As you’re all totally aware, MySpace Trawl is our weekly feature where we lift the lid on some of the music that sadly goes unnoticed by the majority of people.
Many of the bands we've previously looked at aren’t at it just to kill some time. In fact, many of the artists out there would probably love more exposure, but sadly the music industry won’t give it to them. So here’s where we come in to help. We try and select as many different-sounding artists as we can to show that there’s more than crappy old bubblegum pop and nu-rave music available to you. With our recent exploration in to the world experimental electronics, we decided to look at something that nearly everyone is familiar with. Indie. Now please don’t despair if you're sick of wankers in porkpie hats pretending they're Oasis, because we’ve found a band that we think are doing something different in the indie scene. Give a nice warm welcome to The Attachments.
Believe it or not, the UK doesn't hold the patent on indie music. Shocking isn’t it! We were quite surprised too when we checked out The Attachments' MySpace profile and discovered that they hailed from America. Unless we’re being horribly stereotypical – which we probably are – it was pretty much an assumption that Americans were brought up on a diet of country, rap, R&B and metal. This isn’t a lot to us. Feel free to abuse us if indeed that is incorrect. Though we do like to believe that we’re right.
While a few top UK indie acts have broken through like Radiohead, Oasis and Coldplay, a lot of indie we have over here like Babyshambles and Dirty Pretty Things have failed to make even the slightest of dents. So if Americans won’t accept our – admittedly shoddy – exports, what must their own stuff be like? With the country being slightly bigger then the UK, hecklerspray had the daunting task of sifting through the cack and finding someone we liked. But then we found a band that hail from a place typically more associated with movies than indie music – The Attachments from Berkeley, California.
The tracks that have been placed on The Attachments' MySpace make up half of their self-titled debut EP release. Three tracks showcasing that this band doesn’t stick to the same safe music pattern. Yes, they could do the same thing over and over – and still have folks eating out of their hands – but it’s good to hear a band experimenting with different styles. First track Karla-La begins with a no-nonsense drum roll and plunges straight into the main body of the song. With no horrible chanting that a lot of bands decide to shove in a song under the naive impression that they’ll be given the headline slot of a festival so that 40,000 drunks can sing it back at them (hello Kaiser Chiefs) it is a welcome relief that The Attachments don’t need to do this. With its simple but effective guitar work underneath keyboard that will spread like a disease and lock into your head, it’s a great little tune that, when you hum it on the bus, everyone around you will ask who it's by. Good songs make our heads nod and this song achieves this.
Second song F Train Girl has a lot more emphasis on the key work this time. Again, that's a positive in our book as sometimes when a band emerges with four members, you have to ask yourself what exactly what each person contributes to the overall sound. Songs like this that can isolate one particular instrument and showcase an individual's skills give an overall impression that this band is talented and haven’t just got a mate involved to hammer a few keys.
Citing various inspirations – including once-covered Trawl band, Grandaddy – we believe a few of The Attachments' influences have definitely rubbed off in this track, particularly The Kinks and the deeply missed Elliot Smith. With a gentle keyboard to start off with, the song builds and builds to add more beautiful layers underneath wispy sounding vocals. The lyrics in this particular song seem quite personal and it would fit particularly well in any film or TV scene when heartache is in the air. We also admire the band's sense of humour – one of their biographies is written in four haikus, and those that know hecklerspray knows hecklerspray loves haikus.
As we mentioned, the tracks on The Attachments' MySpace page make up half of their EP. Costing $7, it isn’t going to burn a hole in your finances. For anyone in the UK tempted to buy a copy, we urge you to do so. Because it is flipping brilliant, plus it will only cost you about £3.59 due to the brilliant exchange rate. Then there's the added benefit of free shipping, meaning you’ll be getting six tracks for less then what iTunes would sell it to you for.
So is the land of hope and glory starting to push through more indie sounds? If there as good as The Attachments, we certainly hope so.
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