Cling On

Who said you can't rely on Banks in a recession? Interpol vox Paul Banks's solo project Julien Plenti sees fruition with the release of debut album 'Skyscraper' on August 4, so this sneak peak of 'Cellophane' (complete with unofficial DIY montage) should ensure things are kept nice and fresh in the meantime.



OK, that's a wrap.

Family Valued

Got in from work late last night with a head full of cold, so didn't get the chance to see The Chapman Family in Shrewsbury as planned. Your coughing correspondent is hoping to catch up with their live show soon, though, feverish with anticipation after hearing the brilliant demo 'Sound Of The Radio' on their MySpace page. The Stockton-on-Tees outfit are at pains to insist they're not a cult, but what they are is purveyors of a dark, twisted, pulverising guitar sound, not unlike Interpol injected with a fierce, insistent horniness. Family fun has never before sounded so troubling and loaded with equal measures of threat and promise.

Scents and Indie Sensibility

Not that we're shallow enough to buy a mens fragrance on the basis of a moodily-shot B&W advert starring Josh Hartnett and soundtracked by Interpol, of course!

Parallax View Gigs Of The Year 2007

What makes a great gig? The tunes, the chutzpah, the charisma, the company, or the ambience? Or maybe a combination of all those factors? But in 2007, many promoters hit upon a cunning ingredient: just let 'em eat cake...

1. BEESTUNG LIPS! @Supersonic, Custard Factory, Birmingham (July)
2. Rilo Kiley @Carling Academy 2, Birmingham (August)
3. Interpol @Carling Academy, Birmingham (August)
4. Los Campesinos!/Sky Larkin/Johnny Foreigner/Kate Goes @Barfly, Birmingham (March)
5. Mika Miko/No Age @Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham (June)
6. StrangeTime/Cellardoor/Sub Rosa @Actress & Bishop, Birmingham (October)
7. The Cribs @Carling Academy, Birmingham (October)
8. Monarch! @Supersonic, Custard Factory, Birmingham (July)
9. Emily Haines @Glee Club, Birmingham (June)
10. I'm From Barcelona @Carling Academy 2, Birmingham (September)
11. The School @Island Bar, Birmingham (November)
12. Kings Of Leon @Birmingham NIA (December)
13. Maps @Summer Sundae, Leicester (August)
14. The Fiery Furnaces @Barfly, Birmingham (November)
15. The Whip @Summer Sundae, Leicester (August)

Parallax View Albums Of The Year 2007

Kings Of Leon become the first act to get the coveted nod of Parallax View Album Of The Year twice (following on from Aha Shake Heartbreak in 2004) in a year which, on reflection, was of pretty solid vintage.

1. Because Of The Times - Kings Of Leon
2. Under The Blacklight - Rilo Kiley
3. Mens Needs, Womens Needs, Whatever - The Cribs
4. In Rainbows - Radiohead
5. Our Love To Admire - Interpol
6. Let's Stay Friends - Les Savy Fav
7. We Can Create - Maps
8. Neon Bible - Arcade Fire
9. The Dreamer Evasive - Apartment
10. The Deep Blue - Charlotte Hatherley
11. The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse - The Besnard Lakes
12. Grinderman - Grinderman
13. Icky Thump - The White Stripes
14. Knives Will Have Your Back - Emily Haines And The Soft Skeleton
15. Without Feathers - The Stills
16. Widow City - The Fiery Furnaces
17. Citrus - Asobi Seksu
18. A Weekend In The City - Bloc Party
19. The Kissaway Trail - The Kissaway Trail
20. An End Has A Start - Editors
21. I'll Sleep When You're Dead - El-P
22. A Brighter Beat - Malcolm Middleton
23. Myths Of The Near Future - Klaxons
24. White Chalk - P J Harvey
25. The Fragile Army - The Polyphonic Spree
26. Love's Miracle - Qui
27. Watch The Fireworks - Emma Pollock
28. Person Pitch - Panda Bear
29. The Bird Of Music - Au Revoir Simone
30. Wincing The Night Away - The Shins
31. Magic - Bruce Springsteen
32. Hey Trouble - The Concretes
33. Cheap Demo Bad Science - Serafina Steer
34. No Shouts No Calls - Electrelane
35. The Body, The Blood, The Machine - The Thermals
36. Sermon From Exposition Boulevard - Rickie Lee Jones
37. Made Of Bricks - Kate Nash
38. Wait For Me - The Pigeon Detectives
39. Late December - Maria McKee
40. The Secret Sickliness - Piskie Sits

Best compilation: Weirdo Rippers by No Age.

Best re-issues: Dead Men Tell No Tales by Monarch! and Eat To The Beat CD/DVD by Blondie.

As ever, use the comments box to vent your spleen, point out the glaring omissions and/or hawk your blog. Then it starts all over again in 2008 with the release of the new British Sea Power record in the second week of the New Year.

How Are Things In The West Mids?

Interpol, Carling Academy, Birmingham, Monday August 20 2007.

With the autumn of 2007 nibbling at our ankles and chafing our necks, it's perhaps time for those of us with nothing more productive to do to consider who is likeliest to emerge as the finest rock band of the decade. In which case, looking further than Interpol may prove futile. Almost exactly five years on from when their debut was released in the UK, they have now released three albums unrivalled by contemporaries in terms of dark, rich musical textures and lyrical loopiness combining to compelling, addictive effect.

So unless tonight support act The Maccabees decide to arrest their chemistry, Interpol look set to handcuff themselves to destiny and leave British contenders like Arctic Monkeys looking like feeble chancers in comparison. In defence of The Maccabees your chaotic correspondent arrives late in the venue and spends time chatting to the StrangeTime ensemble and Andrew from post-rock outfit Cellar Door rather than visually checking them out, but from what we hear their best songs sound like Interpol but just not quite as good, while their other songs rarely ascend above generic post-britpop indie. In further defence, however, the crowd seem to love 'em.

And what an assembled crowd it it is. Last time your hopeful hack saw Interpol at this very same venue some three years ago it was reasonably easy to get near-ish to the stage albeit from the sides but tonight we're rammed right at the back. Further away we may be, but it has to be said that the sound quality is much improved upon from that 2004 gig when the band finally hit the stage after what seems an interminable wait.

The set, when it comes, has a fairly even spread of material across the three albums, although the bulk of material from the debut is saved for the three closing songs. It's perhaps surprising that only five tracks from the newie 'Our Love To Admire' make the setlist (There's No I In Threesome, All Fired Up and Wrecking Ball all missing the cut), but this could be explained by the fact that it's effectively a warm-up gig before the Carling Festivals shows in Reading and Leeds this upcoming weekend.

What's left, however, sounds tremendous, from the tense opener 'Pioneer To The Falls' through the ominous coda of 'Mammoth' to the now-anthemic brace of 'Antics' favourites - 'Slow Hands'; 'Evil' and 'Not Even Jail'. It's slightly disconcerting to see these troubled and troubling songs being accompanied by a stunning striplight show and greeted with terrace-style chanting and partytime handclaps, and for sure if they continue at this rate of progress Interpol are heading for the (gulp) arena circuit for too long. Perhaps that's a fate befitting the decade's best rock band, however, and there's no doubt they're a group on top of their form right now, with a sound as hard, precise and powerful as titanium thunderbolts to the heart.

The effects of the show linger on long after the lights go up, as an hour later at New Street Station a radiant redhead fan is heard to gasp that her 'knickers are still wet'. Given that they apparently reduced Kate to tears the first time she saw them, it's clear that Carlos D & Co. have developed a surefire knack for distantly stimulating feminine fluids that your befuddled blogger and other mere mortals can only dream of.

FYI: Both Chris Maher from StrangeTime and Andrew from Cellar Door went to school with the bass player from Beestung Lips! (recently signed to Southern Recordings, no doubt encouraged by our rave review of their Supersonic show). So now Papa's Got A Brand New Gig Blag, just say on the door that you were in the same class as the Beestung Lips! bassist and you too will be able to enter the possibly sinister world of the Second City's secret musical society. Our investigations into these matters to be continued...

Half Term Report

Later than usual (and we're usually late) here's the official, exclusive, Parallax View selection of the best albums released for the first time in the UK in the first six months of 2007. To clarify, Editors album which was released on June 25 came under consideration, but the Interpol record, released on July 2 was not (fear not, Carlos D & co., the end-of-year lists are more nigh than ye think).



1. Mens Needs, Womens Needs, Whatever - The Cribs
2. Because Of The Times - Kings Of Leon
3. The Dreamer Evasive - Apartment
4. The Deep Blue - Charlotte Hatherley
5. Neon Bible - Arcade Fire
6. The Kissaway Trail - The Kissaway Trail
7. Grinderman - Grinderman
8. Without Feathers - The Stills
9. A Weekend In The City - Bloc Party
10. Knives Don't Have Your Back - Emily Haines And The Soft Skeleton
11. I'll Sleep When You're Dead - El-P
12. Icky Thump - The White Stripes
13. The Bird Of Music - Au Revoir Simone
14. An End Has A Start - Editors
15. Hey Trouble - The Concretes
16. No Shouts No Calls - Electrelane
17. Wincing The Night Away - The Shins
18. Sermon From Exposition Boulevard - Rickie Lee Jones
19. Wait For Me - The Pigeon Detectives
20. Late December - Maria McKee

With honorary mentions to Piskie Sits and Panda Bear, whose efforts 'The Secret Sickliness' and 'Person Pitch' respectively, just missed the cut.

