Christmas is over, the tree has been taken down and the holly lies withering on the back porch. Time for the traditional post-Yuletide visit from the NME Brat Bus, on its annual mission to bring new music to all the boys and girls.
Last year's Brat Bus tour featured a rum bunch of rapscallions, some of whom went forward to greater glories, some of whom faded back into obscurity and some of whom didn't seem to make any move in either direction. This year's tour is different - at least, the name has been changed. It's now known as the NME Miller Genuine Draft Awards Tour, proving once and for all that beer sponsorship is the new rock 'n' roll.
This year's tour should see its share of noble failures but there could also be a success story or two lurking within those tinted bus windows. The Stereophonics, for instance, may well make the leap from indie acclaim to full-blown rock phenomenon and their penchant for power-ballads and rabble-rousing rockers could swing the balance in their favour. The Stereophonics are a noisy Welsh three-piece but there the comparisons with The Manic Street Preachers. As their debut album, Word Gets Around, shows, the 'Phonics have more in common with early Jam and songs like More Life In A Tramp's Vest and Traffic have been described as mini musical epics, filled with sympathetic characters and true-life dramas.
Also on the bus are Asian Dub Foundation, described as `the best rock 'n' roll band on the planet' by none other than Primal Scream, which is really quite a narrow way to describe the band's fusion of reggae, rap, jungle, Bhangra beats and Asian trance. Asian Dub Foundation come from London's East End and it's not just music which motivates these young Asian guns but also a strong anti-fascist leaning, which has seen the band clash with extreme right-wing groups. Last October they released their debut single for ffrr/London records; entitled Naxelite, the song is based on the peasant uprisings in West Bengal in the 1960s.
This year's tour is completed by London quartet The Warm Jets, who mix American influences like Television and Pavement with a British pop sensibility and Theaudience, whose debut single, I Got The Wherewithal, revealed a tint of Blondie in the band's roots.
