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My favourite British band of 2006 are back, and boy do they sound shiny! I love Guillemots like Kel loves Orange Soda. I love Guillemots like some people love oxygen. They're phenomenal live, phenomenal vocally, and possibly the most grand-sounding thing to happen in music since Muse. New song 'Kriss Kross' from upcoming album 'Red' is, well, phenomenal. It sounds like their first album's sound, were they asked to score the new Pirates of the Caribbean film. It's grand, and ridiculous, and happy and will, no doubt, sound frankly epic live.
mp3: 'Kriss Kross' by Guillemots
I've just spent the last half hour watching the Channel 4 broadcast of Keane's Warchild gig on Sky+. The benefit of my belated watching is I've been able to fastforward through the crap and boring (The Magic Numbers, some other bloke I can't remember) and still watch the jolly awesome (Brendan Benson, Lily Allen, Keane covering Queen & David Bowie). One of the most upsetting moments, though, beyond the suffering of children born into war, was seeing Fyfe Dangerfield of Guillemots.
It's not that I don't love Fyfe, or indeed the Guillemots, in fact I love them and their crazy, crazy music. At Glastonbury their set was in my top three. Or five. There were lots of good bands. So it isn't a dislike for them at all. No, what saddened me was that Fyfe had had a haircut.
See, Fyfe's hair was the band of Guillemots personified. Except it wasn't a person. So I guess I'll have to change that. See, Fyfe's hair was a metaphor for Guillemots as a band - crazy, seemingly out of control to the outside world, but ultimately a finely-formed mess that knows exactly what it is doing. It flowed, was thick and full, was beautiful, was an inspiration to young men like me who are learning day-by-day that it's only so long until male pattern baldness kicks in. And he's gone and cut it all off! It's short! FYFE'S HAIR IS SHORT AND PERFECTLY ORGANISED! It's a disgrace!
Still, the band are still fantastic, both on record and live, and this is great news. I've seen Guillemots live twice, and they simply don't let down. You leave a Guillemots gig feeling happy, your thirst for life insiringly unquenched, and the blood in your veins temporarily replaced with pure, liquid joy. Exhibit A in the case for liquid joy vs. Guillemots (whatever that means): 'Made-Up Love Song #42'. Any song featuring the lyric 'I love you through sparks and shining dragons, I do' can do no wrong in my book.
mp3: 'Made-Up Love Song #42' by Guillemots
