If you've got no kind words to say...

The thing about being in a band is you get to see a lot of other bands, and many of the bands i see are at best nondescript, at worst downright terrible. Every now and then i come across bands that hold my attention for more than 5 minutes. This week i came across two. The first was the opening band in Cambridge, a band i had never heard, knew nothing about, and didn't know what to expect. They're from Brighton, are called Lyrebirds, and sound like a combination of Interpol and Echo and the Bunnymen. Live, they were both engaging and unpretencious, had very little interaction with the audience yet still seemed appreciative. Whatever it was, i thoroughly enjoyed the set. Check their myspace where they have 2 tracks, and catch them live if you can.

The second band was The Maccabees themselves, a band i knew of from their early singles X-Ray and Latchmere, but didn't really have an opinion either way. Then i saw them play in Cambridge and realised i was watching one of the best live bands in the UK at the moment. From the very first song, they combine passion, sincerity and thoughtfullness. The song that stuck in my mind was their opening number, taken from their upcoming second album. It was available as a free download on their myspace and as a youtube video but has now been taken down, but here is the footage of the song No Kind Words from the show in Stoke: If you've got no kind words to say, you should say nothing more at all...

Born in the USA...

OK, here are some American bands you should check out if you have 15 minutes:

Crystal Stilts - i heard their album in the UK before we went out, and i wasn't particularly interested, it was all very Jesus & Mary Chain without any added twist. Then i saw them live. They blew me away. Very New York Cool, they tick all the boxes: Paul Simon lookalike on bass, Art Garfunkel lookalike on vocals, cool bespectacled guitarist, female drummer, Beach Boy keyboardist. Will give the album a second chance having seen them live. Here's the end of their set:

Other Lives - our label mates on TBD Records in the States, and sadly didn't get a chance to see them live whilst there, but very much looking forward to hearing their debut album which came out a few weeks ago. Have heard their EP, think melancholy, ballad driven, American folk / indie, from Oklahoma. Nice guys too.


The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - again, i actually missed them at SXSW, but their debut album is fantastic. American Indie Pop with a very British hint of shoegaze, at times even Britpop. New Yorkers.

No Age - had never heard of them before but came recommended from a number of Americans. From Los Angeles, just a drummer and guitarist, they give off such energy i couldn't help but enjoy their ramshackle set. Catchy rhythms, strong guitars, energy in abundance, fat men crowd surfing, power cuts, what more do you want from a set?

Crystal Antlers - again, had never heard of them before, but great live set. Classic wall of sound with melody hidden somewhere within. Think Warlocks and Nirvana with an organ and a Bez type character playing percussion. They hail from Long Beach, California, which in my books sounds like the best location ever.



Black Lips - they played before us on the outside stage at Stubbs, and have listened more intently to their album Good Bad Not Evil since being back, great angular US pop grunge. If that exists? It does now. They have a song titled 'How Do You Tell A Child That Someone Has Died'.

Army Navy - their bassist had a hand in our record deal out there, and only caught their acoustic set on the opening day, but myspace tracks lean towards a very poppy American indie sound. I'm thinking Beach Boys with a hint of Squeeze (is that a pop overload?). Listen to Get Right Back on their myspace. Would love to hear their album in full.

Some other things i saw whilst out there:

Graham Coxon acoustic set in a tent - couldn't fault his awkwardness. Here's a very short snippet:

Primal Scream in a small alleyway - they haven't lost it yet, even though they look like the house band from Fraggle Rock.

Juliette Lewis & the New Romantiques - fun, but shit.

Slow Club - from the UK, great stripped back anthemic indie soul pop (does that exist? It does now).

Finally, this has nothing to do with SXSW, but you can't beat this for rock posturing:

South by South West...

Welcome to Texas...

A pool with a view...

Texan sky...

Fader Party...

Chris and I...

Crystal Stilts @ Ms. Beas...

American street party...

Home time...

Sunrise at 30,000 feet...

The Week Ends...

It was only a week ago that our debut album was released at the Rough Trade store in east London. Seven days later and i've been to Austin and back to play the South by South West festival. There are no words i can put together right now to try and describe the experience i had, but i have condensed my trip into a short video...

The Good The Bad and The Radio...

A mixed bag of nuts today. United got stuffed at Old Trafford by Liverpool to bring a disappointing end to a very good week, but the mood has improved since, as it appears Hatcham Social are one of Joe Cornish's favourite band, even playing Jabberwocky at the end of their 6Music show this morning. Although it appears i say the wrong word in the last verse. I must have written it down wrong when we recorded it. Sorry Lewis Carroll.

So, to video number two. Here it is. I've used a fantastic little remix by our Italian friend / dj / booking agent Guido Savini over the top, he spliced together our track Berlin and 99 Problems by Jay Z. A Dave's Eye View - 24 Hours In Berlin:

A Dave's Eye View...

In a shocking development, i joined Twitter this week. I didn't want to, but felt i was missing out on a huge amount of irrelevant information. I'm not sure my life will be any better for it, but there's no going back now. And the internet being the wonder that it is, my twittering / tweeting / twattery is now imbedded into this very blog, so, just to the right hand side of this post you shall find my twittering / tweeting / twattery.

In other news, i shall now be leaving more visual examples of the world around me, using the fantastic Flip Video my dad bought me last year. Starting with my first attempt at video cutting / editing / destroying using the oh-so-simple Windows Movie Maker, i have created a short film of my day at the historic BBC Maida Vale studio last monday (recording a live Hatcham Social session for Radio 1). I've even used one of our tracks over the top. Clever me. Here it is in all its tiny glory...



I shall now be starting on a similar video of my recent trip to Berlin, and showing off dramatically next week when my updates will be coming from, yes, Austin, Texas. America thought they had it good voting Obama into power, well now Hatcham Social are hitting their shores. Or Deserts. Hell, even this guy sounds excited...