Local Natives are the newest addition to our list of favourite bands. It’s not often you hear a band that you instantly love – Right from the start we felt that rush of excitement, that need to find everything they’ve ever released; EP’s, albums, singles…anything. Unfortunately, our search was short-lived as we soon found out they’ve only recently released their debut single ‘Sun Hands’ on Chess Club records literally a few weeks ago. Good news though! By the sounds of it their debut album is set to be released very soon, from what we’ve gathered it’s meant to be released in the Autumn but we’re not too sure about the UK date. Hopefully soon!
Local Natives are a band that embraces their abilities to create the loveliest vocal harmonies and fantastic drum arrangements. All of their vocals compliment each other perfectly and it seems to come so naturally to them – It’s so nice to listen to and even better to see live! Also, having another percussionist as well as a main drummer gives their songs more of an impact and it adds so much more to their live performances. You’ll find that every song of theirs will be stuck in your head for days (which is definitely no bad thing!), you’ll tap your feet, you’ll sing along, and you’ll either keep pressing the repeat button of your iPod or you’ll keep buying tickets for their shows (or most likely, both).
As well as being musically talented, some members have experience in graphic design and they all create the artwork for the band. When they played SXSW this year, they designed a flyer which included a map for all of their gigs. It’s really nice to see a band dedicate so much time and effort into creating their own artwork. They’ve also designed their own single and album covers which both look fantastic. Check out some of their artwork below (and above):
We saw them at The Borderline with support from Kurran and the Wolfnotes and Peggy Sue. By the time Local Natives were due to come on stage the crowd was buzzing. Their whole set was brilliant and full of energy. Stage presence was strong and the band frequently moved around on stage swapping instruments which is always nice to see during a gig. Their passion showed through in their performance and their energy spread through the crowd which made the atmosphere even better. We came out on such a high, eager to know when the band would be touring the UK again whilst happily making plans to buy tickets as soon as we found out. Luckily we won’t have to wait long because the band will be back here on the NME tour in September. Yay!
Filed under: Music | Tags: Alamo Race Track, Grizzly Bear, Local Natives, Monk
I’m SO completely loving this band right now. I was already pretty excited about Local Natives since hearing them for the first time about two weeks ago, but after seeing them live last night my excitement has escalated bigtime.
They’ve been compared to the likes of Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend and although you can hear faint hints of Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend in them, they definitely can’t be compared to the Arcade Fire. And let’s face it, no one can! They’ve got the lovely harmonies of Fleet Foxes and the upbeat, energetic melodies and drum beats of Vampire Weekend (but in my opinion, they’re heaps better). This, combined with their ability to write seriously catchy tunes makes them a brilliant band.
It was a difficult decision because ALL of their songs are super but I think Sun Hands is probably my favourite as it really stuck with me after the gig, I love how their harmonies work so well together throughout the whole song and the breakdown makes the song that much better! They played this at the end of their set last night and it was just awesome and seriously left an impression on the crowd. Anyway, review soon!
SO GOOD!
I stumbled across this nice indie band from the Netherlands while I was cruising La Blogotheque’s ‘In the Van’ sessions and they played this song. It sounds really quirky and light-hearted but the song definitely holds a much deeper meaning. And, with an opening line of ‘Don’t trust the man with the creepy little eyes’, it doesn’t really take long to come to this realisation ;)
Check out the video and keep a lookout for the man in the back shaking the shaker – He’s well into it!
Grizzly Bear are an awesome band. This is my favourite song – I just love how it’s beautifully sung and the ‘Ahhhh ahhh ohh oh ohh’s’ are really nice ;) You can just imagine how good it would be to hear live. They’re playing with the London Symphony Orchestra later this year which is such a great idea and would be a seriously special gig to go to!
I love this!
They look like heaps of fun to see live :)! They’re playing at The Lexington, Sheperd’s Bush Empire and The Borderline next week so go go go!
