"we want the resurrection…if we can reach you"
Now for the younger crowd. NY: The Next Wave delivers bands that might be the next tier down right now, but not for long.
Beginning with Sea Ray, the new-wave Brit pop (with cello and warm undertones) brings you right back to St. Elmo’s Fire and the catchiness of the eighties. The dance-punk-funk of the Flesh is up next, with a sexy groove that feels sleazy in all the right places. Awek is rock with wonderfully distorted vocals and layer after layer of guitar attack that brings the Strokes to mind.
Aerial Love Feed is pure Billy Idol, with the grooving bass lines, powerful slurring voice, driving beat, swirling guitar work, and crescendo-ing chorus that that implies. Mazing Vids is dirty rotten punk with some extremely primitive tribal beats. Four Volts slows it all down with a well-crafted, Portishead/Mendoza Line–influenced tune. Bastion brings the mood right back up with a perfect pop song of twirling loveliness that feels like New Order is on tap.
Which of course, leads us to the retro eighties cornucopia of stellastarr*, who don’t disappoint with the Aha-influenced "Homeland." Blue Sparks give us a rocker with tones of Television and Echo in it; Hot Socky is just a fun ol’ rock band.
Mommy and Daddy sound like the B-52’s on coke, with grinding bass and screamed bullet vocals. The Boxes are Blondie updated and crossed with rockabilly. Elefant is a band to keep your eyes on— imagine Interpol with Bowie on vocals. Rogerhumanbeing is amplified "Boys Don’t Cry" quickly morphing into teen punk (or as Chris Rock put it, "a mediocre Green Day").
Oxford Collapse is Talking Heads–meets–Sonic Youth; Shorebirds mix psychedelia-laced blues and sixties bass-dominated rock, with a groovy Raveonettes vibe that sounds very, very good. Winding up the CD is Electro Putas (whose name I’m not going to translate) with an electronic voodoo dance of feedback and chirps that, strangely enough, seduces.