An Introduction

Welcome to The New Thing. First of all, a few words: this isn't a scene. Lots of the bands discussed here may share common characteristics, they may be from roughly the same place, and they might be good friends with one another, but the word 'scene' dooms creativity, so we won't be using it.

With that out of the way, we can give you a rough idea of the sort of music we're talking about. Some bands within our sphere at the moment include Neils Children, Boys of Brazil, These New Puritans, and The Violets. As well as these semi-famous groups, we'll be discussing smaller associated groups such as Hatcham Social, Plastic Passion, and Electricity In Our Homes. In fact, the most famous name that will appear in these pages in the foreseeable future will be The Horrors, arguably the leaders of the pack in what we're not calling a scene. You've probably realised that our site's name is a phrase borrowed from the title their latest single.

Practically the only thing which all our subjects share is a deep inspiration from music's past, so that'll be our second topic of discussion. This will be in equal parts 1960s garage and psychedelia (from The Sonics to Syd Barrett) and 1970s/1980s post-punk (Gang of Four, Joy Division, The Cure, Public Image Ltd., et cetera).

The third topic of discussion on The New Thing will be the culture - fashion, art, literature, film - associated with these bands. There's a wealth of this, taking in The Picture of Dorian Grey, winklepicker shoes, Tonite Let's All Make Love In London, and the cover of Unknown Pleasures (just off the top of our heads).

Keep checking us, as we'll have news (as and when it happens), reviews of concerts and releases, and features posted as often as possible. We might even put up the occasional MP3. (As a sampler so that you can go out and buy the actual release more confidently (preferably from an indie record shop), of course.)

Lastly, thanks for visiting. We hope you find The New Thing a useful resource.