Pale Young Gentlemen
The internet is so brimming with bands and suggestions, I am forever letting things slip past by mistake. I remember hearing the name Pale Young Gentlemen a year or more ago when they released their self-titled debut album. I never followed up on it, not because of lack of interest, more because my musical time has become so crowded and when the brain gets a bit full it tends to act like a sieve, leaking various random pieces of information, never to be remembered.
Well, not quite. I happened across them reading Another Form of Relief the other day and listening to Clap Your Hands, it does echo somewhere back in the depths of my memory, so it’s not quite gone yet. Anyway, they have a new album coming out in early October, and as soon as I am able to offer a sensible opinion I will be reviewing it*.
It’s odd though, just as I have started saying that I am getting a little bored by the incredible ubiquity of whimsical indie folk, awash with orchestration and instruments and drawing heavily from a combination of old folk and cabaret, here comes something in exactly that vein which is just brilliant. What’s the difference? Well I think that irrespective of your relationship to the genre or style, and no matter how jaded you might become, good stuff is still good stuff.
The other thing is that I don’t think these guys are too pushy. They do incorporate a lot of the aforementioned influences into their work, but there’s a laid back, gentle pop sound to a lot of their other stuff which ends up being more important. It’s more about the overall feeling than the arrangements, I think.
I await their album with real interest, and will be buying their previous one as soon as I get paid.
Pale Young Gentlemen – Clap Your Hands
Pale Young Gentlemen – Crook of My Good Arm
MySpace | More mp3s | Website (with webshop)
* Yes, yes, ‘we could be waiting a long time, then’. Ha ha you fucking comedians.
These are particularly good. Me & Nikolai’s a good roustabout tune. There are (probably subconcious) nods to The Decemberists & that whole of Seafaring/Broadway Pop vein throughout the s/t LP, but they have the chops to stand out. Check the archives, we’ve played quite a bit of them over the last 18months or so.
Yeah, not sure how they slipped through the net the first time, but I guess there’s only so much you can take in at once. As I said, I’ll be getting their previous album once I scrape together the pennies to do so..
Hey, these are right good. You sir are on a roll lately.
Good of you to say so old chap, I thought I’d been struggling a bit for musical excitement recently.
Yup, I was in the same boat about these – they got in touch about a year ago and while I liked them, they completely slipped through. Thankfully they are persistent with PR though!
Huzzah for well-done music, regardless of genre. Thanks for introducing me to these folks. I’m not a big fan of self-obsessed, ultra-sensitive indie bands, but these guys are a whole lot of interesting.