Free Energy

Assuming you don’t make the mistake of confusing the name of the band for some generous offer from British Gas, there’s actually a lot to like about Free Energy; hailing from the small town of Red Wing, Minnesota, they’ve based themselves in Philadelphia more recently and signed early in their career - which only began in earnest in 2008 - with James Murphy’s DFA Records. You can’t accuse Murphy of failing to take a hands on interest in his artists, either, because he stepped up to produce the band’s debut album, Stuck on Nothing, which saw release in early 2010; it met with a favourable critical reception across the board. Within just a year of forming, Free Energy found themselves playing some pretty prestigious support slots, not least to Oasis when they played their last ever hometown shows at Manchester’s Heaton Park in the summer of 2009; since then, they’ve gone on to bring their noisy brand of indie rock, which often blurs the lines between that and power pop, to other high-profile tours, including Weezer’s ‘Memories’ jaunt of the U.S. in 2012. With a second album, Love Sign, self-released earlier this year, expect a rambunctious return to the UL for the band sooner rather than later.