Boris to Release Two Albums

Boris, the ever changing, shape shifting advent metal gods, have done the only logical thing in their desire to do something different with their music, which is release two albums on the same day (April 16) on the same label (Sargent House). Heavy Rocks, which is strikingly similar to their 2002 album of the same name and near same cover art, though the band claims it to be a completely different and separate album. However, Attention Please is the album the band seems to be concentrating to most on, an album that first time has the band's female guitar Wata singing on the songs, and her voice gives the album a very majestic feel to their heavy sound. For instance, the just released song "Hope" has a very Dinosaur Jr feel to it (something that was previewed in their single releases from last year), with the soft vocals and strings contrast the song's heavy riffs.

(mp3) Boris-Hope

The band, if nothing but prolific, has plans to release another album, the currently Japan only release called New Album. The album's core appears to be various different takes on songs that will be appearing on their upcoming new albums. Like "Party Boy", which will also appear on Attention Please, and which here sounds like the band decided to become a dance band. Seriously, if you ever wanted to know what Boris would be like if they tried to make a mainstream pop song, this is probably the most likely result.

(Sound Cloud)-Listen to "Party Boy" here.

Links:

Boris' Website
Sargent House's Website

Single Review: Trent Fox and The Tenants-Mess Around EP

Ignore the goofy looking art work. Ignore the unnecessarily long band name. The only thing that needs attention is Trent Fox and The Tenants, and the fact that they have release a bloody excellent debut 7 inch. Brought to us by the relatively new Kind Turkey Records, the single, if it were to be generalized, is another five song sweet of garage-punk, leaning more the garage side of the genre.

That, however, is selling it short. Flourishes of Noubnny and Hunx and His Punx can be heard through out, especially in the heave use of vocal melodies; there just aren't enough "yeah, yeah" chants in garage these days. There is also a snottiness to the band as well which can be heard on every song particularly in the killer title track. the best point of reference is fellow scenesters Jaill. Both bands use garage-punk as the templete for their sound, but useit to create songs that demand a repeate listen. Also the band isn't afraid to put a touch of demeneted country or power-pop to add dimention to their music. This might not be completely new ground Tent Fox adn the tenants are covering, but it's one they trent spot on.      

(mp3) Trent Fox and the Tenants-Mess Around

Links:

Trent Fox and The Tenants on myspace
Buy the Mess Around 7" here, from Kind Turkey Records

The Secret Society of Giraffes-A Perfect Reason to Fall

Thanks so much Get Off The Coast for pointing out this wonderful discovery to me. The Secret Society of Giraffes, not only having one of the best band names ever, have (or I should say has because it is a one man project)released their second five song EP titled Perfect Reason to Fall It is a very strange slice of electronic style pop kind of giving me a bit of a Gobble Gobble vibe, but just in the wackiness, not in musical style. The Secret Society of Giraffes' songs are based around samples in this case various video game noises which the band then warps into a multitude of directions from the loopy intro of synth and+ ocals that makes up " Tut Budmarc" or the electro guitar beats of "Like A Heart on My Sleeve", A Perfect Reason to Fall is a mildly demented sound collage of just about everything, yet everything about it works so perfectly.

(mp3) The Secret Society of Giraffes-Tut Budmarc
(mp3) The Secret Society of Giraffes-Like A Heart on My Sleeve



Links:

The Secret Society of Girafffes on Bandcamp

Martin Newell-Gamma Ray Blue

It's stories like this that warm my cold, blogger heart. Martin Newell, who if you don't know, was the genius behind the underground guitar pop band Cleaners from Venus (who's discography Burger Records has been releasing steadily over the past few years to great fanfare, at least by me). However, Newell was one prolific man who constantly worked with other people and release different works. One of those projects was a solo outing in 1985 titled Songs for a Fallow Land, releasing it in a super limited batch of 100 cassettes. Well, after a 25 year period Fixed Identity, a imprint started by members of Gary War and Infinity Window, will be releasing Songs for a Fallow Land again on LP. Here "Gamma Ray Blue" for an understanding of the excellence contained within, a warped psych induced pop song, which songs like the precursor for everything Ariel Pink and James Ferraro would wind up producing. It honestly sounds like something that would appear in a demented form of the '80s, mostly because it actually was made in the '80s.

(mp3) Martin Newell-Gamma Ray Blue (via Visitation Rites)

Links:

Pre-order Songs for a Fallow Land here, from Fixed Identity

School Knights Say "Fuck The Beach"!

