THIRD TIME LUCKY???

Both myself and Mrs Villain were pleased to learn the other week that The Young Knives have been busy in the recording studio and plans are underway for the third album to be released sometime in 2010.

I'm firmly of the view that this lot are a fine continuation of the line of great slightly eccentric Englsh pop groups that goes back many a year to the likes of The Kinks and XTC, and for a while before they went mega in the Britpop era, Blur. They have released two LPs full of great tunes and clever lyrics that have sadly not taken them much beyond cult status, and even then, it's a rather small cult.

What must have been even more frustrating for both them and their record label was the fact that having had three singles get to the bottom end of the Top 40 back in 2006 as well as a debut LP that peaked at #21, the follow-up stuff in 2008 didn't perform anything like as well, with the singles stalling just outside the Top 40 and the LP at #29.

It wasn't as if the new songs weren't as good as the old stuff - in fact there's a strong case to be made for the songs on Superabundance (2008) to be a much more consistent and better quality collection than those on Voices of Animals and Men (2006). And it wasnt as if the band didn't work hard with all sorts of gigs in all corners of the country.

If you don't know much about The Young Knives, then I would like to recommend that you have a peek over at either their official website or myspace site to learn more. You'll even get to hear some of their songs.....

And, if you're someone who lives in or around Manchester, Keele, Aldershot or Leicester then why not go along and catch them on stage this week:-

5 May - Moho Live, Manchester
6 May - University, Keele
7 May - The Palace, Aldershot
8 May - Music Cafe, Leicester

I've been lucky to see them play live on a handful of occasions across Scotland and they've never been a letdown. And you'll be among the first to hear some of the new material as well.....

Sadly, the timing of the mini-tour is all wrong for the Villains to make an effort to get along as we will be setting off on holiday this coming Saturday (plans are in hand for a special couple of series at TVV to keep things ticking over). But with any luck, the band will get out on the road later on to promote the new record. And if there's any justice in this cruel world, they will finally get the hits they are long overdue.

Here's the songs from their second single, released back in February 2006. It reached #36 in the singles chart:-

mp3 : The Young Knives - Here Comes The Rumour Mill
mp3 : The Young Knives - We Are The Also Rans

Happy Listening.