13 for 2013: V - Me

The band after their visit to Topman's suit department (from hitthefloor.co.uk)

Annoyingly unGoogle-able, 'ME' are an Australian quartet signed to a UK label. Though they've been together for four years, their debut, 'Even the Odd Ones Out', is only just set for release in February this year.
They've recently embarked on their first headline tour of these isles, after several fan-gathering stints as support acts for the likes of Kasabian, Death From Above 1979 and King Charles.

Personally, what attracted me was the single 'Rock and Roll Dandy', though everything since has been impressive (see 'Naked', for example). Infectiously poppy, but with an underlying hard rock guitar sound, there's a pretty obvious indication of the influences here, with Mercury meets Matt Bellamy vocals, Queen's playful grandiose and Muse's funk-tinged riffage. It is, to be quite honest, a tragedy that a band that sound like a modern-day Queen-Muse mash-up have failed to receive greater media coverage. You can change that by grabbing the new album.