Tonight, I’ve been listening to the new single from Monkeybird. Strange name for a band I suppose, but they can be excused – they’re from Norway. This is one of those times when I break the whole ‘only bands from Edinburgh’ rule. Well, they were very polite in their email.
The single is called Born To Roam, and it’s their debut release on Polarfox Records. It’s out on the 21st of September, and is only available via download and on special edition vinyl, a combination I’ve always enjoyed. The video for the song is embedded below.
I like the song; it’s quite carnivalesque, whilst retaining the simple structure of an indie pop track. Musically they sound like a cross between The Dandy Warhols and Modest Mouse, but there’s something else in the mix there, something intangible I can’t quite lay my finger on.
I should spare some words too, for the cool video they’ve put together for the single – archive footage mixed quite artfully, so that it resembles those brilliantly disturbing documentary sequences by Adam Curtis. I’ve seen it done before, by bands as wide ranging as The Moscow Coup Attempt and Franz Ferdinand (the video for This Fire is ace), but this is equally as good. I could write an essay on these types of videos, but I won’t, at least not right here.
Conclusion: the band are one to watch.
