Looking back at my recent posts, I’ve realized that a lot of time has been spent dwelling on new album releases, which is not I originally started writing this blog for. Of course, things change and I am now writing a lot more about albums but I can’t resist it; when I hear a new record that I love/hate, I get the urge to come and express my feelings about it. Still, as good as some of that music is the majority of it, with a couple of exceptions, has been in the UK or US top 10 over the last few months. It is because of this that I’ve decided to skip back to how things used to be and unleash a little bit of new music onto the Blanathema - something I’ve not got round to doing for a little while.

First of all, I’ll apologize for regularly posting about Manchester-based bands; the places I look for new music are, predominantly based in my local area. As you might expect, then, this next band are once again from Manchester. Maudite Dance is their name and I can assure you that I’m not just picking them to fit along nicely with other such recent mentions as Autokat and Polytechnic (whose album review will be coming soon enough). They list amongst their influences the Rapture and although I’m not a fan of this particular band, you can see where the similarities lie.

I must mention that Maudite Dance is not an entirely new conception; they were originally called the Clerks and sprung out of the French capital before heading over to make their home in Manchester. After some success earlier this year under their former name, supporting the Sunshine Underground and the Automatic, they appear to have reformed with a different line-up (one extra member, I believe) and a different name to go forth and conquer the world.

With songs such as these, too, it’s not as farfetched an idea as it sounds. Whilst I’d never come across the Clerks before, the band’s Myspace allows you to listen to songs from both bands and see where they’ve come from. Maudite Dance isn’t a whole load different, though, but why change something which is already so good. The two songs labeled under their new name are both incredible tunes. Whilst Echoin’, with its sharp, rapid-fire vocals and some very jerky guitars, is very good, it’s Underground, the other free MP3 available on their Myspace, which shows the band at their very best. I just love the dark, powerful tones of those vocals, as well as some quite catchy lyrics. It’s actually quite a haunting performance from the band.

If this isn’t promising enough, have a browse through some of their previous work, specifically The Dissidents; another example of how magnificent this band can be. Anyway, if you only do one thing, just click play below and have a listen to Underground, what I consider to be the band’s most brilliant piece of work and one that promises plenty more slices of indie perfection from these guys. If you like what you hear - and I’m sure you will - just head on over to the band’s Myspace page. Scroll further down that page, too, to hear better quality versions of all their songs and also download your copies of Underground and Echoin’.

Audio Sample: Underground - Maudite Dance

Link - Maudite Dance - Myspace page

B.