The Tape

Pop Noir

Written by gzabriel on Tuesday, 10 of June , 2008 at 8:37 am

So over the weekend I go to see The Wombats at The Roxy. Unknown to me there were headliners that had not been announced on the ticket/myspace. Upon arriving to the venue I was treated to the sounds of The Yelling, a North Hollywood band whose name fits the music perfectly. Not my cup of tea so I’ll skip to 30 minutes later. I decided the google the other name on the billing: Pop Noir. On arriving at their myspace I was sucked into a world of synth laden choruses, swaggering bass lines, and shimmering guitar riffs. Pop Noir is two brothers, Joe and Luke McGarry, as well as a drummer, Nico Saveedra. They (Joe and Luke) are born in Manchester and make music you’ll enjoy dancing to. Joe was kind enough to give us an interview.

If you each could pick only one, what band/album/song was the most influential in forming your sound?

That’s a really tough question, I don’t think we can do it.. We can narrow it down to a city, though: Our hometown of Manchester! So much great music came out of there, Joy Division, New Order, Happy Mondays, The Smiths, A Certain Ratio, Durutti Column, Oasis.. You could even count The Verve, they’re from just down the road..

More Pop than Noir or Vice Versa?

It’s probably more Pop, but we like to think it’s about as Noir as it gets on the Pop spectrum!

When and why did you decide to make music?

We didn’t. It’s probably been there since we were born.. Whether it’s in our DNA or we picked it up through osmosis we’re not sure, though..

What is your favorite piece of gear?

For Joe it’s The BOSS DR-880 drum machine and the guitar capo, for Luke it’s the mirror!

What bands/albums are you listening to currently?

We’ve been listening to Oblivion With Bells by Underworld almost non-stop since it came out, and the re-issue of Bummed by Happy Mondays..

What has been your favorite show so far?

It’s between our showcase at the In The City Festival in Manchester, our show at La Fleche D’Or in Paris, opening for Kinky at JC Fandango in Anaheim, and opening for The Wombats last Friday!

Who would you most like to work with?

We’d love to get George Michael to produce our album!!

Batman or Spiderman?

I don’t think we’d be Pop Noir if we didn’t pick Batman..

Head over to their website, buy their EP, and support Joe and Luke in their quest of becoming everyone’s favorite band!

Pop Noir - Girls Of Prey

Pop Noir - Bang The Drum

Category: Concerts, Interviews, Pop, gzabriel

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