Track Marks: How Memphis Became This Week’s Biggest Band In The World

Welcome to another edition of Track Marks, where your Idolators perform an autopsy on the latest MP3-blog sensation.

Artist: Memphis Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia Album: A Little Place In The Wilderness, 2006 First online mention (according to searches on the Hype Machine and Elbo.ws): A write-up in April of last year on on Each Note Secure. The Build-Up: The duo’s second album, Wilderness was released back in August–but only in Canada. So it took a while for Memphis to gain momentum here, with the only early mentions on i (heart music) and You Ain’t No Picasso. The Dam-Break: On Nov. 5th, FreeIndie.com posted five tracks from the record, which helped land the group on elbo.ws’ “Hot Artists” list. Judging by this photo, the guys couldn’t be more pleased. Odds of Backlash: 7-1. We’ve said it once, we’ve said it a hundred times: Everything from Canada gets a pass. Are They Worthy?: In addition to having a name that’s straight out of a Vonnegut novel, singer Torquil Campbell is also part of Stars, one of our top 50 Canadian indie-pop bands of the last few years. And since Memphis sounds like a slightly less tortured version of Stars, well…”We like!” (LOL @ Borat reference!!)

Memphis – I’ll Do Whatever You Want [MP3, link expired] Memphis -A Little Place In The Wilderness [MP3, link expired] Memphis [MySpace]