Band to Watch: Moonlight Bride
I’ve found myself writing quite a bit about Brooklyn bands recently here on Thought on Tracks, so it’s time to branch out a bit. And what more logical second city to go to next than Chattanooga, Tennessee, home of Moonlight Bride, right? Actually, I know that’s asinine, and I have nothing against the great people of Chattanooga, but it just isn’t the place I’d expect great rock/pop music to come from. Barbecued ribs and religion sure, but not progressive sound. Enter Moonlight Bride, who take a brick and throw it right through my “Duncan’s Toychest” window (Home Alone 2 buffs rejoice) to shatter these preconceived notions of mine.
Moonlight Bride was founded by Justin Wilcox and Tyke Calfee in 2007 before adding drummer Matthew Livingston and guitarist Justin Grasham to complete the band. They released their first LP entitled Myths in late 2009, which sounds a lot like a more droning Interpol record. The tracks feature big build-ups, magnificent guitar riffs, along with some bold, aching vocals. Sample a live performance of “Young Guns” from the album courtesy of IndieATL below.
The guys are now back and ready to drop a new EP on February 28 entitled Twin Lakes featuring new track “Lemonade”, which you can listen to below. Oh, and by the way, this song is damn good. The track sounds a bit more shoegazey than their previous songs with more control and polish. The guitar is still featured and weaves its way through a song whose lyrics show a general angst in “making it” as a band.
“Lemonade”
Crafting music like this, “making it” shouldn’t be too far away for Moonlight Bride. They are currently touring the southern US (where’s the Midwest love guys?) before stopping through SXSW in March.
Connect with Moonlight Bride via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Greg Dahman
Band to Watch: Michael Kiwanuka
Once in a while, an artist comes along with a voice that taps at the deepest, innermost part of the self-conscious. The part that decides just what type of person we are. Such a voice is timeless. It can be played anywhere to an audience of any language and the intensity of emotion will resonate and burn through with equal effect.
Michael Kiwanuka was raised in North-London, the son of Ugandan immigrants. Until last year, he was working as a session guitarist, while gigging tiny London clubs in the evening. Before long, he had caught the eye of The Bees’ Paul Butler, who brought Kiwanuka to Isle of White to record what would become his debut EP, Tell Me a Tale. Listen to the title track below.
Rather than make the inevitable comparisons to the forefathers of soul and R&B that Kiwanuka’s voice immediately brings to mind, let’s settle instead on a statement we can all agree upon: this shit is fucking good. Slap an innocent bystander; snap the hinges off of the bedposts good. Listen to “They Say I’m Doin’ Just Fine” below.
Kiwanuka shot forth from the basements of British pubs like a canon. By the start of this year, he had served as the opening act of Adele’s European tour, released another two more EP’s to account for a total of nine songs, signed with Polydor Records and had been Christened by the BBC as 2012’s next big thing. A meteoric rise for a man that only a year ago was laying down riffs for Tinie Tempah and has yet to turn 25 years old. Regardless of his age or experience, the results speak for themselves. Watch the video for “Home Again,” the title-track from Kiwanuka’s latest EP below.
Connect with Michael Kiwanuka via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Rob Peoni
Band to Watch: Jonquil
Jonquil make the type of music you wish was playing the soundtrack of your life. And honestly, that’s maybe the best compliment I can give these guys. Because if their songs did indeed play as you made your way through each day, chances are your days would be pretty fantastic. Full of catchy high-pitched guitar riffs, tropical beats, and soulful falsetto vocals, these cats roll up multiple genres and decades of music into a giant spliff of happiness.
A quartet from Oxford, England, the band’s previous record, One Hundred Suns, was released in 2010 and is still to this day underrated. Featuring solid singles “It Never Rains” and “I Know I Don’t Know”, it’s really surprising to me that you don’t see/hear more of these guys in the US. Perhaps that will change with the upcoming release of their second record, Point of Go, later this spring. Check out a live performance of the first single released from the album, “It’s my Part” and interview with the band.
So as you wake up today and get ready to step out into the world full of potential, take a second and sit down, drink a cup of coffee (or do whatever it is you do to wake up) and enjoy a few new songs from Jonquil. If you’re going to be alive, you might as well carpe diem.
Jonquil will release Point of Go on Blessing Force/Cooperative Music on 3-5-12. You can check out the second single from the album, “Mexico” below.
Connect with Jonquil via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Greg Dahman
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