There's not a ton of polish to these Brits' angled post-punk, which may explain why some of their 2005 peers -- Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park -- won the ratings war. But the group's final album (they broke up in October) still punches like a champ, with sharp bursts of intelligent energy. At times, singer Alan Donohoe sounds on the verge of old-school punk panic ("1989"), then he broods man-fully on "The Loneliness of the Outdoor Smoker." Skinny-tie pogo fiends, you could find worse ways to spend 30
Gareth Dance music has been enjoying a purple patch of late. It certainly seems to have a lock on the charts, with Calvin Harris and Armand Van Helden's zippy productions playing a key role in Dizzee Rascal's leap to stardom ... There's also a nostalgia circuit beginning to emerge, with the Prodigy proving as big a draw as the headline rock acts at Reading. For anyone in the festival's mid-teen to late-20s demographic, the 90s dance explosion provided the pop of their childhood, so perhaps that
Bloc Party's Kele Okereke branded Oasis' Noel and Liam Gallagher "inbred twins" as he announced their split onstage at the Paris Rock en Seine festival on Friday (August 28) ...
Artist:Jack PeñateReview:Jack Peñate distinguishes himself from the current glutof British R&B revivalists with a shortcoming: He's a soulsinger who can't really sing. In songs like thePhilly-soul-flavored single "Be the One," the 24-year-old Londonerdeploys his high, reedy tenor like a rocker, barking rather thancrooning. The raggedy vocals suit Peñate's music: He writesshapely uptempo love songs, and with help from producer PaulEpworth (Bloc Party), he fluently blends styles, mixing