The Head Set - Enemies

Bit behind on The Head Set, with fellow bloggers from across the pond posting mp3s a few months back, but hey...

The band first came together in early 2002 as a pickup band for a student show at NYU. Singer Jordan Blaugrund had a couple songs ready and needed a band – first call was to his brother Mike (drums), who in turn tracked down Eliot Wadsworth (guitar) and Brett Sherman (bass), old bandmates from Boston and themselves recent NYC transplants.

The NYU show was well received, and before long The Head Set had audiences singing along at Mercury Lounge, Arlene's Grocery, and the rest of the New York rock circuit. Then in May of '03 the band set up camp at Bushwick Studios in Brooklyn for the sessions that yielded their first EP, Ask Her Twice.

The following 3 tracks are from the Ask Her Twice EP (2003), available from CD Baby:
The Head Set - 1982
The Head Set - Come On, Come On
The Head Set - A Regular Bonnie & Clyde

Preview sample tracks from The Head Set's upcoming album here.

Also, see the band's MySpace page.

Young Stanley - 442

As a Scot born & bred, I hope England get beaten in every sport they play - it's got to do with 300 years of oppression...

Anyway, aside from that, they've definitely outshone us Scots when it comes to their footie songs - not that us Scots have had need one of late given our qualifying performances. Notable ditties include Baddiel & Skinner's 1996 Three Lions and World in Motion for Italia '90.

Young Stanley consists of five builders, Rod Aylen, Paul Aylen, Jay Cranston, Mark Duffin and Mark Snelgrove along with guitarist Noel O'Reilly, all living in Bromley. They took their name from the son of one of the lads, and has always been referred to as "Young Stanley".

When working together on a building site last summer, they got talking about football (as usual!), and they all agreed that whenever England do well in a major tournament they seem to have a good song to back them. Inspired by the conversation, Rod decided to write a song which would capture how they all felt. "Most of us were born in or around 1966 so we have only known 40 years of disappointment.", says Jay the brickie. "We all really believe that this year is our time to bring the trophy home, so come on lets get behind the boys and SING IT FOR ENGLAND!"

It's remarkable catchy, and I can see the fans singing it on the terraces this summer.