So I've heard various talk in recent weeks about the rising profile of Dallas' Hourly Radio, and until this point I've pretty much ignored it. I had heard them before here and there, and I thought their music was decent if somewhat forgettable. "Another post-punk revival band," I thought, "I can probably do without it." For me, the jury is still out on the band because I haven't had a chance to listen to all of their new material, but I have to say: their latest single, "Crime Does Pay," is pretty fucking right on.

I don't remember exactly where I downloaded it from, but I've listened to it several times this week and I'm really digging it. The song draws from a wide range of influences, but it has a predominant disco vibe a la Donna Summer's "I Feel Love," and also seems to take from New Romantics like Gary Numan and Thomas Dolby, as well as some of the less hazy moments of contemporary actually-worthy-of-the-buzz band 120 Days. Sure, its poppy as hell, and there is apparently some video floating around of a five year old girl singing it at a talent show or something, but the stomping disco drum beat and spaced out funk guitar should catch most of you weary local music observers by surprise if you haven't already heard it. Its much more of a dance song than a rock song, and its one of the most immediately catchy local tracks I've heard all year. And I've heard a lot of local tracks this year. I don't even know if Defensive Listening and Howard Bob Johnson are going to agree with me, but you should give it a try:

Hourly Radio "Crime Does Pay" MP3

12:53, funniest shit I've read all day.

They's crackas.

The Hourly Radio are good people and have always put on a good show.

I'm only a harmless dolphin.

btw, that comment was deleted for uttering a phrase involving a shark...

317: Banned!

Attaboy SR!! You Tell em!!! Now, lets get back to talking about Black Tie Dynasty.

Movin' 107.5 is the greatest thing ever to happen to Dallas music, and I won't be convinced otherwise.

no way! I actually like that Sheila E. song.... no (misuse of the word) irony here.

My Movin' 107.5 post, along with this one, have both had the distinction of being labeled "the post that killed my blog." Too bad we still fucking rule everyone.

Nah, Sheila has kitsch value.

I thought WSJR died when I posted that Sheila E. track.

Grubbs, for instance, is in a hated band...

people love to hate...but these guys are good!

Not a bad band. Not a favorite band, but definitely not a hated band.

the album is actually pretty fucking good...

St. Vincent is actually Lisa Loeb with a new wardrobe.

St. Vincent is a total hottie IRCILF!

St. Vincent! Put a pistol in my mouth and pull the effing trigger. Vomit.

12:53 - can we talk about St. Vincent?

Can please get back to talking about Sufjan...oh wait, this isn't Gorilla vs. Bear.

maybe we got punkd

i'm shocked. and somewhat pleased.

a snippet:

The Hourly Radio

The Inside Pulse:
Their best song is the first thing you hear on their myspace page, which probably says a lot about advertising and expectations and what this band sees themselves as. The Hourly Radio is part disco, part Muse, part AFI, part operatic drudge.

Positives:
That good myspace song I'm referring to, Crime Does Pay, is a nice little diddy of a synth beat layered over a genuine sounding chorus that just might make some people dance. There's lots of this kind of thing on the record. It all sounds calculated, but done in kind of a fun way. Also, the ballad "Means to an End" is oddly fantastic.

Negatives:
The band knows exactly what the negative here is. Hell, they named the record after it. "History Will Never Hold Us" stabs right into the main problem here. It's all okay, but it's nothing that hasn't been done better before. It's a problem when every song on the record makes me want to listen to other bands that do the same kind of thing instead.

Cross-breed:
AFI (bad), Muse (okay), The Killers (bad), and Bloc Party (good).

Reason To Buy:
These guys remind me of the Editors. Not sound-wise, but in terms of relevence. It's a band that people will clamor over for a while, even though nobody's really sure why. Buy it so you can talk about it with all the other people who are talking about it but not necessarily liking or listening to it.

WE SHOT JR

RIP.

Wed, Nov 15th @ 2:05pm

Goodbye all. Have a wonderful life.

yeah seriously - wtf??????

i think i just fell out of my chair with surprise