Piper's Single Reviews: Issue 5

This is the fifth installment of Piper's Single Reviews. Each post, I will review six songs by various indie and/or alternative bands (or artists that you might chance upon when listening to an American college or modern rock station) and rate them on a scale from 1 to 10.


Hockey - Too Fake
By all accounts, I should hate this band. They're an American ripoff of British "new rave" bands like Friendly Fires and Klaxons. However, because both of those bands are fantastic, some of that excellence rubs off on even carbon copies, which is the case with Portland, Oregon's Hockey, a band that somehow stumbled into a record deal with Columbia Records. "Too Fake" is not a great song in any sense, but its damn fun. At times, it seems to copy parts of "Skeleton Boy" by Friendly Fires, "Dance in my Blood" by Men Women and Children and "The Perfect Kiss" by New Order (doesn't that intro sound familiar?), but I expect that isn't very hard in electro-disco-rock, since most of it kind of sounds the same anyway. Overall, a pleasant and breezy summer song, but it won't find Hockey any die-hard fans.
7.0/10

Black Kids - Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)
Shit, remember these guys? Their whole hype was created by a handful of great demos on their MySpace page and a glowing review of the same demos on Pitchfork. Then once their debut studio album, Partie Traumatic came out, Pitchfork half-assed a bad review (look it up, it's a picture of two pugs) and everyone who cared about them forgot about them. "Look At Me" follows the UK hits "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" and "Hurricane Jane" as the third single from Traumatic and its alright. I mean, It's certainly no "Boyfriend" or "Hurricane", both quality alternative radio tunes. Singer Reggie Youngblood tries to sound British on the chorus (he's from Jacksonville, Florida, folks) and like most attempts to do so from American bands, sounds fake and forced. Still not a bad song though. One of those songs you'll listen to if your local college or indie-loving alternative radio stations play it, but not something to download on your hard drive.
6.5/10

Band of Skulls - I Know What I Am
Band of Skulls sound like a mix between The Kills and The Asteroids Galaxy Tour mixed in with a bit of Kings of Leon. The chorus for their single "I Know What I Am" sounds really damn familiar. This is because it cribs the melody from "Sour Cherry" by The Kills, but manages to make it better. In fact, the band seems to have a very Kills-esque back-and-forth between the male singer and the female singer. I was surprised to find out that the members of the band were English because the vocals sound very American on this song. Like the Black Kids song, its another song that you won't mind on indie-leaning alternative radio, but if you're not into that sort of thing, pass.
6.5/10

Dan Deacon - Paddling Ghost
This is probably my favorite song from Dan Deacon's latest album Bromst . This might have something to do with the fact that it is easily the most accessible song on the record. Everyone I know insists that "Snookered" is the best song from Bromst but I didn't really care for it. "Paddling Ghost" is successful in the same kind of radio friendly what-the-fuckery that made Animal Collective's "Peacebone" a college radio hit. It build satisfactory and ends in a very fun and sunny way.
8/10

The Prodigy - Omen
Oh, Prodigy, why do you even try anymore? Prodigy's new record Invaders Must Die sold like gangbusters in England despite the fact they have not been relevant in almost 10 years. Their two major US hits "Smack My Bitch Up" and "Firestarter" were way back in the mid-90s, when we thought electronica was charming. "Omen" is exactly like you'd think a new Prodigy single sounds in 2009: very tired. Once you hit a certain age, clubbing and taking drugs becomes extremely embarrassing. Prodigy should take this hint.
4/10

Bat for Lashes - Daniel
I think that Pitchfork and the 4,000 other blogs who made this connection are totally right: Bat for Lashes' new single "Daniel" is totally her "Running Up That Hill". I'm not going as far to say that BFL is the new Kate Bush, but "Daniel" is the closest anyone's made to emulating the reclusive alternative singer's style since she last released an album in 2005. "Daniel" is also the best song BFL has ever done, beating out her previous big hit, the trip-hop influenced "What's a Girl to Do?". If "Daniel" is anything to go by, expect big thing from Bat for Lashes in the future
9.5/10