So did PV exclude your favourite? Splutter your indignation in the comments box provided.

And You Will Know Them By The Trail Of Dead Kenny

The Kissaway Trail/Envy And Other Sins, The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury, Thursday July 12 2007.

We don't often get decent gigs down Shropshire way, so perhaps we shouldn't complain too much when things don't start off on time. But when the posters advertise 8pm doors, it's not unreasonable to ask questions when you turn up at 8.25pm to be told they're not ready yet and could you pop round the Britannia for 15mins while they set things up? Still, not being the complaining sort(!) your correspondent does indeed investigate said pub, settle down with a pint of Youngs's, and sample the best of the pub jukebox to while away the quarter-hour experiment -

Parallax Real-Life Jukebox, The Britannia, Shrewsbury, 12/07/07

Golden Skans - Klaxons
Country Girl - Primal Scream
Pacific State - 808 State
All Around The World - The Jam
Dakota - Stereophonics

Do the best of a bad job there, reckon, so duck and dive past postal workers drifting in off the picket line to wet their whistle and head back to The Buttermarket where the KT standstill is over, the doors are now open but the Caffreys casks are empty so Guinness it is. First band don't make it on stage until 9.10pm and your blackstuff-imbibing hack doesn't quite catch their name but they're from Birmingham, the lead singer is trying his best to sound like Ray LaMontagne, they have a cute cellist and that's about as much as can think of to say about them at this point.

Next up is another Brum-based band, Envy And Other Sins, a stylish quartet picking up a fair amount of momentum at the moment it seems, and the group members seem to have very distinct looks/personalities which may help them in the long run. They peddle a polite form of keyboard driven pop-rock, which while occasionally diverting, only really comes to life in the more rousing numbers that bookend the set. That said, they have the potential to be moulded into a chart-troubling post-emo pop act with the right guidance, and, after all, the green-eyed monster is never far away, n'est-ce pas?

By the time The Kissaway Trail find the route onstage your timetable-consulting scribe is already having concerns about making the last train home, but such anxieties are nearly immediately allayed by the impressively dark pop noise they create. Imagine Interpol and The Monkees exchanging secret sonic handshakes at a mountainside spa resort while The Wannadies tend the bar under the watchful gaze of Wayne Coyne as Maitre'D and you've at the very least taken a mazy meander inside Dead Kenny's imagination if not been given an exact aural interpretation of the wares on offer. If you require something less verbose it's bloody good stuff to bounce up and down to after a few pints of Guinness, with 'Smother+Hurt=Evil'; 'Tracy' and 'La La Song' amongst the standouts. XXX marks your hack's spot sufficiently that he doesn't buy the company as such (relatively old and greying compared to our last Salop gig) but instead resolves to purchase the band's self-titled debut with appropriate speed and elan.

Related link: The Prykemeister's 2005 impression of Moseley's Envy And Other Sins (need to scroll down a little).

Uncool List

First up, congratulations to my brother Mark and his wife Gabrielle on the birth of their daughter, making Dead Kenny an Uncle for the very first time, as Madonna might once have sung. In honour of this occasion, here are some other pressing deliveries...

Russ L on The Spotted Dog's spot of bother.

Ben fills his blogging boots with a Glastonbury 2007 diary.

The new Interpol record is a new Interpol record, and thus a mighty thing of wonder indeed.

Hitflip sent me a nice t-shirt.

Billy Bragg's doing his bit for jailhouse rock.

A new Peter Greenaway film is imminent.

Ambition novelist Nirpal Dhaliwal on Emily Parr's 'David Brent moonwalk'.

Robyn's still blogging. This makes us happy.

Simone Radway is a photography graduate based in Birmingham looking to assist fashion and portrait photographers.

This is where your correspondent will be at this weekend.

?

The new Paul Schrader film, The Walker, opens in the UK on August 10. Looks like a modern riff on his American Gigolo with Harrelson getting Wood-y as a gentleman escort.

Fingerjig is an online typing game (via Graybo)

Still game? Pac-Man's skull found.

West Ham Till I Die is Iain Dale's West Ham diary, getting a reputation for reliable pre-press scoop. This close season has been a little too close for comfort, if you ask me.

Drawing things to a full circle...10 things to do before you die.

Lazy Sundae Mourning

We trust you feel suitably reassured by the news that your humble correspondent has arrived safely back at the Parallax View palatial residence following the excesses of the Summer Sundae sortie. A review of events will be posted in our usual random and vaguely infuriating manner sometime between now and Xmas. Simon, as always, takes an altogether more organised approach and has already uploaded reviews of Friday and Saturday. There's lots of guff and some nice pics over at the 6music microsite to whet your appetite as well.

Just time then to give a brief nod to Doloroso who have risen from the ashes of vaguely interesting turn-of-the-decade types Simian to provide us with our latest Parallax View Single Of The Week - it's called 'Godless', it's due out early September, and it plays like a slightly airier Interpol. With no new Interpol material anticipated until 2007, we reckon this is a good thing.

Rear Window (Part 2 of 2)

In which Dead Kenny casts another anxious look back at his music purchases, this time focusing on August, the month where normally we start worrying about summer's end, but in 2005 we spent most of it worrying if it would ever START.

The Back Room - Editors.

'See What The Boys In The Back Room Will Have', Marlene Dietrich sang in memorably coquettish fashion in the Jimmy Stewart western Destry Rides Again and on the evidence of Editors' debut album the boys in the back room had a closet full of vocal inflections and rumbling basslines misappropriated from Joy Division and Interpol when they weren't looking. A modern production sheen ensures songs like 'Bullets' and 'Munich' have the 'dancefloor-friendly' polish so necessary in the post-Franz Ferdinand era, but more surprisingly the Birmingham quartet prove equally adept at slower, more portentous songs (eg. 'Camera' and 'Open Your Arms') as well as at mustering impressive levels of intensity for the bone-crunching bravado of standout 'Fingers In The Factories'.

Buy it if...you loved the fact that it rained until September.

Clor - Clor.

Hailing from London via Yorkshire, Clor's self-titled debut represents the sound of awkward and wired young men slowly coming to terms with recently-discovered superhero powers and starting to experiment with them through dressing up in dodgy uniforms; facilitating minor acts of compassion and trying to impress the ladies. The irresistible 'Love + Pain' and relentlessly upbeat 'Outlines' are two of the singles of the year, but 'Good Stuff'; 'Dangerzone' and 'Magic Touch' are the sound of these sonic boffins stretching the limits of their powers in enchantingly elastic ways. Possibly the best album released this year that comes with its own linedancing moves: your mother would approve, and sometimes ma knows best.

Buy it if...you're looking for the geeky-uniquey album of the year (that you can throw superhero moves to).

Into The Woods - Malcolm Middleton.

Arab Strap multi-instrumentalist Middleton teases himself into the mainstream with his second solo album, partly what you might expect (self-effacing, downbeat lyrics and copious amounts of swearing), partly what you might not (upbeat, poppy tunes aplenty), but wholly enjoyable all the same. Self-referential opener 'Break My Heart' owes as much to The Pogues as it does to the Strap, and though bears are used in lieu of girls' names in the lyrics, there's nothing fey or mimsy at all about songs as wearily beautiful as the duet 'Solemn Thirsty' or as aggressively defiant as (former PV Single Of The Week) 'Loneliness Shines'.

Buy it if...you're in the mood for a big fucking surprise.

Underdog Victorious - Jill Sobule.

Until the day crossword-loving Canadian singer-songwriter Jill Sobule gets her own sitcom we need to make the most of her winning combination of social comment, gentle satire and fizzing powerpop while we still can. She may be a crazy lady (Jill wears a dogmask, summerdress and trainers in the cover-art) but it would be woof justice indeed if tunes as stirring as 'Jetpack'; 'Joey'; 'Tel Aviv' and the singalong title track continue to lurk under the radar of the public consciousness. Not satisfied simply with these, however, Sobule reveals she loves a girl in uniform with the bonus track, the breezy C&W of 'I Saw A Cop (And She Pulled Me Over)' bringing the dog day afternoon to an arresting climax.

Buy it if...you've still got a soft spot for heavy petting (and Cyndi Lauper).

Never Say Goodnight - The Havenots.

Leicester-based duo Sophia Marshall and Liam Dullaghan (yes, that really *is* his name) may look like an unassuming pair, and their second album is decidedly low-key in its attempts to provide an anglo variant on Americana, but there are enough dark hints of broader sonic influences and lyrical bite to keep you interested. 'My Heart Is Like A Day' shows they can rock out convincingly when the mood takes them, while 'Sweetest Feeling' is achingly beautiful alt.country that wouldn't have been out of place on the last Rilo Kiley album. You may not have heard of them yet, but The Havenots want not for talent.

Buy it if...you believe it's the quiet ones you gotta watch out for.

Capture/Release - The Rakes.

The Rakes' debut represents the exact intersection between The Libertines' decadent chaos; Franz Ferdinand's art-rock stylings and Bloc Party's burgeoning political awareness. The result should be a mess, but producer du jour Paul Epworth helps steer matters into an astonishingly fluid and coherent fusion of moods and sounds that transcends its' component parts. It's a record that celebrates hedonism yet is all too aware of the hangover that must surely follow, made by four young men of above average intelligence, finding their feet and showing the way forward. Result is a contender for album of the year, and nobody was predicting that at the beginning of 2005.

