Reading O Reading

Ok, Reading may not be the most exciting of places. It's no Las Vegas and it has no twin city and the wind is more annoying than notable. But, it does have a nice little pop band (I keep thinking poop band after Steve's post) that is doing quite well in the UK and just did CMJ in the States.

Pete and the Pirates play catchy little 2 minute pop songs so don't expect them to blow your mind. They're fun and their melodies are pretty original. If anything, your kids might like them. Penny loves dancing to them, but she also likes dancing to Old MacDonald, so maybe that's not the best endorsement. I promise they're not as repetitive as most children's songs.

They have a bunch of cheap videos you can check out on YouTube too.

Lightspeed Champion

Since I'm way over in England, my first post should probably have something to do with an artist from this country (sorry Wales and Scotland). For my birthday last year, my friend Dan gave me a CD by Lightspeed Champion called Falling off the Lavender Bridge. Never heard of the band. I took a listen and didn't really know what to make of it. Kind of folksy, maybe country, with some nice vocal harmonies. I took another listen and liked it a lot more. One thing is for sure, I didn't really know where to classify it, which gives you points right off in my book. It is a rare thing to listen to a rock band and not immediately be able to compare them to five other bands.

Anyway, it turns out that Lightspeed Champion is actually the stage name for this guy. What's really interesting is that before he went off on his own, he was in a dance-punk band. It's hard to imagine two more different projects. So, give it a listen. It's nice chillax music, which you really can use after a day of screaming kids.