It has come to my attention that my new favorite lo-fi indie punk rockers School Knights, despite having just released their debut EP a little while ago, are already dropping mp3s of their upcoming debut LP Fuck The Beach. The title track is possibly one of the most ironic songs ever, a decry of the "beach scene" while having the same style and sound of the band(s) they are mocking (*coughWavvescough*), the product of course being another excellent scuzzy sounding guitar song. "Lunch Money"is a slightly slower and but still now less great song, continuing on their theme of writing about childhood issues and their past as twenty-somethings. Also, apparently "Lunch Money" is going to be part of a cassingle release that the band is planning to do, once again working with the ever awesome Bridgetown Records. Fuck the Beach is expected, when else, but later this summer, on a yet to be announced label.

(mp3) School Knights-Fuck The Beach
(mp3) School Kngihts-Lunch Money


Links:

School Knights on Myspace

Album Review: Cloud Nothings-Cloud Nothings

After one self-titled EP, one split cassette, one split CD, and three seven inches, we finally arrive at what has been building and anticipated for way too long; Cloud Nothings' debut album. Something the band obviously could have released much earlier, they instead took the path of tour and honing onto the sound they wanted to make for this album. The outcome of that winds up being Cloud Nothings, a 11 tracks in less than 30 minute album that sounds like the entire band decided to eat an entire package of those novelty sized Pixie Sticks and recorded the entire album in one take.

I bring this all up because the honest truth is Cloud Nothings is more of a pop-punk or power-pop album than it is indie rock one. Or maybe a pop-punk record with indie undertones. One listen to "Not Important" and you will be second guessing whether or not your listening to a long lost Blink 182 demo. However, Cloud Nothings has been building to this sound for a while, so it might be a simply adjustment to the band without the wonderful lo-fi fuzz that made everyone fall in love with them in the first place. Adjusting to the whine that is the actual voice of front man Dylan Baldi takes some time, but works like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah work (this is a completement).

It's not as suddenly turned into Cloud Nothings turned into a bad band. Extremely far from it. Cloud Nothings have produced an album filled to brim with overtly addicitve pop songs, bratty and snotty filled with teenage spirit, but still the stuff that buzzes in your ears' days later. The riff ricochete like they are playing a squash game in the inside of your brain. It's one of those albums where every single song can be imagined to be spinning on a 7 inch of some sort, everything from the actual single of "Should Have" to the almost completely chouse songs that are "Heartbeat" or "Rock". Although not a compete sonic blast (see slow burner "Forget You All the Time") the album is incredibly constant, manic strumming over manic symbol bashes. While a breather is needed every now and then due to the album eventually giving you a headache and blurring together, Cloud Nothings have managed to do what every super prolific artist should do: write songs you want to listen to over and over again.

(mp3) Cloud Nothings-Understand at All
Cloud Nothings "Should Have" by carparkrecords

Links:

Cloud Nothings on Myspace
Buy Cloud Nothings here, from Carpark

Echo Lake-Sunday Evening

Don't know how I missed this one, but last Friday Echo Lake released another track from their Young Silence EP. "Sunday Evening" is a hazy, etherial sounding pop song, much in the vein of almost anything that is "pop" these days, if the band didn't decided to go the C86 route. However, Echo Lake can still kick a gem, and they never get lost in their songs, producing something akin to The Stone Roses, if they had had decieded to take even more acid and and let all their records become warpped. Young Silence just dropped yesterday on the UK label No Pain in Pop, and is without a doubt high recommended.

(mp3) Echo Lake-Sunday Evening

Links:

Echo Lake's website
Buy Young Silence EP here, from No Pain in Pop 

All That's Been Left Behind

The more you blog, the more you realize that you can't blog about everything you want to, unless you devote every ounce of your life to it, and are working with three other people as well on it. However, there are some great songs that can get missed, and not matter how much time has passed, deserve to be talked about.
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Cold Cave released the first song to their upcoming second album Cherish the Light Years (yea!) called "The Great Pan is Dead". A track is a bit of a throwback to their ealier days, using very loud noise to escalade the pain of the lyrics of certain songs. However, instead of a sonic attack, the powerful beats of the song propell it forward and it becomes just as great as any Cold Cave song before it.

(mp3) Cold Cave-The Great Pan is Dead

Links: 

Cold Cave's Website
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Thanks to the great Andres at The Photon God for bringing my attention to my new favorite band, The Luyas. The band will be releasing their second album on Dead Oceans in a week's time, the aptly titled Too Beautiful to Work, and the released the utterly specacular title track as well. It is a bit hard to put into words why this song is so great. A looping  piano line is layered of the most lucid vocals sounding like they are being sung in another language, complemenary drums and strings come in from out of nowhere. Just simply sublime.

