It’s time to bring you our ‘new favourite band’. This is a transient position that changes regularly – which is perhaps to be expected with us spending so much time filtering excellent music – and although it’s a temporary but welcome title for a new group to have, one thing is clear, there’s lots to adore about this new five-piece from London.
Theme Park began life as a different band, calling themselves Ark People and gigging the circuits, playing a style of post-punk pop with the odd bit of Theramin and a loose rumbling bass. Theme Park are only still between the ages of 19 and 21 years old, so a little re-invention is understandable, bringing us the new project from January of this year. The recent demos that have been passed around show a rapid progression, utilising the same influences – of which Talking Heads will always be mentioned as a dominant comparison – but with this new incarnation their sound is far tighter and very, very attractive.
Theme Park are a band made up of twin brothers Marcus and Miles, plus three friends, Louis, Oscar and Ben, and it’s Miles’ voice that had us repeatedly reaching for the play button, drifting in and out of the music like incense, earning the obvious David Byrne comparisons, yet the complimentary vocals never dominate the smooth backing. They’re masters of a percussive groove and a satisfying guitar hook, always knowing when to run with it as they roll from enjoyable verses to delicious choruses.
Fans of our previous favourite band du jour, Real Fur, will find lots to enjoy with this tropical indie pop, but there’s also elements of Metronomy, particularly when the vocals combine. This is music with legs, an obvious appeal and on the initial evidence of their structured, layered tunes theirs is a rich pasture that will hopefully continue to produce these high calibre songs. It’s the kind of gift James Murphy had – one which is virtually impossible to waste, although with this new project being at such early stages our expectations must also remain tempered.
Hopefully real progress will now find a new gear with Bloc Party’s management company, Coalition Management, now apparently on board. They’re currently inside the studio re-working the demos into the full behemoths they deserve to be, so we will let you know once the full fat editions are available. In the mean time we list one of the demos below, plus a Recommender exclusive – the Aspirins remix of A Mountain We Love.
We’ve been reliably informed that their first official gig is hoping to be at The Lexington on September 6th, so keep an eye on the horizon for more information about that. The right blogs are already on top of this group, so we expect the buzz to result in queues around the block as people gather to catch their first experiences of how this band will translate their succulent music into a live show. Between now and then you have plenty of time to make them your favourite new band. (MB)
THEME PARK – MILK
THEME PARK – A MOUNTAIN WE LOVE
THEME PARK – A MOUNTAIN WE LOVE (ASPIRINS REMIX)
