franz ferdinand

"Paolo Nutini is amazing and Candy is the best song of his i have heard.. to me anyway."
  Marxist Girl

Worst Songs Ever: Paolo Nutini “Candy,” Sickly Sweet Scottish Rock

Published June 17th, 2009 by Karen

ABOVE: Worse lyrics than Black Eyed Peas? Yeah, maybe. Paolo Nutini’s sickly sweet “Candy.”

Remember when rock songs used to be about girls and drugs and partying and dragons and fast cars and politics and rebellion and stuff? Well, those days are gone.

“Give me some candy after my hug,” sings Paolo Nutini, on his new hit single, “Candy,” his weirdly nasal, never-gonna-be-Dylan voice emphasizing the awkward lameness of each word as it struggles out of his throat. We’re not sure how he managed to sing this stuff without laughing, but the song is apparently a hit (particularly in Europe, so maybe we can forgive any non-English-speaking listeners. Maybe).

In 2006, Nutini managed to sell a million copies of his debut album thanks to a MySpace push and the bubbly TV-jingle catchiness of his single, “New Shoes.” It was bad, but in an inoffensive, easy to ignore Jason Mraz/Jack Johnson kind of way. Needless to say, Nutini has gotten worse.

Now, with his 2009 album, Sunny Side Up, the Scottish singer-songwriter has concocted one of the worst songs in recent memory–the Black Eye Peas’ horrendous,  spelling-challenged, brain-dead dance anthems notwithstanding.

Obviously, we needed to make you listen to this monstrosity, so you can share our pain. (It’s kind of like when you think the milk has gone bad, but you ask someone else to taste it just to be sure).

What’s the worst song you’ve heard recently?

2009 Green Day Tour Dates, Tickets: US, Canada, Europe

Published June 1st, 2009 by Karen


Above: Green Day does its best impersonation of the Clash on “I Fought the Law.” Our apologies to Joe Strummer

Tickets for Green Day’s tour in support of 21st Century Breakdown are being sold by ticket monster, er, Ticketmaster. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, we guess.

To Green Day’s credit, in many cities, the band is taking admirable steps to ensure that scalpers aren’t keeping fans out of the shows, by limiting tickets to two per person and making them non-transferable (to prevent re-sale).

We didn’t entirely dig Green Day’s latest (see if you agree with our 21st Century Breakdown review), but we’re sure fans are eager to find out if these rock superstars are heading to their towns any time soon, so we rounded up all of the band’s upcoming tour dates, just for you.

After the Jump: Complete 2009 Green Day Tour Dates Continue reading »

Killers Going In For the Kill

Published May 3rd, 2009 by Wendy
Live 8
Creative Commons License photo credit: damo1977

The Killers have set their sights over Nirvana and Led Zeppelin.

According to an NME.com report, the Las Vegas-based band is sick and tired of the way US audiences cling to the hard rock bands of yesterday, and hopes Americans will get over them.

“We’ve been embraced in Britain in a way that I’ll never understand, and it’s such a wonderful thing,” frontman Brandon Flowers declared on the NME Web site. “But over here [in America], people are still so obsessed with Led Zeppelin and Nirvana, those sorts of bands, that nobody else is allowed [to grow].”

Flowers added: “It’s not just us; there are a lot of great bands that have been held down or confined by the influence of these people that we’ve put up on pedestals. I’m tired of it, you know? I just want to knock them all off! And people don’t like that attitude. It’s almost like they don’t believe that it’s possible that anybody else can be the real deal.”

The Killers, who are already a big deal in Europe, are currently on a tour through North America, where they hope to leave a lasting impression.

Coachella 2009 Lineup Change: Amy Winehouse Cancels, Again.

Published March 9th, 2009 by Karen

At this point, it is almost impossible to be surprised by news that Amy Winehouse has cancelled another show. The British disaster is tangled up in a new round of legal problems, this time in connection to charges that she assaulted a fan at a party in September.

C’mon Amy, you’re supposed to attack critics, not fans.

Can’t this girl do anything right?

Winehouse had been scheduled to appear at April’s Coachella music festival in California along with big-name acts such as Paul McCartney, the Cure, Morrissey, the Killers, Leonard Cohen, Franz Ferdinand, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and My Bloody Valentine.

Although her representatives have not confirmed details of Winehouse’s cancellation, it is likely that she has been denied a US work visa due to her looming legal problems. The 25-year-old singer is due to appear in court March 17.

We’re pretty sure that nobody was going to Coachella just to see Winehouse’s scary skeleton wobble around the stage in high-heels and a higher wig anyway. It has been so long since the singer has actually made music, we’re not sure anybody even cares anymore.

Complete Coachella 2009 lineup and ticket info, here.

"Lol.... love the crack about The Killers... I really loved FF's first album and, like you, I'm not in-love with Ulysses. Are there any good dance-rock..."
  A.S.

New Music, New Video, Same Old Sound? Franz Ferdinand “Ulysses”

Published January 22nd, 2009 by Karen

Five years after burning up playlists (and countless TV ads) with inescapable dance-rock tracks like “Take Me Out” and “This Fire,” Scottish quartet Franz Ferdinand is back with a new set of songs—but is anyone still listening?

All the standard elements are in place on the band’s forthcoming third album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, from the slick, only semi-ironic ‘80s dance beats and suggestive falsetto to the usual vague threats of punky, art-school mischief. However, half-hearted lead single “Ulysses” (video) finds the skinny-tied band wandering aimlessly rather than running to the dance floor. Continue reading »