Glass Candy vs. Gossip vs. Ladytron vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs

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It's weird all the parallels between these bands, especially 'cause they've hit on the same ideas but in different order, sliding between rock and dance over the course of the decade. They share the same band dynamic- diva up front, music director to the side. They've tried on low-budget scrappiness and runway polish. They've been icy and smoldering. They been guitar-focused and guitar-free. They've been campy and grave. Who's records are going to hold up best?

Poll Results

OptionVotes
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs 19
Ladytron 17
Glass Candy 16
Gossip 4


bendy, Sunday, 7 June 2009 15:52 (sixteen years ago)

Ladytron vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs for me.

I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Sunday, 7 June 2009 15:57 (sixteen years ago)

YYYs at this point.

akm, Sunday, 7 June 2009 16:22 (sixteen years ago)

where YYYs = Ladytron

all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Sunday, 7 June 2009 16:23 (sixteen years ago)

Anyone voting for Glass Candy or the Gossip?

I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Monday, 8 June 2009 15:35 (sixteen years ago)

I voted Glass Candy.

Shannon Whirry & the Bad Brains, Monday, 8 June 2009 16:06 (sixteen years ago)

i don't see all the parallels

cutty, Monday, 8 June 2009 16:08 (sixteen years ago)

If it were live show, Gossip in a walk. Albums? Well, they're all kinda MOR now, so in ten years they'll all still be kinda MOR. YYY, I guess.

Not sure which way the causal relationship goes, but I will say that the one of these bands that I'm the most meh on, Ladytron, is also the only one that I've never seen live (though Glass Candy's sort of hit and miss live, whereas YYYs were much more fun than their albums, and Gossip is so good live that their albums kinda suck in comparison).

THESE ARE MY FEELINGS! FEEL MY FEELINGS! (I eat cannibals), Monday, 8 June 2009 18:15 (sixteen years ago)

Ladytron are pretty spectacular live. Just this angry, cold machine.

Ned Raggett, Monday, 8 June 2009 18:26 (sixteen years ago)

only really ever liked glass candy out of all these. ladytron is ok, yyys had a couple decent songs, and i could never really tolerate the gossip

psychgawsple, Monday, 8 June 2009 18:45 (sixteen years ago)

YYYs easily.

Roz, Monday, 8 June 2009 18:45 (sixteen years ago)

I voted Glass Candy. I prefer them live and YYYs lost me a little with the new album. Heavily personally biased vote though.

Popture, Monday, 8 June 2009 23:11 (sixteen years ago)

ladytron is pretty epic, glass candy is excellent, YYYs bore me, gossip i don't give a shit about either way

gangsta hug (omar little), Monday, 8 June 2009 23:34 (sixteen years ago)

I love all these bands apart from Gossip but I really don't see the parallels

baaderonixx, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 07:29 (sixteen years ago)

Gossip

packinasnackinthebackoftheac (The Reverend), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 07:34 (sixteen years ago)

I don't see any particular parallels, either, but, you know, ILX has a history of bizarre "who would win in a fight between a horse and a monkey" "Hawkwind vs. Joy Division" showdowns.

I'm gonna vote for Ladytron, I guess.

I don't really know enough of Glass Candy to have an opinion, two weeks in the back of a van with The Gossip cured me of ever being able to listen to their music without prejudice and I can't freaking stand the Yeah Yeah Yeahs so it's kind of a default vote.

Violent In Design (Masonic Boom), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 08:45 (sixteen years ago)

yeah yeah yeahs = amazing on record, amazing live, getting better and better
the gossip = one excellent song, amazing live, otherwise their music is ok-ish and beth ditto is annoying
ladytron = one excellent song AGES ago, totally boring otherwise
glass candy = pointless and inert and dull all the time

lex pretend, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 09:26 (sixteen years ago)

I really really really don't get the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I just don't, and I never have.

The only moment I've ever had where I actually thought "hey, wow, actually they are kind of good..." was that Erol Alkan remix where he put in this MONSTER bassline and a good drumbeat and ripped out 90% of the annoying vocals and I thought "I should give them another chance..." and then listened to the original.

And was clawing mine own ears out screaming "GET IT OFF GET IT OFF, ARGH, MAKE IT STOP!" in about a minute and a half.

I utterly fail to understand.

Violent In Design (Masonic Boom), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 09:36 (sixteen years ago)

La Roux

Matt DC, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 09:37 (sixteen years ago)

No, wait, Florence and the Machine.

Matt DC, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 09:37 (sixteen years ago)

Really liking The Gossip's "Heavy Cross" - radio killa!