Buy it if...you believe beer and books aren't necessarily mutually exclusive leisure interests. Um, that's everybody, I hope.

Set Yourself On Fire - Stars.

Following on from The Arcade Fire's Funeral, this is another epic achievement from a previously overlooked Canadian outfit, angry and sometimes profane lyrics contrasting with intricately-constructed but devastatingly pretty pop tunes. Opening track 'Your Ex-Lover Is Dead' exhumes then re-ignites The Delgados; 'Ageless Beauty' pours honey down the spine of Lush then licks it off gently; 'What I'm Trying To Say' patiently articulates inarticulacy, 'One More Night' reloads chamber pop while 'Calendar Girl' is a hymn to the hardy perennial ('November, December/all through the winter/I'm alive') that's an appropriate climax to this year's most elegant break-up album.

Buy it if...you believe time is the great healer, but thank fuck there's whisky and rock music in the meantime.

You'll all no doubt be mightily relieved that Dead Kenny bought exactly zero new albums in September, so record reviews now almost up to date. Meanwhile, keep things Parallax View as a weekend linkdump seems as inevitable as avian flu and taxes.

Cook'd and Bombed

Robin Cook RIP. The bearded, gnome-like fellow was a crucial link between the Kinnock and Blair eras, one symbolically severed by his resignation from the Cabinet over the Iraq invasion. A rare conviction politician, then, who will be sadly missed.

Happier news in Editorsland as the Birmingham-based four-piece have stormed to No.13 in the album charts with their debut The Back Room. I've listened to the record about half-a-dozen times now, and if you can get beyond the obvious heavy debts it owes to both Joy Division and Interpol, it is a strong release, with the ferocious Fingers In The Factories perhaps the launchpad for them to forge their own identity much further on the follow-up. Editors will be playing 2pm next Saturday at Summer Sundae.

Just a week away from the start of the new Premiership season, some investors are apparently looking to buy my club West Ham for £70m. However, according to this report the organisation involved have been the centre of allegations in Brazil that they are a front for a money-laundering operation and/or they have close links to Chelski owner Roman Abramovitch...

You may not have heard of the book since Waterstone's pulled all adverts for it following the 'morbid co-incidence' of its' release on 7/7 but Incendiary by Chris Cleave is an essential purchase, even if it's perhaps not the best choice for reading on the tube at the moment. The book takes the form of an open letter to Osama from a young woman whose husband and son were both killed by a suicide bomber inside Arsenal's spanking new stadium, and is funny, provocative and moving, not to say eerily prescient in its description of a panicky and besieged London. It's all far-fetched in one respect, though, as any fool knows the only people to hate the French enough to blow up the Gunners would be the Bush administration themselves...

That IRA statement in full. Twenty Major style, that is.

Blog-Life Crisis. No comment.

Blurry but still Not-Safe-For-Work nipple shot of OC 'hottie' Mischa Barton (via whatevs.org).

MUSIC HURTS. As anyone who's ever dropped their iPod on their toes will tell you.

The Telescopes ready their fourth studio album (imaginatively entitled #4) for September 12 release. Take it from someone who knows: buy the album, skip the live shows.

Finally, Parallax View Single Of The Week is Hold Up by Ladyfuzz, which is the sound of Yeah Yeah Yeahs marinating in Blondie melodies before someone tosses in a hand-grenade containing Jesus and Mary Chain guitar shards. The resulting glorious mess can be downloaded from here.

Oh, and happy birthday to Nadean (no sp) for tomorrow. And congratulations to Holly Hunter on the announcement she's expecting twins at 47. Crazy lady. Nadean, that is, not Holly Hunter, who is, as we all know, a Hollywood actress of some repute.

Sunday URLs

If Dead Kenny's memory serves him correctly (it'd be a first, but stay with us) it's Grandmaster Andy's birthday this weekend, so many happy returns. And even if it's not, and Dead Kenny's wildly wrong, still visit his site anyway for an alternative view of last weekend's Supersonic festival in Birmingham (with pictures!) plus a review of strangeTime's debut gig at Scruffy Murphy's on Friday night. strangeTime feature Fincho aka Kate aka Postman Phill's significant other, who was, according to Donna, going to be wearing 'PVC bits' so Dead Kenny's non-attendance was clearly his loss.

While we're in back-slapping mode, congratulations are also due to Graybo on the news that he is to become a father. In anticipation of the arrival of the mewling infant (complete with bald head and designer shades, natch) Dead Kenny consulted his various multiple personalities on what young Master Spencer's first words might be, and our survey said:

74% thought: Gah!

16% thought: Guh!

5% thought: Too busy to talk right now, got to go to a conference in Amsterdam!

4% thought: Great new Weebl animation!

and just 1% thought:

Fruit smoothies down the nursery with Brandon, Kylie, Apple, Ipod, Nephew Tom Cobleigh and all. Great fun!

Time will tell, no doubt, but that's a funny sort of name if you ask me.

Meanwhile Fluxblog is hosting some rather inspired mp3s at the moment, including Ladytron's 'Destroy Everything You Touch' and the charmingly-titled 'Kirsten Is A Fuck Machine' by a band called Tiger Tunes.

Nevertheless, this week's selection for Parallax View Single Of The Week is 'Ageless Beauty' by Stars, a luscious (and indeed, LUSH-ous) piece of guitar-fuzz pop which you can download for free from here.

Probably the best track I've heard recently, though, is 'Teenage Winter', the penultimate song on Saint Etienne's classy concept-pop album Tales From Turnpike House which contains a line about a character called Eddie who bids for a 1980-81 Subbuteo catalogue, wins it, then 'puts it in a drawer and forgets about it'. This seemed quite timely for Dead Kenny who has recently become a late, late adopter to the online trading craze. Of course, he's only used it for essential items like, um, Ladytron sugarcubes and The Departure fridge magnets, which, yes, you guessed it, he put away in a drawer.

Mind you, Dead Kenny did get his hands on a cheap mint copy of Fisherman's Woman, an album of delectably hushed comedown pop by Emiliana Torrini. And on looking at the lyric booklet, it appears Dead Kenny owes the Icelandic muse an apology, as back in February we poked a bit of fun in her direction for the lyrics 'some things don't change/my middle name's still Liz' on the single 'Sunny Road', when in fact the line should read: 'my middle name's still Risk'. Much clearer now, if only slightly more logical. Milly Risk Torrini, Dead Kenny is truly sorry.

PV does get some things right, however, as we were by far and away the first blog to give a shout out to Birmingham's Editors when we made 'Bullets' our Single Of The Week at the turn of the year, a full week before Zane Lowe followed suit, three whole weeks before industry insiders Music Week blew their trumpet and a colossal four weeks before NME gave them a rather tepid single review. Later today, the band look set to crash into the Top 20 with their third single 'Blood' (their weakest release to date, in Dead Kenny's view, being let down by a clumsy chorus, although the coroscating guitarwork is still in fine working order). Editors seem to have won the PR wars with The Departure to become Britain's pre-eminent Interpol clones, although to be fair to the Northampton lot, 'Dirty Words' sounds more like Depeche Mode's 'Violator' than Carlos D & Co. anyway, and is a cruelly under-valued record.

Turning thoughts more locally, went to see young Shropshire bluesgrass duo The Badgers at The Haygate in Wellington on Thursday night. Some fine guitar-pickin' and a rather lovely cover of Bob Dylan's 'One More Cup Of Coffee' made for an entertaining set (if you'll pardon the pun). Someone called Nonny James from BBC Radio has called them 'amazing' and you won't catch Dead Kenny arguing with someone with a name like that, hey nonny no.

Just slightly better known on the international arena, Bruce Springsteen has granted an interview to Nick Hornby in today's Observer. Amongst other nuggets, Bruce reveals a fondness for Suicide; Pulp; Sleater-Kinney and, perhaps slightly more surprisingly, Keiran Hebden's Four Tet.

And, finally, anyone for dessert?

Half Term Report 2005

Yes, it's that time of the year again (well OK it's a little late, as usual) for Parallax View to stick its' taste thermometer into the raging furnace that is the contemporary music scene, and deliver its' not-that-humble-really verdict on the best singles and albums released in the UK between January and June of this year.

Dead Kenny has listened to more albums than usual this year and so it was tougher than normal to whittle them down to 20. As a result, some pretty decent albums by the likes of Low; Bright Eyes; Willy Mason; British Sea Power; Electrelane and The Chemical Brothers didn't make the cut but are still worth investigating.

Also, Dead Kenny didn't consider those records (eg. 'Woman King' by Iron and Wine, 'History' by Controller.controller) that were neither albums or singles, residing in the hinterland that is EP or mini-album. There were also a few records that were released in the qualifying period but have only been purchased in last couple of weeks (White Stripes, Saint-Etienne, Magic Numbers) that weren't considered as too early to place them in proper perspective with their peers.

As for those that were picked, the most controversial will no doubt be the albums by The Departure and The Others. 2005 saw PV out of step with most online music pundits who seem too busy doing circle jerks over Kelly Clarkson's 'Since U Been Gone' to notice the most promising clutch of new acts to emerge in the UK (including Bloc Party; Clor; Tom Vek; Editors; The Departure; The Duke Spirit and Apartment amongst others who are making music dark enough to be intriguing but tuneful enough to be accessible) for over a generation.

