Iyaz managed two weeks at the top with “Replay”, but gets knocked off the top a little earlier than planned.  As I’ve mentioned before, record companies still like to promote records for ages before officially releasing them, even though promoting an unavailable product which has already been released in other countries is a huge incentive to piracy.  The new number one was supposed to come out in February, but when knock-off clone versions started selling on iTunes, they rush-released it.  Turns out they didn’t need the weeks of hype anyway, as the track goes straight to number one on its first week of release (though by a relatively slim margin).  And the track in question is…

…“Fireflies” by Owl City.  This is the second consecutive number one to be a debut hit, if that interests you.  It’s actually the lead single from Owl City’s second album, but nobody paid much attention to the first one over here.  More to the point, he’s now got a major label behind him.

Owl City is Adam Young.  He comes from Minnesota and he’s another of these acts that supposed got started by building a following on MySpace – though I take these stories with a pinch of salt.  He makes synthpop, and this record is, shall we say, instantly reminiscent of the Postal Service.

The Postal Service, if you’re not familiar with them, were a side project of Ben Gibbard, the lead singer of Death Cab For Cutie.  They released one album, “Give Up”, back in 2003.  Despite good reviews, they’ve never charted in the UK, so it’s raised a few eyebrows that Owl City are having much more success making strikingly similar records. Here’s the Postal Service’s best known song (and best video), “Such Great Heights”.

And here’s “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”.

You get the idea.  Now, Owl City has taken a lot of stick for ripping off the Postal Service.  To be honest, I have some sympathy for him on that score.  While there’s plainly a big influence there, it’s not like people haven’t built entire careers on re-hashing the Beatles.  If one guy copies your style, it’s a rip-off; if two hundred people do it, it’s a genre.  And besides, “Give Up” came out seven years ago.  It’s not as though they’re a currently active band.  The statute of limitations on recycling their ideas has surely expired. 

Besides, a quick flick through some of his other tracks on YouTube suggests the resemblance isn’t usually quite this pronounced.  It also suggests that most of his other records are a bit heavy on the presets for my tastes.  Here’s the American follow-up single, “Vanilla Twilight”, for example.  It’s not very good, but it’s also not very like the Postal Service.  (These may not be wholly unrelated.)

I quite like “Fireflies”, to be honest.  Yes, it’s a bit twee, and yes, it’s not as good as the Postal Service.  But it’s quite catchy, and if you judge it on its own merits, it’s a perfectly pleasant song.   And while it’s very like another band, it’s still quite different from most records in the chart.  That said, if “Vanilla Twilight” is representative of his other output, I wouldn’t be too shocked if this turns out to a one-hit wonder.

Also passing through the charts since the last time we did this:-

• “Don’t Stop Believin'” by the Cast of Glee.  Yes, it’s finally airing in Britain.  This is at number 3 and climbing, and the original Journey version is also in the top 10.  The other singles from the show haven’t made anywhere near the same impact (largely because this is the only one getting airplay), and they’re mainly hovering just outside the top 40.
• “Won’t Go Quietly” by Example at number 6.  Second (and bigger) hit for rapper Elliot Gleave, who’s apparently decided to reinvent himself as an electropop act.
• “Stay Too Long” by Plan B, which peaked at number 9 last week.  Second hit for this guy, who’s usually billed as a rapper, but has plainly drifted quite some way from the usual parameters of that genre.  This is the lead single from his new album, and it’s pretty good.  It’s not rap, but who cares?
• “One Shot” by JLS, at number 10 and climbing.  Third single for the former X Factor contestants.  Not officially out as a single yet.  Rather forgettable.
• “Echo” by Girls Can’t Catch at number 19.  Second hit for the competent but generic girl band who are struggling to find a market niche.  The name was actually rejected by the Saturdays, which says it all, really.
• “Many of Horror” by Biffy Clyro at number 20.  A 13th hit for the Scottish rock band, who’ve been around longer than you might think.  Growing on me.
• “Do You Remember” by Jay Sean, Sean Paul & Lil Jon at number 23.  This week’s autotuned R&B single.  Gimmick: a shouty bloke.
• “All the Right Moves” by OneRepublic at number 26 and climbing.  Third and (thus far) smallest hit for these guys, though lead singer Ryan Tedder has written plenty of songs for other people.  Not bad.
• “Take a Bow” by the Cast of Glee at number 36.  Probably the benchmark for Glee singles that aren’t “Don’t Stop Believin'”.
• “Cousins” by Vampire Weekend, peaking last week at number 39.  Their second hit, narrowly missing the number 38 peak of “Oxford Comma.”  Their second album entered at number 3 in the same week.  Video is a bit They Might Be Giants, isn’t it?  I approve.
• “Shut it Down” by Pitbull, scraping in at number 40 to give him his fourth hit.  Don’t see this one going much further.