
Futon Blonde – Tight
Similar artists: Radiohead, quickly, quickly, Grizzly Bear, Beck
Genre: Indietronica, Indie Rock
The band manager asks, “How many guitars can you fit on the tour bus?” The band members answer: “Oh, I don’t think we’ll use those very much.” The manager replies: “Well, you’ll need a few, at least, to get your pictures taken.” The electric guitar doesn’t always have to take centre stage in a band’s production, but it certainly looks good.
Futon Blonde are an indie-rock band with an experimental streak that challenges the role of the traditional guitar-bass-drums setup utilised by most classic bands. They are not the only ones to do so. In fact, rock music that focuses on sound textures and carefully designed electronic elements comes closest to offering a fitting soundtrack to this Modern Age. Still, it’s hard to explain the very idea of a rock band to someone without assuring them that guitars will be present.
Futon Blonde’s “Tight” surfs the mobile-phone city pavements of the world with the confidence of a spy out on a mission. This sounds like the music made by a million computer keyboards typing in unison. It’s clever electro-rock music, reminiscent of mid-period Radiohead, and flown across the world on the back of vocals that transcend easily into falsetto vocals.
Sylvan Paul – Cool Girls
Genre: Post-Punk, Indietronica
The internet offers anyone all of the tools required to become famous. Technically. This logic works in much as the same way that you could argue that the lottery offers anyone all of the tools required to get rich. Sticking out is not easy, and being judged as weird takes a lot of commitment. Hopefully, Sylvan Paul doesn’t have to do much to either stick out or to be considered odd.
It may sound like a trivial thing, but it is, well… everything. I was recently driven to tears by the comment left by internet user and, supposed, guitar virtuoso. They were decrying the state of the world in which such a talent like themselves could not become famous while playing flashy solos, wearing cargo pants and being overweight. I grieved. Oh, well.
Sylvan Paul’s “Cool Girls” sounds like late 1970s post-punk music designed with patience and knowledge that TikTok was an inevitability. It’s a minimalist, sinister approach and begs for powerful visuals to accompany it. Fortunately, should you possess a working imagination, you can work those out in your own mind. But the point remains: Paul is unignorable.