Today in indie! Band names that require knowledge of Classical Latin pronunciation to say…
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Patrick St. Michel: On the one hand, do we really need another skittery group in the mold of Purity Ring or AlunaGeorge? On the other hand… Chvrches do this future-pop thing pretty well, even if this song is a little too gloopy.
[7]
Katherine St Asaph: It’s too fucking early for Purity Ring knockoffs.
[6]
Iain Mew: Chvrches are Scottish. One of them was in Aereogramme, who I vaguely remember from Chemikal Underground compilations a decade ago (that may be him providing the delightful backing vocals at the end). This seems worth pointing out because in pre-research I came really close to sending out an email with the false assumption that they were Swedes. Thank you Sweden may still be appropriate in inspiration terms, though actually “The Mother We Share” in its icy fragility is almost as close to Purity Ring as it is to Icona Pop. They have the same sense that their infectious bounce is papering over doom, though hiding it a bit deeper adds more rewards. “When it all fucks up you put my head in your hands/It’s a souvenir for when you go” is humour and horror mixed in equal proportion, towards defeat and back and there again in the space of two lines.
[8]
Anthony Easton: Scottish, though it reads Scando — and though it’s indie pop, their message isn’t really that different than, let’s say, P!nk’s. I wonder if I would like this better without lyrics; as it is, I am on the verge of finding it enjoyable, but can’t quite get over the hump of semi-cryptic inspiration.
[5]
Alfred Soto: Seriously — the chorus is gibberish. I wish it were in Swedish. It’s also pretty good. The rest is Keyboard Programming 101.
[6]
Jonathan Bogart: Oh, hey, people are still making chillwave! That’s… kind of cute, I guess.
[6]
Brad Shoup: The chorus is total cutout pop goodness, a stab of mainstream melodic clarity with the serration of cod-mysticality. Summer is slain.
[8]
Will Adams: Beyond the thicket of synths lies a conversation between my sisters and I that we’ve never had, only tacitly understood. It’s discomforting to hear something this honest, but it makes me want to call them right now and recite the lyrics verbatim.
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