The Kissaway Trail

Last year, the consistently excellent Bella Union label gave us Howling Bells and Midlake. Now, we get their first treasure of 2007. Named as one of NME’s 10 favourite new bands at this year’s South By Southwest festival, The Kissaway Trail are an all-male five-piece from Odense, Denmark who have a penchant for wearing pink cravats onstage – never a bad thing. They also make a savagely beautiful noise that recalls The Flaming Lips on the joyous pop of ‘La La Song’ and the late, lamented Grandaddy on ‘Tracy’. And we’ve saved the most obvious comparison ’til last, but The Kissaway Trail really do evoke the spirit of Arcade Fire at times, especially on the savagely beautiful ‘Smother + Evil = Hurt’, which is the equal of anything on ‘Neon Bible’. If you’re a fan of that record, you’d do well to check out these great Danes.

Alan Woodhouse