Band to Watch: Cut Off Your Hands

Anyone can tell you that Black Kids are going to be huge in 2008. Everyone has told you that Santogold will be as well known as Barack Obama. But one band that might sneak up on people this year is Cut Off Your Hands. They've been around in New Zealand for a couple years now, and finally released their debut EP, Shaky Hands, in the US last year. The EP is 6 songs of twitchy, catchy, glorious post-punk in the vein of Gang of Four (obviously, my New Year's resolution was not to make grandiose comparisons). What separates Cut Off Your Hands from a band like Radio 4 is that instead of trying to do their best Gang of Four imitation, they really carve out their own niche, and make something that is uniquely theirs. Personally, I like all the "oh oh"s in the songs - can't get enough of it. They released another EP, Blue on Blue, last year in New Zealand, and recently put out a new single. You can check out an MP3 of my favorite song off Shaky Hands "You and I" here (thanks SXSW!).