Friday’s Finest is back on ICM once again. The weekly feature alongside It’s All Indie, Turtle Tempo and Nexus Music Blog, highlights the latest tracks we’ve been digging albeit old or new. This week features The Taboos, Boy Pablo, Voodoo Bandits and Paris Youth Foundation (pictured above). Find out more below…
It’s All Indie: The Taboos – ‘Innovative Thinking’
The Taboos earlier on this month dropped their latest anthem, “Innovative Thinking”, which is their first tune out in 2020 and follows on from their most streamed track to date “No Miracles”. “Innovative Thinking” is only the fourth track ever that the trio have now released since 2018 and by the sounds of it the three lads are getting better with every release.
Two of the band (Alex and Sam) were writing music together since the age of about 15. But in 2016 the two of them moved from Lincolnshire to London for University in 2016, where they met Tom and since 2018 they’ve been collectively known as The Taboos”.
Reading based with one of the best UK music festivals on their door-step, so no wonder they sound like a band who have been around great music their entire lives. Their influences range from Arctic Monkeys, Mini Mansions, The Libertines, Queens of the Stone Age, Peace and The Strokes which all can easily be heard in this new offering.
The new track has an expansive sound with some delightful high notes of guitars wallowing through, commanding vocals that drag you from casual listener to hardcore fan by the time the track is done. The chorus is insanely atmospheric with a crunching bass at the end of it giving you a flavour of what the band can do if they ever went heavier, laced over with some gorgeous melodies with some distortion to give it added texture.
Speaking about the tune they say – “Lyrically, the track delves into the challenges of modern technologies and how humanity’s reliance on it allows it to control our existence. It demonstrates the idea that human emotion is decreasing, turning our individual life experiences somewhat robotic, alluding to the idea that people are transforming into being mere sources of information, as opposed to emotive beings.”
The new track from The Taboo’s is one of those where when you’re listening to it and you think, ‘right that arena are they playing at next?’ before realising that these lads are starting off still and have just the four tunes. If they keep on laying down cuts like this then they’ll be playing to huge crowds all over the place!
Nexus Music Blog: Voodoo Bandits – ‘Yesterday’s Jam’
Voodoo Bandits have garnered critical acclaim from some big publications including Clash Magazine and Indie Central Music. Their punchy sound is full of groovy melodies, which are evident on their new song ‘Yesterday’s Jam.’
The summery guitar riff reminds me of Circa Waves and The Covasettes. It’s got a massive adrenaline rush that makes you want to dance. The “wooah’s” in the background are so infectious that you can’t help but sing along. They work well with the aforementioned guitar because they get your heart pumping.
Listening to Voodoo Bandits is uplifting because you can see the passion in creating feelgood songs. I look forward to seeing what they’ll do in the future.
Turtle Tempo: Boy Pablo – ‘Honey
Bedroom pop artist Boy Pablo (Nicolas Muñoz) has released a groovy, summer simmering new single ‘honey’.
A relaxing, nostalgic, unapologetic love song which looks into the good and bad times throughout a modern day relationship, with mutual love holding strong throughout.
The 21-year-old artist from Norway is set to release a new album titled ‘wachito rico’ this coming October.
ICM: Paris Youth Foundation – ‘Late Night Lost Love’
Tied to the past while hurtling towards the early hours and the night’s most fertile texting your ex territory, Paris Youth Foundation write the curiosity and euphoria of “the one that won’t go away” in new single ‘Late Night Lost Love’.
The Liverpool five-piece swell their new single with cascading, arena-scale guitars and emotive, layered vocals to capture the very essence of nocturnal longing.
Writing to the tune of a very real personal saga for frontman Kevin Potter, ‘Late Night Lost Love’ makes an artform of wry observations that cast light on the bad romantic habits familiar to millions.
The mate that goes missing at 3am to be found at the door of their ex? That could have been him, it could have been anyone. ‘Late Night Lost Love’ takes that journey from the deaf denial of a break-up (“I don’t want to know what you do when it gets dark”) to the dubious finality of claiming to let go, at last (“I am giving you up, my late night lost love”).
Potter says: “I go deep as a songwriter; they need to mean something to me and ‘Late Night Lost Love’ is a story that will mean a lot to others, about fixation, heartbreak, and resolution. It’s about the routine of pretending that you’re fine all week after a break-up, occupied by work, and then the weekend comes and it’s all out of the window. You can’t play it cool anymore.”
Unashamedly addressing their own ambitions with giant steps, Paris Youth Foundation continue to build on the dream foundations working with Blossoms and Courteeners producer, Rich Turvey. ‘Late Night Lost Love’ hints without subtlety at a growing arsenal of songs set to compliment and compete with those illustrious, crowd-pleasing contemporaries.
