2008 playlists featuring The Walkmen, Of Montreal, British Sea Power, The Little Ones, Conor Oberst, Sun Kil Moon, No Age, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend, Deastro, Fleet Foxes and many others.

best indie songs of 2007

Songs by Spoon, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, The Shins, Stereophonics, Editors, Andrew Bird, The Octopus Project, Beck and many more.

Indie Rock Archives

Artist of the Week: Vicious Vicious (Well Not Really, But Dang Good Music)

February 24, 2008

With a new album out and an eclectic and exciting discography behind them - albeit it's only a few dozen songs over six years - IRC's artist of the week is Minneapolis band Vicious Vicious. (photo above: the band looking really vicious.)

Originally a solo project and moniker of musician Erik Applewick, who recorded a set of songs on a four-track 2002 self released album titled Blood and Clover, Vicious Vicious sparked a passionate reaction from their hometown Minneapolis indie community, thanks to the additions of band members Darren Jackson, Alex Oa, and Martin Dosh, who helped provide the musical talent that made Applewick's songs even more impossible to ignore.

Since then, Vicious Vicious, an unlikely name for a band that is about as vicious as a poodle, has released only two additional albums. Nevertheless, the wait paid off with each release demonstrating a maturing, exciting and eclectic mix of pop, funk, psychedelic and rock influences that essentially make the band's sound stand out among so many other indie groups that are praised but really aren't half as good as Vicious Vicious are.

Parade was released in September of 2007 to rave reviews - even making the 2007 best album lists of many popular blogs and music sites.

You can stream many of the songs from Parade, and their other releases, on the band's official website. Don't be surprised if you find yourself listening to the entire stream of songs more than once - they are just that good.

Vicious Vicious first caught the attention of the indie underground fan base and bloggers in a significant way with the release of their 2005 album Don't Look So Surprised, which contains a number of memorable songs, not the least being the catchy, 'play that again' song "2 Much Time on My Hands" (not a cover of the 70's band Styx's song by the same name).

Vicious Vicious - 2 Much Time on My Hands

Since the release of their latest album Parade in September 2007, songs like "Rain Parade", "Ho Baby" and other well-produced indie pop songs have increased the band's popularity.

According to Vicious Vicious' official website, Applewick and the others are working on new material for yet another album to possibly be released in 2008. Let's hope so, because these guys are on a serious roll.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe for the Feed Me Indie feed via RSS, Atom, iTunes or your favorite reader and podcaster.

Labels: Darren Jackson, Erik Applewick, Indie Artist/Group Profiles, Indie Songs 2008, Martin Dosh, Minneapolis Indie Bands, MP3s, pplewick, Vicious ViciousAlex Oa