I know it makes a person sound like an old codger, but can I just say that I can’t get used to the fact that so many hip contemporary bands (Futureheads, Dogs Die in Hot Cars, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Hot Hot Heat, et al) sound so incredibly much like XTC? I love XTC, and I’m glad if this current surge of ripping everything about their sound off yields some additional interest in their unstoppable catalogue, but goddamn, kilogram. You have to try hard to sing like Andy Partridge, and all these bands seem to be trying their hardest. I remember when it was novel for bands to cop the Swindon sound (anyone else have a soft spot for The Sugarplastic?), but this is ridonkulous. The radio and MTV2 now sound so directly derivative of one thinga thing I love dearly, but still. That doesn’t make it better. Gang of Four is another hip influence right now (and more power to them, obviously); the great Carrie Brownstein said it best when she said, “these bands all sound like Gang of Four… if Gang of Four sucked.” Why bother paraphrasing?