(mp3) The Luyas-Too Beautiful to Work

Links:

The Luyas' website
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Nodzzz ,the sparse, twee and garage altogether and thrown in a blender pop band that every has been adoring for ages have signed to Woodist for their second album. In the mean time they have released "Time (What's It Going To Do?)" for the musical public. Short,snappy and oddly built around a psych sounding guitar line, it kind of sounds like The Brian Jonestown Massacure at their most melodic, if they had decided to eat a bunch of sugar instead of doing speed.

(mp3) Nodzzz-Time (What's It Going To Do?)

Links:

Nodzzz on Facebook

Panda Bear-Last Night at the Jitty

I am actually extremely excited for the upcoming Panda Bear's upcoming Tomboy, so it brought me great joy to see he finally released the first "official" mp3 from the album, a re-recorded version of "Last Night at the Jetty". As one of the few who managed to get a copy of the single version of it that was released a little while ago very little has actually changed with the song, except for a slight clean up in the production value. However, that doesn't matter much because the song is simply fucking excellent, a swirling vortex of a pop song, with touches of drone and ambiance adding to the melted electronic sound that makes up "Lat Night at the Jetty". Tomboy is increasingly becoming one of my most anticipated of 2011.

(mp3) Panda Bear-Last Night at the Jetty

Compare to the original:


Links:

Panda Bear on Myspace
Get Tomboy April 12 here, from Paw Tracks

Flower Orgy Blossoms into Greatness

Flower Orgy, despite having a mildly idiotic if apt name, are an actually quite excellent band that produce uber lo-fi acoustic/folk pop that matches their surroundings, the isolated and decrepit area in the United States know as the Northeast. They just put out their first release, a five track cassette on the Chocolate Bobka run The Curatorial Club. It reminds me a lot of the Taterbug tapes that Night People was putting out a while back, if Taterbug had concentrated on creating more cohesive songs instead of nature like soundscapes. Anyway, the band has put up the first side of the tape on their bandcamp page, showcasing the bare bones and raw nature of their sound, along with possibly one of the greatest covers of Exuma's "22nd Century" which they morph into 9 minute plus sprawl.



Links:

Flower Orgy's Bandcamp
Buy the cassette here, from The Curatorial Club

Firesuite-Amity

Firesuite is a band from Britain that seems to have a desire to match their namesake. The track they sent me "Amity" is a start of a little like Animal Collective before the guitars and sound engulf everything around it in a wonderfully cascade of sound, coming off a bit like if a Interpol riff had been slowed down into a warm, hypnotic swirl before the band finally explodes into My Bloody Valentine and then descending into blissful guitar lines.



Links:

Firesuite on Bandcamp

Year End List: Top 10 Singles of 2010

There may be those wondering why I am posting my year end lists later than just about everyone else, and in February no less. I could go on a tangent about the importance of a year needing to be processed, and that all year end lists should come out this late so everything is put into context, and while all that is true the real reason is that I'm a bit lazy. Still, that's no reason to not voice my opinion, so here is my first post about all that was wonderful and great about 2010. First up: the almighty single, which I probably bought more of than any year past, and possibly more than records this year as well.

10. Panda Bear "You Can Count On Me" (Domino)-This surprised me, because unlike every other person blogging today, I am not that the mega fan of Panda Bear everyone else seems to be. However, this single (as his other's as well), managed to bypass the repetition that his songs are based on use it to craft these two hypnotic songs. Worthy just for how great B-side "Alsatian Darn" is.


9. Girl Names/Brilliant Colors split (Slumberland)-I generally don't like split singles too much, because I get to much into one band on one side only to have to go to another mind set on another. However, this split single is one that works perfectly due to how the seem like the British Irish and American equivalent of each other. Both produce ramshackle, distorted garage pop, leaning on their C86 influence without ever becoming a parody of it.


8. Jacuzzi Boys "Bricks or Coconuts" (Mexican Summer)-There's a reason Jacuzzi Boys are getting so much love out of the garage scene these days. If you want to ignore last year's impeachable No Seasons, at least look at this single. Three songs filled with more jangle and hooks that trigger mass addiction to the band after just a few seconds. Be warned, you may wear out your needle listening to these songs so much.

