These days it seems a trend in the music industry that only having two members in a band is sufficient. For some it has worked and for some it has failed. For the bands listed below, it’s a defining factor, the key to their success.
1) THE KILLS
I stumbled upon The Kills a few months ago while doing some “new band” searching. A week later, I owned every piece of music The Kills made. They are everything you ever wanted rock ‘n roll to be. Their fuck-you attitudes, their strung-out style, their insouciant coolness; it makes you want to have their songs as the soundtrack to your life.
The band consists of Alison “VV” Mosshart and Jamie “Hotel” Hince, and have released four studio albums to date. Their fifth album should be due for release some time soon, as talk of a new album surfaced back in May 2014 already. If you have not yet heard of The Kills up until now, do yourself a favour and listen to the track below.
2) THE WHITE STRIPES
The one thing I love about any The White Stripes song is how you can hear the passion and love for what they do and, most important, the way all that oozes out into their music. Jack White is one talented musician and has continued to prove that with all his other projects. The way raw melodic simplicity marries with Jack White’s song writing skills is what made The White Stripes great.
The band began in 1997 and unfortunately called it quits in early 2011.
Below is probably one of the best music videos ever made, directed by Michel Gondry for The White Stripes song “I fell in love with a girl”
3) ROYAL BLOOD
A band some people love to hate, Royal Blood is without doubt one of the best newcomers in the last two years. The two-piece band out of Worthing, England, throws one helluva punch with their original style of only a bass guitar and drums. They recently scored the fastest-selling rock debut album in three years on the UK album charts, and are making serious waves on the international music scene.
4) THE BLACK KEYS
The Black Keys started out as somewhat of a cult band and over the years have turned into probably one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, childhood friends, started the band back in 2001 after dropping out of college.
The band has released eight studio albums, and has won seven Grammys out of a possible fifteen nominations. Not a bad return, to my mind.
Here’s a ‘Keys favourite:
5) SIMON & GARFUNKEL
We always like to include a local band in the mix, but unfortunately the only recognizable duo I can think of is Die Antwoord; frankly, I don’t care too much for them. Let me rather focus on my all-time favourites. I grew up listening to their LPs in the house and then their CD’s in the car; Simon & Garfunkel was the iconic folk-rock duo of the 60’s.
Hailing from New York City, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel started out in 1957. They were originally known as Tom and Jerry and made the Top 50 with their first single “Hey Schoolgirl”. They were only 16.
For your pleasure, “The Boxer”, performed live: