With Two Dollar Cinema Club's relentless cheer and relatively quick UK success, the fear is they would show up on our shores expecting a kind of coronation-something like the Beatles arrival at JFK, U2's ' Angel of Harlem,' or, in darker minds, The Great Rock and Roll Swindle.īut talent and a hot sound only gets you in the door. That is, not until they have to crisscross it five or six times in an old tour bus, playing dives in every city and college town from Portland to Portland, subsisting entirely on a diet of Stuckey's Pecan Logs and microwaveable truck-stop burritos.

And the United States is big, literally, in a way that most Europeans can't quite fathom until they get here. If you want the whole rock star package-the stadium-sized adoring crowds, supermodels backstage, private jet with gold-plated toilet seats-you have to conquer the American market. Every band since the Beatles has faced the same fact. Even now, in the downloadable, mashable, post-American century, a band can go only as far as its ability to connect with a certain audience can take it. No matter how much PR and payola a band might have behind them, and no matter how passionately the critics love you in New York-or in London-hype won't get you a spot next to Jagger and Richards in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Music critics, thankfully, don't get to make that call.

Are they really the next Coldplay, a new Vampire Weekend? Or just another Kula Shaker, one more Next Big Thing that turns out to be a Flavor of the Month?

It's also easy to wonder if TDCC has enough stones for the long haul. After a half-hour of lilting optimism, it's easy to wonder if the guy has ever had a bad day. Babyfaced lead singer Alex Tremble has a clear, strong, high alto, but shows a limited emotional range on wax. Tourist History-32 minutes of alterna-pop candy-is all jangly guitars and cascading harmonies, syrupy-sweet melodies over synthesizers in full-blown Depeche Mode. MORE ON MUSIC INDUSTRY: Jennie Rothenberger-Gritz: Adventures in High Fidelity: Nick Hornby and Ben Folds Record an Album Aylin Zafar: In Defense of Lauryn Hill Joe Fassler: Life According to Pete Seeger: No Computer, No Records, Just Singing

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