Vanity Theft offers grrrl power on its first full-length album, full of headbangers.
Oh Land — a k a Nanna Oland Fabricius — might make it big in the new year. (
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The squeaky-clean and sober Eminem and meat-draped Gaga are so last year. Looking ahead to the class of 2011, we’ve picked half a dozen fresh, new artists ready to open your eyes and ears in the new year.
OH LAND: After a back injury cut short her dancing days with the Danish Royal Academy, 25-year-old blond beauty Nanna Oland Fabricius turned musician. Performing as Oh Land, she excels at creating electro pop that doesn’t sound like it was produced by a machine. Based in Williams-burg, she writes her own material and originally envisioned her songs to be sung by others. “I had this idea that singers needed to sound like Beyoncé, and I don’t,” she says. Her voice — more ethereal than earthy — dovetails with her story songs, like the finger-snapping “Sun of a Gun” and the autobiographical “Break the Chain.” Her self-titled, full-length US debut will be released March 15, and she performs at the Hiro Ballroom on Jan. 26.
JOHNNY REID: Take a pinch of Bruce Springsteen, a dash of Bob Seger and enough Rod Stewart to give the mix vocal gravel, and you start to get the vibe of this Scottish-born singer/songwriter. Already a name in the UK (he once played for Queen Elizabeth II), he’s betting his upcoming record, “Introducing Johnny Reid” (March 8), will break big here. Its 11 songs are classic rock riffs laced with blue-collar roots. His voice brims with force and honesty, especially in the anthem “Today I’m Gonna Try and Change the World” and the gentler yet still powerful “Good People.”
HARD NIPS: What you get from this Japan-bred, Brooklyn-based all-girl quartet is smoking punk fury hitched to choirgirl vocals. The band, featuring singer Yoko Sawai, has an eight-song EP, “I S – – t You Not,” and — after a South by Southwest appearance last year — has lured fans as divergent as Neil Diamond and Sean Lennon. The group’s songs include the Blondie-esque “Fantasy Cinco” and the driving, hard-core “Children of Satan,” in which Yoko snarls, “I take flight in Satan’s motor car, I take bite of Satan’s candy bar.”
RUNNER RUNNER: As the first band signed to David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants label, maybe the group has a leg up on the competition, performing its bouncy pop confection “So Obvious” on Letterman’s show and becoming a hit on iTunes and YouTube. The Southern California band has already played a steady touring schedule supporting both Fall Out Boy and Gym Class Heroes. After some delays, the band’s self-titled debut is set for a Feb. 15 release.
PLAN B: Despite the pop-culture reference, Plan B isn’t from outer space, but from rough, tough East London, where he grew up as Benjamin Paul Drew. As for Mr. B, he’s an angry young man whose original tunes straddle classic Motown and blue-eyed story-rap. Speaking about his style, he says, “I was obsessed with Michael Jackson; he was my first idol. Eminem? He showed me hip-hop didn’t have to be about the rings, the money and the hos.” That musical yin-yang (in which he hits R&B vocal highs and raps in his English accent) comes to fruition on “Stay Too Long,” off of the upcoming “The Defamation of Strickland Banks.” His US debut is set for late March.
VANITY THEFT: Following in the not-so-dainty footsteps of riot grrrls Sleater-Kinney and rock goddess Joan Jett, Vanity Theft is an all-girl rock quartet that plays harder than most of the boys. Bassist Lalaine — just Lalaine — is blunt about her band, saying, “We may have vaginas, but we’re not p – – – ies.” That’s very clear on the group’s full-length debut, “Get What You Came For,” a solid collection of headbangers. On the lone exception, “Missing Teeth,” singer Alicia Grodecki gets all girly on the Auto-Tuned ballad. The record will be released Feb. 1, and these hard-hitting women play the Knitting Factory on Feb. 2.