Introducing.. Free Energy

Free Energy are a five-piece band based in Philadelphia, signed to James Murphy's DFA Records. Formed in 2007, their first EP came out in 2009 and after a hastened bout of blog-induced hype they had more than enough of a following to talk début album. That début album, "Stuck On Nothin'" came out on Tuesday, and my copy is almost certainly going to be ordered soon. 

For a band signed on to one of the most innovative dance labels in the USA, Free Energy are a band with a set of influences wildly different to those bands which immediately surround them. They play indie rock with a 70s twist - comparisons have been drawn to Journey and The Cars - but how accurate this is I'm not sure. In my eyes their music is closer to that of bands like The New Pornographers, Hockey and a much less gutsy and much more talented version of Jet. You certainly shouldn't let that last comparison put you off, since Free Energy are one of the most gloriously simple bands out there at the moment.

In an interview, they revealed that their lyrics come mainly from self-help guides, and the band dream of being able to measure up fully to the corporate classic rock of 70s/80s US radio. Feel good rock is the way to describe Free Energy, a band already named amongst Rolling Stones Magazine's best bands of 2010. You'd have to be out of your mind not to like this stuff; its the most optimistic and nostalgic pop/rock music around, living proof in the eyes of many that the classic Springsteen formula is by no means suffocating from lack of originality.

Free Energy - Hope Child (MP3)

Free Energy - Dark Trance (MP3)

Buy Stuck On Nothing via Amazon.com

Buy Free Energy EP via Amazon.com