Friday, October 31, 2008

Band of the Week: The Van Allen Belt

I figure that if you're reading a blog about music, you are probably also interested in keeping ahead of the curve to impress all of your friends with the "next" band ahead of the indie curve. So, to make your life that much easier, there's a new regular feature round these parts - first there was "Songs of the Week", now there's the "Band of the Week".

Enjoy, check back next Friday, and Happy Halloween!

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band of the week #1: the van allen belt (myspace)

If you have a MySpace profile, and ever venture to explore the "Music" section of the massive social networking blackhole, then you've doubtlessly experienced the joy of random friend adds from obscure bands that you've never heard of. And, of course, 99% of the time they're bands that you never want to have heard of. Let's face it, most of the music out there is utter crap. The other day, a little group called The Van Allen Belt gave me one of these adds, and for some strange reason, I decided to actually listen to the music on their profile - and am I glad that I did!

Sporting sultry vocals, jangly instrumentation, and an overall lounge-y atmosphere to boot, the Van Allen Belt is certainly more than a torus of energetically charged particles held in place by the Earth's magnetic field. This Pittsburgh outfit is nothing short of a throwback to a lost age, singing about our bleak future in the most upbeat manner imaginable. Think the Beach Boys, but less optimistic and with a girl singing. Fuck it, I don't even know, I really can't do them justice with words. You'll just have to hear for yourself.

Check out their MySpace, I implore you. It'll be the most fun you've had all week!

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