Can't Stop The Daggers - Too Many Lights

Hear The Track Here

Like most internet musicians - if they were being honest with themselves - I live in a rose tinted world where record business executives regularly cruise the net looking for the 'next best thing'. Also, like most internet etc, I can be a right smug bastard at times because of knowing that - no matter how quick record execs are - I'm a damn sight faster. Over the years I found many 'next best things' all of which languish, to this day, in the slough of despond we refer to as the net. So, it would be fair to suggest that I am, in fact, completely tonto, a few sandwiches short of a picnic or - in simpler terms - stark raving bonkers. I KNOW that the chances of ANYONE of merit being picked out this way is about as likely as me pulling Jennifer Pearl...er.....sorry..meant to say Jennifer Connolly (Ed: woof! woof! on both accounts anyway) It isn't the way the net works, even for the likes of Artic Monkeys, Lily Allen et al. If you REALLY believed that 'the people' made them then you need a quick lesson on how down and dirty the music business can get.

Oh and btw, I HAVE found the 'thing'. I've known it for some time.

Can't Stop The Daggers lit up my life (and everybody elses apparently) with High (January 2008) and continued with a blinding run of tracks throughout last year, supplying me several Tracks of the Year and almost gaining them Artist Of The Year status. It doesn't mean much, of course, in the scheme of things but hey, if it keeps me smug I'm down with that. Seriously though, on Soundclick right now are some fine, fine bands but CSTD are just exceptional - no two ways about it. They have a pop sensitivity (and some serious hookage) that I've heard very seldom in RL let alone in our little internet world. If you think I'm trying to drown you in hyperbole, go take a listen to High, Changing My Mind, or Go Driving Fast. It wouldn't be fair, I don't think, to judge a band as accomplished as CSTD on Too Many Lights because it is - when all is said and done - a rough mix of the studio version. One thing is for sure, it's going to a right pig to mix, there is a lot going on in here.

Which isn't par for the course in this case.

The reason I get the chockablock feeling is because of that rough mix (its a track from their upcoming album) and the amount of parts it contains. Don't get me wrong, when this is mixed and polished to perfection this is going to be a world beater. Partly because the five people who make up CSTD are excellent musicians and partly because their songwriting is of such a high standard. Consequently, Too Many Lights, is one of those tracks it is essential to live with before making up your mind. Structurally as complex as a Bruce Springsteen song, this takes a while to sink in - even for a diehard CSTD fan like me. Its a kind of Indie waltz, if you can imagine that, and that is unexpected - as is the string quartet (The Urban Quartet) guesting on the track. The time you spend with it is - as usual - well worth as you start to recognise the quality of the vocals, the depth and extent of musical activity and, finally, the wholeness that only a track like this can convey. I can't wait to get my hands on the completed version but this bodes very, very well.

Rough mix of a certified classic. MUST HAVE indie.