Hello friends, it is Friday again and that means it is time to relax, have a beer and check out some indie tunes. This week’s project comes from the UK, and virtually nothing could be easier on your ears than A Band Called Quinn. I don’t care much for the name, but purchasing their latest album, Sun Moon Stars (2007) from iTunes was ten bucks worth spending.
Louise Quinn and Bal Cooke have been making music together for about five years already, or so their Last.fm page says. The same page attests to the fact that they are so far underground the number of their listeners does not even reach 200 (for comparison, Feist can boast about her 400,000 Last.fm fanbase). In fact, they are so underground, I found out about them from a Russian podcast I subscribe to. A pity, considering that this lively indie-pop is quite fit for the radio. It took me a couple of listens to figure out what sort of music this is. Though their influences (listed on their Myspace page, hotlinked above) range from Björk to The Velvet Underground, I was reminded mostly of Feist circa Let It Die and Aimee Mann circa Lost In Space, mixed with Husky Rescue. But let’s get to the album itself.
“The Glitter Song” as well as “Fluff Girl” could be indie renditions of Goldfrapp, with the vocals a couple of octaves lower. Although calling it sensational would be perhaps too much, Louise Quinn’s voice is surprisingly versatile, hitting high notes in unbelievably elegant “Unsung Feeling,” which I thought to be the best song on the album – a clever mixture of guitar with some electronic bleeps and the vocals floating in and out at all the right times. After the first couple of songs, the album enters its slurry part, blatantly treading on My Bloody Valentine’s shoegazing ground in aptly named “Babywheniseeyoureyes” and hailing Aimee Mann with “All The Dead End Jobs”. After this break, comes “D.I.Y.” – the song used by the band for the album promotion owing to its almost painful catchy quality (“why don’t you do it yourself/D.I.Y., baby, do it yourself” will get you dancing, one way or another). “D.I.Y.” may be another one of a few good songs on this record, if a bit misleading about the rest of them – the album is generally calming, and oddly heartwarming, perhaps a bit underplayed and by no means taking itself too seriously. While far from professional productions by the bands of the same caliber, Sun Moon Stars still manages to be likeable, even as background music (and after a couple of listens, maybe something you’ll even burden your mp3 player with). Overall, the word that best describes A Band Called Quinn’s effort is charming. See for yourself if you like it:
Download here, or RapidShare it and remember:
“Nobody’s gonna do it for you,
No-bo-dy’s gonna do it for you”
Cheers & till next time.
"D.I.Y." video here:
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