Albums

1. Silent Alarm - Bloc Party
2. More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley
3. Superwolf - Matt Sweeney/Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
4. Funeral - The Arcade Fire
5. Devils + Dust - Bruce Springsteen
6. So Jealous - Tegan and Sara
7. Guero - Beck
8. Take Fountain - The Wedding Present
9. EP - The Fiery Furnaces
10. We Have Sound - Tom Vek
11. Waiting For The Sirens' Call - New Order
12. Dirty Words - The Departure
13. Man-Made - Teenage Fanclub
14. The Heartlight Set - Joy Zipper
15. Face The Truth - Stephen Malkmus
16. S/T - The Others
17. Cuts Across The Land - The Duke Spirit
18. S/T - Ambulance LTD
19. The Secret Migration - Mercury Rev
20. Anniemal - Annie



Singles

1. Portions For Foxes - Rilo Kiley
2. So Here We Are - Bloc Party
3. Krafty - New Order
4. Love + Pain - Clor
5. Evil - Interpol
6. Sugar - Ladytron
7. I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes - Tom Vek
8. Lump In My Throat - The Departure
9. Love Is An Unfamiliar Name - The Duke Spirit
10. 1 Thing - Amerie
11. Oxygen - Willy Mason
12. Forever Lost - The Magic Numbers
13. An Honest Mistake - The Bravery
14. Heartbeat - Annie
15. Fallen Leaves - Teenage Fanclub
16. You're So Good/Rockdove - Joy Zipper
17. California - Low
18. Kings Of The Rodeo - Kings Of Leon
19. Neighborhood (Power's Out) - The Arcade Fire
20. Blue Orchid - The White Stripes
21. Walking With The Ghost - Tegan and Sara
22. Cash Machine - Hard-Fi
23. Munich - Editors
24. Daft Punk Is Playing In My House -LCD Soundsystem
25. Jetstream - New Order
26. I Understand It - Idlewild
27. Spit It Out - Brendan Benson
28. Stay As You Are - Ambulance LTD
29. Believe - The Chemical Brothers
30. Entertain - Sleater-Kinney

Waiting For The Sirens' Call

Ambulance LTD, Bar Academy, Birmingham, Tuesday June 14 2005.

Dead Kenny was still feeling so very tired from the previous weekend's wedding excesses, and so only decided at the last minute to seek resuscitation courtesy of New York's Ambulance LTD on Tuesday night. So by the time he arrived in a hot and sweaty Bar Academy, The Cinematics had already been and gone. Will perhaps have to wait until they come out on video, then.

Indeed, Ambulance LTD were already on stage, although this turned out just to be a soundcheck as they disappeared again for almost half an hour. Still, Dead Kenny relaxed and didn't think about the way they were treating us, instead indulging in a bit of interval crowdwatch. My LTD company for the night were a younger audience than expected, it seeming to be THE gig for sensitive student types to take their girlfriends as warm-up for waving their lighters to Coldplay at Glasto. Either that, or they just couldn't get a ticket to see BRMC (remember them?) who were no doubt being disappointing as normal next door in the main Academy.

Ambulance LTD started things off with 'Yoga Means Union' whose steadily-building instrumental jam made more sense as a live loosener than it did album intro. Next up was new single 'Primitive (The Way That I Treat You)' which may have triggered the bigger-than-expected audience: a shame then, that personable singer Marcus Congleton seemed to struggle throughout to reach the high notes of the chorus. Maybe it was just a touch of nerves, as this problem didn't recur through the rest of the set, which was mainly taken frown their excellent debut album with a 'coupla new jams' thrown in for good measure.

Ambulance LTD don't look, act or sound like a New York band should - only their lead singer could be described as conventionally good-looking and they'd look more at home as the houseband in Roadhouse than in a trendy Manhattan club. Also, rather than stylising their sound to replicate a particular band or period, they suffuse a range of styles (including blues, jazz, rock and shoegazing) into their own distinctive pop blend. Live, they have an unassuming and approachable manner but keep a tight sound and maintain a good-humoured rapport with the audience. This wouldn't mean much without good songs, however, but Ambulance LTD are well-stocked with these, and it was especially gratifying to see album tracks like the lilting 'Anecdote' and colossal 'Young Urban' greeted with as much enthusiasm as the singles 'Stay Where You Are' and 'Heavy Lifting'.

They're a band who'll never be as fashionable as, say, The Strokes, or Interpol, but their songcraft, musicianship and healthy attitude could well see Ambulance LTD achieve a longevity of career and reputation their peers will struggle to match. Try to catch them at Glasto, where they're last-minute additions to the bill as replacements to Cake.

And You Will Know Me By My Trail Of Snot

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, and the slight postponement of the third installment in the Album Review Compendium. This has been partly due to spending a large part of the weekend drowning in a river of my own mucus. The poor cat is still refusing to come down from atop the tallest cupboard in the house until she's sure that the ghastly green ooze has gone away for good. I guess this is payback time for teasing the (temporarily?) departed Robyn about her never-ending litany of minor ailments, as in her absence I am turning into the sickliest blogger on the block.

Still, enough about me: what do you think this is, a diary page? And yet there are still people who ask what it is that Dead Kenny does all day except read the best books, listen to the best music and watch the best DVDs around. The answer, sadly, is plenty, but 95% is pretty dull and the 5% that isn't I'm keeping schtum about until my autobiography (what, you mean you're a blogger without a book deal? How 2002!).

But occasionally my online persona and real life does co-incide, so perhaps you're due a brief account of Friday night when I descended into the bacchalanian brouhaha of Birmingham's beerhalls with Ben and Andy to help console Vicky on the unfortunate misjudgement of buying a ticket to go and see Kaiser Chiefs. Talking of the Chiefs, did you see their witless performance on Popworld on C4? They're not remotely funny and seem to have nothing to say whatsoever: Ricky Wilson & Co. aren't even to fit to lick Damon Albarn's boots, let alone kiss Jarvis Cocker's arse. And yes, I'm only being vaguely complementary (relatively speaking) about the ex-Blur frontman because you have to feel a little bit compassionate about somebody who forms a cartoon franchise to sell faceless, catchy dancepop to unsuspecting kids and...the single can only droop into No. 22, three places behind the third single off the Interpol LP! Put your money on a tearful reunion with Graham Coxon by Xmas.

But anyway, where was I? Ah yes, Birmingham on a Friday night, when I was more full of phlegm than my usual vim, and indeed, vigour, and more bunged up than a Premiership manager with brown paper bags stitched into the lining of his designer trenchcoat. Was greeted at New Street at 8pm by a bevy of (predominantly Asian) babes who were doing a very good job of looking like they were waiting for relatives, but judging on some of their half-expectant glances in yours truly's direction, one suspects were actually there to greet their internet dates. One of those days then, when a crumpled copy of the NME and a room booking at The Burlington might have come in handy.

However, given that I was running late, and that I was feeling hungrier for food than ladylove for once, I headed straight for Burger King where I plumped for a Chicken Royale without 'the mill' option (I mean, who wants salt and pepper on their patty, ffs?). I seemed to be getting quite a bit of attention from the good ladies of Birmingham as I chomped down the cutprice chicken feast, although I realised later that I had overestimated my sexual allure and they were in fact looking at the sliver of lettuce and mayonnaise that had dripped down the front of my coat. Also got a bit anxious about the large gentleman hovering behind me with little regard for my personal space, so I edged away slowly as I'm all in favour of wealth distribution through an intelligently-managed taxation system, but don't want anyone shortcutting things out of my back pocket, thank you very much. He then looked at me in disgust as he indicated via his middle finger that he was merely trying to get a signal out of his mobile phone. Touchier than de-linked bloggers, some people, I tell you.

Moved on quickly to the pub where I spent the time waiting for Ben and Andy contemplating should I ever be fortunate enough to enjoy carnal relations with the foxy mixed-race barmaid, who exactly would be corrupting whom? My higher philosophical musings were then rudely interrupted by my erstwhile online chums who insisted on talking about political and cultural matters, albeit in the lucid and entertaining manner of which I'm sure many of you are familiar. Then moved on to a pub called The Wellington round the corner, which had a fine selection of real ales, where we met up with Vicky (far too attractive to be left in the hands of Scotsmen) and her excitable companion whose credibility evaporated the moment he revealed he was an Aston Villa fan.

I'm sure Vicky will give a detailed review of the Kaiser Chiefs debacle on her website (well, she'll have to, now, won't she?) but she did comment that she'd moved from being somewhere where she was clearly the oldest to a pub where she was just about the youngest. This prompted her companion to suggest we all, um, encamped, to a nearby gay club. Feeling much more in the mood for lemsip than leather chaps, and more determined than ever that the only thing to be shoved up my bum that night was Matron's thermometer, your correspondent politely declined but Ben and Andy responded with such surprising enthusiasm that maybe a turning point in their lives was on the horizon. I would, of course, have followed along with my notebook and cameraphone for blackmail purposes, but my train and duvet beckoned, and beyond that, the veritable flood of nasal detritus that would envelop the rest of my weekend.

