Opening with single “MY KZ YR BF” – so good they’ve released it twice – Everything Everything couldn’t have tracklisted this better. “MY KZ YR BF” pretty much sums up the band in smidgen over three and a half minutes. The track time should give you a clue to the genre – it’s pop Jim, but not as we know it. Overblown synths frolic with frantic bass and staccato beats whilst a beautiful three-part harmony courtesy of Jonathan, Jeremy, and Alex keep everything running smoother than Horlicks. Saying that, there’s enough vocal gymnastics to keep your ears pricked and your brain busy, and that’s before you’ve even tried to start deciphering the lyrics – evidently the R. Kelly influence shines through here:”And I wanna know what happened to your boyfriend / Cos he was looking at me like ‘woah..!’”.

“QWERTY Finger” follows suit vying with the likes of “MY KZ…”, “Schoolin’”, and “Photoshop Handsome” for the catchiest chorus award. “Schoolin’” itself is is a… well actually… God knows how these lyrics can possibly fit, but frontman Jonathon certainly does a good job of it. Guitars get a bit fiddly and the bass gets funky for the middle-eight, and it’s  alt. pop at it’s best really. “Leave The Engine Room” and “Final Form” provide a welcome break from the pacey tracks before we launch straight back into “Photoshop Handsome” – rife with gaming references, Sega-esque synths and enough falsetto to give that gobshite Rhydian from X Factory a run for his money.

We’re pretty much halfway through the record now and synths and guitars reign supreme, so Everything Everything decide to turn it on its head don’t they? The cheeky scamps. “Two For Nero” is nothing but vocals and a harpsichord, and it’s damn beautiful. Like, really. The band’s debut “Suffragette Suffragette” with its ever-so-memorable refrain: “Who’s gonna sit on your face when I’m gone? / Who’s gonna sit on your face when I’m not there?” It pretty much steals the limelight from the rest of the song which is a shame, ‘cos there’s some damn heavy riffs going down when you listen out for them.

“NASA Is On Your Side” is the band’s ballad, if there is such a thing on Man Alive. The lyricism is again, baffling at best – a post-apocalyptic paean touching on high school massacres, the death of the sun, and burning polythene bags, amongst other oddities. Put that all aside and what you’ve got is a slow-jam filled with beautifully obscure melodies, Everything Everything at their most vulnerable, but boy do they come up fighting. “Weights” finishes off the album AND IT FEATURES STEPLADDERS USED AS PERCUSSION. Well, that and some beautiful harmonies and trip-hop beats. Eclectic pretty much sums up Everything Everything’s sound. Off-centre pop songs is what they is doing. If you’re a fan of Foals, Radiohead, Bloc Party, et. al., creaming yourself is what you’ll be doing.

“I haven’t got the same kind-of pressures as a big company with a board of directors saying that profit margins should be bigger. it’s not being led by that in the first place.”

Alex Novak finishes his sentence and reclines slightly in his chair behind a large wooden desk. This isn’t some boardroom or large office though, this is Spiral Archive Records, one of Northampton’s few remaining independent record stores.

The store itself occupies an old factory building, given a new life by the vast expanse of vinyl and CD that occupies the shop floor. It’s an organised chaos with boxes and cases of music in every direction, the only order being the category and alphabetical dividers thumbed a thousand times by keen punters.

Alex’s desk lies towards the back of the store, it’s covered in flyers and posters for upcoming gigs and events, something which he believes helps set him out from the modern chain stores of today. “I’m kind-of like a mini information centre,” he enthuses, “you give them [customers] something that they might be interested in and that they wouldn’t normally be aware of…and when it comes on recommendation it’s slightly different.”

These aren’t the words of a man worried by the falling numbers of independent stores, this is a man who’s been in business for 11 years, Alex has every right to be confident.

But doesn’t the Internet and illegal downloading worry him? “Well you can’t download a record!” he retorts, before adding, “I think people like to come in and I think things kind-of jump out at them, and through speaking to them, I can suggest things to them too. I offer a bit of knowledge.”

“A lot of people say it’s a bad thing [the internet], but for me it’s a good thing. I can sell things locally and I can sell things internationally as well…you’re reaching a lot more people very quickly.” Alex’s eBay store has helped him through the last few years of economic meltdown, enabling him to sell records to customers across the globe who might not be feeling the pinch so much.

But despite this, Alex insists that being independent is a value you uphold for the love of it, not for profit. “You have to accept you wont ever make a fortune out of it. I think it depends what you need, if you’ve got enough to make a living then that’s it.”

A lack of funds but an abundance of passion seems to be the case for all aspects of the UK’s independent scene. For every big band that tours the UK there’s a handful of smaller acts willing to lose money every night through putting on their own gigs and jumping in the back of a van to tour the country. A Major Motion Picture is one such band.

