Monday, January 25, 2021

Videos killed made the radio stars

As is often noted, the internet moves in incredibly mysterious ways. No sooner has TikTok helped to propel sea shanties to popularity than it's done the same for a song by a bunch of Glaswegian art-rockers who released one studio album in 2001 to precious little popular or critical acclaim and split up the following year. Spotify streams for Life Without Buildings have skyrocketed - not, of course, that that will translate into an unexpected windfall for the band's former members.

As a middle-aged man baffled by modern life on a daily basis, I won't even pretend to understand what TikTok is (what's wrong with YouTube?) or what the teenagers' videos are about - but I will thank them (and this Guardian article by Jennifer Hodgson) for finally inducing me to listen to a band who had been on my radar for some time. However it finds its way to your ears, 'The Leanover' is worth hearing.

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