Pete Doherty is dead.

Finally, that stage seems past, and we at 20jfg breathe a sign of relief. We missed out on the ‘fantastic early Liberties explosive gigs’ that everyone was talking about, and just got some sort of English Strokes the NME so desperately needed.

The real point is this:

No longer does every single UK band want to be the Libertines!

Ok, easy target.

But you have known this for a long time….

Influences like Les Georges (r.ip.:(, The Knife, Liars, Lightning Bolt, Animal Collective, Unicorns, Deerhoof, Test-Icicles, Wives/No Age and many others (i’d add Klaxons too), forged a new generation bringing genuinely interesting sounds to music, with Lastfm’s most increased listens including unlikely loud heroes such as Marnie Stern and Health.

P2p networks, file sharing, music blogs, myspace, online magizines, myspace growing up in clubs like Trash were djs like Rory Phillips dared to take risks, podcasting, online record shops like Piccadilly, has all given rise to bands and fans alike out on a limb, not encumbered by the wish to be radio friendly or even able to play. Even if John Peel’s voice is not on the radio anymore, his spirit is still here with us in our own virtual world, the new medium, we all hail the new flesh.

Late of the Pier are getting a lot of attention in the blogspere for good reason: they are a party band in the best sense of the word, having as much fun on stage as the audience.

We particularly enjoy their lack of stage fright for theatrical eccentricities, and fast flipping of genres.

Gary Numan is given a sense of humor while prog rock becomes 8-bit, all with no fear of getting loud, scary and dirty.

Off the Record has their latest single Bathroom Gurgle on Moshi Moshi and as Late of the Pier will get in a bidding war, get signed, develop more sing along a sides for the radio – here is to the genius silliness of the b-sides. The Bears Are Coming is a tedy bears picnic in the woods with early The Knife before Tom Waits arrives to be chased off by Pac-Man and quite worthy of Sparks on Kimono My House.

Late of The Pier – The Bears Are Coming

Let’s hope they keep making them that way.

Bolt Action Five want to sound like Big Black and Nine Inch Nails the same as Test-icicles did Anthrax and The Blood Brothers……so as you would expect from uk indie kids it all fucks up and the guitar solo gets played on a casio from Oxfam while the otherwise Danzig chorus muscles down to suite us 9-stone geeks just fine.

The lyrics about the fantastic early cgi (or was it animated gifs?) real life RPG tv game show Knightmare “Welcome Watchers of Illusion, to the Castle of Confusion!”.

We recon both ourselves and every other nerdfest reader out their could have a great conversation with Bolt Action Five. The Phil Oakey speaking bit in the middle of Tree Friend Foe slays us every time.

Knightmare brought obviously inarticulate picked on at school teens to your screen and asked them to communicate with each other for their own survival! It was torture, but simply enthralling, and we would like to think thats how Bolt Action Five were brought into being – helmeted and unable to communicate except through, erm, song?

Bolt Action Five – Tree Friend Tree Foe

We are all out here as listeners with a different taste to what the mainstream radio and record companies provide. You wouldn’t be reading this if you were not one of us.

It’s good that we have some home grown uk fun, instead of letting all you over the water have all the good bands while we get Libertines clones. It’s not the NME that is the enemy, or even supposed ‘hyped’ bands like the Klaxons (cos we know the hipsters love to judge) – but complacency.

I see a global change around the corner though.

Lastfm is to start publishing it’s hype charts (Link to the guardian article) and that means listener generated content, straight to record labels.

This is going to mean what you listen to and scrobble will effect what the record companies choose to release.

We were considering a flashmob type event to get Black Dice hyped to number 1, but we don’t recon they would appreciate it.

As we type the Terrestrial Tones mix of a Panda Bear song is in the Hype Machine most listened to chart, and that’s just patently ridiculous, but bloody brilliant.

For a while the flux will swing in a time of confusion and maelstrom to rejoice in – so enjoy it while you can hey!

This is a great time to live in for music and we cannot wait every day to see whats round the corner.

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This post is tagged with bolt active five late of the pier prog