Head Bands

A couple of weekends ago, I took a trip to good ol' Amoeba after a botched attempt to see the Bride and Prejudice. If you've never been there, it happens to be the best music store in all of Los Angeles. Whatever you might be looking for, they've got it. They might even have it in vinyl if you're lucky. Personally, I like that they've got thousands of used CDs in great condition for awesome prices. If there's something you've been looking for that they don't have at Virgin or Best Buy, you'll have no problem locating it at the treasure trove that is Amoeba.

Reason I went there, and the reason I've been looking for a lot of different music lately is because of Coachella. Seeing as I'm planning on attending this year, I thought it'd be a good idea to take a listen to a few of the bands that I've never heard before, and well, it's been an education. So far, I've enjoyed most of the music, but there are a couple that stand out the most.

My girlfriend will say that I'm a sucker for British bands. Actually, most people that really know me might say the same thing. Truth be told, I guess there is a disproportionate amount of Brit to my collection, but I'm not sure if I base my tastes on country of origin. That said, the two bands I've been listening to happen to be from the Isles. Fancy that.

Starting out of the gate for me are The Futureheads. Actually, I got the CD before I ever knew they were going to be at Coachella, but once I heard they'd be performing, I finally popped it in the CD player for a listen. What I found wasn't bad at all. What seemingly starts as another New Wave copycat turns out to be a solid Rock album. There's a chorus feel to some of the songs with overlapping harmonic backup vocals that culminates in their cover of Hounds of Love. This also happens to be my favorite track on the record and with good reason. From the simple guitar lines to the strong beat of the drum track, the tune isn't just listenable, but it's danceable too. How often (outside of Franz Ferdinand) can one say that? Good stuff if you like the aforementioned Ferdinand, but probably more in the vein of Men at Work on steroids.

The other CD in heavy rotation right now is Bloc Party's Silent Alarm. Yes, they're both British. Yes, they've both got the New Wave sort of vibe, but where The Futureheads create new from old, Bloc Party has less old and more of what makes them incredibly new. The lead singer has memories of Damon Albarn, but the music is nothing like Blur at all. It's more punk than post-punk, but there appear to be darker themes musically than most music that I've listened to lately. At times I'm reminded of the dangerous experimentation of At the Drive-In, but there's nothing that thematically difficult to understand or stream-of-consciousness to be found in Bloc Party, just amazing music and sincerity. You might like them if you like either of the bands I've mentioned.

There's still a few other CDs that I'm looking forward to in the next month. Beck being one of them and The Mars Volta being the other. I like to think that I have diverse tastes, but maybe it's a bit homogeneous from an outside look. There was a time when I would dismiss anything on a top 40 station, but I think I've been more welcome to a more pop sound. Funny thing, while I've accepted the more popular music, I've also made more of a shift towards keeping an eye on the independent scene. By no means do want to call myself "indie" per se, but I don't think I'd have heard about these CDs otherwise. Ultimately, I'm not sure what it is I like about certain music, but I'm always looking for something new. So lucky me, these new ones worked out pretty good. Anyone have other suggestions of music I might have missed lately?