The Last Drop

So much to choose from ( for once). And from the looks of it, May is going to be a good batch as well. Don’t you just love Spring!

Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple - Nothing will match the global appeal of “Crazy”, but you shouldn’t match the past. Push forward. And if that forward is a bit darker, slower, creepier, but ultimately good, I’m there.

The Heavy, Great Vengeance and Furious Fire - Yeah, so the title is probably plucked from Pulp Fiction. But you know what, I like that too. I’m eagerly anticipating the buzz machine to work these guys out. Justly. Overt charisma is finally making a comeback. And more power to it.

The Heavy, Great Vengeance and Furious Fire – My second experiment with a big buzz band from SXSW (and we all know how much I love my first experiment, The White Rabbits) and I must say Austin has a knack for picking winners. Even if they come from the UK (why do I hear about Brit bands only when they hit American soil? I live in England! This is so wrong…). Mix Curtis Mayfield with the angularity of the Clash and the brashness of the Strokes. Stir well. And that is the intrigue with The Heavy. As a debut album, Great Vengeance displays all of the characteristics of a young band – no preconceived notions, lots of silliness, and occasional missteps in songwriting. Overall, you get a strong sense of possibility with The Heavy. And more than a few really good songs (come on “Colleen”). But a few are real drags and/or too purile for repeatable consumption (“Girl” should have been left as a studio joke instead of album filler). I’m just amazed at their deftness with multiple genres. Lead singer, Swaby, heaves sexiness at all turns, whether in floating falsetto croons or full on belting rock star swagger. I miss good old fashioned rock stars…that don’t seem to be swept in controversy or abject drug abuse. If nothing else, The Heavy should be an example to the rest of their English brethren on how to SOUND dirty and sexy without having to exude the actual lifestyle with all of it’s downfalls. Pete, are you listening?