The Accolade - S/T

I know it's a bit cheeky for me to abuse my Big Static Status to plug my friends' bands; but to be fair, if there's any band I know that deserves all the plugging they ever get, then it's this one. Think Bright Eyes meets Bob Dylan meets Johnny Cash and you have some idea of the sort of thing that The Accolade inject into any audience. Not that I'm comparing a bunch of local Dorset boys to Bob Dylan or anything, but it's an obvious 'style' comparison. I met this band through friends and my job about a year ago, and although it has been a busy year since for them (I haven't seen this band play to an audience that wasn't full to capacity with die-hard fans, and I've seen them play more than a few times) it has to be said that it wasn't as busy at it should have been. In a fair world, this band would be signed by a great label, and have some tours supporting major bands. Why Fat Possum haven't already been knocking on the door is, quite frankly, beyond me.

I might be biased in that they are friends of mine, and they sing about things as close to my heart as obviously to theirs ('The Square' is about Bournemouth Square - talk about home turf!) but to be honest, this is one of the best bands, if not the best band, to have come out of the local music scene in as long as I can remember. Live they get every person in the room, from 16 to 66, up on their feet and dancing, and their CDs... well, they do exactly the same. Plus they're great guys to boot. And currently looking for a drummer if anybody's interested in applying.

Look out for this band. Seriously.

To Be Free
Closer All The Time

Check out The Accolade's MySpace, where you can download more tracks, and also check out their website.