Local Natives - Breakers
One of my favourite new bands, the Local Natives have released the first official single from their long awaited sophmore album Hummingbird.
Breakers is a decisively surf-rock song drenched in soaring harmonies, offbeat guitar chords and sporadic drumming. The glorious noise of this single indicates to me that the band still have what it takes to command an audience and make great music together despite parting ways with bassist Andy Hamm in March 2011.
The tracklist to Hummingbird has been released along with an album release date of January 29, 2013. Tracks are listed below. Enjoy!
1 You & I
2 Heavy Feet
3 Ceilings
4 Black Spot
5 Breakers
6 Three Months
7 Black Balloons
8 Wooly Mammoth
9 Mt. Washington
10 Colombia
11 Bowery
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Cecilia
Local Natives |
Local Natives - Cecilia (Live Cover)
The Local Natives dominated my iPod for a considerable amount of time in early 2010 when I heard their debut album Gorilla Manor. After I’d memorised the LP, I went hunting through the band’s back catalogue (mainly finding music released under the band’s previous name Cavil at Rest) and during this hunt I came across a terrific rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s song ‘Cecilia.’
The band’s harmonising skills are one of their strengths and the simple arrangement is instantly enjoyable on ‘Cecilia.’ Most of the natives play percussion on this number - you can watch them perform this on Youtube (poorer audio) and see one member actually play a tree with drumsticks! Classic!
I can attest to the strength of their live performance, as I caught a show in early 2011, so if they are ever performing at a venue near you, I implore you — buy tickets!
The band are releasing their new album soon, though no release date has been set. For now, enjoy ‘Cecilia.’
Local Natives - Airplanes
The Local Natives would have to be one of the best new bands I found out about in 2010. Their debut album Gorilla Manor was exceptional in my opinion. Every song was distinctive and memorable for all the right reasons. One of their several strengths would be the quality of their vocal harmonies. They hail from California and have that great West Coast accent. When their album was released they were criticised by some for sounding too similar to bands like the Fleet Foxes despite having finished their record before the Fleet Foxes’ debut was released. Both bands are excellent in my opinion and are easily distinguished enough for any confusion. I caught them live when they performed in Melbourne in January and they played their set with sincerity and a strong energy that felt as though that they had a lot to prove. ‘Airplanes’ is probably their biggest hit to date and the band tells a story of longing to meet a grandfather who died before he got to meet his grandson. The video is haunting but the song has an optimistic message behind it. Expect to see more posts about this group to come.
