(photo: attackinblack.com)

When you live in a nowhere town like mine, it’s a pretty big deal when a local band starts making a name for themselves on a national level.  Not since Honeymoon Suite darkened the musical landscape of the early 80s has a local band garnered as much attention as Attack In Black has these last few years.  Their excellent album, Marriage, was one of the highlights of 2007 for me, and rightfully deserved its spot on the Polaris Prize longlist last year.

Marriage wasn’t the only album they released in 2007, though.  The Curve of the Earth came out as a digital and limited edition vinyl album at the end of that same year, featuring a more low-key, acoustic set of songs in contrast to Marriage’s blend of old school rock and emo-punk.  At the time that I first wrote about them, I said that as much as I liked Marriage I was really looking forward to what they would do next, because like Sloan before them, I could hear the evolution of the music is some of the more pop tracks, and was sure that the best of Attack In Black was yet to come.

I don’t like to say that I was right, but I was.  The Curve of the Earth truly highlights the band’s songwriting chops and is just brimming with amazing acoustic rock numbers like “I’m Going To Forget”.  Not writing about that album was definitely an oversight on my part, but hopefully I’ll make up for it by bringing you word that the band has a new album in the ready:  Years (by One Thousand Fingertips) will be out on March 10th (on Dine Alone Records).  The lead single is “Beasts”, an acoustic waltz-like number that would have been very much at home on either Curve… or Marriage.  Without having heard anything more from the album, it’s not clear if the whole thing will follow the acoustic route, or if they’ll be plugging in and turning the amps back up.  I’m personally hoping for a marriage of the two sounds, as the little synthesized squeaks and squeals on “Beasts” hints that the boys may haven’t lost their edge yet.

Here’s hoping they’ll be some hometown concerts to celebrate the new album.

MP3: Attack In Black “Beasts”
Facebook: Attack In Black
Myspace: Attack In Black

This post started out being a top ten-like list of reasons why you should love Pet Shop Boys.  While that may have made for compelling reading for some, I doubt very many of you would have gotten too far into it.  So I asked myself this question: how you you distill the allure and legacy of Pet Shop Boys in the spirit of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s long, illustrious career as one (if not the) most successful musical duos in history?  The answer was glaringly obvious: you do it in one word.

Since their debut in 1986, each Pet Shop Boys release has borne a title no longer than one single word, each one an insightful and succinct snapshot of what the album therein contained.

Please is a modest and polite introduction to the clean modernist music that would become the band’s calling card, then sophomore album Actually put the world on notice that Tennant and Lowe were no one hit wonders.

Introspective was a look into the burgeoning house music culture and how it could be outwardly projected to the pop music world, and then Behvaiour turned the microscope inward, examining the human condition and why we do those stupid things we do, epitomized in one of my all-time favourite PSB songs, “So Hard”.

Very was quite literally so very Pet Shop Boys there couldn’t possibly be a better title.

Alternative, while not a studio album, was aptly named as a collection of b-sides from all the band’s singles to date, and showcased just how much songwriting talent they had to spare.

Bilingual added a spicy new flavour to their signature electronic sound, with flourishes of latin dance, while Nightlife embraced a new generation of dance and club music.

Release was the first time guitars were allowed to play a significant part in the music, loosening the grip and restrictiveness of only synthesized and processed instrumentation, and then Fundamental harkened a back-to-basics approach after the experimentation of Release.

And now, we have the imminent release of their newest album, Yes, promising some of their best work in over a decade.  The timing couldn’t be better; at the recent Brit Awards, Tennant and Lowe were honoured with the Outstanding Contribution To Music Award, for a career that has spanned more than 25 years,  sold 50 million records worldwide, garnered them 39 Top 30 UK singles.

So, how do you sum up Pet Shop Boys in one word?  Legends.

MP3: Pet Shop Boys “Love Etc.” (from the forthcoming Yes)
Video: Pet Shop Boys (featuring Lady GaGa and Brandon Flowers) at the Brit Awards, 2009  performing a medley of their greatest hits
Facebook: Pet Shop Boys

(photo: Myspace)

It’s been a while since last we heard from Parisians Phoenix, but they often been on my mind.  Their 2006 album It’s Never Been Like That was one of the highlights of that year for me, in particular the track “Long Distance Call”.  Lately, I’ve been taking that disc off the shelf and giving it a good run through, reacquainting myself with their particular snappy brand of rock.  I figured that sooner (rather than later) there was going to be a new Phoenix album, so I might as well start priming for it now.

Earlier this week I made a quick hop over to their official site to get the goods on the new disc, called Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, dropping on May 25th.  First leak from the album is the pretty cracking “1901″ which you can hear just by pointing your browser to their site, and then once there download your very own high-quality copy.  “1901″ is a high-energy rock cut that bodes well for the rest of the album.

MP3: Phoenix “1901″‘
Facebook: Phoenix
Myspace: Phoenix

(photo: Daniel Coston)

When I look back on the posts so far this yer, it strikes me that so many of them have been about already established artists.  There haven’t been too many new artists in the bunch, but that’s about to change when I introduce you to North Elementary from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  I’m all for down-home, unassuming pop that rocks.  North Elementary have that in spades; their songs are bursting with delicious hooks and infectious melodies, but the real treat is the way the band creates a sonic palette that goes beyond just guitars, bass, and drums.  At the start of “Decade Stylin” there’s an odd little toy keyboard riff that unexpectedly leads to a power pop jam.  On paper it doesn’t sound like it should work but it’s these endearing little moments that make raise North Elementary above the fray of their like-minded contemporaries.

John Harrison is the principal songwriter in the band, that actually isn’t all that new.  Harrison has been writing and recording music on his own since the early 90s and was part of The Comas up until 2002 when he turned his attention to those early recording experiments.  North Elementray have been releasing albums and singles that have flown under my radar, at least, until now.  There new album, Not For Everyone, Just For You, came out this week on Eskimo Kiss Records, after sitting collecting dust for two years, according to their press release.  Harrison says that the songs on this album are “80 percent of what I hear in my head, which in the music world is like 100 percent.”  You can’t ask for much better than that, can you?

MP3: North Elementary “Decade Stylin”
MP3: North Elementary “Golden Tigers”
Video: North Elementary “Golden Tigers”
Myspace: North Elementary

St. Vincent has released news that May 5th is the date Actor will take to the musical stage.  The follow-up to 2007’s amazing Marry Me, Actor will feature 11 new tracks written by Annie  Clark and co-produced by Clark and John Congelton.  Earlier this year, Under The Radar spoke to Clark about the new album, and she had this to say about the odd inspirations for some of the new material–particularly black holes and CIA experiments:  “Whenever I’m trying to write, I just read a lot of books, and everything, one way or another, through some kind of consciousness, filters into what I write.  I wouldn’t say anything’s too literal or too obvious or, ‘Oh well, clearly this song is about CIA experiments and shock therapy, but hopefully the colour of the language will show through.”

I’m certainly looking forward to hearing “the language show through” on the first tastes of Actor in the very near future, but for now, let’s take a stroll back to 2007, and revisit what made Annie Clark and St. Vincent such a treat in the first place, and give you a reference point if you’re unfamiliar with her work:

MP3: St. Vincent “Now, Now”
Myspace: St. Vincent

A special congratulations go out to Austin, from Mitchell South dakota, who has picked himself up a handsome Handomse Furs t-shirt by winning last week’s contest.  There’s more chances to win neato-o stuff this week, like the great debut ablum by Ruby Jean and the Thoughful Bee.  Check out the link at the topp of the sidebar to the right for all the details on how to win.