The day began early – we woke up when it was barely light outside,
in order to be in Oxford Street,
London by 9am to get our hands on
the entry wristbands (of which there were only 400!). We arrived with plenty of
time, and excitedly put them on, whilst drinking a much needed coffee after our
early start! The actual acoustic gig didn’t start until 6pm, but
we arrived at the queue outside HMV’s flagship store just after 5 o’clock, and
already a big line of excited Two Door fans (unofficially known as ‘Basement
People’) had formed, all armed with copies of the new album ‘Beacon’, ready to
be signed by Alex, Sam and Kevin themselves. We were allowed into the shop
about half an hour before it all started, and found that an area of the
building had been sectioned off especially for the event, with a small stage
set up against the wall. As always, the wait for a gig wasn’t particularly
enjoyable, but we were waiting amongst the shelves of CDs, so at least we had
some time to check out what was in stock!
Armed with merchandise!
While
we were waiting, with arms full of TDCC merchandise (two CDs – ‘Beacon’ and
also their debut ‘Tourist History’, a DIY T-shirt emblazoned with the band’s
logo and a rather battered copy of NME magazine), we were approached by a woman
who had spotted the magazine we were holding. She explained to us that she was
a reporter for the NME, and began to query us about what we like about Two Door
Cinema Club. When she asked who the biggest fan of the band was, Isabella
instantly pointed towards me (Felicity – I’m a big Two Door fan!). In response
to the journalist’s questions, I described what I felt when I first listened to
Tourist History (something along the lines of “it was like my ears were
exploding – but in the best possible way”... hardlyeloquent, but expressing
what you think about your favourite band is a lot more difficult than it
sounds!)
Before
long, the audience started clapping and cheering as Alex, Sam and Kevin
appeared from a stage door and took to the ‘stage’ – a small area at the back
of HMV which had been cordoned off. They began their acoustic set with ‘Sleep
Alone’, their most recent single to date, and the first single release from
‘Beacon’, which provided the audience with the perfect beat to clap along to
(see our “Top Songs of Summer 2012” post for more reference to this!) Although
it seemed that many of the audience didn’t know many of the words to Sleep
Alone, they soon had the chance to sing along when the band broke out into a
slower, folksy version of ‘Undercover Martyn’, which was followed by ‘Do You
Want It All’, two songs from Two Door’s debut album which proved very popular.
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB!
These
were followed by the catchy and optimistic “Something Good Can Work”, which
left a permanent smile on our faces for the rest of the evening, and
guitar-based new album track “Next Year”, which may have been unknown to many
of the audience, but was still enjoyed by everyone there. When lead singer Alex
Trimble (who you may have seen singing at the Olympics Opening Ceremony in London this year)
announced that they were to play one last song, everyone anticipated what would
come next. Upon recognising the opening guitar chords of “What You Know”, the
crowd descended into cheering, jumping and even screaming; this song provided the perfect end to the set.
After
Two Door had put down their guitars and stood for a few press photos, they
sat down and prepared to sign albums for the ‘swarming hordes’ of fans that
awaited them (anyone who owns a copy of Tourist History should get that
reference ;] ). When it was our turn, we gave the band, who seemed to us like
such genuinely nice people, our merchandise to sign (TDCC proving that signing
a T-shirt is a lot more difficult than it looks); thanking them a little too
excessively and telling them what a great gig it was. It didn’t seem real that
one of our favourite bands, whose music we often play on loop, were sitting
right in front of us, signing the CD that we’ve listened to many a time, casually
speaking to us and complaining to each other about a broken permanent marker. I
guess “surreal” would be the closest word to describe that moment.
Sam, Kevin and Alex signing our copy of Beacon!
Felicity getting a T-shirt signed by Kevin!
Isabella speaking to Alex and getting a copy of Tourist History signed!
Still
in slight awe of what had just happened, we were walking out of the emptying
shock, when we spotted Pete Robertson, the drummer from The Vaccines, buying 4
copies of The Vaccines’ “Come Of Age”, also released on the same day. A brief
chat about the new album led to a great photo opportunity – and we soon
realised that this was the second member of The Vaccines that we’ve met (the
first being Arni the bassist at the Eden Sessions concert in Cornwall). We’ll
never forget our trip to Oxford
Street on Monday, 3rd September 2012,
that’s for sure.
