It's all in the genes | Ruth ni Leannachain
So celebrities’ kids seem to have it all, good looks, cool parents and oodles of cash, but have any of them actually inherit talent from their famous parents? Ruth Ni Leannachain investigates…Up until recently I associated celebrities’ kids with a lot of negative things; falling out of exclusive clubs with their beautiful (and equally cool) friends, modeling their clothing ranges for cheap magazines, and generally having cushy lives. I dismissed their generally feeble acting/modeling/socialite careers and, call me a snob but, I certainly didn’t want to listen to whatever music they were making. However, in the last few weeks that’s all changed, for I have increasingly been finding celebrities’ kids who worth listening to and more and more I’ve began to realize that maybe, I was wrong.The band that changed my mind was Zulu, the self proclaimed Tribal Punk outfit partially founded by Louis Simonon. Son of Clash bassist Paul, and indeed, a bassist himself, Louis and Zulu have been making waves on the London punk scene (or what’s left of it) and have been leaving any negative stereotypes behind them. I stumbled across the band in a dingy basement at the ultra-hip Birthdays club in Dalton last summer when they supported ‘Cerebral Ballzy’ and was immediately impressed by their confident and unpredictable stage presence, but while Zulu may give the impression of a thrown together ensemble they are definitely not lacking in technical skill. Their debut EP ‘Way of the Zulu’ boasts catchy ‘put it on repeat’ punk songs with sharp relevant lyrics delivered with passion by lead vocalist Luke’s London drawl, Zulu are this writers hot tip for 2013.On the other end of the musical spectrum we find Pixie Geldof, known better perhaps as the little sister of fruitcake Peaches (excuse the pun) and daughter of Live-Aid mastermind and wrinkly rocker Bob, than budding musician. Despite her bad reputation, she has actually been playing the guitar and writing music since she was 11. Pixie has been keeping a very low profile lately choosing to focus on recording and writing rather than Vogue spreads and tabloid scandals. She and her band Violet admit to being heavily influenced by 90’s grunge and in particular, Hole, the band who inspired their name. Their first single ‘Come Undone’ boasts a dreamy melody which Geldof’s deep and soulful voice suits perfectly and despite a somewhat cringe-inducing video it, along with B-side Y.O.U, are perfect Lo-Fi chill out music. They may never be the critics favourite but Violet definitely don’t deserve to hide in the shadow of Live-Aid and Sir Bob.And finally there’s Eliot Sumner, who is perhaps better known under her musical alias ‘I Blame Coco’. Sumner successfully disassociated herself from her father, Sting, when she began gigging first and despite being just 21 has already worked with artists like Robyn and La Roux and has played Glastonbury, Leeds/Reading and T in the Park. Her electro sound is as good acoustic as it is on a huge stage and her talent is something Island Records have rewarded with a 6 album deal. The 2nd of these albums is in the pipeline and is set to be full of the personal lyrics, humming voice and effortlessly cool persona her fans have become accustomed to. Expect her at the summer festivals.So I was wrong, celebrity kids aren’t just beautiful, rich and privileged with all the right connections and super liberal parents, and maybe some of them don’t deserve the critique we give them. In fact, it seems now that on top of everything else they can be super talented too. Me, bitter? Never… Photo courtesy of wayofthezulu.tumblr.com and Guardian.co.uk.