So the last word of the evening went to Ben. 'Whatever else you do', he advised sternly after emerging from the gents to reveal a quick change into a rather fetching cowboy outfit*, 'don't write about this on your blog'.

Oh, heaven forbid.

*The real ale may have been getting to me at this point, fact fans.

The Problem Is You're In Love With Someone Else. It Should Be Me. It Should. BE. ME!

First up, congratulations are due to The Departure whose Parallax View Single Of The Week 'Lump In My Throat' scraped into the Top 30 at the weekend, which is pretty good going given the distinct lack of media hype and radio airplay afforded to it.

There were a few possibilities for Single Of The Week for this week (w/c April 11). Dead Kenny flirted clumsily with the idea of nominating 1, 2 Step by Ciara (feat. Missy Elliot) as it's been a while since he got behind an r'n'b track and this song's combination of breathy female singing over ambient electronic bleeping sounds like the stepdaughter of Aaliyah's final album all grown up and dirty. This week also sees Interpol re-exploring last year's 'Antics' by releasing C'Mere backed with a smorgasbord of album track remixes, but it feels a bit lame picking something most of you will be familiar with by now. Also overlooked the brilliant King Of The Rodeo by Kings Of Leon off 'Aha Shake Heartbreak' for exactly the same reason.

All the better, then, to get behind a band that are causing a fair few ripples on the live circuit, the topically-monikered Vatican DC whose four-track ep We Carnival* is a brave stab at translating the neo-punk outfit's live shouty power into recorded form. The standout tracks are first and last ('Smiling Dogs' and the girlfriend-baiting of 'Anti-Social') and this is a record best played LOUD and OFTEN (the ASBO will be worth it, Dead Kenny assures you).

Meanwhile, if you fancy doing some advance bayern, Editors release their second single Munich on April 18th, and therefore huge fan Vicky would never forgive me if I didn't make it PV SOTW for next week. The song starts off with brutal swathes of guitar and never lets up from there, Dead Kenny's only reservation being the band's own insistence that the record is more 'dancefloor' than their fine debut 'Bullets'. This just makes it sound like they've been brainwashed by their record company's marketing team already: we'll be the ones to tell you if you we like to dance to it, lads, OK?

*technically speaking was out last week, but stumbled upon it in a record store in Worcester (don't ask) on Monday: Dead Kenny's website, Dead Kenny rules!

One Swallow Doesn't Make A Summer

And it's with a Lump In My Throat that Dead Kenny delivers this week's Parallax View Single Of The Week. Actually, it's becoming easy to be fearful for Northampton's The Departure, as their pole position to be crowned the undisputed British answer to Interpol is coming increasingly under threat. No longer hip enough to get playlisted by 6music, not quite so tragically unhip (cf Athlete, Feeder) to get playlisted by Radio 1, and to top it all, even their biggest fans can't be bothered enough to get up in time to watch them on TOTP Saturday.

Just as well then that Dead Kenny leaves his fickleness safely in the realms of his friendships and relationships, and far from his music colection. While it may be accurate to finger LIMT as slightly less immediate than The Departure's previous two singles (Top 30 smash 'All Mapped Out' and 'Be My Enemy'), this is a tune with the growth potential of Bird Flu. In fact, if they'd buried the vocals just a touch deeper in the mix and let the astonishing guitarwork take its natural place at the forefront it would even be a contender for Single Of The Year. The yellow 7" vinyl version (with free poster, pop kids!) is naturally the format of choice, while The Departure then follow this up with some Dirty Words, their debut album hitting the shelves on June 20.

Three Is A Tragic Number

The Departure/Cherubs/Apartment, Birmingham Carling Academy 2, Thursday February 17 2005.

With last month's single and live shows Editors were hot off the presses to get brand recognition as the British Interpol. Tonight's gig represents a showcase for three other pretenders to the crown of thorns, as well as for Xfm's new availability on FM for the Brum conurbation. Which explains John Kennedy's appearance as MC to introduce the bands and plug, plug, plug the necessary waveband details. Kennedy's Xposure show is arguably the best programme currently for breaking new indie acts in the wake of Peel's untimely demise, although he does come over on air at times like a middle-aged trendy vicar - surprising, then, that in the flesh he looks much younger than your humble correspondent, albeit a bit chubbier. Perhaps Kennedy's lost his love of life, too much apple pie, etc.

First band on are Apartment, who've recently released their debut single on Fierce Panda called 'Everyone Thinks I'm Paranoid'. But just because everyone thinks you're paranoid doesn't mean that the majors aren't out to get you, and I suspect the band knows this as they throw outrageous stadium-rock shapes despite what is at this early stage in proceedings a half-full arena. The lead singer's got the looks and the guitarist's got the hooks so there's no reason why Apartment shouldn't make lots of money. The fact that their first single is their least impressive song confirms my suspicion that this is a band you should make room in your dark, twisted hearts for.

Cherubs are an Anglo-Norwegian band that have something in common with the other two bands but in truth, with their more basic riffs and catchy tunes owe as much to The Hives and Franz Ferdinand as they do to Interpol, with lead singer Staale's haircut definitely owing royalties to Alex Kapranos' stylist. They put on an entertaining enough show amidst some strong competition but relatively speaking I feel less engaged by their material, although if one of their more infectious numbers gets radio playlisting they could yet steal a march on their more credible contemporaries. A free download of their new single (out next week) 'Club Hoola Hoop's Walls' is available for a limited period only over at NME.

Northampton's The Departure lounge about for forty minutes before coming on stage, and there's no complimentary newspapers either, but despite this they are warmly received by what it has to be said is an incredibly young audience who are mostly all pissed as farts by this point. The lead singer is, in truth, more of a Jim Kerr than an Ian Curtis, but he's certainly not short of confidence, looking far more pleased with himself than any vocalist in a dark, serious rock band ought to. Their singles to date, 'Be My Enemy' and 'All Mapped Out' are both despatched relatively early, again a sign of confidence in their other material which is largely borne out by a strong, energetic and tuneful set. Not that half of the audience are paying much attention at this stage as avoiding several low-flying teenagers becomes the priority mission of the day. Their new single (Lump In My Throat), though, out April 4th, does manage to leave a lasting impression and if it is a case of last man standing between these bands come the end of the year, then The Departure may yet defy the odds and stand toe-to-toe with their 'room-mates' Apartment until the final countdown.

On my way out of the venue, I bump into Ben and Jenni who whisk me off to the Sunflower Lounge for a quick pint before my train arrives. Free entry and a late bar make it a good diversion, and downstairs there's a 20s/30s theme with several studenty types jitterbugging the night away against a period porn backdrop. All very seductively decadent entertainment, therefore, but after spotting someone looking like Fatty Arbuckle in the corner, and vividly remembering James Ivory's The Wild Party (1975), I decide to get my coat and leave B&J to the recquisite flappin' and firkin'.

A Brum Do

It's a sombre time here at Parallax View following the news that Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi has come to the end of the road and we're feeling even more vulnerable now we've lost our Mis-teeq. I know the girls are too modest to admit it but the highlights of their career were surely One Night Stand making Parallax View's 34th best single of 2001 and Scandalous getting 39th best single of 2003 in these same pages. Meanwhile So Solid Crew star Megaman is on a murder rap. Let's hope it's more tuneful than his usual rubbish, eh?

We don't normally like to go for the obvious with our Singles Of The Week, especially if it's a song that has been similarly garlanded by the NME but occasionally there must be exceptions to every rule, So Here We Are. 'Banquet' aside, I didn't think there was anything particularly out of the ordinary about Bloc Party last year, but this final taster for their debut album confirms their place at the head of the table. It's the sound of four anorak-clad lads taking the journey from bedsit miserabilism via C-86-era jangling guitars before speeding up into an ecstatic epiphany of baggy psychedelia. Kele & Co. having done and dusted the 80s within the space of one four-minute song, can we all move along now?

The Duke Spirit clearly seem to think so, chanteuse Liela Moss opining in this Sunday Times interview that “I certainly don’t feel an affinity with music by, say, the Kaiser Chiefs. I hear that ‘ning-ning-ning’ post-punk thing, which was great when Gang of Four did it, or the Strokes, but I kind of feel there’s an overload now. I’d quite like to wave a little flag and go, ‘Do you want a breath of fresh air? We’re wigging out over here.’”. The Duke Spirit's full debut album is now set for release in April. Also slipping further down the release schedules is the third album by Ladytron which is as-yet-untitled and now due in May.

Finally, we need to make overdue reference to the past weekend which found Dead Kenny in the bostin' metro that is Birmingham. First up to catch Editors at The Flapper and Firkin with Ben, where the free entrance ensured an 'intimate' evening for all concerned. We're not saying there was a young audience out that night, but there was a major pre-gig incident upstairs when one unfortunate was on the receiving end of a 'dead leg' by the pool table. Of the supports, Chester Road were suitably loud, energetic and hairy while Needless Alley diverted us into a gratuitous gutter of PJ Harvey-style indie blues and could be worth watching out for. And if it's fairly obvious to state that Editors are the British Interpol at least let's be reassured by the fact that they sound for the most part like Interpol very near the top of their form. And the problem with 'original thinking' like the hapless NME journo who compared them to Coldplay, of all people, is that it makes you like an arse when you are so evidently and comprehensively wrong.