We're hoping to do a regular post on our favourite albums, reviewing each of them track-by-track, and The Drums' debut album, 'The Drums' (2010) is the first we're featuring.
After
listening to the same old much-loved summery albums on a continual loop
(Friendly Fires, Vampire Weekend, etc.), we were glad to add this to our
collection of Songs To Listen To When The Weather’s Hot. Here’s our take on
this refreshing mix of indie, alternative and post-punk, courtesy of NY-based
band The Drums.
1. Best
Friend
The Drums
waste no time with introductions – kicking off their eponymous debutwith their hit ‘Best Friend’; one of their
best-known songs which depicts a hypothetical situation in which Jacob (The
Drums’ guitarist) dies and his best friend Jonny (lead singer of The Drums)
misses him, but eventually feels he has to move on. Confused? We are too.
Nonetheless, it’s a good song combining an upbeat melody with deeper, darker
lyrics; something which The Drums seem to do very well (this becomes clear as
the album progresses).
2. Me
And The Moon
This is a
great example of one of the Drums’ intriguing song titles- the track describes
a cold, failing relationship as ‘is it me and you or is it me and the
moon?’The song strangely contains a
section extremely similar to that of the single ‘Forever and Ever, Amen’ (track
6), but apart from that, it is a catchy tune in its own right, with the synthy instrumental
section sounding very post-punk.
3. Let’s Go Surfing
This was the
song which first introduced me (Felicity) to The Drums way back in 2010. Two
years and several hundred plays later, I still love the song as much as the
first time I heard it. Its feelgood chorus and distinctive whistle hook,
alongside carelessly optimistic lyrics (“he’s going to make it all better”, “I
wanna go surfing\ I don’t care about nothing”) and harmonised bridge, set this
tune aside as a timeless summer anthem which will remain on our playlist for
many summers to come.
4. Book Of Stories
This song is
definitely more of a grower rather than one which is immediately a favourite.
It isn’t one of our top tracks on this album, but fits in well with the overall
sound of ‘The Drums’.The lyrics are
very typical of the band, with the somewhat depressing chorus ‘I thought my
life would get easier, instead it’s getting harder’, contrasting with the
upbeat, catchy instrumental.
5. Skippin’
Town
Singer Jonny
Pierce makes the most of his vocal range on this track, jumping from high to
low and back again when singing the introductory “ooh ee oo ee oo-ooh”s which
are recycled at various other intervals in the song. This is a track which
definitely relies more on technicalities, such as vocals and instrumentals,
than on lyrics – meaning that it is likely to stick in your mind very quickly.
6. Forever And Ever Amen
This is one
of our favourite songs on the album- it’s just so happy and really stays in
your head after you’ve listened to it. The positively sentimental lyrics ‘It’s
forever, baby it’s forever’ make a change from the sadder, more downbeat lyrics
of most of the album and the song just wants to cheer you up from beginning to
end. If you’re only going to listen to one of the songs on this album, I
(Isabella) would choose this one!
7. Down
By The Water
It may be one
of the more melancholy songs on the album, but Down By The Water is by no means
a disappointment. The beat is a lot more apparent on this track, providing a
slow, steady, defined rhythm to accompany the tuba sound and Jonny Pierce’s
vocals. The result is a hauntingly romantic ballad which blurs the line between
lullaby and love song (the Cure reference there wasn’t intentional, despite
obvious similarities between the two bands which become clear on track 12 – The
Future). This is a song which could make you smile, or send shivers up your
spine, or possibly both.
8. It Will All End In Tears
Don’t be put
off by the supposedly bleak title of this song- in true The Drums fashion, the
track is not all you expect it to be at first glance. It is hard to call a ballad, as, despite it
being about a dysfunctional relationship, the upbeat guitars and enthusiastic
backing vocals make this track yet another of the band which easily gets stuck
in your head.
9. We
Tried
Another more
sombre, heartfelt track from The Drums, showcasing once again that sad songs
don’t have to be downbeat; We Tried continues to keep up the tempo, regardless
of the fact that this is a break-up song. Here, Pierce describes his feelings
of loneliness after the breakdown of a relationship – which he attempted to
rekindle (“We tried\and we died”).
