BACKGROUND ON ARTIST/ALBUM: The
Flea Market Poets are an eclectic American rock band
with roots in America, Ireland, Germany and the U.K The
band consists of Jason Serious on lead vocals, guitar
and keyboards, Christian Chapman on drums, Hazel
X on bass, Brian Reno on guitars and synths, Grainne
McMenamin on backing vocals. The Poets play
a melodic brand of rock occasionally crossing over
into Punk and Americana. Think: Radiohead jamming
with Wilco down the pub, Eddie Vedder bumping into
Beck at the corner store, the Ramones in a knitting
circle with Neil Young (he does knit, we are assured). Known
for versatility and intuitive songwriting, the band
can capture and engage diverse audiences, in rock
clubs and festivals as well as in more intimate unplugged
settings. The Poets play a melodic brand of rock
occasionally crossing over into Punk and Americana. Their
sound is often compared to bands like the Strokes,
Snow Patrol and Wilco, but the Flea Market Poets
are known best for powerful songs that support varied
interpretations over time. Their music caters
to an eclectic palate.In 2007 the band caught the
attention of Brit Award winning producer Pete Briquette
(Bob Geldof, the Frames, Tricky) who then went on
to produce their first single “Captain Nate”. Briquette
in turn introduced Bob Geldof to the Poets and their
music and he is now regarded as one of the band’s
most high-profile fans. |
Dirty Days: Dirty
Days is an album of 13 original songs, each
with its own unique texture: Dirty
Days is not one of those all-songs-sound-the-same
records. With each track, the Poets take
the listener through a different musical and
emotional world while keeping the tunes accessible
with strong melodies and meaningful lyrics. The
album kicks off with “Dirty Days”,
the seductive title track with all the climax
and glory of Brit-style stadium rock (think Radiohead,
ColdPlay). Next up is “Annie Superstar” -
a tribute to cult film Buffalo 66 (Annie
Superstar played by Christina Ricci), which sounds
more like a full-on Wilco rocker. Other influences
can be heard (e.g. the Strokes in “Captain
Nate”, the Cure in “Black Heart”)
but the Poets are not a band to be boxed in.
Take the eerie “Personal Sun”: a
full frontal assault on the American political
society, weaving the spookiest of backwater blues
riffs onto biting protest lyrics that would make
Bob Dylan proud. Resisting the usual pressures
to conform to genre and to mimic the fashionable
sound, the Poets have produced an album that
is hard to label, but at the same time instantly
familiar and appealing, suggesting the unlikely
return of an endangered species: original pop
music.
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