Last week, we published our first installment of Bands to Watch in 2011. Instead of including one really long listing, we decided to break them up into five bands per installment. There’s plenty of evidence that people like things divided up into 5’s and 10’s. The first installment of 5 Bands to Watch in 2011 got tens of thousands of page hits, so we finished up volume two of this series which puts the spotlight on the following bands: Alcoholic Faith Mission (pictured above), The Luyas, California Wives, Dada Trash Collage and Elsinore.
Alcoholic Faith Mission – Copenhagen, Denmark and Brooklyn, New York
Little by little, more and more people are hearing about the fantastic Danish indie electro-pop band Alcoholic Faith Mission. During the waning months of 2010, AFM were beginning to breakout. We think 2011 is the year they’ll smash through.
AFM initially started out with ex-pat Danes Thorben Seiero Jensen and Sune Solund carving out a couple of fantastic releases in 2009 that caught the attention of European indie blogs and press. For their latest album, Let This Be the Last Night We Care, the band expanded their membership, adding a number of fellow Scandinavians – Laurids Smedegaard, Kristine Permild, and Gustav Rasmussen – to round out the line-up.
“My Eyes To See” – Alcoholic Faith Mission from Let This Be the Last Night We Care
With interesting song titles like “Got Love/Got Shellfish!,” “Season Me Right,” and, “The You, That You Could Use,” Alcoholic Faith Mission obviously enjoy the quirky side of indie rock. In fact, they remind us more and more of a cross between Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens, and so it would not be a big surprise if those artists’ music has had a significant influence on AFM – quirky titles; sprawling, epic compositions; sudden stops and starts; spontaneous flourishes of orchestration and infusions of brass and wind instruments; and lots of chorus singing and sudden stops and starts.
“Got Love/Got Shellfish!” – Alcoholic Faith Mission from from Let This Be the Last Night We Care
The first signs of the musical genius of Jessen and Solund emerged when they released AFM’s 2009 EP, 421 Wythe, named after the Brooklyn home where they recorded. 421 is simply a magnificent album that switches between songs with vibrant, inspiration choruses and instrumental perfection, and other times when the wonderfully crafted compositions are deliciously dreamy, and sometimes, comfortably numbing.
Songs like “Escapism”, “Gently,” and “Guilty Scared Eyes” and are at once luring, larger than life, flourishing. The previous band comparisons aside, AFM are extremely talented and craft indie orchestrations with sober lyrics and flourishing choruses, even while not taking themselves too seriously, such as on fantastic songs like “Nut in Your Eye” and “We All Have Your Shortcomings.”
“Nut in Your Eye” – Alcoholic Faith Mission from 421 Wythe
“We All Have Your Shortcomings”– Alcoholic Faith Mission from 421 Wythe
With two solid records under their belt, it’s no wonder that more and more people are taking notice of AFM over the past half year or so. For those who enjoy the songs we’ve included in this profile, you’ll really want to get the albums the tracks come from. The more we listen to Let This Be The Last Night We Care and 421 Wythe, the more we love this band.
As we noted previously, these are the works of gifted musicians and songwriters, who are able to create sweeping epic songs that build up to a thrilling choruses, and are embellished with brass and string instruments. And you can almost feel while you’re listening to their songs like they realize they’ve got something special, and are happy to share it. All things considered, it was easy to pick Alcoholic Faith Mission as one of our top Bands to Watch in 2011. Let us know what you think!
The Alcoholic Faith Mission will be playing a number of shows in Canada next month, and a show at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on March 15th, before heading to Austin for the South by Southwest festival. They’re definitely on our schedule for SXSW.
“The You That You Could Use”– Alcoholic Faith Mission from Let This Be the Last Night We Care
Alcoholic Faith Mission have at least three gigs booked for SXSW in Austin next month. See the band’s MySpace page for more.
The Luyas – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Over the past couple of years, the indie experimental band The Luyas have made little splashes in a big pond. But things really picked up for the band after their debut album, Faker Death, was re-released in 2008, and following appearances at popular Montreal music festivals. Yet, as far as in the States, The Luyas didn’t start to grab attention until the later half of 2010, especially after their praised performance at New York’s CMJ Music Marathon last October. The Luyas are set to perform at South By Southwest in just a couple of weeks from now.
