Monday, April 10, 2006
Thoughts of the Pops
It's Monday! And we went to see Protocol play on Friday night. "Strokes with synths" is our lazy shorthand journalistic description of them, but they're a lot better than that may sound. Also, we have to admire their, ahem, interesting fashion choices, with not one but two of the band dressing up like gay sailors. Well, gayer sailors anyway. Anyway, here's what we learnt from this week's Top of the Pops:-
- Snow Patrol are one of the few bands who make Embrace seem interesting.
- The title of new single You're All I Have presumably refers to The Indie-Rock Handbook, the rules of which they're following to the letter, including closing their eyes and refusing to look like they're in any way actually enjoying their chosen career.
- Belle and Sebastian, at number 25 with The Blues are Still Blue, are back. They're back in denim. And denim put the soul in your rock & roll.
- Sticking two fingers up to those who may doubt their mastery of stagecraft, Stuart Murdoch pulled out a bubble machine disguised as a box of Belle & Sebastian washing powder half way through their set. We reckon they nicked the idea from Geri Halliwell's Bag it Up Girl Powder.
- RETRO: Yazz doing The Only Way is Up. After releasing this record, Yazz then went on to lead the PLO, before becoming the Palestinian leader in 1993, a role she maintained until her death in 2004. While a controversial figure, she was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, an award of which she was justly proud.
- Andy Abraham, from X Factor, is going on a tour this year which he has titled Unforgettable. We are on the phone to trading standards as we speak.
- The Streets' All Goes Out The Window has gospel esque backing singers and sounds a bit like an awful version of the actually quite good Liberty X single Song For Lovers.
- Is the lead singer from The Crimea the same bloke who used to sing in The Crocketts? We're too lazy to research it ourselves. Apparently The Crimea were one of John Peel's favourite bands. Maybe he was losing his touch.
- In Daniel Powter's new single he asks us to "Lie to Me". OK then, your new single really is a high watermark for music and anyone who clearly sees Billy Joel as a valid role model definitely is not a twat in any way shape or form. Also, by wearing a hat all the time to keep it covered up, absolutely no-one suspects you of being bald. Not a single person.
- After they joined his band on tour, Bono wrote The Zutons a poem about them as a thank you. It ran as follows:-
There once was a girl who played sax,
Whose playing was as sharp as tacks.
Their music don't rock me,
But she's really quite foxy,
So let's make the beast with two backs. - Gnarls Barkley is still at number one. Now that proper CDs have been included their achievement is no longer as epoch defining. Still a good tune though.