Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Snowden: "So Red"


I always feel a twinge of homer guilt when I post an Austin band, wondering to myself whether I'm holding them to the same standards that I would if the group weren't from my hometown. Then it occurs to me that writers in other thriving music scenes like Brooklyn and Chicago would be willfully ignoring a lot of great bands if they took a pass on their own locals, so with that I bring you Snowden.

No One In Control is out May 14 on Serpents & Snakes Records.

(via Off the Radar):

Vacation: "Pyro Hippies"


I must have slept on this Cincinnati band's self-titled debut two years ago, but "Pyro Hippies" seems like a welcome enough introduction. With that energetic backbeat and noise-drenched post-punk guitar fills this is the right kind of sloppy.

Candy Waves is out June 18 on Don Giovanni Records.

Bass Drum of Death: "Shattered Me"


A year to the month since we last talked about Bass Drum of Death, and even then it was just a split 7"; we've actually been waiting two years since GB City, their last full length, and it'll be a couple more months before Bass Drum of Death the album is out on Innovative Leisure. I ain't mad at 'em. In an era when you pump out half-realized songs every few weeks just to keep your name in the blogs it's nice to see a band put time in, really woodshed that material. "Shattered Me" may sound effortless, but it took a lot of work to get it that way.

Beaches: "Send Them Away"


Australia's always been a great country for vintage rock & roll sounds, so no surprise that Melbourne's own Beaches take to the whole surfgaze thing like a duck to water. She Beats is out May 3 on Chapter Music and will include an appearance by Neu!'s Michael Rother on two songs (!).


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Team Spirit: "Jesus, He's Alright"


When the title of your new single sounds suspiciously like a Doobie Brothers cover it better fuggin' JAM, and that's just what Ayad Al Adhamy (ex-Passion Pit) does with his new band, Team Spirit. With all due respect to Passion Pit I can see why AAA just wasn't getting his garage bone scratched with his former band.

Team Spirit is out April 9 on VICE/Warner Bros.

Cindytalk: "My Drift Is a Ghost"


"My Drift Is a Ghost" snarts in your general direction. Cindytalk (a.k.a. Gordon Sharp) has shockingly been around since 1982, but you can bet those post-Merzbow sheet metal noise washes are of a more recent vintage.

Sharp is probably best known for fronting The Freeze, a not-so-prolific new wave group that only released two 7" singles in their five year existence, but were much prized by the late John Peel (the two Peel Sessions that the band recorded actually sported more songs than both singles combined... that's a fucking maƱana-based group if I ever saw one).

Para One (feat. Irfane, Teki Latex & Cam'ron): "Every Little Thing" [Girl Unit Remix]


No idea how Cam'ron showed up on this thing. The best that can be said is that he doesn't really detract from the tune, but "Every Little Thing" isn't about the verses anyway. If this song were aimed at Top 40 radio it would ruin that stop-you-in-your-tracks chorus with a generic EDM backbeat. I'm really fucking bitter about pop.

GRMLN: "Teenage Rhythm"


Am I the only one who thinks The New Batch was an amazing, anarchic sequel? I've also always wondered: if you can't wash a Mogwai after midnight how do you clean the little fuckers? Gizmo must smell like feet and balls right about now.

Anyway, GRMLN (the kosher, vowel-free kind) is one Yoodoo Park, a Japanese-American from southern California who has obviously picked up on the sunny, surf-influenced vibe of his chosen habitat. You'll have to wait exactly two months for his debut, Empire, to come out on Carpark Records, but hey... that's what Soundcloud is for.

Fryars: "On Your Own"


Watch this become a hit single in like 18 months. If you're still listening to the radio you're living in the past. Or, rather, if you subscribe to WKMR you're living in the future... yep, that's the ticket.