Love Grenades
The new… Dragonette
I can’t say I’ve discovered anyone yet in my search for the next big thing who made me stop and think “this could be my new favourite band”, but I have found a few acts I’d at least like to hear an album by, and Love Grenades are one of them. They are female vocalist Liz Wright and guitarist Corey Hunter Gatherer (probably not his real name). They’re friends with Sam Sparro, but don’t worry: they’ve already got 4 more good songs than he’s released. Tigers in the Fire does sound very much like a Lemar song, but the Lemar song in question is a zillion times better than any of his others, so that’s not a bad thing at all. I can’t see Love Grenades becoming big stars, even in these days of electro-pop madness, but I think Popjustice readers who loved acts like Dragonette and Stefy will be hugely impressed by Love Grenades.
Poptasticness: 90% Hit potential: 43%
Marina & the Diamonds
The new… Kate Bush
Although she is similar to acts I love such as Bat For Lashes and Florence and the Machine, and clearly influenced by the wonderful Kate Bush, I wasn’t totally won over by Marina at first. However, listening again to Obsessions today, I think it’s rather lovely. It’s certainly in the top 10 of songs I’ve discovered during my search for the next big thing, and I think a lot of my readers will enjoy it as well. The video is quite interesting, although slow to get going, and makes Marina seem like she’d be a nice person. Mowgli’s Road is a bit madder, but in a fun way. I feel like her quirkiness is much more genuine than La Roux, and I like that. She’s on the label Neon Gold, who are working with several of the hot new acts of the moment, such as Passion Pit and the brilliant Gotye, who I really hope will re-release Learnalilgivinanlovin this year. As for Marina, I hope to be buying her album this year, and to see her at a festival would be ace too.
Poptasticness: 92% Hit potential: 54%
Metro Station
The new… Fall Out Boy
This band have confused me from the outset. At first I thought lead singer Trace was Miley Cyrus’ younger brother, and therefore about 12, so I presumed the whole thing was a joke with no future a la Lil Chris. However, he turns out to be her older brother, age 19, and his band are a kind of American emo version of Busted. Unfortunately for Trace (and even more so for anyone who makes the mistake of watching their videos), he is terribly ugly. I did momentarily admire the symmetry of his moles, until I realised they were ridiculous facial piercings. They do have one catchy song (Shake It), but have decided instead to release the crap one (Control) first in the UK. I pray that Control will be such a flop that we won’t hear anything more of them, but I fear that instead their knowledge that they have a good song to release next will make them persist with the UK campaign whether or not Control is successful. It’s going to be a sad few months for those of us who remember when good looks were the main pre-requisite of joining a boyband.
Poptasticness: 34% Hit potential: 78%
The Micropops
The new… Alphabeat
Although The Micropops are Norwegian, they’re more in keeping with the Swedish indie style, and the singer’s voice often reminds me of Ola Salo from The Ark. They seem really sweet and jolly in their photos, and the music reflects that. I can’t see them having any major international success, but as far as the next big indie-pop act from Scandinavia, they stand a good chance. Their adorable album cover will certainly encourage a few people to buy it – they look like so much fun! I think Moonlight is the best song they’ve done so far (the catchiest at least), but Vertigo is nice as well. Fans of Alphabeat and I’m From Barcelona should definitely give The Micropops a go. Håkon Njøten, the lead singer, came third on Idol in Norway the year that Kjartan won and Margaret Berger came second, so that shows he is not afraid of pop music, and hopefully will make lots of ace pop in the future.
Poptasticness: 78% Hit potential: 33%