Avenue61 is a leading indie music site that specialises in album and gig reviews, breaking new bands, publicising events, and exclusive interviews with the leading cutting edge acts in the alternative music scene. Avenue61 covers a wide range of artists – some you would have heard of, some you won’t. Artists the site has reviewed recently include the Fleet Foxes, MGMT, Noisettes and Ladyhawke. The site is updated regularly so come back to catch up the latest news and reviews from the bleeding edge of the alternative music scene.

Ok, so first off I must iterate the fact that this particular run down is in no particular order, nor is it a definitive list of the best British record labels of all time (as if such a breakdown could ever be truly quantified). It is simply a list of some personal favourites within the British...MORE>>

Seventeen-year-olds have inspired some amazing music – tracks by The Beatles, Stevie Nicks, The Sex Pistols, and ABBA spring to mind immediately, and there are probably dozens more out there. Is Seventeen Forever by earnest American indie-rockers Metro Station fit to be listed among them? Probably not.

Metro Station are four impossibly well-coiffed young men, based in Hollywood, who fuse guitar riffs with synth melodies to create danceable, emotive, rock music that will on the stroke of midnight turn back into 80s pop. Fellow practitioners of this holy formula include Fall Out Boy, Hellogoodbye and Cobra Starship, and Metro Station do not stray much from existing templates. However, they have got a huge advantage over rival bands: it turns out that Metro Station’s lead singers are related to stars of Hannah Montana (the contagiously popular TV series/global brand empire).

Singer and guitarist Trace Cyrus (the tall skinny one with the tattoos) is the stepson of Billy Ray Cyrus and half-brother of Miley Cyrus, who plays the title character in the

series, and Mason Musso, fellow Metro Station singer and guitarist (shorter, chunkier, cherub-faced), is the older brother of Mitchell Musso, who apparently plays Oliver Oken. There’s no doubt that world domination is embedded in Metro Station’s DNA, and they now have Europe in their sights, with a debut single set for release in the UK next month.

Seventeen Forever will appeal instantly to teenagers who are dipping their toes into the murky waters of love, sex and relationships. The lyrics are its strength, and even though they aren’t very sophisticated I am sure that the track will be popular simply because it expresses sentiments that people can relate to. Part of the reason this track sounds so disposable is because it lacks personality. This has a lot to do with the quality of the vocals. Cyrus’ vocal delivery is breathy and creepy, and though Musso is the better singer, he does sound whiny from time to time.  

Sparkling trance beats and melodic backing vocals add a light-hearted 80s pop feel the song (thanks to Blake Healey, the oldest member of the band by almost a decade, on keyboard and synth, and Anthony Improgo on drums). This jars against its painfully sincere lyrics, infused with earnest longing. In the end, it is neither serious enough to deal with its subject matter nor frivolous enough to cram dancefloors, and compares unfavourably with other Metro Station tracks.

Seventeen Forever is notable among songs about seventeen-year-olds because is a song written from the perspective of a seventeen-year-old, but it unfortunately does not take advantage of its more original viewpoint. The resulting song may resonate with young people and evoke feelings of vaguely benevolent nostalgia from old crones with their teenage years behind them, but it leaves no lasting impression.