Alan McGee getting excited about a new band in 2011 is the equivalent of Stephen Hawking confessing an addiction to watching Big Brother. The former Creation Records mogul is a man who seems to express a high level of disdain for modern music, yet his opinion will always matter as he’ll forever be the man who signed Oasis.
Which is why eyebrows are raised when he takes a liking to a modern band, and the lucky recipients of that accolade today are the IC1’s, whom he personally handpicked to headline a new music showcase – not once but twice. The band have also attracted attention from The Libertines‘ Gary Powell, a sticksman turned record executive extrordinaire, who has given them a record deal on his 25 Hour Convenience Store label. Surely a man who has every note of ‘Up The Bracket‘ engraved on his brain must know what he’s talking about?
How many bands could say they shared a stage with the likes of the Buzzcocks, Cribs and Charlatans all within the first 12 months of their career? This band can, and that’s nothing to be sniffed at. Most would be lucky to have finished touring the toilet circuit of their home town in that amount of time. The five-piece from North West London cite Jack Daniels and The Beatles among their influences – which is never a bad place to start, but it could of course end up with the abomination that is much of Jet‘s back catelogue. That doesn’t seem to be the case for this band based on their new single.
‘Levitate‘ is a simple song with no gimmicks and bags full of attitude. There’s also an underlying romantic charm about it that feels much more sincere than the forced emotion which many songwriters in the charts are guilty of. It’s led by a powerful, jugular bursting vocal that delivers the lyrics in a similar vein to The Courteeners‘ Liam Fray, but with bigger balls singing Nirvana songs. “I’ll race you to the edges of the sky” is a lyric that should even have Morrissey‘s nod of approval. On all accounts, it ticks the right boxes and is a mid paced, rock n’ roll love song that is oozing with energy and begging to soundtrack next summer’s festival season.
The influences are clear from the outset, and it’s a tasty blend of the best bits of the 00s. The spiky hooks of The Libertines, the anthemic qualities of The Rifles and a shade of The Courteeners that lends itself well to that final hour on the indie club dancefloor that can only be filled with tunes that warrant the air guitar moves this track will undoubtedly provoke.
‘Levitate’ might not be anything new or innovative, and listeners of a more eclectic musical pallette might dismiss this as just another indie band. Yet what they do, they do rather well, which is straight up rock n’ roll with indie pop packaging that strikes a healthy balance without going one way or the other. It’s a sound that The Enemy have been missing; a band who have always been halfway toward producing a good song but let themselves down with production that’s more Bud Light than Stella Artois.
It’s not a classic, but it’s a sign of great things to come. There’s certainly no shortage of indie bands doing this sort of thing, but the IC1’s make it sound honest and ‘Levitate’ boasts some stadium sized guitar licks which show the potential of a band who are capable of penning anthems.
(Matt Humphrey)
