The Idle Hands: The Hearts We Broke on the Way to the Show
The Idle Hands have been steadily gathering buzz all year. The Secretary, the follow up to Loaded, has been invading the Current's playlists in recent weeks.
It has a lot to do with their live shows. The Idle Hands rocked First Avenue at the South by Southwest Sendoff in March, impressed at SXSW itself, headlined to a packed 331 Club in April, drew crowds to a solo show at Art-A-Whirl in May, and answered the inevitable question - what about the album? - by mesmerizing the Kitty Cat Klub for their CD release party in June.
The five band members, two Irish, three Minnesotan, behave like true headliners. Their confident performances are from a group that knows they are making the music the crowd wants right now. Those people who stand in the first rows and spend the show taking pictures with their iPhone? They put them back in their pockets and dance.
The lead singer is one of those tall skinny indie heartthrobs who sings aksant into the mike in pure britpop style, but the guitars and the drums are pure indie rock. Loaded, their standout track, is simple, catchy and dancable but who needs complicated when you just want to rock out? The Secretary is intense guitars and wailing vocals reminiscent of 1990s British rockers Suede, mixed with the swagger of early Oasis, and dressed in better clothes.
The Idle Hands new album, The Hearts We Broke on the Way to the Show, is out now. The CD is available at the Electric Fetus, Cheapo Discs and local independent record stores.
See them live if you can: right now they are one of Minneapolis' hottest talents - you'll either catch a band at the height of their powers, or one of the early shows of a group that goes on to much bigger things.
The Idle Hands' next show is at Barbette's Bastille Day celebrations on Sunday July 12.
Comments
WoW!!!!
I’ve been breathlessly waiting for the full-length “The Hearts We Broke…” since 2006, when the 4-song “Loaded” EP was released. The Idle Hands are another of those bands that make you scratch your head and ask, “Why the hell aren’t they famous?!?!?” Then again, I’d hate to see them sell their souls to the wrong devil…
Kudos to The Current for giving them much-deserved spins…but I could’ve sworn “Loaded” was getting airplay on The Current a couple years back when the EP was first released…maybe I’m mistaken (We live a couple hours north of Minneapolis in Hayward, WI…rarely do we receive its signal, but I do stream on occasion).
I had the pleasure of hosting The Idle Hands in Hayward for The Park Theater’s Indie Rock Concert Series in 2007…they were on a triple bill with The Nyquist Frequency & Grenadier. All of the bands burned, but ‘Hands burned white-hot. After digging on their admittedly sparse recorded output, I became a TRUE believer after experiencing them live…Ciaran with that unmistakable star-swagger; Eileen & Emma with their alluring stillness that belies what they’re cranking out musically; Cristoir laying down a superb low end with a more-often-than-not closed-eye smile across his face, like he’s really partying on the inside; and Nick (who had just joined the permanent lineup when I hosted them) simply kicking it like the masterful drummer he is…not just a basher, he knows how to use dynamics.
Can’t wait to get a copy of “The Hearts We Broke…” in my hands and onto my radio playlists.