Calexico: "Cumbia de Donde"

This being Cinco de Mayo I simultaneously regret both my sleep-deprived inability to muster the wherewithal to think of anything properly Mexican to contribute while also lamenting my compelling need to post something this "almost but not quite". Whatever, this is about as authentically Hispanic as any Tucson band springing forth whole cloth from the forehead of Giant Sand like a cross between Zeus and Gizmo can expect to be. Ladies and gentlemen, the new Calexico.

Cloud Nothings: "Psychic Trauma"

"Psychic Trauma" doesn't sound like anything you haven't already heard, but that's primarily because the component sounds are so familiar: garage rock, noise... and post-punk? You don't see the latter thrown into the mix that often, at least not successfully, but damned if Cloud Nothings don't pull it off. I'm a root-for-the-underdog kinda guy so I'm not necessarily pulling for Here and Nowhere Else to come off as a top 10 album at the end of 2014 - Christ knows they earned a lifetime's supply of accolades for 2012's (admittedly glorious) Attack on Memory - but it's good to hear the band haven't lost a step nonetheless.

KILLER COVERS || Built to Spill: "Jokerman"

I can't say that 1983's Infidels was my first exposure to Dylan - I'd probably heard a few of his vintage tunes in passing as my parents partied on the weekends - but MTV used to play the shit out of "Jokerman" and "Sweetheart Like You" so this was the first of the man's material that stuck to my impressionable dome at the time.

I still don't frequently listen to anything else off of the LP except those two tracks, but I've always thought that the record as a whole captured some of Mark Knopfler's most tasteful playing. This Built to Spill cover loses those clean licks but has charms of its own, not the least of which is Doug Martsch's plaintive-yet-enthusiastic singing.

Polvo: "Total Immersion"

Noise rock and math rock are both pretty big right now. Since Polvo had a hand in shaping both it's only fitting that they make a triumphant return with their upcoming album, Siberia. Their actual comeback was more properly 2009's In Prism, but even if four years is only a third of the time they took off for their break up it's still kind of an eternity in today's age. "Total Immersion" is almost too busy - I literally had to double check to see if I accidentally had two songs playing at once - but somehow they manage to tie it all together.

Kid Karate: "Heart"

"Is that a stuffed gator in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

The Thermals: "The Sunset"

That's right, another goddamn Portland band. Is PDX the new Brooklyn? Austin certainly isn't it, much as I'd love to say otherwise. Thermals bass player Kathy Foster takes time out from getting all Girlfight and shit by recreating the Rosie Perez hoochie dance from Do the Right Thing. Bed-Stuy do or die, y'all. It's a Brooklyn thing.

Caveman: "In the City"

Somehow "In the City" has wound up as my favorite track of 2013 thus far. It's nothing new, but the mix of plaintive vocals, gently propulsive backbeat and arresting synth line just represent the total package... a little bit psych, a little bit synthpop, stratospheric heights of broodingly optimistic vocal largesse thoroughly achieved. This is one of those songs that puts you in a sad, wistful mood wherever you are or whatever you're doing when it comes on. Kind of like Julia Stile's career at this point. BOOM! Seriously, though, this may end up my album of the year as well.

Lightning Dust: "Diamond"

"Hazy" is the musical preference of the 2010s thus far, and Black Mountain side project Lightning Dust isn't trying to buck that trend with "Diamond". With compositions this strong and awash in upbeat melancholy you can call it anything you want, just don't expect similar levels of inspiration out of this half-assed video (which reminds me, Esther Williams croaked today, RIP).

Pure X: "Things In My Head"

Maybe they're done moving to Brooklyn. Pure X is one of the first bands from Austin I've heard in awhile that seems like a finished product rather than mere kinetic promise (for a city that calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World we've been borrowing our A-list talent from the road in recent years). Album #2 for these boys, Crawling Up the Stairs, seems almost polished compared to their 2011 debut, Pleasure, but that seems to have more to do with an increased comfort in letting the songs speak for themselves than any kind of crass grab for the brass ring.

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.

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.

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.

The Men: "I Saw Her Face"

That's that old Neil Young shit right there. Or new Neil Young shit, sounds like the guitar line could have been lifted straight off Shakey's last album. Funny thing is The Men don't typically trade in proto-grunge classic rock, but their album New Moon was released recently on Sacred Bones, and there's something about being on that label that brings out the fuzzy acid psych in everyone. Nonetheless, this song is a standout anomaly on an album that largely sounds nothing like this.

Milk Music: "Cruising With God"

I'll probably rethink this analogy after I've heard this song a few more times, but right now it sounds to me like a mildly David Thomas (Pere Ubu) fronting Dinosaur Jr. with Mike Watt on power bass.

Cruise Your Illusion is out April 2 on Fat Possum, who have been taking some real left turns with their signings lately. Good for them.

Beach Fossils: "Careless"

With the success of both DIIV and Heavenly Beat, things were looking pretty questionable just how quickly members of those bands would reconvene into Beach Fossils, the mothership. Well fuck me runnin' there's a new BF due February 19 on Captured Tracks. First single "Careless" is already pimping earholes worldwide, and you can peep that oh-so-Lou-Reed album art above.

Eels: "Peach Blossom"

Eels are one of those bands that have been kicking around for years, yet are still largely considered a one hit wonder by the public at large on the back of their 1996 smash "Novocaine for the Soul". Well shit y'all, the upcoming Wonderful, Glorious is actually the group's ninth album since the "Novocaine"-boasting Beautiful Freak sixteen years ago. First single "Peach Blossom" strongly recalls the minimalist riffing of both Spoon and vintage Weezer, which probably won't hurt anyone's feelings. It definitely harks back to that 90s heyday.

Prince Rama: "Those Who Live For Love Will Live Forever"

Much of today's retro-synthpop is less outright homage than drugged out, misremembered pastiche. Nowhere is there a better example than Prince Rama, a well-hyped piss take whose Top Ten Hits of the End of the World was released recently to universal acclaim (and threats of year end top 10 placements) on Animal Collective's Paw Tracks label. These fuzzy, weathered, VHS-reminiscent videos are a dime a dozen these days, but few bands pull off the sound to go with them quite as successfully as this lysergic, ersatz aerobics anthem which is zero percent grounded in reality (or even pathos). This Beantown duo has done nothing less but disappear down their own K(-Tel) holes and want to bring us all to the party. Rendezvous with Rama, but pack a heavy lunch... you're gonna be gone awhile.

Foals: "Inhaler"

That plucky opening riff may scream "instrumental math rock" at first, but negatory: Foals effectively split the difference between 90s modern rock and the new wave revival which has taken the aughts by storm. The intent is less important than the end result, and if there was still a legit radio industry around to break these guys they could easily be the biggest thing since Sponge.

Egyptian Hip Hop: "Yoro Diallo"

A friend of mine was complaining the other day that for all he'd know from reading music blogs the only styles currently being recorded were folk, hip hop and electronic. "Not far off", was my somewhat oversimplified reply (texting is not the place for nuanced arguments).

Fool's Gold: "Leave No Trace"

If Rhino had plugged this into one of their Children of Nuggets box sets as an April Fool's Joke no one outside a few LA scenesters would be in any position to call bullshit. According to Facebook these guys just got back from Israel after touring with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which seems like an odd pairing but you gotta get that exposure, son.
(via Off the Radar):
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