[Coachella Artist Spotlights] Indie As Fawk, Part 2: The Kills, Scissor Sisters, Gogol Brodello, Swell Season, Elbow, Bright Eyes

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Only twenty-nine days until things heat up in the Coachella Valley for Coachella 2011. We’re picking out our favorite warm weather outfits and boning up on our favorite indie bands including The Kills, Gogol Bordello, and Bright Eyes.

Don’t be surprised if you see us swaying ecstatically in the very front of the Kills pit, oblivious to the heat and armpits around us.

Indie As Fawk #1: The Kills

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Let’s just get this out-of-the-way: The author of this post is a super-fan of The Kills’ special breed of lo-fi bluesy garage punk, listening to every single one of their albums and EPs all the way through at least a couple of times a week. Why the obsession? Alison Mosshart (also of Dead Weather fame) and Jamie Hince bring a grungy, sexy swagger to blues-rock in the same vein as ’70s heroin blues like PJ Harvey,  The Velvet Underground, The Fall, Patti Smith, Suicide, and friends, The White Stripes.

Since their inception in 2000, The Kills have only released three albums, but they are due to release their fourth, Blood Pressures, in less than a month. The Kills just kicked off their Blood Pressures tour at this year’s SXSW festival, playing their soon-to-be hit single, “Satellite.”

Indie As Fawk #2: Scissor Sisters

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Named after a lesbian sex position, Scissor Sisters were the alternative heroes of the electroclash scene of the early ’00s. Comprised of  members consist of vocalists Jake Shears and Ana Matronic, multi-instrumentalist Babydaddy, lead guitar/bassist, Del Marquis, and drummer Randy Real, the Scissor Sisters started in 2000 and were embraced by both the gay and straight electro-dance communities.

Scissor Sisters have put out three albums, garnered many licensing and soundtrack deals, and have been an inspirational force in underground gay communities all over the world. Known for their intoxicating and wild live shows, vocalists Ana Matronic and Jake Shears were doing Lady Gaga before Gaga was even out of her high school choir.

The song they are most popular for would arguably be “Filthy/Gorgeous” from their début album.

Indie As Fawk #3: Gogol Bordello

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Gypsy punk band, Gogol Bordello, combine theatrical, ethnic violin and accordion with vicious punk rock veracity. After he was evacuated to western Ukraine in 1986 after the Chernobyl disaster, lead singer and founder Eugene Hutz wanted to re-create the gypsy sound that he become so inspired by, fusing this with the melting-pot sentimentality of urban New York life.

The band has released six albums and played at over thirty festivals. Gogol Bordello is known for their crazy, almost delightfully violent shows with lots of moshing, chair-throwing, instrument-smashing and general ruckus. One of their most infamous songs is “Start Wearing Purple” from their 2005 album Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike.

Indie As Fawk #4: Swell Season

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Indie folk-duo, The Swell Season, are comprised on two members from very different cultural upbringings Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer/pianist Markéta Irglová. Hansard and Irglová are the stars of the Oscar-winning film, Once, where they portray two young musicians in love–much like their real life story.

Gaining a lot of popularity from their film, the band has put out three full-length albums, including the Once soundtrack with their Academy Award-winning soundtrack single, “Falling Slowly.”

Indie As Fawk #5: Elbow

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Dreamy, melancholic Britpop veterans, Elbow has been together for over twenty years, first playing together at a pub in Manchester with Guy Garvey on lead vocals/guitar, Mark Potter on guitar, Craig Potter on  keyboards/organ, Pete Turner on bass and Richard Jupp on drums. Garvey cites bands like Genesis and Radiohead as Elbow’s main influences, saying: “I grew up listening to every Genesis record. I learned to write harmonies by listening to Peter Gabriel…There would be no Elbow without Radiohead.”

Since 2001, Elbow has put out five full-length albums with their most recent being Build A Rocket Boys! released this month. Their lead single off the album is called “Neat Little Rows.”

Indie As Fawk #6: Bright Eyes

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Wide-eyed indie doll, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, is the most iconic singer-songwriters of the Omaha, emo, and Saddle Creek music scene. Bright Eyes’ career since their 1995 inception has been prolific with ten full-length studio albums and seven EPs.

Our favorite Bright Eyes song has to be “Lover I Don’t Have To Love” from Lifted.