New Moscow

[Photo Credit: Malia James]

Oh man, I love Young and Lost Club Records. The small British label was started last year by two girls in their early twenties, who were already influential members of the London music scene due to their zine (Pyrrha) and popular Young and Lost Club dance nights (as DJs The Pyrrha Girls). Both their zine and their roster can attest to the fact that the girls have an incredible barometer for determining what's "good" and what will sell. Apparently, Pyrrha was the first print publication in the world to mention Razorlight and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, while their label has released the debut singles of awesome bands like Larrikin Love, Good Shoes, and Action Plan. Basically, Y&L is the British equivalent of Ultragrrrl's Stolen Transmission--only with good bands and without mindnumbing starfucking.

The latest band to release a single on Y&L is New Moscow, a group hailing from Sweden of all places. Though New Moscow features three guys with awesome Swedish names (David Fransson, Andreas Nordstrom, and Mattias Engwall), they produce music that leans closer to sunny indie rock than anything prototypically nordic sounding. With its lush guitar-work layered over a driving downbeat and topped by vocals slightly reminiscent of classic Bob Dylan, "C'mon Up" is a great first single. It is simultaneously catchy and compelling, two attributes that rarely seem to go hand in hand. If their debut album is half as good as this single, then wow.

Myspace: New Moscow
Audio: "C'mon Up"