7. Japandroids "Younger Us" (Polyvinyl)-So far the 3 singles (and two more to come) Japandroids have all been pretty excellent so far, but I think Younger Us rises above all else. A blaring Japandroids songs so simple yet so perfect, this is soon to become an anthem for all, years from now. Plus a cover of X's "Sex and Dying in High Society", the perfect companion piece for the song.

6. Cloud Nothings Leave You Forever EP (True Panther)-One of the few Cloud Nothing releases I didn't get around to covering this year, it was also one of Dylan Baldi's best as well. A predecessor for the band's new non lo-fi sound, the four tracks on this EP are just more blistering post power-pop tunes that are as great as everything else that Cloud Nothings has crafted so far. Nothing left to be said.

5. Internet Forever-"Break Bones" (Art Fag)-A mildly silly named British band also happened to release two the greatest twee infused pop singles of 2010 as well. I'm partial to this one just for how addictive "Break Bones" is as a snotty childhood song, though "3D" is not to be ignored. Very, very perfect.


4. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart "Say No To Love" (Slumberland) The Pains of Being Pure At Heart are a band who's music no surprise works wonders in the single format. Case in point this non album release that came in the middle of the year. Two more tracks of heartbreak cased in fuzzy guitar and a wonderful indie/noise pop package, to sit lovingly between your Shop Assistant and Ride albums.


3. Dead Gaze "Take Me Home, or I Die Alone"(Fire Talk)-What did you say? Dead Gaze released two more songs of his addictive, psych and distortion drenched indie rock songs, which might just be his two best songs yet? And Fire Talk decided to release it as a single? Excuse me, I have to get to a record store A.S.A.P.


2. The Babies "Meet Me In The City" (Make A Mess)-This is release has been loved by so many other people it's hard to say something new or original about it. For perspective, the moment this seven inch was placed on a record player and those jangling chords and yelping vocals started spewing out, The Babies' music was engraved in a lot of peoples brains for years to come.


1. Gauntlet Hair "I Was Thinking..." (Forest Family)-I had not expected this to be my favorite single of 2010, but in a way it makes perfect sense. There are few sensations greater than hearing the intro chords of "I Was Thinking..." come blaring out and start ricocheting all around you in a barrage of bombast. Then to flip the single over to hear the equally as great and more rocking "Our Scenery" just seals the deal.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart-Belong

On March 15, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart will be releasing their second album Belong, something I am insanly excited for. Already they have released a single signifying the stuble, but excellent shift in their style that will come their next ablum as well. Now another taste has emeraged, in this case the even more '90s esque title track. Prominetnly sounding more like a shoegaze band then their noise pop origins (yes, there is a difference), mostly do to the production by Flood, the guy behind every other album you loved in the '90s. The song itself is specacular, a junxtaposion of jangle to blistering noise and back, layered over even more harmonized vocals from front man Kip Berman comulating in even more egare anticipation for the album.



Links:

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's Website
Pre-order Belong here, from Slumberland Records

EP Review: Jack Hayter-Sucky Tart

In line with the other under the rader, depression filled, and subtly excellent release that Audio Anti-Hero has been releasing over the past year, here now is Sucky Tart, a quiet album filled with pain and loss from Jack Hayter, former guitarist of Hefner and his first release in years. Here are four tracks of swelling bar tales, the stories you hear from the old drunk at the bar after you've feed him his 3rd shot and he happens to have an arrange of instruments as well with him while he is reminiscing.

Everything about this album comes off as if it were written in some long forgotten world, or at least the mind of an old poet. The lead off song of song "I Stole The Cutty Sark" is the story of a boy who steals a ship to impress a girl, which as expected, goes horribly wrong. The whole song is wrapped up in near quiet chord progressions and sad, sad singing saws. Elsewhere are tales of crushed dreams and adultery, saying goodbye in both tears and anger brought to life by Jack Hayter. When the too short EP ends with "Jacquie I Won't Mind", the longing in Hayter's voice reaches near palatable levels. A folk record if a title is needed, but an honest and tear filled one, not an album filled with the gloss that covers so many of the albums these days. Sucky Tart, the release made for these cold rain and snow filled days.

