Dancing in the Dark

Guitars are making a come back, perhaps an antidote to all the dirty disco that's been around lately. Don't get me wrong, I've embraced the disco tip as much as the next person, but I'm quietly pretty happy that there seems to be a flood of excellent indie-pop-guitar-melody-albums around, or on their way.

Brooklyn duo Matt + Kim are captivating hearts with their most recent release. They came out to Australia last year and completely charmed everyone. They're coming back in May, so if you missed them this is your chance to redeem yourself. But watch out, you might develop a serious crush. They are just so damn cute.

So, the band that's going to be The Next Big Thing is a group from Boston. The story goes that Michael Angelakos wrote a bunch of songs for his then girlfriend's valentines day present. While the relationship didn't last the EP, Chunk of Change, has gone on to do amazing things for them. Passion Pit finished recording the debut full-length in New York a couple of months ago, and delivered some sneak peaks at SXSW and across Europe - by all accounts to rapturous applause. Manners is scheduled to drop in May.

Passion Pit, "Sleepyhead"

This one's a bit older, but there's a bit of a theme at the moment of couples making music or people who used to work for record labels getting together and starting their own musical [ad]venture. We Have Band tick both of these boxes. They recorded their tunes in their kitchen and managed to get them featured on a couple of compilations from super cool label Kitsune. They're one of the hyped bands at SXSW this year and seem to have a non-stop, relentless touring schedule.

Other bands that are causing much excitement with impending album releases. Frenchies Phoenix have got a new album dropping in May. And it's now a matter of days until the Yeah Yeah Yeahs album arrives in stores. The video for their new single Zero is here, apparently they/ their record label doesn't like embedding.

And it seems that The Boss is having a bit of a renaissance. Over summer at various gigs and music festivals it seemed like it was a requirement for someone to play a Springsteen cover. As long as it's early Boss there's no complaints from me. I think Dancing In the Dark is one of my all-time favourites, listen to the lyrics, such heartbreak! Although at one gig when someone played a cover of this it became quite contentious - my friend was adamant that the song is all about writers block - not heartbreak. What do you think? Also, check out the classic clip - dude can rock jeans and a white tee like no one else. And keep an eye out for a young Courtney Cox in there too.