On the Shelf 071; The Heavy
Aug. 21st, 2012 07:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23I hate to miss out on anything, but I have to admit I missed on The Heavy.
Like most, I came to know them through "How do you like me now?", a song that was everywhere. While it may not have quite been a radio staple, it was everywhere else- tv ads, movies, etc. It was easily one of the best singles of 2009. It led me to look up some of their other songs, which I expected to be right down "one hit wonderism", but actually discovered The House That Dirt Built, a solid little (literally, short) album that showed a band with a lot of talent.
Categorizing The Heavy is hard as they don't fit comfortably in one box. They are not quite Indie Rock and they are not quite Neo Soul. Sure, they bring in James Brown and Prince style funk elements and mix it with classic British indie, but you can also hear raw Stooges/Sonics rock and a bit of Tom Waits, too.
While calling them 'soundtrack music' evokes images of Eno or maybe Mike Oldfield, their perfect pop singles are radio hits, but because of the content and sound, are perfect Movie theme songs. If forced to categorize The Heavy, you would probably say the closest thing is the hybrid that is Gnarls Barkley, or perhaps that not-quite-indie combo that is Mark Ronson and his camp.
Billboard has been streaming "The Glorious Dead", the first album since the band's breakthrough singles. It comes out today, so i am not sure how long the stream will stay, but check it out while you can.
While nothing is as powerful as "..Like Me Now" or their other epic "Short Change Hero", this is another pretty solid little piece of art. It definitely is worth a listen, and hopefully keeps the Heavy heavy in public view.
Lead single "What makes A Good Man?" will definitely be in a tv show or two.
Like most, I came to know them through "How do you like me now?", a song that was everywhere. While it may not have quite been a radio staple, it was everywhere else- tv ads, movies, etc. It was easily one of the best singles of 2009. It led me to look up some of their other songs, which I expected to be right down "one hit wonderism", but actually discovered The House That Dirt Built, a solid little (literally, short) album that showed a band with a lot of talent.
Categorizing The Heavy is hard as they don't fit comfortably in one box. They are not quite Indie Rock and they are not quite Neo Soul. Sure, they bring in James Brown and Prince style funk elements and mix it with classic British indie, but you can also hear raw Stooges/Sonics rock and a bit of Tom Waits, too.
While calling them 'soundtrack music' evokes images of Eno or maybe Mike Oldfield, their perfect pop singles are radio hits, but because of the content and sound, are perfect Movie theme songs. If forced to categorize The Heavy, you would probably say the closest thing is the hybrid that is Gnarls Barkley, or perhaps that not-quite-indie combo that is Mark Ronson and his camp.
Billboard has been streaming "The Glorious Dead", the first album since the band's breakthrough singles. It comes out today, so i am not sure how long the stream will stay, but check it out while you can.
While nothing is as powerful as "..Like Me Now" or their other epic "Short Change Hero", this is another pretty solid little piece of art. It definitely is worth a listen, and hopefully keeps the Heavy heavy in public view.
Lead single "What makes A Good Man?" will definitely be in a tv show or two.
