You love the Noisettes? Of course you do, and you especially adore the crazy hair. I think they’re awesome, and I can’t wait for them to release forthcoming record What’s the time Mr. Wolf?

And just to make sure that neither can you here’s a sneakyleakypeaky:

The Noisettes: Bridge to Cananda

We get a lot of email over here. So much that we often read it and then before we can take a second look, it gets shoved to the back of the pile forgotten.

Case in point, an email about the band The You- a group from Pittsburgh whose debut album was produced by Brian Deck (Modest Mouse and Iron & Wine). I actually really liked the song we were sent but just never got around to posting it. Well today is my day to get around to things. You can download ‘I’m going to kill myself’ here.

Another singer to come across our inbox is Naama Hillman. She’s a singer/songwriter with a new acoustic ep as a follow-up to her first cd, Living Room. There are no real stand-out tracks on the ep (which you can download for free on her site) but she does do a nice cover of ‘Ring of Fire.’ It’s no Johnny Cash version, but it’s nice all the same. Download it here.

Daytrotter just sat down for a session with Two Gallants. They perform 4 unreleased songs and they are all available for download, so that is worth checking out. Last week they had the French Kicks.

The New York Dolls just visited The Henry Rollins show on IFC and performed ‘Lookin for a kiss’

The Noisettes have a new song called ‘Scratch your name.’ You can download it here, definitely worth it- this group is awesome.

And I was in yesterday’s Newsday reviewing Rockstar Supernova. Check it out. I was in last week’s paper talking about Stride gum, exciting I know, as well. Next up, I’ll be reviewing Thom Yorke’s new album and Union Hall in Park Slope.

The Noisettes have a new record that should be coming out later in the summer… and if this is anything to go by, then lead singer Shingai Shoniwa is going to need to look after those vocal chords when they get to playing live. As Jen’s noted before, she sounds like the bastard progeny of Ella Fitzgerald and Karen O, and that can only be a good thing…

Sounds like they’re really getting into those mad-thrash-metal-skillz…

The Noisettes – Iwe

What comes to mind when I think of last night is a British aphorism, “It’s a funny old world.”

I posted yesterday that I was going to see the Noisettes and Mystery Jets at Mercury. I thought, bugger I’m going to have to go alone but it just so happened that the divine Miss M was going as well so we met up. We surprised Shawn from Universal by arriving together but really, the music blogosphere is just one big incestuous family.

First up were the Noisettes. Skye wrote a review of their music not too long ago and talked about their thrash metal skills. Well, they did exactly that in person. The lead singer and bassist, Shingai, spared no time in getting down and dirty on stage. She started the show by taking off her shoes and banging them on the mic. She then proceeded to dance, kick, wrap her leg around the guitar handle and balance her foot on a member of the audience. It was brilliant.

Besides her antics, Shingai’s voice is completely mesmerizing as well. It’s as if Ella Fitzgerald and Karan (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) O got together and had a love child. It succeeds in making their music so distinct that when it was all over, I just wanted to hear more. Someone actually whispered in my ear during one of the songs, ‘It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before.’

Not to be overshadowed by the antics of Shingai, the other members got down and got with it as well- especially the drummer Jamie. I couldn’t get a clear picture of him because he wasn’t just playing with his arms, he was playing with his whole body, including that mass of hair. After the set was through, he stood up, out of breath, threw his sticks on the ground and walked right off stage.

Little was exchanged between the band and the audience beside “Hey, we’re the Noisettes.” Though they did proclaim themselves to be from Athens, Georgia (they’re actually from London). They are the second band British band I’ve seen on that stage to proclaim themselves to be from the south and I have no clue why.

From the above, it might seem as if they are this hardcore band but really, they came off as an endearing bunch of kids with a lot of passion. The guitarist Dan still had the tag on his brand new pair of diesel jeans, Jamie, the drummer, had on a Cyclones t-shirt and they were all still wearing their SXSW bands- obviously still basking in the excitement of touring America and being in New York. This is definitely a band to keep an eye on and an ear out for.

Next up was the buzz band, Mystery Jets. Even those other kings of buzz, Arctic Monkeys, came out to see them last night. Chris over at Music Snobbery has a lot nicer things to say about them then I am about to so you might want to check him out for another opinion. On the other hand, Miss Modern Age has a lot more worse things to say then I am, so there you go.

You might be looking at that first colour picture and asking yourself, what is with the old guy? Well that’s Blaine’s dad, Henry. Apparently they were looking for someone to play guitar and Blaine said, ‘Well, my dad can.’ One of my parents wouldn’t be the first choice if I was going to tour around America, drink as much beer as possible and mac on groupies. Maybe he’s one of those ‘cool dads.’

The problem that I have with Mystery Jets is that their music has no direction. It’s more noise then music. There are some great part, I mean who doesn’t love a cowbell, but overall I left with a feeling of- what was that? Unfortunately, despite the use of pots and pans, they failed to make an impression on me. That being said, they do have one really great song, ‘The Boy Who Went Away.’ It’s clean, fun and has a great beat.

You can check out Mystery Jets on their MySpace including the song ‘The Boy Who Went Away’
And make sure to head over to the Noisettes MySpace. ‘Don’t Give Up’ is an especially good track.

They’ve been getting a bit of buzz here in the UK (and as you’ll be able to see from the ever-wonderful Hype Machine, they’ve had a good day in the blogosphere as well… wonder how that happened!), but the Noisettes are worth covering, anyway, what with them having a U.S. tour in the near future; they’re also the recent winners of a big old popularity contest on BBC Radio 6.

The name is a bit misleading; they certainly make noise (!) and they’re certainly further towards the rawk end of the musical spectrum, but they also have a nice line in showing off their mad-thrash-metal-skillz and then switching downtempo to a more restrained and calming sound. Kind of like Sons & Daughters after they’ve forgotten to take their ritalin. This is from their E.P. The Three Moods of the Noisettes.

The Noisettes – Don’t Give Up
And for a limited download, here’s Monte Cristo, from the same E.P.

North American dates:

16th March, 2006 Austin, TX (SXSW) Stubbs 9pm (Gomez headlining)
17th March, 2006 VICE PARTY (SXSW)
18th March, 2006 ARTHUR PARTY (SXSW)
20th March, 2006 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubarour
21st March, 2006 San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord
24th March, 2006 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge w/Mystery Jets
25th March, 2006 New York, NY@ Mercury Lounge w/Mystery Jets
27th March, 2006 Toronto, ONT @ Lee’s Place

The Noisettes on myspace