Pop Levi |
The official Coachella line-up was announced a couple of weeks ago, and as is inevitable with any enormous, eclectic music festival, I have mixed feelings about it. But rather than lament the choice of Red Hot Chili Peppers as day-two headliners or wax rhapsodic about the Jesus and Mary Chain reunion (!), I decided to check out four bands on the bill whom I’d never heard.Pop Levi, “Sugar Assault Me Now 2” (mp3)
The glam-rock resurgence is alive and well, and Liverpool’s Pop Levi, a former Ladytron member, seems to have the T. Rex/Ziggy Stardust thing down. This slower, groovier version of his new single, complete with flanged guitars, insistent high-pitched piano eighth notes, and suitably meaningless lyrics (“Something’s been on my mind/I’ve been the hurting kind/So sugar assault me now”), will make you nostalgic for a 1972 London dance party you didn’t go to.
The Fratellis, “Flathead” (mp3)
You might recognize this from the new iPod commercials, and the whole song is pretty much all there in that 30-second snippet: the ever-milkable “Lust for Life” rhythm of the verse and a concise pre-chorus that segues into a pleasant “ba-da-bop” sing-along. Sounds like Arctic Monkeys cribbing from a copy of Jet’s rock-by-numbers handbook.
Anathallo, “Hoodwink” (mp3)
Flourishes like horns, bells, and handclaps don’t mask bad songwriting and over-emotive vocals. Picture Sufjan Stevens tossing off a song for a crappy emo group who wangled a horn section from the local high-school marching band.
The Feeling, “Sewn” (mp3)
With its sweet vocals, soft piano, and general inoffensiveness, “Sewn” will fit in nicely on adult contemporary radio alongside the Feeling’s fellow Brit James Blunt. Not sure how it’ll go over sandwiched between the Kooks and Junior Boys at Coachella, though.
