MySpace Mystery Tour, Again

This time, we kick off with a local band who I stumbled across via Facebook, strangely. They are from Dartford in Kent, where I went to School, and despite this, they don't suck.

Okay, so Post-Rock bands are getting a little more commonplace, but CODES IN THE CLOUDS do one of the better Explosions In The Sky impressions I've ever seen. Their debut single "Distant Street Lights" could be on any of EITS's albums and I would never have noticed the difference. Some would say this is insulting, and it is to a point, but they do seem jolly good for a band that are still (essentially) on the toilet circuit. The guys are signed to British indie label Erased Tapes.

www.myspace.com/codesintheclouds

One of their top friends, THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, even have a song named "Cracks in the Clouds". This Newcastle based group have a slightly less derivative sound, but I fear that may only be because I don't know enough about post-rock. Related more closely to Múm than their countrymates Sigur Ros, their stuttered electronica also reminds me of Four Tet's less awkward moments and Low's subtle and dark stylings. However, none of this hides what is essentially some fantastically poppy arrangements that have me torn between declaring these guys a collective genius or just being a bit too try-hard and pretentious.

http://www.myspace.com/thebritishexpeditionaryforce

From here, we come across Danish indie-pop in the form of EFTERKLANG. Like Architecture In Helsinki but without all that really annoying stuff that happens when they actually play a song, you know, the music bit. "Caravan" is about at atmospheric and orchestral as this sort of stuff gets, but its a wonder why no one has ever done before. My guess is they tryed and ended up sounding too much like The Arcade Fire for anyone to notice. In fact they've released two albums and the name does seem a bit familiar; one of these bands that something like the London Lite interviews because they are vaguely on the cusp of being massive but are also a bit leftfield - only not quite enough to offend their readers.

They are currently touring North America and have an absolute shitload of UK festival appearances lined up over the summer. Probably worth a go.

http://www.myspace.com/efterklang

I clicked on a link called RUMRAKET, which sounded as if it was going to be a boy-girl duo who combine hard house samples with live percussion based around smashing their heads against dustbins and possible each other. Luckily, however, it appears to be a burgeoning (although with a large roster and many releases to their credit) Scandinavian record label - in the same way that Ed Banger are to French House, Rumraket is to Northern European Indietronica. They've even got Amiina, the string quartet who play with Sigur Ros and US Hype band Grizzly Bear signed up, and are actually formed by the previous group, Efterklang.


Now I'm off to see if they've got a label sampler for sale...

http://www.myspace.com/rumraket