8 [ URBANITE Thursday J December i l * 2003 Crossing the Pond American bands make it overseas but don’t leave a dent in their home country LEILA REGAN______“U.K. taste is a lot more Both Associate Urbanite Editor diverse,” says long-time Hiss Bluett and l regan @gsusignal. com promoter and friend and Atlanta Harren appre- Handpicked by quintuple hipster DJ, Dennis Millay, ciated the platinum selling Brit-pop heroes “They care a lot more about “bonus” of Oasis. Exalted by England’s their music. Music is so dispos- having one of most popular music magazine, able here.” the most the National Music Express Swaminathan echoes these influential (NME). Produced by renowned sentiments. men in Brit-pop producer Owen “The U.K. celebrates all England rav- Morris. Seen by thousands at sorts of music,” he said. A ing about the popular English music festivals British citizen’s collection band they in cities such as Leeds and could include the Strokes, represented. Redding. Signed to major Radiohead and Britney Spears. Skipping all British label Polydor’s new sub­ Here, a Strokes fan would not the grief of sidiary, Loog, which is operated listen to Britney Spears. Brits dealing with by Andrew Loog Oldham (the are a lot more accepting.” middlemen Rolling Stones' original manag­ “The U.K. is notoriously certainly er and producer). more open to different sounds helped the In spite of all the attention and styles of music,” said 99X Hiss to in the UK, the Hiss still remains music director and ex-manager achieve suc- Special I Signal as they always have been: a of the Hiss, Jay Harren. “The cess more The Hiss await the same response from their homeland as they received in England. band that can draw- the same Hiss fit right in.” quickly and “few hundred people, who are Harren, along with then co- easily than sive pause. “I don’t think the Horizon B-side. It’s totally mostly their friends,” as Nikhil NME would have included the odd.” Swaminathan, Creative Hiss in every single issue. But Swaminathan, as well as Loafing’s assistant music editor, they wouldn’t say anything they Harren and Bluett, see the Hiss observed. They will probably be didn’t mean. If [the NME] is as fitting in with the “dirty” left behind when the rock resur­ ever wrong about a band, its garage-rock sound that is mak­ gence dissipates, according to reputation is tarnished.” ing its way to America’s shores. Swaminathan. Most others echo the opin­ But unlike many of the This summer, ultra-cool ion of Harren and Millay. Kasey ultra-hip rock bands coming out Detroit garage band White 4 À Price, one-time booking agent in the wake of the “revolution” Stripes asked the Hiss to open a, .0 at the Cotton Club and long­ that the Strokes started, the Hiss for them at Stone Mountain * i f time friend of the band, said the have the talent to back up the Park. The show got so out of same thing. hype. * . control that the park had to be “[The Hiss] have paid their “They have staying power Î closed down after the huge dues,” said Price. “They are a as a rock band,” says Price, who crowds brought the venue to a really good rock ‘n’ roll band now works for Protocol standstill. who appeal to a lot of different Entertainment, promoting inde­ Still, people can see the types of people, not just the pendent artists. “They are not Hiss almost every night having indie rockers or the punk rock­ super-trendy or contrived. They drinks at the EARL or taking in ers. They draw a pretty diverse have the material and talent to a show at the Echo Lounge. crowd.” have staying power.” Creative Loafing is still their The band’s eclectic rock Swaminathan is not as flat­ major source of press coverage. sound, or “potpourri sense of tering, though. He believes that Their venues are still limited to rock,*’ as Swaminathan local bars and clubs, where they describes it, is SEE AMERICAN | Page 10 rarely even headline their own another item THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS * SKUNK ANANSIE • TEENAGE FANCLUB shows. fueling the F00 FIGHTERS * 8Ì0RK • THE BLUETONES • SHED SEVEN * BELLY Why this lack of interest band’s popu­ ? r V."T"n from their native land? Even < I li" # trife bafl larity here and £ ■nan Bn.inneré borh Sr ^ with the Billboard and GQ arti­ abroad. He cles, the response to the Hiss sees the Hiss has still been lukewarm at best. Special I Signal US bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club find more fans abroad. as reflecting a Why must the Hiss join the Brit’s record legions of American rocks manager Iain Bfuett of local most bands. collection. bands that are adored in band Film, started working with Oldham’s influential label “The England and ignored in their the band in February 2001. was not the only factor helping record [Panic homeland? American garage With only a three-song demo in the Hiss in England. Andrew Movement] is € bands such as the Kings of hand, the two got the group Loog Oldham was also once a fairly diverse,” Leon, the Electric Six, Black signed in December to Loog. “bigwig” at NME. The maga­ he says. “It can Rebel Motorcycle Club and Hot Andrew Oldham, Loog zine covered the Hiss since day be garage one Hot Heat enjoy moderate suc­ founder and famous 1960s man­ one. minute, then cess traveling this country’s ager, is still a contemporary Harren takes the NME ties there are odes indie club circuit, but they will visionary, according to Bluett, into deep consideration, espe­ to British TT1 F * never be as well-known as they who moved to America from cially when asked whether he Blues. ‘River are overseas. the U.K. when he was 19. thinks the band would have Bed’ is very G UP AMERIC Most Atlantans close to the “He has foresight; he broke become so popular in England Zeppelin, and music industry who know the the Strokes, said Bluett. “We without the ongoing press cov­ then there is | f ELAStlCA’s Hiss agree that the U.S. and the saw something really special in erage. one song that ' Vma . ì “ York connection U.K. have very different ideas the Hiss, and Oldham was the “That’s the question of the almost sounds Special I Signal about music. next person to believe us.” moment,” he says, after a pen- like a Vertical England’s NME is many people’s source of new music.