British Invasion 3.0

I dare anyone to find something more adorable than Peter Noone singing "Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter" with his band, Herman's Hermits, on the Ed Sullivan show:



Watching it gets me excited about the next generation of young, brit, floppy-haired hotties who emphasize, rather than mask and overwhelm, their thick accents and vocals. The Kooks' "She Moves in Her Own Way" is reminiscent of the 40-year-old Herman's Hermit's hit, with it's simple, yet unabashedly catchy guitar rhythm, and innocently flattering lyrics: "It's not about your make-up / Or how you try to shape up / To these tiresome paper dreams...I love her because she moves in her own way / She came to my show just to hear about my day." To top it off, the kids (reportedly still in high school when the album Inside In Inside Out was recorded) have the unkempt hair, good looks, and the youthful charm that made all the now-60-year-olds scream four decades ago. To be sure, "Naive" tackles much less innocent subject matter (despite the ironic title), with the music video portraying alchohol addiction, but all the tunes manage to maintain the same great rhythms, and unique vocal sound and enunciation. Peter Bjorn and John's Young Folks, named Apple's 2007 iTunes Song of the Year, also serves up an undeniably retro feel, much more so than other songs on their 2006 album, Writer's Block.

Arctic Monkeys have a decidedly heavier and edgier sound, while still sharing the longish hair, the boyish good looks, and the obvious accent of their musical peers. Hugely popular, with Number One status in the UK, Arctic Monkeys have yet to find their way into the American mass market, which is, to some, a shame considering their talent. Which brings us to the main difference between the two or three rounds of British Invasions: measurable mass appeal. I, myself, can't help but be drawn to the largely unknown.