Some of the Others

OK, so I'm not going to go through every Summer Sonic band, because frankly, I don't intend on seeing them all.

So here's a few bites of other bands that we may stumble upon...

3OH!3

I'm posting the Colorado boys' old hit, only because I really can't stand the new one with slurry pop girl, and I've already posted the teaser track from the new album that's been absolute ear worm this year. So yeah, maybe we'll hang back for a few tracks to represent the 303.



Pavement

OK, so I know I'm supposed to like Pavement and be all hip to their cult status and the impact they've had on music, etc, etc, etc...

The problem is I never really got into them. I mean I've heard of them, heard of Stephen Malkmus, but you'll notice if you peruse this blog that my taste in music doesn't really reflect what was big in the mid to late '90s here in the States. That goes for most of the grunge bands, and what followed.

My ears belonged to Europe and Asia at the time, and it was significantly much more upbeat on either side of either pond. Which suited me just fine.

So maybe this will be an opportunity to discover a band I should have listened to the first time around. Or maybe I'll be catching...

A-Ha

...instead. I mean if this is Pavement's reunion tour, then isn't there some value to the 80's Nordic popsters' farewell tour?

The real question is what do A-Ha fill a farewell tour with? Everyone knows Take On Me, and there was the follow-up video on MTV when the drawn guy runs around the real world. And I think they did the theme to one of the lesser Bond flicks.



Apparently they have more songs. And this is it -- Not that I was ever too concerned about missing them the first time around.

Thirty Seconds to Mars

That Jared Leto can really emote. So maybe it'll be neat to see the theatricality that is Thirty Seconds to Mars.



I don't know if I can take so much pseudo-angst. But I bet they know how to work the stage, and the music can be catchy.

Jay-Z

So he may be the big headliner, and plenty of people have told me he's been the highlight of many a festival lately. But hey, it's not really my cup of tea. Not to mention he's playing at the same time Calvin Harris is doing his DJ set and electronic masters Orbital are getting all techno on other stages.

And I bet he doesn't have Alicia Keys along to sing about New York.



Nas, Richard Ashcroft, The Offspring, The Smashing Pumpkins (and others)

The best part of a festival is that there's a little bit of something for everyone else, no?

Two Door Cinema Club

The neatest part of going to a music festival, especially when there are already plenty of bands you know, is the discovery of new things you might like.

Later this summer we'll be hitting one of the Summer Sonic days in Japan. Filled to the brim with up-and-coming musicians we've had on our radar (Orbital, Hurts, Delphic, Passion Pit, Calvin Harris and 3Oh!3 among others), the festival is already having a spillover effect on our iPods.

Take Two Door Cinema Club, for instance. Were they not playing on the same stage as some of the above, they may not have gotten our attention just yet. Effusive and likeable, this Northern Irish group is proving to be a nice frothy summer addition to the ol' iPod.

Something Good Can Work


Undercover Martyn


I Can Talk


Fittingly, they also have a cheeky little lushy tour of Japan they've posted up...

House Party

I'm gonna have a HOUSE party in my HOUSE....

OK, so it's not Pablo Neruda territory, but it's insanely catchy. And if you're going the college dude anthem route, it's probably as close to poetry as you'll get.

So that's my lame excuse for the ear worm that is 3Oh!3's teaser for their new album, appropriately called House Party. The fun little NOT AT ALL SAFE FOR WORK video doesn't hurt either.



Shame their album's actual lead single with the dollar sign slurry girl isn't nearly as good.