Most of my time at Brighton’s Great Escape festival last weekend was spent standing in queues outside the city’s many venues missing almost all the bands, so it felt like a particular triumph to be in the right room to catch a little bit of The Districts.
The latest sickeningly talented youths from the US are just out of high school near Philadelphia and frontman Rob Grote looks nowhere near old enough to sing with such a world-weary croak.
The buzz began two years ago when live footage of their song Funeral Beds made it to the front page of Reddit — a big deal in internetland.
With a raw, classic rock sound, they might be in for unflattering Kings of Leon comparisons but so far they sound more interesting than that. They’re now signed to Fat Possum Records, home to numerous bluesy indie types, and major labels have started sniffing around too.
A 13-song collection currently streaming at Bandcamp gives plenty of strong evidence as to why they’re worth the fuss.
Aug 22-24, Reading and Leeds Festival (readingandleedsfestival.com)
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