Ha! That got your attention didn't it? Well, the New Zealander is not exactly quitting but this may be the end of the Bachelorette project... the world is Annabel Alpers' oyster!
Bachelorette is Annabel Alpers, a quiet New Zealander who has made a dreamy, other-worldy, electronic record filled with clever lyrics and melodies worthy of the pop greats. Bachelorette, her third album, is out now on Souterrain Transmissions and could be the end of the solo Bachelorette project, as she says, she may just find a band and start rocking out - who knows! We chatted backstage ahead of her show at Camp Basement in east London and - you lazy journo's who name check Bjork as her main influence - the Icelandic songstress had nothing to do with this!
Juliette Jackson is the singer fronting this three-piece who say that, whilst being inspired by These New Puritans, early Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Queens of the Stone, Outkast, DOOM and the like, they're also adhere to the principles of Theo Van Doesburg and the De Stijl movement.
Hmmm, for us plebs at TOW we needed more information on that last one! Juliette says: "The DeStijl thing is mainly to do with minimalism and cutting out flab. We try to cut the flab out of our songs."
"We liked Theo Van Doesburg's idea of deconstruction, where he would paint something like a cow again and again, each time reducing the features more and more, until all that was left was what he considered were it's essential elements."
Gotcha. And, well, that's exactly what this band do. Juliette is backed by Sean Fennelly and Joss Lindey and the band's new track Dress Yourself As Someone Dead is a no nonsense, slightly creepy, rip-roaring rock tune - complete with a kind of rap by one of the boys, completely dead pan.
We'll be keeping an eye on this young London band!
Not usually a fan of bands described as "jerky, girly post-punk" by the NME, Call The Doctor have gone and surprised us. Take It Out is their new single out on the 21st March 2011 on Glasstone Records.
It's lead vocalist Patti Aberhart's crystal clear, distinctive and melodic vocals that draw you in. It's not the voice you'd expect to hear on a track like this, and we're sold.
Patti is 23 and from New Zealand and is an eyeful live, or so we believe. The band are looking to inject a whole lotta love back into the live music scene - they're setting out to make gigs fun again. Considering the last gig TOW went too was crammed full of people nodding furiously along to the music... we're up for that!
Often when writing this blog, TOW stops and has a meltdown about not having enough time to listen to all the great new music out there in the world. Sometimes, we just type a random country into Myspace Music and see where it leads us - away from the UK and US can more often than not be a very refreshing experience.
Hence, a New Zealand special for Tom's show this week. Bachelorette was recommended by our buddy Sean who works for Radio New Zealand and Annabel Alpers - a one-woman beats making machine - has blown us away.
Hailing from Christchurch, she's been described (by Sean) as a 'shy, bedroom electronica girl' whose first album, featuring a band, My Electric Family, is out now on cool Chicago-based indie Drag City. Bachelorette has toured recently with label mates Will Oldham and Bill Callahan, and will soon hit the road with 'her idols' Norwegian melancholy popsters and TOW faves Beach House.
The track TOW played for Tom this week is Donkey, a whirling indie-disco of a track that is bound to get stuck in your head - but the video above is for Her Rotating Head, which has some of the best feminist lyrics we've heard in a while.
The Brunettes are Heather Mansfield and Jonathan Bree and TOW feels a bit silly for only coming across them now. When Tom Ravenscroft came on the show at the end of last year he played a track for us from their new album Paper Dolls which is out now on NZ-based indie Lil' Chief Records. We had to hear more!
The album is sheer 'twee-pop' bliss. And this track Thank You is an homage to all those who have helped the band out over their career which now spans over a decade. Thanks if you put them up on your sofa, gave them a lift, came to a gig... similar in intention to Neil Young's One Of These Days, lest we forget to give thanks, we'll put them in a song now.
The band have been going for ages - their first album released in 2002 and their US records have been released on uber-trendy Sub Pop. That's led to tours supporting The Shins and other truly awesome indie-pop bands, right where they belong!
