indie rock cafe
Artist of the Week: Vicious Vicious (Well Not Really, But Dang Good Music)

With a new album out and an eclectic and exciting discography behind them - albeit it's only a few dozen songs over six years - IRC's artist of the week is Minneapolis band Vicious Vicious. (photo above: the band looking really vicious.)

Originally a solo project and moniker of musician Erik Applewick, who recorded a set of songs on a four-track 2002 self released album titled Blood and Clover, Vicious Vicious sparked a passionate reaction from their hometown Minneapolis indie community, thanks to the additions of band members Darren Jackson, Alex Oa, and Martin Dosh, who helped provide the musical talent that made Applewick's songs even more impossible to ignore.

Since then, Vicious Vicious, an unlikely name for a band that is about as vicious as a poodle, has released only two additional albums. Nevertheless, the wait paid off with each release demonstrating a maturing, exciting and eclectic mix of pop, funk, psychedelic and rock influences that essentially make the band's sound stand out among so many other indie groups that are praised but really aren't half as good as Vicious Vicious are.

Parade was released in September of 2007 to rave reviews - even making the 2007 best album lists of many popular blogs and music sites.

You can stream many of the songs from Parade, and their other releases, on the band's official website. Don't be surprised if you find yourself listening to the entire stream of songs more than once - they are just that good.

Vicious Vicious first caught the attention of the indie underground fan base and bloggers in a significant way with the release of their 2005 album Don't Look So Surprised, which contains a number of memorable songs, not the least being the catchy, 'play that again' song "2 Much Time on My Hands" (not a cover of the 70's band Styx's song by the same name).

Vicious Vicious - 2 Much Time on My Hands

Since the release of their latest album Parade in September 2007, songs like "Rain Parade", "Ho Baby" and other well-produced indie pop songs have increased the band's popularity.

According to Vicious Vicious' official website, Applewick and the others are working on new material for yet another album to possibly be released in 2008. Let's hope so, because these guys are on a serious roll.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe for the Feed Me Indie feed via RSS, Atom, iTunes or your favorite reader and podcaster.

Labels: , , , , , , , ,



  11:44 PM February 24, 2008    0 Comments


Subscribe to Feed Me Indie

twitter indierockcafe
indirockfacebook
indie rock myspace

Download 25 FREE songs at eMusic.com!
Free trial, no obligation.


bands to watch 2009
2009 Bands To Watch

new york city songs
Songs About New York City

Current and upcoming releases (US dates)


8/4/09 - Kevin Hearn & Thin Buckle - Havana Winter
8/4/09 - Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti Is...Skyscraper
8/4/09 - Modest Mouse - No One's First and You're Next
8/4/09 - Throw Me The Statue - Creaturesque
8/25/09 - Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
9/8/09 - Múm - Sing Along To Songs You Don't Know
9/8/09 - Shannon Stephens - The Breadwinner
9/8/09 - The Clean - Mister Pop
9/8/09 - Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
9/15/09 - The Dodos - Time To Die
9/22/09 - Alberta Cross - Broken Side Of Time
9/22/09 - David Gray - Draw The Line
9/22/09 - The Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead
9/24/09 - Editors - In This Light And On This Evening
10/06/09 - The Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath
10/6/09 - Mission of Burma - The Sound The Speed Of Light


Best 2009 Indie Releases

2009 best indie albums
Favorite 2009 indie albums in no particular order; strongly recommend each one for your music collection.

Fanfarlo - Reservior
Foreign Born - Person To Person
Passion Pit - Manners
Iron & Wine - Around The Well
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Conor Oberst & The Mustic Valley Band - Outer South
Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day
The Antlers - Hospice
Bishop Allen - Grrr
Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer
The Dodos - Time To Die
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
M. Ward - Hold Time
Ben Kweller - Changing Horses
The Acorn - Heron Act
AC Newman - Get Guilty
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
Beirut - March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
The Most Serene Republic - And The Ever Expanding Universe
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada
Sing Fin Bous - Clangour
Vica Voce - Rose City
Pomegranates - Everyone, Come Outside!
Dananananaykroyd - Hey Everyone
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Akron/Family - Set Em Wild, Set Em Free
Lemon Sun - Run With the Faithless
Eels - Hombre Lobo
The Mary Onettes - Dare EP
Odawas - The Blue Depths
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
White Rabbits - It's Frightening
Loney Dear - Dear John
The Lonely Forest - We Sing The Body Electric
The Uglysuit - self-titled debut
Handsome Furs - Face Control
Vampire Hands - Me & You Cherry Red/Cuz It's a Beach Funeral

This list is updated regularly



animal collective merriweather post pavilion
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (9.5)


andrew bird noble beast art
Andrew Bird - Noble Best (8.0)


Mostly Independent Labels