Fresh Friday: Winterkids

The last time I threw in a cd and loved it right away was when I first heard Locksley, the first time I wrote this column actually. Since then, nothing has quite grabbed as much...until now. Enter Winterkids, whom my admiration for has grown throughout the course of writing this review from mere adoration to slight obsession.

A group of bright young things from Guilford, England, they look as if they may have stepped out of a foppish Oscar Wilde play. Their sound may be distinctly English, with their unapologetic accents blaring throughout the Britpop infused album, while their tone of hope and happiness is all but. Their music is reminiscent of American emo, such as Fall Out Boy or Panic! At the Disco, but with lyrics such as "If I had all the money in the world, then I would change a few things," they could never really fit in with those teary eyed boys turning all the young kid's hair black.

They have been equated to early Pulp, The Wedding Present and Blink-182 and yeah, they are a bit of all that but what they really are is something you have yet to hear. A mixture of punk, Britpop created by intelligent, artsy, musicians with a sense of the past and the aesthetic to make a whole and beautiful album.

The second single 'Tape It' from their new album Memoirs is so good that my eyes well with tears of excitement just listening to it. Other songs not to be missed are 'Somebody elses clothes' (which sounds as if it could be the darker remix of a Boy Least Likely track infused with the night of Young Love) and '2 Nights 2 Days' (think The Jam at it's poppiest with rougher drum beats of Arctic Monkeys).

The 'kids are on an unrelenting tour from London to Austin to New York to Edinburgh. Go see them now before you end of begging, borrowing and stealing to get your hands on a ticket later.

Tour Dates:
Feb 26 2007 7:45P
The Social - 'End of the Road Festival' London
Mar 1 2007 9:00P
DJ Set @ 'New Slang' - The Works Nightclub w / Good Shoes (Live) Kingston
Mar 2 2007 8:00P
Marquee Club - 'Strange Place Club Night' Hertford
Mar 3 2007 8:00P
Tunbridge Wells Forum Kent
Mar 9 2007 8:00P
Proud Galleries London
Mar 11 2007 8:00P
The Lei Lounge at Niagara New York
Mar 13 2007 8:00P
Live From London @ Mercury Lounge w / The Holloways, Pop Levi & Tunng New York
Mar 14 2007 8:00P
SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 15 2007 8:00P
SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 16 2007 1:00P
SXSW Day Stage Cafe @ Austin Convention Center Austin, Texas
Mar 16 2007 8:00P
Whisky Bar @ SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 17 2007 12:00P
Habana Calle @ SXSW Austin, Texas
Apr 5 2007 8:00P
'New Slang' - The Works Nightclub w / Young Knives Kingston
Apr 15 2007 8:00P
Best laid Plans @ 93 Feet East London
Apr 29 2007 8:00P
Black Sheep Bar Croydon
May 11 2007 8:00P
Buffalo Bar London
Jun 7 2007 8:00P
The Cabaret Voltaire Edinburgh
Jun 8 2007 8:00P
Escobar Wakefield

MP3: 'Tape It' and 'All the Money'

'All the Money' Vid:


'Tape It' Vid: