Louie - Trees

Louie
'Trees' single release
New Release date 28th November 2005 on
Captains of Industry

It's early days yet but LOUIE possess days in abundance. Barely out of teenage dementia – and in the case of the two boys upfront, not out of it all - Louie might just be the band we've all been waiting for. Louie could just as easily be named after one of the most seminal rock 'n' roll songs ever to have been written as they could be after another word for a pimp. Either way, when you have heard them or witnessed one of their shows, you will know that it matters not: Louie, as simply au fait with rock 'n' roll iconography as they might be, have just as simply got it.

Louie feature two nineteen year old singers called Jordan Smith and Gaz Tomlinson from Cumbria and York respectively plus lead guitarist Russell Ditchfield and rhythm guitarist Luke Morris. Their intensely cool line-up is completed by Andy on bass and Mikey Parrish on drums. Formed in 2004 and now based in London after meeting and recently dropping out of college, Louie have already caused a huge fuss in the British music scene and been likened to the New York Dolls by Kerrang, the Libertines by the NME, and the Heartbreakers (Johnny's, not Tom's, presumably) by the pair of them. Half the battle, of course - apart from the songs - is the obvious chemistry created when co-singers Jordan and Gaz collide on stage or collude in a studio. It's been said before that they possess the cuteness of the Olsen twin sisters (thank you NME) and couple this with a brassy whirlwind of seminal bedroom poses and We Don't Give A Fuck mentality and you are already almost sneaking round to their Point Of View.

And what a point of view it is! On debut single Trees (the song everyone's currently going nuts for), Louie speak to us thus: 'a stunning high speed adventure film involving two/newlyweds who become/involved in a battle of wits'. They continue: 'they move from/Los Angeles in pursuit from the police whilst/transporting a suitcase of the finest cocaine/that's right I said cocaine.' Now we might be in Scorsese/Tarantino territory here but there's no mistaking these guys have a unique take on delivering their message. And we've heard of Show Not Tell before but how about Tell By Telling? Trees is gonna have everyone singing its la la la refrain and staring out of my window digressions but like all great debut singles (and The Drowners and Supersonic immediately spring to mind), its true worth will only be realised in time. And you know that it couldn't be put much better than this: 'with razorsharp action like never before/an outstanding supporting cast/leaves you gasping for more'. Staring out of my window, I see Trees indeed.

Trees comes backed with One Big Repeat which is good enough to be Any Other Band's debut single and has the same urgent pop/punk overtones as the Undertones at their best. Other than that, Louie remind us of In The City-era Jam, Another Music-era Buzzcocks and occasionally (just occasionally) Give 'Em Enough Rope- era Clash (Locked Up is like Stay Free and you can just imagine what their Lost In The Supermarket might sound like when they get that far down the line) but that is not to say they don't give the Strokes and the Libertines a run for their money when all the cards are called in. We could mention the Pistols and MC5 and a load of New York No Wave bands that we'd all (no doubt) sell our mothers for a chance to play guitar with but ... (and here we fucking go) ... Louie really are a one off.

Louie appeared at the Wireless Festival in Hyde Park earlier this year and have recently completed a support slot with Mick Jones' Carbon Silicon outfit. Their tunes have already been aired on both Steve Lamacq's and Zane Lowe's Radio One shows and this, all this, without an "official recording" yet to their name. All this is about to change.

Debut single, Trees, which comes backed with One Big Repeat, has been produced by Phil Vinall and will be released on the Loaded Dice Recordings label on 14th November 2005.

If the human mind works like it says in the manual, it's all a big repeat.