ARTIS T S TO WAT CH
[ON RO TAT ION]
DAVID MA
WHY WE LOVE THEM Too many electronica bands get stuck recycling weird noises until their songs sound more like R2-D2 monologues than music. The Naked and Famous use the modern aesthetic to create rousing anthems that will be still be enjoyable to listen to once the electronica craze has run its course. They’ve mastered the trick of using contemporary styles to create a timeless sound. FOR FANS OF MGMT Passion Pit M83 The xx ONLINE thenakedandfamous.com
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THE DROP
NOV/DEC 2013
retrospect, the success of a band like The Naked and Famous was inevitable. Their formula is so winsome, so “can’t-miss” in its indie-cool precision, that they’d have to be complete musical dolts to mess it up. Fortunately, the New Zealand quintet is made up of anything but dolts. Their debut album, Passive Me, Aggressive You, won seven New Zealand Music Awards, and they were nominated for the BBC’s hyper-prestigious “Sound of 2011” poll. Now the band is back with In Rolling Waves, and it follows the same format as their debut: coy, sing-along boy/ girl vocals, anthemic dance beats and just a hint of fuzzy dissonance. It sounds like Trent Reznor producing an MGMT cover of an xx song, and while it is excellent, it doesn’t sound like a severe shift from their old work. Although the surface may sound the same, bassist David Beadle tells us that the guts are different. “It’s not a different direction,” Beadle says.“It’s a more mature way of writing. Lyrically, [Passive Me, Aggressive You] was a lot more universal, whereas on this record, it’s a lot more introspective. It’s about discovering things for your own self. I guess it could be looked at as exorcising demons. Or just getting something out of your system. It’s good to just write things down sometimes.”
IN
Typhoon White Lighter An 11-piece band that sounds pretty and nuanced, not noisy.
Houndmouth From the Hills Below the City Desperately good southern rock and roll with a sensitive side.