spoil the surprise

We Are Scientists are by far one of my favorite bands. Not only for their amazing music, but for Keith Murray and Chris Cain’s comedic value. They had their own tv series with MTV UK and are often hilarious guest interviewers at the NME Awards (worth checking out on youtube).

We Are Scientists are set to release their third album Barbara on June 15th. Not plans yet to tour in the Bay Area, but hopefully something will be scheduled soon. Check out their newest songs, Nice Guys and Rules Don’t Stop.

Not sure why there are suddenly a few bands on the radar that have ‘Rabbit’ in their name. It’s kind of like all the ‘The’ bands from a few years ago, although potentially more limiting in name. I definitely think all bands are worth checking out – Frightened Rabbit, Pepper Rabbit and White Rabbits.

White Rabbits are going to be at Coachella, but doesn’t look like they plan on stopping in San Francisco. Frightened Rabbit is playing at The Fillmore on May 19th. Pepper Rabbit is playing at Milk Bar on April 7th for a free show with RSVP.

Frightened Rabbit

Pepper Rabbit

White Rabbits

White Rabbits “Percussion Gun” Music Video from White Rabbits on Vimeo.

The NME Awards, founded by the British music magazine NME, are an annual music awards show. Think a much cooler, hipper version of Spin Magazine. These are the bands that are already big in the UK but are just starting to come to the States – which translates to them playing small venues here in San Francisco. Mumford and Sons was just at Popscene a week ago and luckily, The Big Pink is coming to The Great American Music Hall on March 10th, La Roux to The Fillmore on April 15th and The xx opening up for Hot Chip at Fox Theater on April 16th.

Was going to focus on the winner, but worth checking out all the bands…

Best New Band
Winner: Bombay Bicycle Club
Nominated: The Big Pink, Mumford & Sons, The xx, La Roux

Bombay Bicycle Club

The Big Pink

Mumford & Sons

The xx

Iglu & Hartly is one of my favorite bands to see live – their energy is infectious. They describe themselves on their myspace page as, “Hip Hop / New Wave / Pop” – a unique combination these days. The band met while at University of Colorado and have since found more success outside of the US which has them spending a lot of time touring the UK. Luckily they will be making an appearance at Coachella.

Arctic Monkeys are by far one of my favorite bands of the past few years. Their debut album ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ became the fastest-selling debut album in British music history. They are touring the US around the time of Coachella so keeping a close eye out to see if they make it to San Francisco.

I saw their first SF show and they stated that when they wrote this song they never imagined they would ever come to San Francisco.

My favorite album of 2009 was Jack Peñate’s Everything Is New. He co-headlined with Miike Snow (see yesterday’s post) and at the time I wondered who was big enough to co-headline, instead of open for, Miike Snow but by the end I had forgotten who I had come to see.

I recently caught A Decent Animal at Rickshaw Stop.  It is surprising that this local San Francisco band has not made it big yet. Although they only have one EP and a few smaller albums, their sound is unique and they put on an awesome show. Check them out.