Ones To Watch: Tribes

No, Tribes are not a bunch of native Indians complete with panpipes and fancy feathered headwear. Tribes are, in fact, the best new band to come out of London. Forming just last year, the four-piece are the love child of that other Camden favourite The Libertines with their mix of grizzly lad rock' If you’ve never heard of them before, let’s sum up Tribes quickly: Not amazingly talented, not incredibly original but a priceless ability to write a catchy hook. On the back of just one EP and a single, Tribes have tallied up a massive play count due to their sing-along effect. Don’t worry, even if you don’t know the words, humming will do. To find out for yourself check out the drag fest video for ‘Sappho’ below:



Whilst shunning promotion tools like Myspace, the group have got a real buzz about them, basing their initial success on their live gigs. Speaking of the matter, lead singer Johnny Lloyd said: "We didn't wanna do the MySpace thing really, didn't wanna do it all online. Just having 1,000 friends on MySpace doesn't mean your gigs are go"nna be busy." As an unsigned band their popularity grew to such an extent that Tribes were chosen to be the first unsigned band to do a Maida Vale session for Radio 1. Here, the boys from Camden proved that they had the live chops too.



What makes me really love Tribes is that they’re giving British guitar music another notch of hope. Basically they're gonna be a big deal and i predict them to blow up in a similar way to the Vaccines earlier this year. And on the back of being signed by Island Records a few months ago, I genuinely believe that this prediction could materialise.


Now that the hype machine is pretty much on overdrive, I suggest it’s time you join the bandwagon. Tribes are already supporting some big name bands this year like the Kaiser Chiefs, whilst also headlining their own 9 date UK tour and prepping their debut album ‘Baby’ for its January 2012 release. It’s a busy year ahead for the anthemic four-piece. To finish off, here’s Tribes with their Pixies-esque maiden single ‘We Were Children’:


Because crap bands don’t play on rooftops.