The release of The Arrogants' new album You've Always Known When Best To Say Goodbye... has been creating a bit of a buzz in the indie pop world. There's lots of pleasant-sounding indie bands that come along and tends to all blend into one another, but this band has made me sit up and take notice, thanks to their finely-crafted songs and gorgeous vocals from Jana Heller. And you know I like stuff with a bigger sound rather than the bedroom lo-fi stuff, so I appreciate the nice clear production that shows off their gift for creating alluring melodies.
This Twilight Garden writes:
The Arrogants' sound oscillates from Juliana Hatfield/Belly to slightly shoegaze-esque guitars.
And Audio for Drinking has this to say:
At the foundation is an ethereal pop sound that harkens back to the early eighties and the dream-pop of the Cocteau Twins. Pushing a few years ahead, one of the more obvious influences is that of the Sarah records twee pop. you can wrap up the sound with a touch of the guitar pop that happened when bands like Lush transmuted the shoegaze scene into something a bit more catchy, but still with airy layers. It's quite a comparison, but i'm fairly certain if you give it a listen you'll in fact find traces of all of it.
They've also been compared to bands like the Sundays, and I'd add Mazzy Star and even The Cardigans to that fine list of comparisons. So what's not to like?
Download two songs off the album here. There's also plenty of songs from their backcatalogue on that page. You can buy the new album from Twee Kitten for the bargain price of $7.50 (which gets you a massive 23 songs PLUS a bonus DVD - so how can you say no? Don't make me get out those prodding sticks again.)
Update: You can now download all The Arrogants' albums for free on their Bandcamp page.
Scott Salsman
ion
Christine
I haven't heard of the Pearly Gatecrashers actually. How come I keep finding out about all these mysterious bands from my own country from overseas people?!