People Of Santiago. Hailing from Newcastle rather than Chile, here is a band that really should have had more mainstream exposure. Being championed by Zane Lowe and Steve Lamacq has seemingly had little effect though, as this band with several fine songs has somehow slipped through the net. You only have to listen to a song like Broadcast, a dark anthem about being lost to television, or the outstanding Hope Is A State Of Mind, with its cry for escape, to know that this is a band who should be playing large venues, as they have the sound to fill them.
Their closest musical contemporaries would be Editors, but the lyrical content is closer to The Enemy, but with the brashness stripped away to reveal heart, hurt and soul behind the lyrics. Their newer songs, The Invisible and Circles, are thankfully more of the same, and are well worth checking out. In a genre where it is possible for many bands to sound the same, People Of Santiago manage to make a sound that is completely their own.
Posted In They Shoulda Been Huge, Sep 19 2008.
Words - Paul