The Limousines - 'Bedbugs'
San Fransisco's Limousines are a rare find for a band discovered via Shazam while shopping in H+M: an album artist. Or rather a band capable of producing an LP full of potential singles.
Twenty-thirteen's independently released Hush was trailed by the single 'Love Is a Dog From Hell' but the album is stuffed with bangers: 'Fools Gold' and 'Stranger' both sounding like top ten hits from an imaginary retro-future Eighties compilation. But 'Bedbugs' is the number one: a shimmering radio friendly pop stomper, in the same league as Years and Years 'Shine'.
Veterans of the Bay Area music scene, Eric Victorino and Gio Giust broke through in 2009 with the tongue in cheek electro pop single 'Very Busy People' and its follow up 'Internet Killed The Video Star'. In an age before Instagram the lyrics satirised digital ennui and millennial angst; however, the music invited comparison with early 80s synth pop acts like Depeche Mode and Eurythmics.
Befittingly, they opened for Duran Duran at the Mountain Winery in Saratonga, and US alt-rock airplay was forthcoming. However, since 2013 only the odd single has emerged; although there have been live shows and a Christmas party. Looking back, you cannot help but think that if only they'd been picked up by Radio 1, or a label like Kitsuné, they could have been major stars in the UK. I guess there is still time...
In the absence of a video I have edited sixty seconds to a montage of live footage, blended with excerpts from the 80s US TV shows that populate my imagination, and somehow seem to resonate with the tune (as I heard it in H+M).
Check out Spotify for their their further two albums Scrapbook (2009) and Get Sharp.
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