Oh Boy!
Concretes photo by Marius Hansen
It may not be the summer anthem but the new Concretes single is rather fabulous. I was hooked the second the horns kick into the big shiny HUGE pop chorus.
I hope the world still gives them the credit they deserve now that Victoria has left the band. Personally, I think it's probably a better thing that she's doing her own thing. Not only does she seem a bit, um, up her own arse1, BUT every time I've seen The Concretes she has KILLED the live show. I haven't ever understood what it is about her that does it. The moping? The frowning? The standing in front of the hot stage lights in an 80 degree + room shivering under a wool pea coat made for a man three times her size? The visual displeasure with being forced to stand upon a stage and entertain you oh-so-undeserving people?2
A couple of years back I saw the Concretes in London (along with The Magic Numbers and Saint Etienne) to ring in the new year of 2005. New Years Eve shows should be UP UP UP and fabulous right? Well for the most part it was, but The Concretes... man they could have slowed the Energizer Bunny down to a dying-of-dehydration-in-the-Sahara crawl. It wasn't the fault of the whole band, anyone watching could have seen that. Who stands on stage at the Shepherd's Bush Empire during a New Years Eve show with a 3' tall Macy Gray wig and a frown? Victoria Bergstrom. It didn't matter how much enthusiasm the rest of the band gave off but it all got sucked into that wig and stomped into submission.
I know the world is all high on her because of "the whistling song" (even if her contribution to the song is minimal). But me? I'm glad she's not in The Concretes anymore. I'm not sure that with her we'd have songs this poppy and fantastic to show for the summer of 20073...
1 Yeah, I do realize I shouldn't print this but a little truth every once in awhile never hurt, right?
2 This is not an isolated incident. I try to keep giving The Concretes the benefit of the doubt live but after 3 shows with Victoria all but throwing a temper tantrum on stage she will now only EVER rub me the wrong way.
3 While the new record isn't out in the US yet you can buy it on sale right now from Parasol for the same price as the average domestic release.
Buy some: The Concretes