Mai, Oh My!

21 more days till London for BLUR and a little under 4 months till I make my ‘grand’ return back to the good ol’ USA for a week and another week in London after. What’s different this time around is that I’ve actually managed to get 3 of my friends from the States to fly over the Atlantic with me. We’re thinking about flying to Glasgow from London for a couple days cause tix on Ryan Air are seriously cheap! (GBP 2 for a round trip ticket – ur kidding me right?) I also found a pretty reasonably priced guesthouse for 13++ Euro a night. You’ve got to love the name – McLays Guest House (The cheapest way to get laid in Glasgow!)…

…the White Lies song “Death” that is.

White Lies are another band I’ve recently had the chance to sit down and listen to. When I first heard To Lose My Life for the first time on 6Music some months ago,  it didn’t really captivate me the way “Death” did and it was ‘death’ that brought their album into my life (bad pun #1) They are a solid band though – I will give them that – even though they get all these comparisons to ex-school mate of mine – Paul Banks’ band Interpol, Joy Division and Editors and a tinge of Echo & the Bunneymen. I mean nothing wrong with any of those bands but those are some big shoes to live up to! The other songs on the album are good but “Death” is catchy as hell (ha ha bad pun #2). I like the way the song builds up and of course the hook – “This fear’s got a hold on me“….  I think the live performance of the song is better than the album version though.

To top it off, these guys are young! I almost feel guilty for finding the lead singer a hottie and even more embarrassed I googled him to find out

Despite this bands obsession with ‘death’ and other ‘dark’ things, they seem like really good people. Bright eyed and genuinely thankful for their success thus far. Good mannerisms too.

I’ve heard people giving it all sorts of praise so I decided to get in on the hype and get my hands on the new Yeah Yeah Yeah’s album It’s Blitz! I sometimes like to read album reviews only after I’ve heard the album in full (the reverse tactic makes me either really love or really dislike an album). I kinda waited after the YYY’s released their first two singles (Zero & Heads Will roll) but hot damn they should have called the album “It’s Bliss!” It’s honestly the first YYY’s record I’ve actually sat through without feeling a little antsy at one point or another. It makes you want to dance and break out in a robot whilst ripping your heart out cause suddenly you feel this sudden lovely lonliness.  The more “electronic” sounding YYY’s works and they don’t lose the ID that brought forth Karen O and co. to the limelight.

BRB going to dance with tears in my eyes to Little Shadow.

Mai Picks:
Zero
Heads Will Roll
Skeletons
Hysteric
Little Shadow