Occasionally, I receive emails from bands, DJ's, labels and music PR people offering up samples of songs or notices of upcoming concerts and shows. I usually will read the email, follow the links and listen to the song samples and I may or may not respond to the request. Actually, I feel kind of bad for not replying, but I figure most of these emails are send out to dozens and dozens of blogs and websites hoping for a review or a mention on said blog/sites. If I do respond it means something special has caught my attention and I genuinely enjoy what is being brought to my attention.
A few weeks back I received a message from a band from Stockholm, Sweden called, Tiger Bell. For all you aspiring bands and for future reference, here are some of the reasons to like Tiger Bell:
- pop-punk all-female bands- Not all, but I will give a listen to most bands in this category. I like fast, melodic, poppy punk, but the key is I have to like the voice. If it's too high pitched or screechy or too manly (I prefer more "girly"), I probably won't listen beyond one song. A little off-key (not too much though) is good and of course attitude is everything, though not too feminine butchy.
- Bands from Sweden- Actually, I dislike many well-known Swedish bands, Abba, Roxette, Ace Of Base, and The Cardigans. But there are a lot of cool bands such as The Concretes, Shout Out Louds and the Hives, as well. I always appreciate foreign bands that make the effort to sing in English (their website is written partially in Swedish) and I haven't heard of any other all-girl bands from Sweden.
- Cute- Cute helps a lot, but not essential. I like bands where you see them as individual members, all different with their own personalities, instead of boring lookalikes. That's why I prefer videos when a band is performing (or pretending to play) instead of some artsy off-topic storyline. Of course, seeing a band live is always the best way to know and appreciate a band.
- Cheerleader-punk!- The band self-describes themselves as cheerleader-punk, how can I not like this band. From their site, "Tiger Bell stands with one foot in pop, one in punk and one in rock (which adds up to a lot of feet) and our music is characterized by the nagging and repeated girly choirs. With high energy, hard work and lots of fun we realized early on that we create music in the same way cheerleaders carry out their sport. Cheerleader-punk was born!" Yeah!
And to hear both songs, go to Soundcloud. Watch for a future full-length, hopefully soon.
Enjoy!
