We haven't introduced a brand new Indie Rock / Indie Pop band for week or so, but we're really excited about 'Insomniac Bears', partly because their band members have such great pedigree in other Norwegian projects, and also because their new single 'Scenic Drives' is just such a good debut.
So 'Insomniac Bears' consist of the infamous Magnus Moriarty, Thomas Bratlie Haugland (Rumble in Rhodes), multi-instrumentalist Marius Ergo (Lukestar + some interesting solo stuff) & Marius Drogsås Hagen (Team Me), and they've combined to write indie pop with a such sense of freedom, that it's not really indie pop at all.
'Scenic Drives' is great fun. I was listening to a feature on the radio the other day about how 'intros' in songs are dead and buried because no-one has the patience to listen more than 5-10 seconds. Thankfully 'Insomniac Bears' never got the memo, with a long rolling introduction with melancholy progressive rock style chords that I immediately like, and the vocals add an extra layer of melody, and with a number of musical themes introduced,Insomniac Bears are clearly not short of ideas. I like the string arranged middle section, and we even get a 'fade out', demonstrating that this is a band who clearly intend to do whatever they want.
I really hope that 'Insomniac Bears' get some momentum behind them, because this is a band who I think will give us huge entertainment over the next 12 months and more.