Much thanks to The FADER's Pete Macia, who was able to retrieve this post from his bloglines and allow us to get it back online after the DMCA eradicated it's presence on the internet due to apparent copyright infringement issues. We strive to attain permission for everything we post where possible so we're still not sure what the offending track(s) was, but we suspect it might have been the Hockey or Delphic tracks given their recent major label deals. Without further ado:
We've been talking up our hot tips for '09 for a minute now, but we decided it was high time we took action and threw together a proper list. Here are some bands you're going to give a fuck about over the next 12 months.
We're not exactly sticking our neck out here given the maelstrom of buzz that's surrounded Passion Pit to this point, but we got the album into the office last week and we'd just like to warn you of the ways in which this thing is going to rock the music-consuming public with it's brilliance this spring. There a few things left to be finalized on the LP so we're not at liberty to say much, but we can tell you it will be called Manners and it's just about everything we could have hoped for and more. Careful listeners will discern a few new tracks in the background of Fader TV's behind the scenes look at the making of the record here, and you better believe producer Chris Zane's hype-smashing proclamations about the record lest the truth dropkick you in the jaw when it drops in spring. New material is understandably on lockdown for the time being, so for now here's a next-level reworking of "Sleepyhead" courtesy of our NYC boys The Knocks.
MP3: "Sleepyhead" (The Knocks Remix) - Passion Pit
Speaking of The Knocks, dudes run HeavyRoc studios in Chinatown, where they've spent the last year readying NYC pop sensation Samuel for the big time. Having successfully produced and managed the young pop star-in-waiting to a contract with newly-revived Columbia imprint StarTime (home to Passion Pit, Peter Bjorn & John, et. al), they're currently in the studio readying his debut album. Taste the first fruits of their labor below in the form of debut single "Say Goodbye", which features saccharine backing vocals from Frances' Julia Tepper and guitar work from The Virgins' Wade Oates.
MP3: "Say Goodbye" - Samuel
Theophilus London hardly needs any introduction given the way we've been extolling him as the second coming and all, but he's here just so we can say "we told you so... and then reminded you a couple of more times" when he's selling out arenas like a week from now. "Sandcastles" was born to destroy the charts.
MP3: "Sandcastles (Black x Blue)" - Theophilus London
Switching coasts for a minute, let's talk about Portland indie phenoms Hockey, whose LCD Soundsystem meets The Rapture and Julian Casablanca sound has them primed for big things in the new year. With the headlining slot on Passion Pit's NME sponsored UK tour and a debut album, Mind Chaos, overflowing with commercially viable singles, expect British audiences to embrace Hockey as the next great American indie band of '09.
MP3: "Too Fake" - Hockey [link removed]
We were huge fans of short-lived Mancunian collective Snowfight In The City Centre and their epic debut single "No Light Left", so news of their demise in 2007 was crushing. Fortunately, from their ashes has risen Delphic, an even more promising outfit with a mechanical precision and electronic brilliance in keeping with Manchester's rich musical lineage. With massive industry attention, a full European tour supporting Bloc Party on the horizon and some massive tracks (see: "Doubt") already under their belt, look for Delphic to succesfully realize all the potential Snowfight failed to capitalize on in the months to come.
MP3: "Doubt" - Delphic [link removed]
Previously: Reasons Not To End It All In 2009 Pt. I
This Club, a four piece out of Dublin, arrive on the scene like the Robin to Delphic's Batman, but raised on a healthy diet of vocal acrobatics and mental gymnastics. The intro to "I Won't Worry" cuts in like the counterpoint to "Doubt", leading to cries of palpable emotion with optimistic (almost idealistic) synth throws and mega guitar riffs, elements kindly borrowed from the Two Door Cinema Club school of pop. But there's also a heavy tropical influence somewhere between Fela Kuti and The Holidays that allows This Club to add up to far more than just the sum of its parts. Basically it's another summer staple for your headphones, complete with an epic breakdown that begins as a handclap-laden hook before being completed by a twisting bassline and shouting harmonies. This won't bring the people to the party, this will bring the party to the people.
