Gilded Creatures – Spiridon
Similar artists: Modest Mouse, Built To Spill, Wild Nothing
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
People who have no regrets about the past and about the way that they’ve lived their lives would find it very hard to be artists. No, it’s not true that artists must be subjected to great suffering in order to create great work. But without a bit of venomous regrets, the only songs that would ever get written would be about the postmen, the bakers and the traffic wardens.
Gilded Creatures’ music sounds like the songwriters’ vehicle for unpacking and processing the past. Not all of the details of it have to be pretty. Talking about it must hurt a bit. But, after all, the great songwriters are just people who get really good at making their therapy sessions public knowledge and laying a beat underneath it.
Gilded Creatures’ “Spiridon” sounds like indie-rock poetry of regret. With the dramatic vocals on full display, it’s easy to confuse the song for a ritual of helping the past appear fully formed before the artist’s eyes. However, the equally dynamic instrumentation is put in place to suggest that seeing what happened is not the same as changing it. Gilded Creatures have a lot to work through, but it is powering an interesting musical direction.
The Vaniers – Faces
Similar artists: The Fratellis, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, The Clash
Genre: Pop Rock, Garage Rock, Alternative Rock
The marketing teams behind musicians and singers would love to have you believe that their artists could simply not stop their inevitable success. Phrases like “the music industry came to them, not the other way around” are often used. But they’re untrue. Nobody becomes famous against their will unless they end up in a highly popular internet meme. The Vaniers are chasing indie-rock glory and know exactly what they hope this will get them.
It’s only natural that musicians ought to keep up with the times and attempt to put their stamp on trends. Don’t you think Jimi Hendrix would’ve played guitar solos on modern pop records? Wouldn’t John Lennon have just loved producing rap artists and working with Pro Tools?
The Vaniers’ “Faces” is a modern indie-rock jingle with punk-rock propulsion. It’s equal part modern single material and early 2000s Camden indie-disco. It is designed to be sticky, easy on the ears, and present the listeners with an immediate dose of the musicians’ personalities. You should know whether you like The Vaniers from the first bars of this song.
