The Afternoons - Don't Turn Back (Open Your Eyes) (Saturday Records)
UK release date: 3 March 2008
The Afternoons are an unassuming little indie pop band who make lovely, summery, Sixties-tinged pop tunes and deserve to be much bigger than they are.
Don't Turn Back (Open Your Eyes), from their forthcoming album Sweet Action, sums them up perfectly. Too self-knowing to whore themselves to the big time, they're happy to keep their heads down and do what they do best: a little bit Byrds, a little bit Monkees, a little bit shoe-gazey, with cute lyrics that make it clear they're enjoying themselves and don't intend to change for you or the Man.
With The Feeling currently making it cool not to care whether or not you are, nu gaze tripping happily along the airwaves and download channels, and summer just about on its way, maybe Don't Turn Back will be their breakthrough single. If not, sod the world and enjoy them for yourselves anyway.