Mornington Crescent (part 2)

Part two of an advance guide to bands playing this year's Camden Crawl, hopefully interesting even to those in Portugal, Israel and, er, wherever else you may be from. With loads more announced and less than two weeks to go I'm going to have to step this up slightly.




Website
Myspace
One of those bands that I've heard of quite a bit but never quite been bothered to actually listen to before, put of by a presumption from other coverage of their music being worthily intellectual and uninvolving stuff. And there may be some truth there, but their visceral sound, a kind of post-rock with added clattering electronic beats, actually makes for much more enjoyment and less chin-scratching than I imagined. Not quite a convert yet, but rethinking prejudices just a little. Worth checking out.



Website
Myspace
Never heard of these before at all, apparently currently supporting Jack White's The Raconteurs. On the basis of the two songs on their Myspace, they play inoffensively upbeat but forgettable retro-rock, reminding on Set Me Free especially of The Zutons' slower and less good songs. Forgotten them already.


The Aliens
Myspace
Containing a couple of ex-members of The Beta Band, debut single Robot Man's funk does remind of them in a couple of places. It also sounds like it was knocked out in a few minutes which leads to both its initital charm and its outstaying of its welcome. Perhaps explains the lack of a proper website too. Forgotten them already.



Website
Myspace
Shouty Welsh pop-rock widely tipped for success this year, Raoul made the top 40 recently just about and their number of songs which are also catchy as anything suggests they'll soon improve on that. Nothing to excite me much though and People In Planes are doing the same thing better (and are winningly listed as an influence!). Could be much worse.


Captain
Myspace
I forgot that I had already heard of Captain but I think that must be more due to the name than any fault at all on their part. Sounding somewhere roughly between Delays and The Crimea, they play sunny, harmonic pop with just a hint of darkness and noise to keep things interesting. Recommended listening.



Website
Myspace
I think I'm going to get very tired of this kind of thing by the end of 50 bands - utterly unoriginal and lumpen retro-rock which reminds of The Ordinary Boys before they decided to try ska. Learning that they've supported Babyshambles and The Paddingtons comes as no surprise at all. Credit to them for making all their songs to date available for free on their site, though. Avoid.