AY-YI-YI-YI-YI

White Rose Movement, "Girls In The Back" - I'll probably be saying this once every two weeks for as long as I can keep this blog going, but man, it's hard to believe how anonymous Paul Epworth was to me even as recently as a year ago - I mean, I even liked the Futureheads debut album a bunch and I couldn't have picked his name out of a lineup to save my life. These days, of course, he's the hallmark of quality, the one guy more responsible than anyone else for tagging which of the current glut of nu-Britpop bands all good for at least one songa are actually worth listening to. I mean, all I have to do is see his name mentioned on Piccadilly and I'm making a sad man of myself trying to put together an order. What's really odd, however, is that if I'm being honest, his success rate isn't really that spectacular; between his proper producing gigs and his remixes under the name "Phones", I like maybe twenty, thirty songs total - and yet he's still one of the more compelling new figures on the pop scene in a long time.

As you can probably guess, White Rose Movement are his newest charges, and it's pretty much a definite thing that you'll be hearing about them in the REAL near future. I'm going to tell you right now: White Rose Movement are an incredibly mediocre band in the sense of whether or not they're exciting or innovative or even particularly challenging, but if you're into all that Bloc Party/Maximo Park/Futureheads/other Epworth bands scene, you better believe that you'll know every word to a few of their songs by the year's end. "Love Is A Number" is probably going to be their big hit (and admittedly it's a fine song), but there's nothing in it that you won't hear sounding ten thousand times better coming out of Bloc Party once "Two More Years" officially hits. I'm really hoping that "Girls In The Back" doesn't get lost in the shuffle, since I think it's just as good and WAY more engaging - Epworth practically slips into Phones mode as he gleefully slips new effects and elements into the song, so it SUDDENLY GETS REALLY LOUD AND CRASHY before suddenly turning INTO a CALL and RESPONSE chorus and I'm way past the point of grinning like an idiot. Someone over at ILx characterized these guys as the British version of the Bravery - well, if the Bravery worked with someone who made them sound this dynamic and fun, I might not recoil in horror at that. (Click here to buy the now-deleted "Love Is A Number" single used from Amazon.co.uk, or click here to visit the White Rose Movement website for more clips and videos.)

Forward, Russia, "Fourteen" - Speaking of bands that look like they're on the verge of getting shit-hot in a hurry, here's Forward, Russia, hopefully the most pretentious motherfuckers who'll ever grace this page. I mean, for all the noodling synth-dickery Delia & Gavin claim responsibility for, at least it's not an affectation; it's just that what they do happens to be not be everyone's cup of tea. These guys, on the other hand, just put out a single with their thirteenth and fourteenth songs ever; given the title of their song I'm offering up, I will give you one guess as to what the names of the first one through thirteen are. And that's not even getting into their name, which should actually be bookended by inverted exclamation points which I would refuse to type out if I ever actually figured out how to type them out. Shame, then, that they can rule so hard every so often; "Fourteen" sounds like a big bag of discordant nothing until all of a sudden one of the year's great shoutalong buildups comes storming in and renders me totally helpless. Just wait until Epworth gets a hold of them. (Click here to buy the "Thirteen/Fourteen" single from Rough Trade)

Motion Pictures, "My Queen, Your Dream" - Of course, not everything coming out right now sounds like Right Now; the pop world is always willing to make room for dreamy slices of Byrds/Mamas & Papas-worshipping pop. When you compare the BBC to American radio, one of the most striking differences is the degree to which the BBC takes care of its listeners; even poring through the playlists of industry tools like Zane Lowe or Steve Lamacq, you're more likely to stumble over a song that fits into your life (rather than overlays itself on top, the main function of American PAY ATTENTION TO ME pop music) than you'd ever be if you put your hands in the fate of someone like Jed the fucking Fish*. I mean, this is such a textbook late-night post-clubbing song that I halfway wonder if they got it from a book - it's all reassurances and soothing buoyancy, no edges anywhere to be found. (Click here to buy Motion Pictures from Amazon)

*No joke, I was driving home from work a few years ago, and right at that part of the Strokes' "Hard To Explain" where everything in the track just cuts out, Jed actually drops in and intones "DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THIS PART?" and I wanted to murder him. Of course, he's also the only DJ in America who I've heard play Fischerspooner's "Emerge", so hmm.