BRIANA’S BUZZ BLOG: Bands To Watch

Mumford & Sons

Just as their name may remind you of an olde-timey furniture store, their robust jigs may also do the same. When Mumford & Sons doesn’t make you smile despite their arsenal of melon-collie lyrics, the young West London quartet is guaranteed to make you miss The Pogues with their banjo banter made meaty with extensive vocal harmonies. Their 2009 debut, Sigh No More, is punctuated by the rough-edged “Little Lion Man” that offers Coldplay niceties fueled by a Kings of Leon attitude.

Circus Devils

Former singer of Guided By Voices, Robert Pollard, reminds me of Peter Gabriel’s inner child and that side certainly comes out in Circus Devils, one of many side projects for the experimental vocalist. Mother Skinny, their eighth studio album, was released this March. For those of you slightly off-kilter rock fans, this is a must-buy, must-burn and must-spread-the-gospel. Your weirdo fix for the year has finally come in and I swear you haven’t been this happy since discovering Frank Black’s first solo album.

Phoenix

I suck for being sooo behind, but I for one, am stoked to finally put a name to the songs I’ve had stuck in my head for the past fucking year (as they’ve appeared in ads for the 2010 Cadillac SRX and trailers for Where The Wild Things Are). For those of you who almost liked The Postal Service, a slightly less emo version can be found in the French foursome, Phoenix. Still, Phoenix is most definitely girl music, yet an added Animal Collective frivolity makes for an interesting potion of joyful effects and dance-happy beats. Check out Phoenix at one of many summer festies in the next coming months including, but not limited to Bonnaroo, Leeds Festival, Mile High Music Festival, Reading Festival, Lollapalooza, and Glastonbury.