(mp3) Jack Hayter-I Stole The Cutty Sark

Links:

Jack Hayter's Website
Pre-order Sucky Tart here, from Audio Antihero

Video: Echo Lake-Young Silence

I don't post all that many music vidoes on this site, half do to it being a song I've probably already covered earlier, and half do to it being more difficult to put into words what's cool about a video than a specific song. However, British dream pop band Echo Lake's new video for their wonderfully...dreamy song "Young Silence" thankfully helpped me break this rule. I mean the video is gorgous, and sort of lower quality (in a good way!) take on what Radiohead did on their "House of Cards" video. The track is wonderful as well, something like a more blurred School of Seven Bells, with a nice added helpping of Galaxie 500 for good measure. Echo Lake will be releasing their debut 12" EP on No Pain in Pop on Febubary 14. Get excited.

(mp3) Echo Lake-Young Silence

Links:

Echo Lake's Website
Pre-order the 12" EP here, from No Pain in Pop

The Dodos-Black Night

The Dodos are not a band that I have payed deep attention to, despite liking their 2008 album Visiter quite a lot. Despite that fact I decided for the heck of it to check out and their brand new track "Black Night" and was quite blown away by it. Jittery and reminisent of the song that got everyone loving The Dodos in the first place "Fools", it's a tense, spaztic tone that merges the pulsating drum beat with the high pitch acoustic guitar, blending all into a strange and addictive freak-folk song, almost as if a jam band had taken speed and compressed an entire album worth of music into one song. OK, I'm realizing that I'm not doing a good job at describing this song, but trust me when I say this is a very excellent song.

Links:

The Dodos website
Pre-order No Color here, from Frenchkiss

Bridgetown Records Latest Batch

I think I can declare Bridgetown Records to be my favorite record label out there right now. Simply pound for pound, since I discovered Bridgetown Records thanks to their Cloud Nothings release, there has never been a moment I was not interested in something they have released. Case in point their latest batch which is possibly my four most favorite releases so far, so much so that is would be a crime not to showcase it all.

School Knights-Rush S.K. EP

Here is the shinning example that no-fi music is not only alive and kicking, but producing some quality material as well. Two members from the Boulder, Colorado scene come together to produce something even more different than their previous music. About a thousand Wavves comparisons will probably pop up as a reference point, but that is a bit of a cheap shot. Instead see it for what it really is: Four uber blown out and wonderfully riff heavy indie garage tunes with lyrics about teenage child hood and all the (painful) memories that come with it. Look a up coming cassingle and 12" full length to come soon as well from this extremely talented duo.

(mp3) School Knights-Cliques

Trudgers-Bedrooms on Fire

Picking up (at least for me) where their live CD stopped, Bedrooms on Fire by Trudgers is six more tracks of dark and chilly synth music. More the doom and gloom of fellow contemporaries Puerto Rico Flowers than the beats of Cold Cave per se, Trudgers is as if a monk had decided to quit the monastery, moved to the seedy part of South Califorinia, and fell in with the goth crowd. Every part of the song, both lyrically and musically, is repeated over and over again so that what winds up rubbing off is the tone and boxed up emotion of the songs. It's raw and unnerving, but with a lot of this dark, emotional music, there is an inverted beauty to it as well.

(mp3) Trudgers-Crashing In Your Car

Jen Paul/No Lakes-1965 Ghosts+Cherry Sap

Ambient shoegaze? I think that is probably the best way to describe the work of Jen Paul/No Lakes (that's the full band name in case you were wondering). Collected here are two of Jen Paul/No Lakes previous releases, which spread over this CD-R, which strangely works as the perfect format for these 16 tracks, captures the sound of the artist. Dark night time feeling music, played with little else but a few swelling guitar notes, help invoke the very sensation that is captured by the cover art. This is music that get's set to sadness and loss, and that is meant in the very best way possible.

(mp3) Jen Paul/No Lakes-Bottled Ships

Whirl-Disstressor

It has been a while since a new release by a band I don't know has made the words "HOLY SHIT" flash like neon sign in my head, but fuck if that's not what happened when I put Whirl's Disstressor into my tape deck. After the atmospheric and moody intro "Preface", the tape snaps forward with a single sharp drum beat into the My Bloody Valentine worthy "Leave", with the most heavenly voice and blaring shoegaze riffs come pouring out of my speakers, layered perfectly on top of one another. Captured in a single cassette is seven of the best pure shoegaze tracks I have heard in a very long time. Each track is an explosion on top of another, bombastism on to itself, ending all too soon for sure just seven tracks later. The reason why Whirl rises above the sea of other current shoegaze bands is beyond me, other than the fact that their music is so perfect. This is a release that most be owned.

(mp3) Whirl-Leave

Links:

School Knights on Myspace

Trudgers on Myspace

Jen Paul/No Lakes on Myspace

Whirl on Myspace

Buy it all here, at Bridgetown Records