April 5th, 2006
Editors
Key release: The Back Room (released in the UK in fall 2005, just out in the U.S.)
Hometown: Birmingham, England
Following in the footsteps of Interpol, English quartet Editors has been compared to such a wide array of post-punk acts (Joy Division, Echo And The Bunnymen, Bauhaus, The Cure, U2, etc.) that it seems destined to transcend all the tags and become its own popular reference point any day now. It also doesn't hurt that this group of mid-twentysomethings knows its way around dramatic, hook-filled rock: The band's debut, The Back Room, is already a hit back home, and it has enough pop appeal to attract the same American ears that put Coldplay in arenas.
Singer-guitarist Tom Smith on being called Britain's gloomiest band:
"I think people see we take our music seriously, and get that confused with us being moody. The people who get our music—the people who our music means something to—see not only just the songs about insecurity or the darker side of life, but also the kind of optimism on the record as well. I think the NME called me 'the gangly gloomhound,' so I think we just laugh it off now. We're all kind of normal, pretty well-adjusted people, so people are always kind of shocked when they meet us, that we're not scared of the sunlight and stuff like that."
On the appeal of late-'70s/early-'80s post-punk:
"It's not something that we've ever thought about—we've never made any songs with any kind of period of time in mind. We have our own styles. Some of the music is very sparse, and Chris [Urbanowicz], our guitarist, doesn't really like the sound of guitar—he tries to make it sound more like a synthesizer or something like that. But because of our age, it's not something that we've ever grown up with or been influenced by."
On the rejuvenation of British music:
"There was kind of like a slump after the mid-'90s Britpop era, and I moved away from bands like that and discovered things like Spiritualized, and Radiohead got me through that period as well. When The Strokes came out, I think they kind of kicked things in the ass a bit—they were a massive influence on us at the time, because we felt that kind of boredom after things turned sour with British music. It is an exciting time—it's undeniable. But of all the bands coming out, I don't think we sound particularly like any of them. We've always kind of been slightly in the shadows—when we first came out, bands like Bloc Party and the Kaiser Chiefs were getting more press than we were getting, and then all throughout the year, a band called Hard-Fi have been charting a little higher than us. And now with Arctic Monkeys, we're still in the shadows. But that kind of suits us, to be honest. We like sneaking up on people."
On who's the New What's Next:
"They're called ¡Forward, Russia!, and they're from Leeds. We toured with them a long while ago, but I just saw a couple of shows at South By Southwest, and they've just become this incredible live band. A lot of energy, quite aggressive, also at times very melodic, and pretty kind of beautiful." —Marc Hawthorne
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