Artist of the Week: Rogue Traders

This week, my Artist of the Week is the band, Rogue Traders. They are an Australian band, who released their debut album, "We Know What You're Up To," in 2003. I had never heard of them until this summer, possibly because their debut album didn't receive airplay in the UK. In 2005, their second album, "Here Come the Drums," was released in Australia and marked a new direction for the band. They signed a new contract, with SonyBMG and added the singing talents of Natalie Bassingthwaighte, an actress from Australian soap opera, "Neighbors." They take their name from the film, "Rogue Trader."
It wasn't till July of 2006 that they released "Here Come the Drums" in the UK. Described as electro-punk and pop, it seems to also maintain the band's roots in dance music. The first single, "Voodoo Child," started getting airplay six weeks before it's official release and they finally came to my attention. The week before it's official release, "Voodoo Child" debuted in the UK charts at 18, based solely on downloads. After the single's release, it moved up to number 3. So far, it is my favorite song by the band and is the one I selected for my profile, this week. You can listen to some of the band's other songs at their Myspace page: www.myspace.com/roguetraders . If you like what you hear, add them as friends and tell them I sent you. I don't know if they are being played in America, but perhaps one of my American readers can comment and let me know. In any case, if you are not familiar with them, check them out.