Rising Stars 2007 Part I

UK is spawning an army of meteoric bands in recent years. 2006 saw Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks and Klaxons rising to stardom. The current scene is like a relay race, the baton is being passed from a band to another. Who will be the next? My bet is on Air Traffic, Pull Tiger Tail, The Maccabees and The Pigeon Detectives.

Air Traffic is named one of BBC's Sound of 2007's top 10 artists, and they are described as 'the next anthemic British pop-rockers to come hurtling down the middle of the road'. This piano-led, indie-rock quartet have been making waves since the release of their debut single 'Just Abuse Me'. Having picked up by EMI, the band is expected to achieve some mainstream success soon. Their previous 'Never Even Told Me Her Name' EP proved that the band has definite potential to offer some melodic pop gems, the title track was a lovely piece with clinking pianos and jangling guitars that gets me singing along. Originally a B-side to 'Just Abuse Me', but 'Charlotte' is so irresistibly good that it will be released as a single on 26th March. Full album is planned for June release.

Air Traffic - Never Even Told Me Her Name
Air Traffic - Charlotte

Pull Tiger Tail grabbed my ears with their strong debut single 'Animator' released last year. With frontman Marcus Ratcliff's unique vocal and catchy chorus, the song is totally addictive. Worth to mention, the band used to share a house with British new darling Klaxons. Their ex-housemates have been topping charts and winning awards, I am sure it won't take long for PTT to make bigger and better things. The band just got signed to B-Unique records which is also home of Kaiser Chiefs and The Automatic. They will be releasing their new single 'Let's Lightning' under the new label on 26th March, no details yet on a full album.

'L'animateur', a French version of 'Animator' was featured in the first single. Apparently, the song was written entirely with the use of an online language translator and one of the band member's A-Level knowledge of French. I don't speak French, but it is nearly as good as the original.

Pull Tiger Tail - L'animateur (Demo)
Pull Tiger Tail - Let's Lightning

To be continued...