I like all of these groups to varying degrees, not sure who I'll plump for.

Tim F, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 09:56 (sixteen years ago)

black box recorder all the way

NI, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 10:33 (sixteen years ago)

New Young Pony...ah n/m

Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 10:33 (sixteen years ago)

the gossip = one excellent song, amazing live, otherwise their music is ok-ish and beth ditto is annoying

This is pretty much exactly how I feel about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Ladytron for me.

a passing spacecadet, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:04 (sixteen years ago)

My problem with Ladytron is that for an electro act they seem so clunky and unsuited to actually dancing to. Which isn't really a criticism you could level at either of the two straight-up rock bands here.

Matt DC, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:14 (sixteen years ago)

ladytron has the strongest catalogue imo, even though i thought velocifero was kinda crap.

the ring toun (electricsound), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:17 (sixteen years ago)

Where on earth does this false dichotomy that "electronic = music for dancing / guitars = not designed for the dance floor" come from?

Violent In Design (Masonic Boom), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:19 (sixteen years ago)

their beats are pretty straightforward and mid-tempo (like loads of New Order, PSBs, Human League etc.) so don't see why dancing to them in would be a problem xposts

Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:20 (sixteen years ago)

Yeah, Gossip have been a dance band since minute one. Voted for them btw even though I've been kinda disinterested for a few years now. But too many formative musical experiences to throw away, whereas I never cared about the other three, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Ladytron just turned me off by seeming way too cold and hard-edged. I get that that's what they're going for, but it's not my thing really.

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:24 (sixteen years ago)

Steve - I think with Ladytron it's a combination of the beats and the bass in a way I can't quite put my finger on, they just seem a bit leaden and clumsy in the way the 80s bands you mention don't.

Matt DC, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:31 (sixteen years ago)

i think it's 100% projection tbh (as usual!). i think their sound is generally too cold and 'casual' for dancing a lot of the time, but there's nothing "clumsy" about their arrangements (considering how sequenced everything is i don't see how this could ever be a real problem).

Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:40 (sixteen years ago)

i like ladytron's basic sound but i find them such a limited act - they do one thing, and they've done it again and again for their whole career, and everything i've heard is diminishing returns on 'seventeen', and i just can't imagine caring about them as a band to follow and be a fan of.

lex pretend, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:44 (sixteen years ago)

although 'seventeen' really is excellent

lex pretend, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:44 (sixteen years ago)

think that's a pretty average song for them personally

Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:46 (sixteen years ago)

Where on earth does this false dichotomy that "electronic = music for dancing / guitars = not designed for the dance floor" come from?

This is what all four of these bands have made me think about, which is what made me group them together.

bendy, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 11:51 (sixteen years ago)

"Seventeen" sounds to me like another band - yeah I guess they're still "cold" and "synthetic" but their whole aesthetic is quite different since 'Witching Hour'.

baaderonixx, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 12:10 (sixteen years ago)

yeah i mean i'm not even sure there's a real difference between how Ladytron's and YYY's sounds have evolved over 3+ albums, or that one is really more limited or predictable than another - it's just a question of what you value more. really like both anyway but can't get into The Gossip or Glass Candy (very different as they are from each other) half as much.

Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Tuesday, 9 June 2009 12:15 (sixteen years ago)

he Gossip or Glass Candy (very different as they are from each other)

Hunh, "Beatific" and "Listen Up" fit right next to each other for me. As do "Love, Love, Love" and "Don't (Make Waves)".

bendy, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 12:23 (sixteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Friday, 19 June 2009 23:01 (fifteen years ago)

ladytron are awesome, glass candy are great but were fucking awful before they got all synth-y. the other two just suck.

guammls (QE II), Friday, 19 June 2009 23:34 (fifteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Saturday, 20 June 2009 23:01 (fifteen years ago)

Surprised so many votes for Glass Candy, who are total shit.

I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Sunday, 21 June 2009 17:32 (fifteen years ago)

Wrong.

Metro Video Centers, Sunday, 21 June 2009 20:20 (fifteen years ago)

Rats' cocks, how did I miss this poll? Would have been 18 for Ladytron had I seen it. No problem with any of the other three, but in terms of standing the test of time, I'm saying Ladytron >>> YYYs >>> the other two. Ask me again in 10 years.

Incidentally, a bloke at work told me he bought It's Blitz! after overhearing me wittering on enthusiastically about it to another colleague. I was quite flattered by that.

a tiny, faltering megaphone (grimly fiendish), Sunday, 21 June 2009 20:29 (fifteen years ago)


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