My Sad Captains are back again. The first time I saw them was Popaganda 2009 at UCL, where I took the above photo. They’ve always blown me away with their tender indiepop tendencies and subtle, catchy melodies. Sadly, there weren’t that many around that night, but they’ve got more and more of a following. When I last saw them, they were moving towards a dreampop style, which actually suits them a little better, and a very trendy genre at the moment (I was annoyed they didn’t play the astonishing ‘All Hat and No Plans’, though).
They’re playing at White Heat on Tuesday, which is often a big moment of publicity for bands. Let’s hope they break it big. Here’s a relatively new track from a potentially great new album.
My Sad Captains - The Homefront, pt II
The School are supporting Allo Darlin’ on Wednesday at new London venue XOYO. I saw the Vaselines there a couple of months ago – great gig, but the organisation of the venue seems a little off. The sound is a little lacklustre, and the timings for the night were way off. My friends arrived about half an hour after doors opening, and the support band Swervon were already on and about to leave. Wait for your punters first, not everyone will arrive at 7pm.
The School are an excellent mix of 60s doo wop, indiepop and just all out pop. Most of their songs are pretty danceable and are instantly enjoyable. Nothing complex here, just fun girl vocals, punchy drumbeats and lots of piano. Considering how popular The Pipettes were just 5 years ago – and how their music is – you’d think these guys would be more popular. Oh well: life (and the music industry) is a harsh mistress. I happen to think that Loveless Unbeliever is better than We Are the Pipettes, too.
The last contenders are indiepop heroes, Allo Darlin’. There’s probably nothing left to say about them – I’m a stalker level fan, having certainly seen them live up to around 15 times (at last count). Their success story can only be rivalled by the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and could go even higher. Making better songs than Silver Dollars, Dreaming or The Polaroid Song is a colossal task. I will be waiting with bated breath for their next release, but for now, the hottest new band in indiepop have a lot to smile about.
