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Le Diamant Brut: The Joy Formidable & White Dress
What’s the Deal: This Welsh trio just released their debut 8-song album, A Balloon Called Moaning, in the US May 4th on Black Bell Records. They are the first band to be signed to the label, which was founded by Passion Pit’s Ayad Al Adhamy. The Joy Formidable played their first American tours as the headlining act earlier this year, but they’ve been building a buzz in the UK with a string of successful singles.
The indie rock pumping forth from this guitar, bass, drums, vox arrangement is somewhere in the range of bestial alt-rock, catchy pop and art rock. They make good use of simple structure, twisting the sound to suit tunes like “Whirring,” one of their more recognizable singles, in its foot-tapping, head-bobbing hookiness and others a bit more free to roam like “Greyhounds in the Ships,” which thrashes about in a Yeah Yeah Yeahs kind of way.
Something Interesting: Unless you’re going to be in Albany, New York City or Philly in the next few days, you’ll have to wait until the next tour to catch the threesome. They’ll be touring in Europe and Australia until the end of July.
Other Songs Worth Checking Out: “Popinjay” and “Austere”
The Joy Formidable [Official]
The Joy Formidable [MySpace]
What’s the Deal: During the From The Mind of Adi showcase a few weeks back at Mohawk, Austin’s White Dress, which was only really composed of singer/guitarist Arum Rae Valkonen (hell of a handle) as the rest of the band was unable to make it, charmed the intimate early crowd. She came across both confident and vulnerable up there with her electric guitar scratches, scrapes and chords and her voice living somewhere amidst the Neko Cases, Hope Sandovals and even sometimes the Billie Holidays of the world.
With the inclusion of the band that normally accompanies Valkonen for White Dress performances, the sound transitions between folk rock sometimes haunting, sometimes lovely and huskier bluesy wailers. There’s a demo for “Loneliness” out there for listening that’s well worth the time. It starts with a string swell, moving into a rhythm section-led, gloomy march with Valkonen’s strong voice sailing forth.
Something Interesting: The White Dress frontwoman is a Berklee Grad from Virginia.
Other Songs Worth Checking Out: “Lighthearted” and “Wearing Red”
White Dress [MySpace]
