Hometown: London.
The lineup: Rod Thomas (vocals, guitar, loop pedal, synth, tambourine).
The background signal: Rod Thomas is apparently nonpareil of the most recognized buskers on the London Underground with features about him on BBC London news and in thelondonpaper. Wait, come back. A crusty dog-on-a-string type bawling painful versions of Lay Lady Lay and Streets of London as you try to squeeze on to the tube he is non. He's a seriously full songwriter with a super-light pop touch who enhances his acoustic guitar-based tunes with a synth, a loop pedal for beat generation and handclaps, and if he had the probability, the chance and the funding, he'd probably honk in an orchestra as well � you can just ideate the strings swelling epically as the chorus rises on Same Old Lines, his modern single.
But don't feel too drab for him and commence scrabbling approximately in your pocket for loose change. He's non doing badly. He mightiness be unsigned and having to put out his single on his own label, Self Raising, just Same Old Lines was produced by Julian Simmons (Guillemots, Midlake) and has been played for 17 consecutive weeks on Radio 1 Introducing, he's supported the likes of Sparks, Kathryn Williams and Noah & the Whale on tour and the single is attended by a video, all 70s kids TV show lunacy and dodgy sock puppets, commit together by the team behind recent Noah & the Whale, Laura Marling and Mystery Jets promos.
Mostly, you don't pauperism to pity the boy from Wales because he really is quite gifted and the songs he's churning kO'd really ar quite endearing. How to categorise them is another matter. They're folky and forlorn, yes, but the beats ar electronic and the handclaps crisp and urgent, the sort of rhythmic device you hear on disco records � this is probably wherefore his music's been described as acoustic disco; we're going to go one further and call it folk funk, but so, we're wild like that. There ar aspects of the techno troubadour's work we're not comfortable with. At Glastonbury and Latitude this year he encouraged his audiences to clap and sing along, and some of his music does tend towards the crowd-pleasingly well-worn and happy-clappy. But songs like Your Love is a Tease, As If and You Get Goodbyes veer more than towards the plaintive pop-with-a-pulse of Pet Shop Boys and Prefab Sprout, and - we're not imagining this - a number of other artists have discerned the music's potency for electrification, providing remixes and all manner of fussy cross-rhythms, although in truth the songs' beauty lies in their stark restraint.
The buzz: "Joyous lo-fi folk-pop; folk with a fanfare, a breeze and a pop, and a few glances in the general direction of disco."
The truth: Sad chords + simple-minded beats = the greatest Rod in pop since that blighter with the croaky voice and bird's nest hair.
Most likely to: Make you escape your tube-shaped structure.
Least probable to: See his career go down the tube.
What to buy: Same Old Lines is released by Self Raising on October 6.
File next to: James Yuill, Jack Penate, Guillemots, Paddy McAloon.
Links: www.myspace.com/rodthomasmusic
Tomorrow's new band: Playdoe.
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