5 bands I've been listening to in February

Right, there are only 3 people who can revive this blog and get it out of quarantine. Hang on a minute, Tarquin, my PR Adviser, needs to tell me something...

Erm...there's now only 2.  The third, Gregg Jevin, is unfortunately no longer with us.  So, without further ado, here they are. Take it away Beefy and Taz!

Right. *checks under bed* It looks like that bad pop group have finally gone. *looks in wardrobe*. Yep, we've got the all clear. Phew. Many thanks to Beefy and Taz. You run along now chaps and do whatever you erm...do.

To mark the return of 'musodad' I thought I'd update my blog with '5 bands I've been listening to in February'. This will become a new regular feature on the blog and will form part of the new 'musodad Monthly 2012' Spotify playlist that you can follow here - The musodad Monthly 2012

Oh and it won't be just new bands that will be included in this, there'll probably be something old, something new, something borrowed but I can confirm that the band Blue will definitely not be appearing anywhere on these pages.

So, without further ado, here are 5 bands I've been listening to this month...


1. Django Django

In 3 days time I will be seeing this band and fellow parent blogger @mammasaurusblog (aka Annie) is going too!

It was Annie who got me into them in the first place and since they released their debut album at the end of January it hasn't been off my erm...Spotify.

Very much looking forward to seeing them and also meeting Annie. It will be my first blogger meet up and she has been one of the bloggers who has inspired / helped me the most since I started 'musodad'. She is a Legend in blogging circles.

It will also be good to confirm that all you Parent Bloggers out there do actually exist and I'm not just part of some weird Truman Show-type stunt that's being shown on parent blogs across the globe. I will definitely discuss this with my hairdresser tomorrow as she likes conspiracy theories.  What if she's in on it as well though?!

Anyway, enough of me being paranoid, if you want to know what Django Django sound like, here's them doing one for their best songs - called 'Storm' - live -

2. The Maccabees

Another band (like Django Django) who were featured on my 31 Bands to fall in love with in 2012 Spotify playlist and although their third album has had mixed reviews, I reckon it's a corker.

It takes a few listens but I'm now officially hooked and can't stop listening to it.
The first single from the album was 'Pelican' and it's a beauty. You can listen to it here -

3. The Darling Buds

Do you know what I love about Spotify? That you can search for the name of a song / band and discover, or re-discover, a completely different band who you then can't stop listening to. That's the reason why I've been listening to 'Pop Said' by The Darling Buds so much this month.

I was putting together an NME Chart playlist for this year, searched for 'Hit the Ground Superman' by The Big Pink and re-discovered 'Hit the Ground' by The Darling Buds. I loved them when I was younger and now I'm loving them all over again. The album is a gem, every song is very catchy and I reckon it would be HUGE if it was released now.

That same night I tweeted I was listening to them and got into a conversation with @GoingUndrground who also hadn't heard them in ages. He listened to them, we both agreed they were amazing and we 'man hugged' over Twitter. Sort of.

If you don't know them, here they are on Top of the Pops playing 'Hit the Ground' which was their biggest hit at the time (ps in his autobiography Alex James from Blur confessed to having an affair with the lead singer. You didn't hear it from me, right? *taps nose with finger*) -

4. Bucks Fizz

Yes I can confirm that isn't a mis-print, it really does say 'Bucks Fizz' and, you know what, I'm not ashamed of it?! I probably should tell you how this came about though, shouldn't I?!

Last month @relucthousedad asked everyone for 'unlikely guitar solos' on Twitter. One of mine I put forward was 'The Land of Make Believe' by Bucks Fizz. Listening to it transported me back to nights out at 'Guilty Pleasures' in Camden and as their debut album was the first I ever bought I decided to go back and have a listen.

Yep, okay, they did record some real shockers - 'Talking in your sleep' being one - but songs like 'Piece of the action', 'Making your mind up' and 'If you can't stand the heat' are pop classics.

My favourite though has to be 'My camera never lies', if this was released now it would be MASSIVE. Pete Paphides, Caitlin Moran's husband, said on Twitter last week that it sounds like The Futureheads. They were way ahead of their time and there WILL be a revival this year (2018 at the latest). You heard it here first!

Your first step in joining the cult is to listen to that particular song here (wearing of bad leather jackets with cut off sleeves / waistcoats is optional) -

5. Then Jerico

When I was 13/14 years old, Then Jerico were my favourite band. I knew the words to all their songs and I'd annoy the hell out of my dad singing along to them all the time in the car. I even wrote their name on my school bag which, as you know, is the mark of a true fan.
But then something happened, I started getting into obscure indie bands (courtesy of John Peel) and I fell out of love with them. You can read more about that time here - Introducing 'musodad's Yuletide 24' playlist

So why now, after 22 years, are they appearing in my blog post of bands I've listened to this month?! Well, it's all thanks to @bryony32

There's a meme going around at the moment called 'MP3 Shuffle'. You put your iPod on shuffle and blog about the first 5 tracks that play. One of @bryony32's songs was 'Big Area' by Then Jerico. I had a listen, remembered how much I used to love them and even went a bit tingly.

Then when we were discussing them on Twitter, @randompearlsof mentioned he used to like them too and it turned into one massive Then Jerico love-in (especially between @bryony32 and the lead singer's eyes!)

I listened to them the very next day - the WHOLE of 'The Big Area' album without skipping ANY songs - and do you know what, they still sound pretty good? Some of the songs from their first album also stand the test of time.

I'd therefore like to take this opportunity to apologise to Mark Shaw, the lead singer (he's definitely reading), for being a bit unkind to them in the above blog post. I hope we can still be friends (I know we're not friends but if we were it would be great if we could carry on being friends. Even though we're not).

Anyway, the song I've chosen, to add to the playlist, is 'Song for the brokenhearted' cause I know I broke Mark's heart in that blog post and this is me making it up to him. *taps fist on heart* Love you Mark! -

So there you have it. Before I go, I'd just like to thank all of the Tweeters / Bloggers mentioned above. It's been great chatting music with you this month - in fact since I started 'musodad'. 

If anyone else reading has any recommendations of new or old music they think I should be listening to next month then please comment below or Tweet me @musodad and I promise I will check it out.

So, until next time "Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening and good night!" (*whispers* "it's from 'The Truman Show'").