Then your humble correspondent staggered over to a club where the bouncer initially refused entry on the basis that Dead Kenny wasn't 'goth enough' despite his black overcoat and faraway, melancholic stare providing ample evidence to the contrary. He wasn't going to budge even after a cracked 'a capella' rendition of The Sisters Of Mercy's 'This Corrosion' but once assured that Dead Kenny had 'Unknown Pleasures' back at his place he couldn't have pushed him through the entrance quick enough, muttering 'freak' under his breath as he whipped the fiver from his nervous clutches. We dunno, there's no pleasing some people. Inside, there was Phill and Fincho whose plans to look louche and glamourous respectively were thwarted by Dead Kenny bellowing in their ears about Indians In Moscow gigs at Preston Clouds and his refusal to dance unless the DJ played 'You Spin Me Right Round' by Dead Or Alive (the only tune he knows the goth moves to).

Having popped back to Parallax View Towers to avoid the visiting Tottscum support for their cup tie with Albion, Dead Kenny re-emerged into the Second City on Saturday night to sup some beers for a few hours in the good company of Ben, Jenni, Phill, Fincho, AI boffin Andy and the bella Donna. Now, we know what you're thinking; that sounds suspiciously like a blogmeet. But even if it was, and we're not admitting anything mind, it was nothing to do with us, honest guv'nor, so if you weren't invited it's not Dead Kenny but Ben who doesn't like you, or even worse, just plain forgot about you. Got that straight?

Related: Ben explores the Craic and writes a love letter to the Editors while Phill offers his own unique perspective on events.

And are you goth enough to get past a bouncer on a Birmingham gothclub nite? Why, find out for yourself by submitting a photo to Goth Or Not? If you receive 7 out of 10 or more, why not print out the page and take it along with you as positive verification of your Goth ID?

We Start This New Year With A List. No! Wait! COME BACK!

A Happy New Year to all my readers, and firm apologies to those of you still awaiting replies from emails/cards etc. over the holiday period and beyond. Also, I'm acutely aware the book review compendium I trailed on Friday has not yet materialised and I will be working on this as a blogging priority over the coming week to have it posted by next weekend at the very latest.

Dead Kenny trusts that you all managed to negotiate the trial that it is NYE safely and with a modicum of your dignity and bank balance still intact. At the Parallax View party we mostly spent the evening mildly amused with the notion that burying the London Eye in a near-napalm cloud of fireworks qualifies as a 'muted' celebration in the wake of the tsunami disaster. And with the considerable size of her mouth, BBC presenter Natasha Kaplinsky couldn't be muted if you kidnapped her and zipped her up in a gimp mask. But still, less about my fantasies and on with the first Parallax View Single Of The Week for 2005 which goes to Interpol who deliver 'Evil' from their second album 'Antics' for release from today (Jan 3rd, fact fans). Please buy the single even if you've got the album, because there's very little else out this week and I'd love to see them on CD:UK.

And so, because you're weightless, semi-erotic [and] you need someone to take you there, here is Parallax View's cut-and-paste guide to who to listen out for in the UK the first few months of 2005. In some semblance of alphabetical order, then, we start with -

The Arcade Fire - With the likes of The Stills; The Dears and The Constantines, Canada dominated Dead Kenny's headphones like no other nation in 2004. In 2005 they will be mount(ie)ing another challenge with Montreal's The Arcade Fire. They sound unusual, and indeed unusually good, which will be enough to get them plenty of deserved attention in the coming months.

The Beat-Up - Formerly known as The Beatings, and having survived bruising legal hassles and the rigours of building producer Kevin Shields' studio for him, they are finally ready to release their debut album on January 31, by which time their slightly grungy take on garage rock will sound almost as fresh as if it was 2002 all over again. Recent support slots for in-vogue Kaiser Chiefs should help raise their profile; Shields' production talents may provide the knockout punch.

Brendan Benson - While we're all old enough to know that life is very rarely fair, surely there's no-one more deserving of a little commercial recognition than Detroit's pop troubadour. Plus, there's just not enough people in the charts called Brendan these days, don't you think? So go out and buy his third album when it comes out in March, so he can finally go out and buy that meal he looks like he needs. Although, to be honest, we're including him in this selection more out of hope than conviction. Benson and hedges, then.

Bloc Party - The eagle-eyed and frankly slighty scary amongst you may have noticed that Dead Kenny was one of the few UK bloggers to omit BP's slick singles from my records of last year. But I can explain! 'Banquet' was a limited-edition exclusive feast and I was too late to the table, I didn't trouble myself with 'Little Things' and I only listened to 'Helicopter' on a strict rotor basis. However, they were excellent on 'Later'; their new single is lovely, and PV recognises an unstoppable force when it comes into collision with the immovable object that is Dead Kenny's musical preferences. With a good-looking singer, catchy tunes and indie-disco appeal, Bloc Party look set to reshape the indie ghetto into a totalitarian regime of their very own. Anything less than total surrender will be futile.

Kate Bush - After the critics stepped all over her 'Red Shoes' way back in 1993, KB went into a semi-retirement, licking her wounds and raising her son. We've been promised a follow-up for every new year since the Millenium but finally there seems concrete evidence that the album has been completed and is ready for release, possibly in March although PV doesn't recommend holding your breath until at least the autumn, by which time The Futureheads will no doubt be looking for new songs to moider. It had better be worth the wait, but given Kate's track record it almost certainly will be.

The Duke Spirit - If 2005 doesn't uncover Leila Moss as the great star she undoubtedly is, our loss will be greater than hers. If the band can go anywhere near recreating the dynamism of their live sets their full debut (due February/March) will be one of the significant releases of the year.

Hard-Fi - With its' ska-inflected electropop, new single Cash Machine (out on the 24th) is so painfully January 2005 it'll put a hole in our wallets and provide the Don Letts-approved Staines massive with a veritable licence to print money.

The House Of Love/The Wedding Present - Who needs The Beatles and The Stones? With the mid-to-late-80s surely due for some investigation by young bands looking for a new angle, these veteran outfits have surely done the smart thing by reforming in anticipation of the inevitable veneration. All Dead Kenny now needs is for The Popguns and The Edsel Auctioneer to reform and he can then die (again and again) a happy blogging caricature of a real person.

Ladytron - Nearly two years since Parallax View declared them Britain's Best Pop Band Ever(TM), Liverpool's latest favourite moptops look set to enjoy more mainstream recognition following their signing to a record label (they rock, they're on Island) finally able to lever them into the playlists where their hard and shiny electropop belongs. Ladytron's long-awaited third album hits stores and online shopping emporia(?) in March.

The Long Blondes - Three boys, two girls; self-confessed dandies who profess to Roxy Music as their chief influence, making pop music that sounds more to me like The Photos than anything else. Developing nicely, then.

Mylo - Slightly unsavoury-looking Scottish bloke whose simplistic, sample-heavy brand of dance music provides the missing link between Paul Hardcastle and Moby. Not a Parallax View favourite, then, but looking most likely to 'do a Snow Patrol' and crossover to a mainstream audience in the early part of the New Year on the back of year-end critical plaudits and a surfeit of record tokens in the hands of the frankly clueless. Be afraid, very afraid, then as album 'Destroy Rock'n'Roll' looks set to be worryingly ubiquitous in 2005.

Anyone you think I've missed? Let me know. I haven't forgotten about Kaiser Chiefs, I just couldn't think of anything remotely interesting to say about them, which I know doesn't stop me normally, but this is the New Year after all. And I've omitted The Others as a token gesture of fickle disgust at the shoddy lyrics of their new single 'Lackey' (released Jan 17).

Lambast me if you will for not being too controversial in my choices, but compare and contrast with this month's FHM which predicts the five big albums of 2005 will come from The Darkness; Coldplay; Dr Dre; White Stripes and Oasis. I know that if Nostredamus was alive and well and working for a big publishing company he'd probably have enough foresight not to work for a magazine with such limited shelflife future, but honestly, I know quadraplegics who go out on more of a limb than those guys. Stick to the glossy pics of pop strumpets in their skimpies in future, fellas, and leave the music predictions to those with more neck than anorak, like yours truly, Dead Kenny.

This post is 'so over' and out.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It

There are some single releases this week, but given that it'll take pitifully few sales to chart, what Parallax View says to these artists is this: shoo away now and don't act so desperate in future! Which is the cleaned-up version of what many barmaids have been telling Dead Kenny for years.

And so, we need to look a little bit further in the future to find our Single Of The Week. Fast forward then to January 24, when Birmingham-based four-piece Editors spit out the heavily-tipped 'Bullets' for their debut release.

Their publicity people say: 'Editors exist to challenge perceptions and preconceptions, hence the name. Taking the fractured hopes that are the mainstay of life in the modern world as a starting point, the band’s songs tread a line between the some time futility of life and the constant possibility of redemption and better times.'

Parallax View says: 'Editors clearly know good copy when they see it, hence the name. Taking the clanging guitars; rumbling bass and terse-vocals-that-speed-up-at-moments-of-critical-tension of Interpol as a starting point, the band's song treads a fine line between plagiarism and inspiration. If they can display a bit more of their own personality in time for the release of their debut album, there's a strong possibility of redemption and better times ahead.'

So yes, it's derivative, but with no fresh material from Carlos D & Co. expected in 2005, this should keep indie-disco people decadently flicking their assymetrical haircuts in time to the persistent hookline until something more original comes along. Parallax View Single Of The Week, then.

