Essentials
2005 - The Year In Review
By Gina Pantone
The highs and lows of 2005 according to Gina Pantone.
As the elves are building and the champagne is chilling, we at Britsound are warming ourselves by the fire—submerged in the aural goodies and coal briquettes 2005 has brought the world. Although our British Santa may not have left us the shiny red bicycle we really wanted (stupid Canada monopolizing the new music scene), there were still plenty of stocking stuffers to bide, and often waste, our time.
The clock struck midnight last December, and with the cold came a stampede of ready to consume bands hailed by NME and in bold print on all the summer festival announcements. Groups with notable debuts, such as Kaiser Chiefs' "Employment", Kasabian's "Kasabian" and The Scissor Sisters' "Scissor Sisters" (no points for creative album titles) made quite the splash to the masses with everything one would expect. However, the whole Gang of Four-meets-Morrissey pop trend, while fun to watch live, fizzled out by the end of Glastonbury—and only the fittest survived, and they were indie.
Among the new bands that deserved the hype was the charming duo, The Boy Least Likely To with their ode to childhood "The Best Party Ever." Rookies, Bloc Party, also caught massive attention with their fantastic introduction, "Silent Alarm" and even a remix album ("Silent Alarm Remixed") that included guests such as Four Tet and Ladytron.
Estrogen was also in full swing this year, with the London quintet The Duke Spirit releasing the bluesy and moving "Cuts Across the Land" after some minor snags with their City Rockers label. As if there weren't enough blonde ambition, Goldfrapp's "Supernature" haunted the scene with a cold and glamorous disco. Sadly, these gems were few and far between.
With a dreadful effort from Coldplay ("X + Y"), the year seemed to be drained from excitement. Damon Albarn's side project, Gorillaz, unleashed their sophomore effort, "Demon Days" with massive airplay and a few tracks that glorified production yet was careful not to run with scissors. Its singles, "Feel Good Inc." and "DARE" were catchy—but no "Clint Eastwood."
It wasn't until Franz Ferdinand came out of hiding with "You Could Have It So Much Better" that being British was fun again. Their first single, "Do You Want To", showed off the Scottish lads—pasty and ready to dance with an album that really represented a step forward, if not a solid equivalent to their debut self-titled smash. Toes were tapping and tickets were selling, an admirable effort for all to enjoy.
Overall, no amount of merriment and mimicking could have saved 2005 from triteness. By the year's end, normally safe-bet British bands were churning out lowest common denominators. In my opinion, Oasis' "Don't Believe the Truth", Doves' "Some Cities" and even the Chemical Brothers' "Push the Button" induced yawning—but do not fear. It is nothing a little new Radiohead in 2006 can't fix.
GP
