“Meet And Greet”, off Slaraffenland’s upcoming debut LP We’re On Your Side, follows precisely the direction in which they embarked on last year’s EP Sunshine with tracks like “I’m A Machine” and “The Trick”. Slaraffenland continues to shovel out intricately orchestrated experimental pop melodies. “Meet And Greet” proves this band’s signature is quickly becoming hand claps and stomps featured at unique intervals and horn heavy instrumentation, fronted by ornate multi-part vocals that converge and spread into complex harmonies instantaneously.

Garage pop is gaining momentum, so it’s natural that we’re seeing lots of great bands that fit the description. But while most of these bands are injecting a massive quantity of fuzz into their guitars and vocals as well as whatever other instruments they can get their hands on, Darlings keep the gritty garage sounds refreshingly clean on Yeah I Know. Thus the production features stripped-down instrumentation that’s raw; it’s also filled with a pop bounce and enough hooks to get you caught up in its simplicity.

I want to say that, at some time in the past three to five months, I picked up Joker’s Daughter’s 7″ single for their song “Worm’s Head” as the cover art looks mighty familiar. Thanks to my recent move away from Seattle and into a small-ish country town between the capital of grunge and Vancouver, BC, and my subsequent attempt to get the house I purchased in order, I cannot quite recall. One thing is for sure: the lovely female-fronted folk that pours out in their video for “Lucid” …

Add Japancakes to the list of instrumental bands trying their hand, and successfully at that, at incorporating vocals into their music during the month of July. Yes, Japancakes join The Octopus Project as such, featuring Orenda Fink on vocals in their epic track “Behind The Mountains”. The video features seven women fronted by Orenda Fink herself, all decorated in sparkles and colors. The effect, backed by Japancakes signature southern-sounding shoegaze, is actually a bit eerie. But boy is it good!

Of the seemingly countless Swedish artists/groups I follow, rarely does one surface that sings in the native tongue. They instead tend to favor English. [ingenting] is one of the rarities and their new track “Halleluja” is packed with beautiful pop melodies and a title even the English-only speaking individuals on this side of the Western world can understand. Whether you can comprehend the rest of the words, however, is of little significance — the melodies are enough to carry the listener away, and there are more than enough …

Your typical singer that possesses the airy whispery vocal styling tends to take a back seat to the instrumentation that accompanies it, but that is not the case with modern shoegazers Zaza. These mystical, dreamy vocals hold just as much weight as the swirl of sound that gives Zaza’s music the shoegaze name. Their upcoming EP Cameo, out next month on Kanine Records, features six tracks of exalting audible pleasure.

OK, so I don’t really like to post about the same band in such a short period of time — last week I wrote a track review on The Octopus Project’s “Wet Gold” — but this video is too good to pass up. “Wet Gold” on screen is courtesy Zellner Bros. and it features green monsters (similar to those that appear live on stage with the band), colorful shell crabs and beautiful crashing waves.

Your typical indie pop band features infectious vocal melodies and upbeat instrumentation, the combination of which is undeniably catchy hooks. “Working Title” by The Good Graces fits these pop sensibilities to a ‘T’ but the vocal styling gives the song a unique twist. It’s all in the pronunciation of the words; it gives “Working Title” a country-ish feel that easily sets them apart from both modern and classic indie pop artists.

Everyone knows that a soul is a terrible thing to waste (metaphorically speaking of course). But, the waste of “having soul” can be far worse in many cases. Thankfully the Brisbane native David Peachy knows his calling. And his third full length album Imaginary People seems to bare all the threads necessary for this multi-talented folk mastermind to weave together a genuinely wonderful collection of rock oriented folk tales that bring his inner spirit out in a very soulful way.

Joyful Noise is set to release yet another great album this year, this time by fellow Indiana band Marmoset. Contrary to what you’d expect from a label titled Joyful Noise, the collective of artists rarely warrants the “noise” label. And Marmoset follows suit; their music instead clashes modern garage rock sensibilities with the hazy garage rock of the 60s and 70s.