We join the lead singer, Adam East, in the back of their converted Royal Mail van on the night of a hometown show. When asked if he ever loses faith in being an independent musician Adam takes a sip of his beer and says, “We’ve made a couple of hundred pounds a show, we’ve lost a couple of hundred pounds a show but I don’t think I’ll lose faith in it. You Me At Six, Gallows, Enter Shikari – they all toured for two or three years before they got big and they didn’t give a shit so, you just kind-of have to do it.”

Much like Alex, Adam’s confidence is more than apparent when he talks. His answers turn into short monologues as he mulls over the finer details of being in a band that does everything for themselves. He concludes that it’s brought the five of them closer together. “I think it was the day we pretty much bought our van, we all pulled together to buy this heap of shit. It was only £900 and two of us weren’t working, but we were just chipping in what we could to buy it and it really felt like we were a proper band then.”

Does he think that being independent is an important rite of passage for young artists? “I’d like to think so,” he says, “It’s about playing 100 shows to nobody and working your way up. How else are you going to get people to know your name?”

If there’s one independent musician that knows a thing or two about playing hundreds of shows to get your name out there then it’s Luke Leighfield. In the last three years, he’s played over 350 gigs in 12 different countries. Today he’s at home though, and he’s annoyed, he’s just lost a “pretty lengthy” blog he wrote about his latest writing session. Despite this, he’s still full of praise for the Internet as a platform for independent artists. “I think the good thing about the Internet is that anyone could have a go, it’s all good because everyone gets heard.”

He’s certainly done his bit too, Luke’s on just about every social networking site going and it’s through these he’s been able to book all his own gigs. “The advantage to doing it all yourself is that you cut out the middle man, so at the end of a tour you might occasionally end up in profit!”

Does that mean the days of needing a record label to back you are over? “I don’t know if they’re totally going to die, but they’re certainly less important at the moment,” says Luke.

If you needed any more proof that independent music can weather a recession, look no further than LAB records. In the past four years they’ve gone from a small promotions company to a full-time independent label, with a roster that boasts some of the UK’s brightest young talents including MiMi Soya and The Auteur.

Mark Orr is one of LAB’s founders and he couldn’t do better to sum up the importance of independent artists, stores, and labels: “Without the indies music becomes to formulaic. Manufactured bands and major label artists have their place of course, but it’s great to have something at grassroots to offer something a little different.” Well said Mark, well said.

You can find out more about the people featured by visiting the following places on the internet:

• Spiral Archive (Alex Novak)
• A Major Motion Picture (Adam East)
• Luke Leighfield
• LAB Records (Mark Orr)

Vampire Weekend have a bit of a reputation to live up to. The sophomore effort from one of the most hotly-tipped bands of 2008 and one of the most successful bands of 2009 always has a bit of a reputation to live up to. Do they do it? Probably. Don’t get me wrong, Contra is an excellent album, but it’s not one you Afro-beat-loving indie kids should be blowing your collective loads over.

Opening track and incidentally, the album’s second single, “Horchata” is a slow starter; couple that with Ezra Koeing’s fragile vocals and you start to get the impression that this is the sound of a band that are living in the shadow of the mammoth popularity of their self-titled debut. Don’t let that fool you though, because elsewhere on the album the erratic and over-processed (which is a good thing, by the way) vocals of “California English”,  the raucious drums on “Giving Up the Gun”, and the subtle crescendos of “I think ur a Contra” all hint at a band growing in confidence.

The litmus test for the album was debut single “Cousins”, which on its own might have been hailed as brilliant. But it’s the fact that it seems to ride somewhat on the coat tails of “A-Punk”‘s success that loses it a few of those all-important originality points, and with an album like this, that’s what counts. It kind-of sums up the album as a whole really. Vampire Weekend have played a bit of a safe hand  with Contra – following the tried and tested formula that bought them success with their debut. But there’s a few gems on the album that suggest that there’s a lot more from Vampire Weekend to come. And it can only get better, right?

Throats

Throats drummer Aaron Graydon has left the UK hardcore outfit on the eve of their European tour. The band, who are due to release their self-titled debut album next month on Holy Roar records, say they’ll still be continuing with the tour regardless.

The band are currently searching for a last-minute replacement drummer for the tour with names such as Pulled Apart by Horses’ Lee Vincent being tipped as possible stand-ins.

Album of the Year…

…Noah and the Whale – First Days of Spring

Takin’ on the haters, Noah and the Whale’s sophomore effort saw them strip back, toy with new instruments, and a running narrative, producing something that drew in the swelling crowd sickened by ’5 Years Time’.

Gig of the Year…

Delphic

…Delphic (w/ Two Door Cinema Club) on the Kitsuné Maison Tour
For bringing their epic brand of ethereal electronica to the masses leaving them collectively stunned and amazed by the sharply dressed gentlemen from Manchester.

Keep and eye out for…

…Two Door Cinema Club
Still relatively under the radar except for those who were blown away by their shows supporting the Delphic tour, but sure to explode in 2010, captivating the general public with their sophisticated blend of programmed electronics and abrasive indie-pop. If you’re looking for an Irish reference they’re better U2.