Let Downs

E.S.G. is one of those bands that only started getting any sort of recognition after the group's breakup. Since I wasn't alive when they were around back in the late 70s and early 80s, I obviously cannot say how popular they were, but I get the impression that they weren't getting asked to sign to a major label.
But then along came the Liars who sampled one of their songs for a piece of theirs (yeah -- I forgot the name ... ), and then James Murphy started talking about them a lot, and then they were big big.
Personally, I have to say I never really got the group. They were fun, funky, energetic ... but I always felt like their stuff was sort of in between styles. Sometimes it sounded like they were edging on something George Clinton would do, but at others, it seemed like Run D.M.C. was producing them, and -- this will sound racist -- I'm not used to that sort of diversity in black music. If you do rap, you do rap, and if you do funk, you do funk (sorry -- disregard that if you want).
The group recently got back together and recorder a new, rather short album. And yeah, it's bad. Listen to "Everything Goes" and be surprised in a depressing way.
On a much better note, I would like for all of you to know that OOIOO is coming out with a new album, Taiga next month. Such a cool band. For those of you who don't know them yet, OOIOO is Yoshimi, of the Boredoms' side project band. They're rather into Japanese folk and drum circles and that sort of thing ... they've got a very organic feel to them, which I think is the biggest difference between them and the Boredoms (also, they're all girls). So that should be fun ... (they're actually playing a few shows with the reunited E.S.G. in Japan).

The Wombats is a neato little three piece from Liverpool. They are most definitely pop, but they've got this dark side to them ... like if Interpol was a poppier band. I dunno -- something like that. Check out their MySpace page!
And lastly for this installment ... Erlend Oye has a new band, the Whitest Boy Alive. I really don't like that name much -- I would feel a little embarassed casually mentioning them in a conversation -- but they're a pretty good group! Unlike Kings of Convenience, these guys are a tad more high energy (not much, though). They've got a pretty wicked bass, and I love that sort of crisp, melody-carrying guitar. Oh, and they add in plenty of swooning electronics and effects and such. Check out their MySpace page as well!

E.S.G. - Everything Goes
the Wombats - Little Miss Pipedream
the Wombats - Derail and Crash