A couple of weeks back, we asked you to vote for your top 10 artists for 2010. We had almost 600 votes, and we’re now going to countdown the top 10 over the next 10 days, finishing with our number 1 on 10th December at midday. Today, at number 3, are Chichester’s The Northwestern.
The Northwestern are a quintet who formed from the disbanded promise that was rock band, Hope of the States. Following on from the dismantling of his previous musical endeavour, frontman, Sam Herilhy, set out on starting a new band, one which was, according to him, ‘more honest’. Employing fellow HOTS’ drummer, Simon Jones, along the way, plus three others musical geniuses, The Northwestern were born.
The Northwestern’s music is typically on a par with the hook-filled indie pop of the early noughties, just with an added splash of Brit Pop influence. Mixing the decades, you could perhaps describe them as a British Strokes that have collided with the guitar-driven nineties – just minus any Gallagher swagger. The repetitive, but alas impressive electrical riffs of Jonny Winter (formerly of indie band The Open) tug listeners energetically through tracks, while Herilhy’s dry voice recites the angsty lyrics to perfection.
The band’s raw sound noticeably takes on an intriguingly melancholic atmosphere in comparison to most of the sunshine indie making waves out there at the moment. Still, this sombreness isn’t a bad thing. These guys certainly have themselves a set of real decently crafted tunes, and it doesn’t surprise me that The Northwestern are tipped to be one of the biggest new guitar bands of 2010. So why not check out the official video to ‘Telephones’, below, to hear more from this slice of the coming year :
December 10th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
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