The Boy Least Likely To

This week, I would like to introduce you to a duo from the UK: The Boy Least Likely To. This is honestly the first group I have ever tried who describes their own style as "country disco", and surprisingly, I like it!

They met up in 2002 and started their own label to publish their songs. They released a full album in the UK in 2005. The same album, The Best Party Ever, was released a year later in the US. They received some major recognition that year when Rolling Stone announced them as one of the top ten bands. The band is made up of Pete Hobbs and Jof Owen, who started writing songs together while still in school.

Honestly the first thing that caught my attention was the album art in my cover flow. If you have a moment, browse through their pictures. You will see what I mean! The art has gotten a lot of attention, so I must not be the only one! After that caught my eye, I tried out the one song that I had, Be Gentle With Me. I loved it. It is such a unique sound that it really caught me off guard. I then, of course, downloaded the rest of their album and scoured the web for the date of their next release. If you like them, you can check out their new singles on myspace, but the new album won't be out until next month.

Their sound is always upbeat, even when the lyrics are a little more serious. Their instrumentation is what makes me smile the most. They use mallets, banjos, and other various percussion sounds. The rolling stones said that it the sounds resembles what would happen if your stuffed animals started a band. I have to agree with that.

My favorite song is I'm Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon To Your Star. It is just so happy! Really all the songs are great. I keep coming back to this album over and over again. I hope you like them too!

The Hush Sound

SO SO sorry for my extended absence! I have had an extreme case of music ADD lately! I have been gaining roughly 30 songs a day over the past few months, making it difficult to blosk everything but one artist out! The good news is that if I can ever focus, I will never run out of artists to introduce you to!

So for now, I present The Hush Sound!

This is a very young indie quartet who rose to fame within a year of releasing their first album. By the way, their first album sold 300 copies in two days, even though they were not with a label at the time. Crazy, huh? They got their break when a member of fall out boy listened to their tape and decided it was good enough to sign to his label, not even a year after their first recording. I was completely amazed at how quickly this band rose through the ranks. Clearly they are doing something right.

The first thing to catch my attention about this band (besides how incredibly young they are... just out of high school) was that they have two lead singers, Greta Salpeter and Bob Morris. I know that it isn't incredibly consistent for a band's sound two switch back and forth, but it kept me interested enough to listen to all three of their albums.

This would probably never be one of my favorite bands, but I enjoy them a lot. Their sound is very indie piano rock... whatever that means. They almost remind me of Panic! at the Disco, but a bit less pop. Overall, I think they have slowly crept into my long long list of "regularly-listened-to" music.

The first four on the playlist are my favorites.

To hear more, visit their myspace page.