The band have grown in number over the past couple of years, and it has benefited them greatly. In fact, former Arcade Fire French horn player, Pietro Amato (who also plays with Bell Orchestre and Torngat) joined the band. And Arcade Fire collaborator Owen Pallett contributed string arrangements and violin to some tracks on The Luyas’ latest album, Too Beautiful to Work. In addition, the band turned to engineer Jeff McMurrich (Tindersticks, Constantines) for their second album. Founding member Jessie Stein (vocals/guitars/moodswinger) has also played with SS Cardiacs and Miracle Fortress, and is skilled at playing the Moodswinger, a 12-string electric zither created by the Dutch experimental luthier Yuri Landman. Another founding member, Stefan Schneider (drums), plays with Amato in Bell Orchestre. Recently, they added their fourth permanent member, Mathieu Charbonneau (Wurlitzer).
With their lush, electro-pop sounds, trippy orchestrated loops and heavy bass lines, heavy use of strings, plus the charms of the Moodswinger and a Wurlitzer. We included a number of tracks from The Luyas sophomore album, Too Beautiful to Work, released last Tuesday to impressive reviews.
“Too Beautiful” – The Luyas from Too Beautiful To Work – Feb. 22nd
After hearing the title track, plus another song that circulated in 2010, “Tiny Head,” we were excited to listen to the band’s entire newly released debut LP. Not because we needed more proof that they qualified as a band to watch in 2011, but simply because we enjoyed the first few tracks so much, we wanted more. Plus, we’re also including a song from the band’s first album.
“Tiny Head” – The Luyas from Too Beautiful To Work – Feb. 22nd
Flashback Track: “Dumb Blood” – The Luyas from Faker Death (2007)
California Wives – Chicago, Illinoise
As with Suns, California Wives is another Chicago band we are only recently acquainted with. California Wives, thanks to the accomplished work on their Affair EP (released last September), are definitely on our Bands to Watch list for 2011. In recent months, the band’s fan following in Chicago has begun to spread outside of the city, and across the nation with a blog post here and there.
A sign of a new band’s prospects, one could say, is if they are invited to record a Daytrotter Session. The band recently recorded their intro DTS, and we expect that is only the beginning for this promising new band. We think you’d be really glad to grab a copy of Affair if you can. The band will be performing a number of shows in Austin during next month’s SXSW.
“Blood Red Youth” – California Wives from Affair EP – Sept. 3rd
“Purple” – California Wives from Affair EP
California Wivesofficial website.
Dada Trash Collage – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis experimental psychedelic rock band Dada Trash Collage where on our radar for 2010, and have elevated to a band to watch in 2011. DTC are all over the map musically, and it works to their benefit. At once you can be hazed out and then wrapped an epic glory in the same song. When they say they are experimental, they’re not kidding.
“Moon” – Dada Trash Collage from Cool Waves/Bad Days
Songs like “Moon” and “Two Eyes” have soft, dreamy intros, but by mid-song, the band breaks out into full-throttled, unabashed psychedelic bliss pop. Dada Trash Collage have received some pretty good blog buzz (including on here in 2010), and have built a small, but loyal, following. But still, we think, as evidenced by the songs below, that the band are ready to break out in 2011 if all the right chips are in the right places.
“Two Eyes” – Dada Trash Collage from Cool Waves/Bad Days
“Glowing Wires” – Dada Trash Collage from Neighbors
“In Season” – Dada Trash Collage from Neighbors (via MFR’s)
Elsinore – Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
Champaign-Urbana pop quintet Elsinore is one of the best new band discoveries for our In Dee Mail playlist series throughout 2010. When we premiered the songs below late last year, you guys went crazy for the Illinois band, streaming and downloading the band’s songs from IRC in the hundreds and hundreds, and putting the been on the Top Ten Songs list. Therefore, it is no wonder that we have chosen Elsinore as a band to watch in 2011. Elsinore’s upbeat, catchy melodies and rock influences make them a band that is hard to turn away from.
“Yes Yes Yes” – Elsinore from Yes Yes Yes – Aug. 10th
“Chemicals” – Elsinore from The Chemicals EP – Jan. 10th