10. I Need Fun In My Life
The song
certainly wins the award for best song title. It begins with lead vocalist
Jonny Pierce singing ‘oh oh, oh oh’, along to the opening guitar instrumental-
something he does in a lot of songs, but always seems to work.The playful, nonsensical lyrics ‘I need life
in my fun fun fun’ are very easy to find yourself singing along with, and even
if you’re not quite sure what they mean, they go well with this upbeat and
toe-tapping album track.
11. I’ll
Never Drop My Sword
Upon reading
this song’s name, you might not know what to expect. Although this track
certainly suits the style of the album and band, the lyrics are difficult to
interpret and a lot of repetition is used – this isn’t particularly a stand-out
track. The lyric “do you think that Jesus loves me?” is the band’s first
reference to the theme of religion, which is a lot more prominent in The Drums’
sophomore album, Portamento.
12. The Future
I (Isabella)
often think The Drums sound like The Cure, and this track is the one which I
would say reminds me most of the gothic post-punk band.This is not a bad comparison at all- we both
love The Cure, and it’s great to hear a band which has this sound to their music,
as it is often hard to find at the moment.This track smoothly finishes off one of our favourite debut albums, and
it is clear, from The Drums even better second album, Portamento (released in
2011) that they definitely do have a future.
Some of you may know that we also have a twitter account @OnTheJukebox for this blog. We have a number of bands which follow us, and here is a pick of some of our favourites.
These rising stars from Leicester, who recently played the UK
festival Summer Sundae, have a fresh, alternative sound which is hard to put in
a box (in a good way!). With their single ‘Pocket Rocket (Where The Light Is)’
proving very popular on iTunes, and a sold out gig at the O2 Academy Leicester
to their name, we definitely think they are ones to watch. Check out their
latest single ‘Young Lion’.
Listen to them if you like The View, General Fiasco and
Various Cruelties.
The band, from West London, are more alternative than indie,
citing on their Myspace page influences ranging from Elbow and Kasabian, to The
Beatles and Bob Dylan. Their album, ‘Begin
To End, Vol.1’ consists of mainly guitar-based soft-rock songs, which
personally remind us of Oasis, especially the track, ‘Why Did She Leave Me?’
Listen to them if you like 90s-style alternative and Britpop
bands, such as Blur, Pulp and The Levellers.
The first band we thought of when we heard Brighton-based
band Young Electrics, were The Kooks.They play good old indie music, with our much-loved guitar riffs, catchy
drum beats and wide-ranging vocals.If
we were to recommend just one of their songs, we would choose ‘Caught In The
Rain’, which would fit right in live at any indie music festival.
Listen to them if you like indie and Britpop, such as The
Wombats, The Kooks and Arctic Monkeys.
One of the most cheerful bands we’ve heard in a while. The
sunny Scouser skiffle band released their first EP ‘Talking Of Tomorrow’ in
2011, and are now releasing their third, entitled, ‘Break Your Heart’. Over the
past year, the band have gained success with gigs all over the country,
especially in their home city of Liverpool. We recommend listening to ‘Back In
Liverpool’. Look out for their debut album, which they are planning on
launching next year.
Listen to them if you like indie-folk and country-inspired
bands, such as Mumford and Sons or Noah and the Whale.
The Silent Signals are a band from Philadelphia, USA, who
have an alternative/ grunge sound whilst also drawing inspiration from more electronic
music genres. However, guitars remain a central part of their music, including
a wide use of bass guitar.Their album,
‘An Emotion Picture’ consists mostly of ballads, but the type of ballad which
builds up into a crescendo of different instruments, making a bigger impact.
Listen to them if you like bands which combine, to quote The
Silent Signals themselves, ‘Music + Alternative + Electronic’
These
were followed by the catchy and optimistic “Something Good Can Work”, which
left a permanent smile on our faces for the rest of the evening, and
guitar-based new album track “Next Year”, which may have been unknown to many
of the audience, but was still enjoyed by everyone there. When lead singer Alex
Trimble (who you may have seen singing at the Olympics Opening Ceremony in 
