Allow Me To Present: Codeine Velvet Club

{Mar 16}

Doug2000s , , No Comments

It’s exciting for me to say that Balarama Music has done its first interview today with the lovely & talented Lou Hickey of the band Codeine Velvet Club. Huzzah! You should definitely check that out by clicking here. If that band name sounds familiar, well it should. Not only have I referenced the band many times here since I first heard of them in September, but I also ranked their debut album as the third best album of last year (see the rest of the list by clicking here). Now, I’m not writing about CVC simply because Lou granted me an interview. It’s great she did, but I’ve been meaning to write this one for a while. With The Beatles countdown going on, it’s been a little hard to write about other stuff. With that said though, Codeine Velvet Club is a band that everyone should be checking out right now so let’s dive right into them.

CVC is really the collaboration between Lou Hickey (did you read the interview yet?) and Jon Lawler. His name won’t sound familiar to my readers here, but I have talked about his main band many times here before: The Fratellis. My fandom of that band is really how I got into CVC. After discovering The Fratellis, their debut album Costello Music from 2006 quickly became one of my favorites from the last decade and their follow-up Here We Stand from 2008 easily contained one of my favorite songs from the last decade in “Mistress Mabel,” a song I love to cover when I’m playing at open mike nights across Richmond. When I’m a fan of a band, I know it’s weird, but I almost have to stay updated on the band. Whether it’s checking Wikipedia or the band’s webpage, I find a way to stay abreast on any new rumblings from the band. It could be a new album in the works or just a random B-Side being released on a soundtrack; I want to know all of it. I’m just a curious guy like that which is really why this site exists in the first place. Anyway, originally hearing that the band wanted to release two albums in 2009, I was ecstatic. Of course, it didn’t turn out this way, but I kept checking back for any bits of news I could. News of a solo album by Lawler came & went and it wasn’t until a random day in September searching through Wikipedia (I’m addicted!) that I came across three words that would drastically change my iPod for the next six months: Codeine Velvet Club.

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Introducing The Fratellis

{Mar 02}

Doug2000s 1 Comment

I say introducing, but you actually all probably have heard a song from them that was featured in an iTunes commercial (click here to see it). Outside of that, I doubt you’ve heard much. Suffice it to say though, The Fratellis are one of my favorite bands having released two albums since late 2006. Their style is kind of hard to pinpoint, but I would say it’s a combination between Indie Rock, Punk Rock, and Alternative Rock. It’s kind of hard to pinpoint the medium, but when you listen to it, you’ll understand what I’m saying. Anyway, their first album was far superior than their second, but both albums are definitely worth checking out. Songs like “Mistress Mabel,” “Chelsea Dagger,” and “Whistle For The Choir” are the type of songs you can crank up in the car and everyone can jam too. The type of music that makes you realize why music is in fact so great. Definitely check them out. I can’t stress this band enough.

On a lighter note though, I’ll be getting a banner up for this soon so if you want to spread the word, you can put the banner on your MySpace or signature on forums or whatever. Or you could just con your friends into coming. Either way is cool with me!

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