Meanwhile, Dresden Dolls drop in for tea and biscuits on Tom Robinson's Evening Sequence tonight on 6Music. Show starts at 7pm UK time.

STOP PRESS: Jumpin' J Jonah Jamieson! Stub out that stogie and get a load of this! Editors to play hometown gig Friday 28th January at Birmingham Flapper & Firkin!

[You're fired-Ed.]

Parallax View Albums Of The Year 2004

Definitive. Maybe.

Although it may not quite qualify as a vintage year (who can really tell at the time?) 2004 was probably the best year for new music during the Parallax View era (our mewling infancy began January 2001). It was a poor year in terms of innovation, but a great time for modern leftfield folk music and for the first time for nearly 20 years it was possible to be cool while remaining defiantly and unapologetically indie (so long as you remembered to bring your tunes to the anti-party). We were looking for a new Morrissey album, then we got a new Morrissey album, and heaven knows we're miserablists now: even if his comeback album's fine tunes were hamstrung by lyrics following ever decreasing circles, in his wake followed bands unafraid to exhibit the dark corners of their minds while plundering hooks and basslines from the bands of their fathers.

And so, in 2004, locking yourself in your bedroom, dressing in black and muttering dark thoughts to your even weirder pals on the internet was the new going out. Perfect timing then, for Kings Of Leon to clean up at the end of the year with an astonishing second album bristling with misanthropy, xenophobia and a barely-disguised self-disgust, ferociously growled in a language seemingly all of their own. Tourbus tourette's and sexual degradation never sounded so intense, dirty, desperate and fun.


1. Aha Shake Heartbreak - Kings Of Leon
2. Logic Will Break Your Heart - The Stills
3. Bows And Arrows - The Walkmen
4. A Grand Don't Come For Free - The Streets
5. Antics - Interpol
6. Nino Rojo - Devendra Banhart
7. Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus - Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
8. DJ Kicks - Erlend Oye
9. Blueberry Boat - The Fiery Furnaces
10. No Cities Left - The Dears
11. The Power Out - Electrelane
12. Shine A Light - The Constantines
13. The Concretes - The Concretes
14. Rubber Factory - The Black Keys
15. American Whip - Joy Zipper
16. Soviet Kitsch - Regina Spektor
17. Liars - Todd Rundgren
18. Margerine Eclipse - Stereolab
19. Chutes Too Narrow - The Shins
20. Uh Huh Her - P J Harvey
21. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
22. The Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls
23. Tasty - Kelis
24. Riot On An Empty Street - Kings Of Convenience
25. Thunder Lightning Strike - The Go! Team
26. Hot Fuss - The Killers
27. The Milk-Eyed Mender - Joanna Newsom
28. Together We're Heavy - The Polyphonic Spree
29. Stealing Of A Nation - Radio 4
30. Rejoicing In The Hands - Devendra Banhart
31. Trampin' - Patti Smith
32. Our Endless Numbered Days - Iron and Wine
33. Sonic Nurse - Sonic Youth
34. Whiskey Tango Ghosts - Tanya Donelly
35. You Are The Quarry - Morrissey
36. Deep Cuts - The Knife
37. The Empty Room - Dawn Of The Replicants
38. Seven Swans - Sufjan Stevens
39. Lesser Matters - The Radio Dept.
40. Now Here Is Nowhere - Secret Machines

Parallax View Gigs Of The Year 2004

1. PATTI SMITH, Birmingham Carling Academy (June)
2. Morrissey, Reading Festival Main Stage (August)
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs/The Locust/Devendra Banhart, Birmingham Carling Academy (April)
4. The Fiery Furnaces, Birmingham Bar Academy (February)
5. The Polyphonic Spree, Birmingham Carling Academy (November)
6. The Rapture/The Von Bondies/Franz Ferdinand, Birmingham Carling Academy (January)
7. The Shins/The Duke Spirit, Birmingham Carling Academy 2 (March)
8. Interpol, Birmingham Carling Academy (December)
9. The Stills/The Walkmen, Birmingham Carling Academy 2 (April)
10. Todd Rundgren, Birmingham Symphony Hall (July)
11. Joanna Newsom, Birmingham Glee Club (November)
12. The Dresden Dolls/Noblesse Oblige, Birmingham Medicine Bar (December)

Hmm...that's gotta be a few crates of gratis lager Carling owe me, surely? Biggest regrets of the year were Rickie Lee Jones cancelling her show at the Alexandra Theatre; not being able to sort out a hotel to go to see Kings Of Convenience in Manchester because of clashing with the England football game; Tanya Donelly choosing just to do one midweek gig in London to promote her new album, and missing an opportunity to go see The Black Keys live.

Full reviews of the above gigs are available in the archives, please use the search engine on the sidebar menu.

RELATED: Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of The Year. Best list I've seen this year so far, I think. Hopefully, I will be delivering Parallax View's own Top 40 tomorrow night.

Untitled

Interpol/Secret Machines, Birmingham Carling Academy, Thursday December 16.

As going on the internet impersonating Creepy Lesbo is the latest fastest-growing online trend, we will be making our own modest contribution to this meme by reviewing the Interpol gig in the rambling, sex-obsessed, self-deprecating style (whotchamean, no change there, then?) of our stalking sapphic heroine. Amusingly (?) adopting this style recalls my many letters home to girls during my college years. Ladies, hasn't my swearing improved?

Creepy marked this effort as 4/10 and apparently I must do better by inserting a greater number of masturbation euphemisms and adding copious references to frottage and rabbit-petting.

In another reminder of the fact that under the influence of alcohol, Dead Kenny's brain operates entirely in the present tense and as such is fully occupied with thoughts of drooling lechery at attractive members of the opposite sex; bouncing up and down to loud rock music and looking for opportunities to take a pee, I feel I must refer you to Ssh...You Know Who for a more detailed review of this particular concert. Ben manages to give you something approaching a setlist, as well as a few technical observations, all pretty impressive for someone who didn't appear to be in possession of a notebook from what I can remember. Maybe my mind was once that organised but I just can't remember?

And so, two (count 'em) hangovers between then and now, I will try to give you a brief summary of my own fractured recollections of said event. Before the gig, Ben and myself met up with The Cable Guy (tall, with the amiable faze-free air of Dylan from The Magic Roundabout, and the 17th best mini-golf player in the UK) and his girlfriend (Natalie Portman from Leon all grown up) for a quick pint before entering the venue to find that Secret Machines were on earlier than anticipated. I can report, however, that their last three or four songs sounded pretty good, climaxing in a rousing rendition of 'Sad and Lonely'. According to my close friend and confidante General Hubbub, the band won quite a few new friends that night, who will be following their future career with keen, kohl-shaded eyes.

Despite what seemed to be an enormous number of people in the venue (certainly in comparison to recent shows by The Polyphonic Spree and Amy Winehouse) getting served at the bar was so ridiculously easy it was almost enough to make you giggle (although, of course, being a jaded fortysomething I refrained from such undignified behaviour). Either the Academy have sorted out their staff rotas better, or all those PJ Harvey fans back in September were a thirsty, alcoholic bunch. With there being such an amount of free space at the bar, and me being the worst kind of old soak, I bullied poor Phill into having another beer with the sort of boggle-eyed belligerence that causes casual acquaintances to avoid eye contact whenever ale is around to be easily consumed. If in twenty years time, Phill is found red-faced and cursing incoherently from the confines of a cardboard box round the back of Corporation Street, it'll all be my fault, but of course I'll be scattered ashes over the gardens of the Shrewsbury Crem by then, so I'll be free of the guilt at last.

Anyway, enough digression (you can tell I've not got much on this afternoon, can't you?), as I feel I ought to at least make an attempt at constructively reviewing Interpol. Now, you can argue with my assertion that they're the best new rock band in at least ten and quite possibly as much as the last twenty years, but you'd be quite wrong and I wouldn't really want you to embarrass yourselves in the (semi)public domain. Whereas when Interpol first came onto the scene, many hacks had lots of fun playing 'spot-the-influences' on debut album Turn On The Bright Lights, two years on they all just sound like 'Interpol songs' to me, as distinctive and irreducible a sound as any of the all-time greats. The smouldering brilliance of second album Antics now gives them a track record to lay a genuine claim to have transcended many of their antecedents and peers (The Guardian, for one, can fuck right off with their 'Sad Strokes' sobriquet) . The portentous opening song from that album, 'Next Exit', kicks off proceedings here too, its striking splendour just about distracting the audience from Paul Banks's ridiculous hat that makes him look like Van Morrison's less bellicose younger brother.

We got reasonably close to the stage, but at the far end from Carlos (looking as haughtily camp as ever in a black waistcoat) and so the bass didn't seem quite high enough in the mix for the full rumbling resonance we know from the records. Somebody throws a record at Daniel Kessler (maybe with all his gurning they thought he was a zombie from Shaun Of The Dead and were aiming for his head?) which he autographs and throws back out (presumably wasn't Love Over Gold, then). I'll be straight out honest, I couldn't see the drummer from where I was.

The set seemed quite heavily loaded with songs from the first record, so I was quite surprised to learn from Ben that his on-the-spot ready-reckoner calculated 80% of the songs from the new album were indeed performed. What was the music like? It was Interpol, fer fuck's sake, they were brilliant, now stop bothering me, I've only got six shopping days left to complete my haul of discount beer! But if you must have specifics, my favourite moments from the set were a robust 'Not Even Jail' from the newie and 'PDA' from the debut whereupon Daniel and Carlos appear to be contemplating having sex with each other during the beatific climax.

