Today's Hotness: Dananananaykroyd, The Answering Machine

[PHOTO CREDIT: Jim in Aberdeen] >> We apologize for the inactivity here. Our wireless Internet can't seem to function for more than 15 minutes at a time for some unknown reason. This makes us want to smash like Hulk. We thought upgrading our five-year-old router would solve the problem, but it has not. We may need a new wireless card. But we are due for a new machine at year-end, so perhaps we will just move up the time table on that. On to the rock.

>> Dananananaykroyd. If you don't read Drowned In Sound (which gave the band's forthcoming EP a perfect 10 rating) or any number of UK blogs hip to the underground then this is the first you're probably seeing that name. Stop reading this now and go listen to all the songs on the two-year-old band's MySpace wigwam now. The Glaswegian sextet's music is totally bananas, two-fisted rock pummelation, heavy-hitting but light on its feet. The ill fortune of the take-no-prisoners fight pop band's former label are well-documented; the bottom line is that the fall-out has kept the hotly tipped EP Sissy Hits out of the hands of fans for some time. It is finally slated for release in late April or early May (or even June, depending on which page of the label web site you read) on the London-based indie label Holy Roar. We don't imagine there is a North American label, so you need to budget in some funds to get the import, as this will likely be one of the biggest records of 2008. Dananananaykroyd -- pictured above and which, now that we finally stop to listen, sound like Glasgow's answer to the entirely awesome Meneguar -- have already sold out of two prior singles. Anyway, consider yourselves warned. Here's the triumphant a-side to the band's second single, which you can purchase at EMusic.

Dananananaykroyd -- "Some Dresses" -- "Some Dresses" b/w "Genuines LBS"
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[download the full single from EMusic here]

>> Manchester, England indie pop quartet The Answering Machine have been hard at work tracking demos in a "freezing cold old mill in the roughest part of Salford," according to a recent MySpace posting. The band has recorded as many as 15 tracks with input from L.A.-based producer Tony Hoffer, as those who listened to the band's interview with WOXY that we posted about last week knew already. Hoffer is famed for working with Beck, Air and Belle And Sebastian, among others. The Answering Machine has recorded 15 new demos and three are posted to the band's MySpace dojo. Chief among these is the infectious anthem "Your Home Address," which would make a big splash as a single, we expect. The band has also posted new versions of its first single "Oklahoma" and the track "Oh Christina." We don't know if it has been explicitly stated, but we are hoping all these demos are leading up to a full-length. The Answering Machine have a half-dozen gigs lined up for April, four in London and two in Manchester. Peruse all the dates at the MySpace linked supra.

>> Speaking of Meneguar... the superlative indie-punk quartet will tour Europe the two middle weeks of July. Europe is lucky. Members of the band have also launched a new photoblog (well, today there's a live video of Woods performing "Blood On The Sand" at Big Jar Books in Philly, so we guess it is more than just photos) to document its shows and specifically the acts it plays with. Check it out and add it to your RSS readers here.