Moving On From Terrible

Naked and Famous guitarist and vocalist Thom Powers admits to have been part of several “terrible, terrible bands” in his time. “Everything that was terrible about ‘90s rock music — I did that,” the Auckland-based musician says, sounding a bit embarrassed as he references his defunct metal and hard-rock projects. By the time he helped to form the Naked and Famous in 2007, his creative tastes had changed considerably. Passive Me, Aggressive You, their debut full-length, came out in New Zealand last year and in the States in March this year. The album contains no hints of metal or hard rock; in fact, Powers’ current act drifts between indie rock and electro-pop. Passive Me is a grab bag of musical concepts: synths build bouncy dance-floor melodies; synths go scratchy and angry; clipped beats mingle with a solemn piano; guitars revel in earthy, wide-open choruses. The Naked and Famous are currently on tour in the US ahead of Asian and Australian dates early next year.