The Twang - 'Wide Awake'
So, the pressure's on. 2007's great indie hope has released their debut single. Backs of necks are being braced for the goosebump apocalypse which must surely follow, bloggy fingers are being stretched in training so that the words "OMG!" and "AWESOME!" can be bashed out at record speed whenever the song is on the radio, and tattoo parlours are practising the logo in preparation for a drunken rush after concerts.
There's just one problem. This song. Quite why the NME is getting in a massive tizz about a band who seem to musically aspire to be nearly as exciting as Hard-Fi is beyond me. It doesn't seem fair on them as much as anything else. Cos it's not like they're doing anything amazing with their chosen musical genre - the late '80s Madchester scene - so why make claims that they're AMAZING, when they're just ALRIGHT?
The band have recently claimed to be mystified as to why old journalists are comparing them to '80s dance-rockers the Happy Mondays. And this seems fair. After all, they sound far too much like Flowered Up (look them up!) to be true Mondays copyists. This, by the way, is not a glowing endorsement. Flowered Up had a man dancing in a big flower costume, after all...
There will be people who see any dismissal of this band as an act of class warfare, or a failure to really GET what THE KIDS are INTO these days. But in the wider scheme of things, the Twang have none of the clanging fury of a true people's band like Oasis, none of the wit of those Arctic Monkeys, none of the raging creativity of Klaxons and only half of the passion of the View.
So, unless they've got other songs which are AMAZING, this is gonna be over before it starts...
Released: March 19th
(Fraser McAlpine)
Comments
Have you got ears made of wool?
Fool. Stick to your TV show about a psychiatrist and his dad, and quit trying to be clever about music, you obviously aren't.
[I am! I've got certificates and EVERYTHING! - Fraser]
I'm 16, so I know what kids like, I'm not old enough to go to a gig, but I've heard this on radio 1 and I like it. Everyone likes it at my school.
I don;t usually write on these, but I don't agree. I hope it gets to number 1
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