INDIE EAR MADNESS: Final Four Results

Sunday, April 6, 2008 | 4:32 PM

A little over two weeks ago we started out with the top 64 independent/indie-minded acts in all of music to determine the best band in the land. Following this weekend's Final Four action, two groups are left standing. They'll go at it this Monday night (April 7). Follow all the action, right here, on The Independent Ear:

(left: Ben Bridwell leads his Band of Horses into the Finals this Monday night.)

2 The Raconteurs vs. 1 Vampire Weekend
In a sold-out San Antonio Dome, The Raconteurs and Vampire Weekend thrilled the capacity crowd with brilliant and impassioned performances. For every "A-Punk", "Oxford Comma", and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" Vampire Weekend had to offer, The Raconteurs countered with a "Steady As She Goes", "Consoler of the Lonely", and "Level" of their own. In the end, the one-two punch of Jack White and Brendan Benson was just too much for the fab-four of Vampire Weekend to handle. When a section of hipsters began complaining that the setting in the San Antonio Dome wasn't "indie" enough, Jack White marched outside with his acoustic guitar and played a handful of songs for the fans not able to get tickets. This proved to be the deciding factor as The Raconteurs advance to this Monday night's final game.

2 Band of Horses vs. 7 The Black Keys
The Black Keys surprised everyone by making it this far in the tournament, considering their new album Attack and Release wasn't even out during the first few rounds of Indie Ear Madness. Band of Horses, on the other hand, have been touring in support of their latest album, Cease to Begin, for a while now. The tightness of Band of Horses definitely showed, but the two-man starting line-up of The Black Keys, managed to stay competitive deep into the second-half. Their undoing though, was trying to match Band of Horses' melancholic-style. If The Black Keys stuck to their body-bangin' blues-rock, there's a good chance they'd be playing against The Raconteurs on Monday night. Band of Horses played to their strengths, choosing not to "rock" it out with The Black Keys, and gallop into the finals.

By Jim Shearer in INDIE EAR MADNESS '08 | Link | 1 Comments | Recommended (1)

Tags: Band of Horses, Indie Ear Madness, The Black Keys, The Raconteurs, Vampire Weekend