For me, 2005 was an awesome year for music. A year that helped get me back in to music and appreciate how much great stuff was coming out. One of the very cool albums that came out that year is Kaiser Chiefs' début album Employment. I was blown away by the high-energy, tightly crafted alternative pop from the first moment I heard "I Predict A Riot" and it just went from there.
Here are my favourite tunes from Employment, which came out 10 years ago today.
"I Predict A Riot"
"Oh My God"
Album opener "Everyday I Love You Less and Less"
"Modern Way"
"Na Na Na Na Naa"
Mark Ronson and Lily Allen's version of "Oh My God" from Ronson's 2007 album Version.
Hard-Fi were one of the British bands that hit me really hard, in a good way, in around 2005. Along with Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park, Editors, The Bravery, and Kaiser Chiefs, among others I'm probably forgetting. They have a new album coming out on August 22. It's called Killer Sounds and they have the second video out.
I featured the first tune, "Good For Nothing", a while back. The second single, "Fire In The House", doesn't have the so much of the pronounced guitars of their previous albums, but it does have a strong chorus, a groovy bass line, and some nice and soulful backup vocals.
They also have another full song and samples of the rest on their audio player. Check it out. Sounds like the band is evolving and I like what they're coming up with.
Arctic Monkeys is one of those bands that grabbed me. When I first heard Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not when it came out in 2006, I was instantly hooked. The band was tight, the songwriting was instantly appealing while being unique, and the way the stories were told was engaging. I remember their awesome performance on SNL, too. I still love the album and it certainly has one of the largest number of five-star songs from one album in my iTunes library.
Favourite Worst Nightmare came out in 2007 and although it had a massive success to follow on, it was a great album, too.
Their new album is called Humbug and the first single is "Crying Lightning". The single's available from iTunes right now and the album is due out August 24th in the UK. Probably means that we'll see it in North America on the 25th.
Check out the tune below.
Arctic Monkeys will be touring North America in September and October. Dates are below.
SEPTEMBER 14th September - Soma, San Diego 15th September - Hollywood Palladium, LA 16th September - Fox Theater, Oakland 18th September - Wonder Ballroom, Portland **FREE SHOW** 19th September - The Showbox @ The Market, Seattle 20th September - Malkin Bowl, Vancouver 22nd September -In The Venue, Salt Lake City - w/Airborne Toxic Event 23rd September - Ogden Theatre, Denver - w/Airborne Toxic Event 25th September - First Avenue, Minneapolis 26th September - Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee 28th September - Newport Music Hall, Columbus 29th September - Kool Haus, Toronto 30th September - Electric Factory, Philadelphia
OCTOBER 2nd October - House of Blues, New Orleans 3rd October - House of Blues, Houston 4th October - Austin City Limits Festival, Austin 5th October - The Palladium Ballroom
And for your listening and viewing pleasure, here's a gem from the first album - "A View from the Afternoon".
Edit: July 16. I just finished reading a great article on Arctic Monkeys and thought it turned out better than my article, primarily because the writer had access to the band themselves. Enjoy.
