Ultrapost: Ragazzi, MIA, You Say party! We say Die!, the Five O'clock Heroes...

Ragazzi - Weekend: I was introduced to this band thanks to Chris at Uncritical when he posted "Ends" last summer. This song is new-wave synth pop at it's best, played by five guys who resemble Gary Numan. Weekend has priceless post-industrial lyrics coupled with a heart-wrenchingly-refrained-from-fist-pumping melody. In fact the whole album, Friday, seems steeped in dreamy post-industrial frustration and melodic refrain/sustain.. Like the song Ends (click to download), where the chorus succinctly deconstructs working class: "you sleep and wake up, you have your hair cut, you go out voting, yeah that's working, the home I live in, the wife and children, these are the things that can make me feel in love!" over the most intense synthesizer workout you're likely to hear in your life. The album also saw some superstar guests, Erland Oye literally phoned in his parts on The Partner and japanese musician/ex-geisha/photographer/vogue columnist Hanayo appears on Call and reply. The composition of this album was also aided with unbelievable production from Mario Thaler (producer for the Notwist and Lali Puna).
Click here to visit ragazzi's exciting website.
Click here to buy this cd from Schnitzel.

You Say Party! We say Die! - Apocolypse Meow: Nothing beats a post-apocolyptic joycore love song done by an artsy bike gang (I assume they ride bikes) from Abbotsford BC. Nothing except maybe one that's longer than a minute forty-nine seconds. The sincere naievety of the lyrics remind me of the nineties, but in a good way. This song's like Kathleen Hanna doing a cover of a Portishead impersonation. Maybe that's why I like this song so much, that and the rickety synth rythm easily finds a place in my heart.
Click here to visit You Say Party! We Say Die!'s website.

The Five O'clock Heroes - Head games: Title track from the debut LP of the Five O'Clock Heroes. Reminds me of The Jam, but not too much, not directly. Just enough that I'd play this song next to "In the City" in a DJ set or something. I saw them play in the basement of the Lit in New York about a year and a half ago and it was one of the 3 best shows I saw in 9 days, and I took in at least 20 bands. Yeah, the Five O'clock Heroes are awesome and I think they're touring the UK right now. In fact they are, Here's the dates:
March 25 Fri - Glasgow - The Barfly - headline show
March 26 Sat - Coventry - Colosseum (Groovy Garden) Club Night - with The Rakes
March 27 Sun - Stockton On Tees - Ku Bar Club Night - with 10,000 Things and The Paddingtons
Five O'Clock Heroes - Run To Her: Okay let's post another song. They recently released this as a 7" on Glaze records, you can probably find it in a store in the UK, or at their shows. Piccadilly Records is all sold out.
Click here to visit the five o'clock heroes website.


And in related news...
Aziz Ansari - MIA Story (featuring Eugene Mirman): I always held that a person knows they've made it in life two ways: you get assasinated, or you get parodied. Parody is usually a better option. M.I.A. has made it, Eugene Mirman gives a stellar performance, having me convinced he was MIA in this "experimental" comedy piece. It's obvious that's how MIA would behave when confronted by Ex-Onion intern, Aziz Ansari (they have a lot in common) outside the knitting factory. Seriously, this is funny.
Click here to visit Aziz Ansari's website.