One of the pleasant side effects of the show clashing with Kings Of Leon at the Civic was all the KoL fans boarding the train at Wolverhampton, including two Shrewsbury stunners who sat opposite me, much to the good General Hubbub's murmured approval, dressed in matching grey military jackets. Discarding my natural reticence in engaging conversation with complete strangers on public transport, I politely enquired as to whether they were Libertines fans. Why yes, they replied, how did you guess? (Erm...) Given that they were two very attractive girls, sisters indeed, one fair the other brunette, seemingly unattached, KoL fans and doing a pretty impressive simulation of being interested in my ringing endorsement of the latest Black Keys record, I decided to believe them when they said they bought their military jackets long before Pete Doherty did (or at least, this fact was less important to me than it was to them).

Indeed, bearing in mind their love of the Followill clan, I was just getting ready to enquire as to whether they fancied loaning me their toothbrush and bartending my party, when the familiar sight of Telford Central loomed on the horizon and it was my time to get off (or not, as the case was). Still, no doubt their response would have been as convincing as my argument that the fat old bloke sleeping on the train smelling like he was pickled in a vat of his own pee was in fact more rock 'n' roll than the rest of the train carriage put together. Well, you've got to stick up for your mates, haven't you, and General Hubbub's had a hard life, I can tell you (and so will he, if he should ever need the price of a cuppa tea next time he sees you in New Street cafe).

I don't know, at this rate, I'm not going to have this season's must-have Kings Of Leon accessory, the pustulous limited edition STD, in time for Xmas...

Parallax View Singles Of The Year 2004

45 45s from the year when pop and r'n'b was mostly rubbish, and indie rock came back to the rescue with some diverse and memorable records.


1. The Bucket - Kings Of Leon
2. The Rat - The Walkmen
3. For Lovers - Wolfman ft. Pete Doherty
4. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
5. Tropical Ice-Land - The Fiery Furnaces
6. Baby You Should Know - Joy Zipper
7. This Is For The Poor - The Others
8. So Says I - The Shins
9. Unconditional - The Bravery
10. Lost In The Plot - The Dears
11. Single Again - The Fiery Furnaces
12. Jessica - Adam Green
13. Milkshake - Kelis
14. Johnny Cash - Sons and Daughters
15. Stumble And Fall - Razorlight
16. Mr Brightside - The Killers
17. Slow Hands - Interpol
18. The Black Keys Work - Erlend Oye
19. All These Things That I Have Done - The Killers
20. Trick Me - Kelis
21. You Can't Hurry Love - The Concretes
22. The Letter - P J Harvey
23. Formed A Band - Art Brut
24. First Of The Gang To Die - Morrissey
25. Freakin' Out - Graham Coxon
26. Fit But You Know It - The Streets
27. Stan Bowles - The Others
28. Lola Stars And Stripes - The Stills
29. I'd Rather Dance With You - Kings Of Convenience
30. Two Thousand Places - The Polyphonic Spree
31. Changes Are No Good - The Stills
32. There She Goes (My Beautiful World) - Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
33. At The Hop - Devendra Banhart
34. In My Bed - Amy Winehouse
35. Long Time Coming - Delays
36. Ashes - Embrace
37. Absolute Affirmation - Radio 4
38. 10am Automatic - The Black Keys
39. 1980 - Estelle
40. You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve - Johnny Boy
41. Heartbeats - The Knife
42. Cuts Across The Land - The Duke Spirit
43. Be My Enemy - The Departure
44. Clean And Neat - Cathy Davey
45. Celeste - The Rocks


For a slightly different perspective, Vicky is currently running down her favourite 18 singles of the year on a daily basis on the countdown to Christmas. And a damn fine selection it is so far, as well, including The Duke Spirit, The Stills and The Knife, amongst others. All this, plus musings on that great 80s sitcom 'Dear John' amidst some pretty generous linky-love.

Love In The Time Of The KoL Era (and other album reviews)

Last year's release of Kings Of Leon's Youth and Young Manhood was greeted with the wild and ludicrous praise that it was the best debut album for 10 years, but while it had some good tunes, it was essentially straight-down-the-middle redneck rock repackaged for Strokes fans, the presence of mysterious mentor and co-writer 'Angelo' and its' ready-to-go commercial slickness producing an album that was more admirable than genuinely loveable. Their follow-up Aha Shake Heartbreak feels less like a bespoke greatest-hits package and will therefore fare less well commercially, but compensates with a raw edginess and a variety of mood sadly lacking in their debut.

Much has been made of the fact that a few of the band members lost their virginities (and gained some nasty STDs) between the two records and yet the best songs here are seething with the anger, frustration and indignation one associates with young men who simply aren't getting enough. While its true that the lyrical content is a little preoccupied with the hazards of tourbus ennui that have blighted many a nascent band in the past, this new attitude seems to suit the boys and it's like witnessing their true personalities finally emerge outside the original Angelo blueprint. 'The Bucket' is gloriously stroppy while 'Kings Of The Rodeo' comes closest to the catchiness of the first album while still coloured by their newly-discovered 'sang-froid'. They even find time for a bit of yodelling, and amazingly pull it off on what must be considered one of the best albums of the autumn season.

I won't be able to catch the live Kings Of Leon experience at Wolves Civic Hall on December 16 as it clashes with Interpol at the Carling Academy where Secret Machines will be offering support. Seeing their album Nowhere Is Now Here for a cutprice £8.99 in Virgin I decided to invest, and indeed, investigate. The record contains just eight tracks but none could be described as filler as each song has something interesting to offer, even if some occasionally outstay their welcome. People are making comparisons with the likes of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, and there's certainly more prog influences than is normally healthy for a first album, but the band they reminded me of most was none other than mid-90s pompous gothrockers Mansun, and occasionally The Boo Radleys at their most indulgent. There's a lot to like about the record, which has some considerable tunes aboard, but I found it a little too polite and well-mannered for my personal taste. Maybe it'll all make a little more sense in the live arena.

Now Mansun and The Boo Radleys are just about the only two major British indie acts of the last twenty years that Canadian outfit The Dears don't at some point sound like on their breakthrough record No Cities Left. I can't quite get enough gist of the lyrics to find out quite what's giving lead singer Murray the hump, but this is certainly one of the best records for wallowing to in living memory. Sounding alternately like Morrissey and Damon Albarn, the cumulative effect is similar to Radiohead in the way the vocals are very much used as part of the instrumentation (There There, My Dears, if you will). If that sounds a bit indulgent then fuck yes, it is: no smoking jacket is required to listen to this record but it probably helps. It's music for reclining to on a sofa with a bottle of sherry in one hand and a fistful of chocolate fingers in the other: come the spring, you'll want to slap this record around the face and tell it to get out more, but only after you've done the same to yourself. A cautious recommendation, then.

Finally to Fuckin' A by The Thermals which I inexplicably neglected during my last album review compendium. The Thermals were the last great new band I discovered while listening to Peel, and this rapid-fire sequel to 'More Parts Per Million' has been greeted with some disappointment that the DIY production ethic of their debut has been displaced in favour of a more layered, nu-metal, MTV-friendly sheen. I think this is a little unfair: the band still sound like they're performing inside a cupboard, albeit one with a few nice new shelves added and a touch of polish applied to the hinges. That said, there's little new in evidence from the first record, although at its best (eg. opener 'Our Trip' and 'A Stare Like Yours') there's sufficient sound and fury to remind me why I got so excited and energised by the band on their debut.

The Links Effect (aka Verbaan but not Verboten)

Nerdfilter - the community blog for weirdos like you.

ScaryDuck's Kate Winslet story - features sex, fags, booze and, as you might expect, melons.

Six Reasons Why The Dresden Dolls Should Suck...But Don't.

Radio 1 chart show host Wes Butters gets the bullet. Don't mean to kick a bloke when he's down but he *was* throwback shite.

Kurt Vonnegut quotes - some funny, some wise, some sentimental: a pretty good precis then of the Vonnegut oeuvre. (via LMG)

Oh Anne Heche, We Knew You'd Be Back.

Les Lives! Good to see West Ham's keepers aren't entirely useless.

Marguerite Moreau, the cute one from Runaway Jury, is Easy (requires Quicktime, possibly NSFW, via Off On A Tangent)

Nath gets carried away by the Dizzee Rascal live experience.

Secret Santa 2004 is here.

Ben finds a decent boozer in Birmingham. And speaking of Brum, take a look at this 360 degree view from The Big Wheel (via Danger! High Postage!)

In the week when people have visited the site looking for scans of Myleene Klass in Loaded (NSFW), and Wild Things star Denise Richards in Playboy (NSFW), my preference goes to these pictures of Dutch soap star Georgina Verbaan (incredibly NSFW) (via relicious).

And finally... was very impressed with Bloc Party on Later With... Jools Holland last night, they'll be worth checking out on the NME tour next year alongside The Killers; The Futureheads and Kaiser Chiefs. Interpol were on customarily good form too (even if the lead singer seems to be slowly morphing into Neil Young physically) providing sharp contrast with fellow performers Keane and Elton John.