thinking in that direction. But really what this band makes me think is what would have happened if the Arctic Monkeys had stayed cool instead of devolving into crappy lounge act garbage? Because that is who this is the most like - that extremely fun British rock that the Monkeys were doing with their first few discs. They have a really kick ass and tight version of Brit rock and roll that is deeply fun. Let's get in to some songs before some background.
The songs I love the most, and thought would be the main hits, are big but not as big as I expected. Six songs in their current top ten all come from the 2014 debut - The Balcony. The top one of those is "Kathleen," with 176.6 million streams.
I don't love this original album with the same burning fury as I do the middle disc, but it is also really good. Kind of reminds me of the Arctic Monkeys. I have to say that the band name just doesn't make me think of future stardom. Seems like they need a shorter name to really explode. Although they were apparently known as The Prestige in the past but shifted the name. This name comes from a childhood musical memory: "that of an Australian street busker in Sydney, playing beer bottles strung to a wire who goes by the name Catfish the Bottleman. He was called "Catfish" because of an unusually styled spiky beard he had when he first began playing in 2000." So there you have it. But what do I know? They've gone platinum with this name.
A few of the tracks off of that older album have over a hundred million listens, with none of them coming in at less than 22 mill, so they have a pretty solid audience. Also good from this album, "Pacifier" is pretty kick ass, "Cocoon" sounds good - especially the chorus, and I dig "Homesick." Of additional entertainment value, you should look at the album cover for The Balcony. I have no clue what is going on there with headless people reaching for action, but it made me grin anyway.
F YES! That is some kick ass crunchy rock and damn roll. These dudes are Welsh, and you can just barely hear an accent in the vocals, but the music itself is alternative/ garage/ rock that jams.
So, these dudes are from Llandudno, Conwy, Wales. I love the confused awfulness of the Welsh language. I have a friend who is Welsh and listening to her American husband talk about trying to understand Welsh is hysterical. But two of the members began playing guitar together at one of their parents' house, a bed and breakfast in Wales. They built out the band with other school mates, and started playing covers at clubs while they worked on their own material. They won second place in a North Wales Battle of the Bands. Since that beginning, they have replaced several members of the band - bass and lead vocals have remained throughout, but guitar and drums have each been replaced once.
Finally, you got 2019's The Balance. This is a spot where I picked the top song, even though I like a lot of these songs too. When the first single from this album came out, it was picked up by the radio, and I thought they were ready to take on the world. "Longshot," with 103.5 million streams.
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