Black Marble is Ty Kube and Chris Stewart, who produce somewhat minimalist synth music. With a synth drum beat, a synth melody, and deep, dark vocals, “Pretender” is a song that is one part Joy Division, one part Craft Spells, and one part its own thing.

The song can be found on the band’s new EP via Hardly Art. It’s called Weight Against The Door and it’s out digitally now and on vinyl Valentine’s Day.

Download: “Pretender” by Black Marble.

Brooklyn based Lightouts are Greg Nelson and Gavin Rhodes. The duo creates thick and fully developed rock music pulsing with electric guitar solos and clean, rolling harmonies. Progressive and balanced, the band’s sound is reminiscent of 90’s alt rock and 70’s glam rock dance halls; their music just makes you feel good. These guys have a true gift for musicianship, structure, and layering; they know what they’re doing and they do it well. Frivolous, motivated, tightly focused and refreshingly energetic, Lightouts are a welcomed cure for winter blues.

Check out their collection of singles via their website

Lightouts by Lightouts

Conversion Party boasts a sound that draws influence from classic indie rock, with squealing post rock guitars backed by clever riffs and fronted by emotive vocals and cunning lyrics. Favors is the band’s new EP, out this past week on Open Kimono. “False Teeth” opens the 4-song EP with those emotive vocals, then we get dosed with multiple vocalists in the anthemic “In The Mountains”. Though these songs are a bit different in style, both are massively good.

The second half of the EP continues in form with “Birds of Paradise Lost”, which sounds straight out of the late 90s. Here a single vocalist takes over, and it’s a different one from the opening track. “Let Us All” closes the EP on a slightly slower note, and this time the band treats us to a lengthy intro with swirling, dreamy rock guitars bordering on shoegaze. It’s not until well after the midpoint that we hear vocals and they’re more an accent part, drowned out by the guitars and drums.

It’s refreshing to hear a band creating four distinctively unique sounds on an EP with as many tracks. Yet these songs all work very well together – despite changing vocalists, the backing instrumentation remains cohesive and consistent. Favors is a mere glimpse into a band four years in the making. Conversion Party has honed their sound, packed with beautiful noise, and it’s adept with intelligence, albeit beer-fueled and a bit feral. There’s pure genius here.

Download: “False Teeth” by Conversion Party

Open Kimono [CDEP, 2011]

1. False Teeth
2. In The Mountains
3. Birds Of Paradise Lost
4. Let Us All

Ryan Trott released my favorite 7″ Single of 2010. It wasn’t under the name given him by his parents; instead it was Family Trees’ Dream Talkin’. Trott is back and this time he’s going solo with an eight-song EP dubbed Spirit Home. If you loved the beachy pop Family Trees gave us, and the experimental garage pop of band-mate Son Of Rams, you’ll dig Trott’s solo stuff. Spirit Home is a bit more in the vein of Family Trees, packed with plenty of great lo-fi pop.

Trott himself describes the music as “simple pop songs with honest, playful lyrics, layered with multiple tracks of guitars, percussion and vocals.” This bodes well for Spirit Home, which hints of Woods but with even more sand between the toes. But Trott strays into Son Of Rams’ territory, adding a powerful distorted guitar in “Gentle Girl” amidst the dreamy lo-fi beach melodies. His vocals, laid back and borderline sleepy, and cool and nonchalant. “Vacation Song” picks up the pace, but it remains as calm as a sunny beach on a warm day. This continues on “Tie Dye”, one of Spirit Home‘s many standout tracks.

With Spirit Home, Ryan Trott continues mastering his ability to produce superb beach pop tunes. His music is full of raw, gritty guitars, of dreamy summer vocals, all of it delightfully playful and summery. This is the perfect album for us to bide our time as we await Family Trees’ debut LP, rumored due sometime in the near future. Hopefully that means sometime this year.

Download: “Spirit Home” by Ryan Trott

Download: “Gentle Girl” by Ryan Trott

[Digital EP, 2011]

1. Gentle Eyes (For Daisy)
2. Some Days
3. Gentle Girl
4. Vacation Song
5. Wild And Free
6. Tie Dye
7. Paradise Eyes
8. Spirit Home

“Chandeliers” is a light but moody pop song, crafted beautifully by Summer Fiction. Summer Fiction crafts orchestral pop movements with dreamy vocals blending the pop styling of South America and Europe.

The video for “Chandeliers” has an old-timey feel to it, yet it also feels modern and current. That style comes across, too, in the music they create. “Chandeliers” on film conveys loneliness more than any other music video I’ve ever seen, and they do it in a very clever way.

Summer Fiction have made Chandeliers available for free download from their Bandcamp page. You can also purchase their full-length debut LP digitally from the Bandcamp.

Download: “Chandeliers” by Summer Fiction

The Twees, whose name sparks memories of Sarah Records and a bad ass song by Tullycraft, are back with a new EP called These Girls. With this new offering The Twees are sounding, well, less twee. This is probably a good thing as they tend to be described as post-punk and their home is Brooklyn (not that the latter means anything in terms of being twee or not being twee).

“On The Spot” is the song that grabs me first from These Girls, so there is no surprise it was the track selected for a music video. It’s a pretty standard video, but the one thing I hone in on is that these guys appear pretty young (or maybe I’m just getting old). Yet their sound is mature, deep, and filled with a playful darkness perfect for their post-punk sensibilities.

These Girls drops on Wednesday (Jan 12), so keep an eye out for it. Check out the video of “On The Spot” below and grab the mp3 while you’re at it!

Download: “On The Spot” by The Twees

This video, “Hotel” by Happy New Year, gives the listener/viewer a first-hand experience of what I would assume it feels like to be drunk and tripping at the same time. Nothing is clear; the world is a dizzying, strange place filled with odd, strange people. Colors, too, are at one moment vivid and the next a blur. Things overlap. Happy New Year’s song is a dance-worthy nightmare, filled with pleasant beats and eerie sounds. The vocals of Eleanor Logan, too, are highly uncanny. In fact, this all fits the video: it shows a girl getting high on wild fruit and her ensuing peyote-esque trip.

Happy New Year’s “Hotel” was directed by Rob Heppell. The song can be found on the band’s Twins/Hotel 7″ single on Crikey! Records.

HAPPY NEW YEAR- HOTEL from rob heppell on Vimeo.

Callers met in New Orleans before ultimately relocating to Brooklyn. This isn’t necessarily important in their creation of music, merely a statement of historical fact. Well, that’s not entirely true. When I think of New Orleans, I think of a place somehow lost post Katrina and struggling to renew their culture. But it’s different; things are different. So culture has changed. Of course, this is all in my head as I have not been to New Orleans. But in a way, I hear that side of New Orleans (at least the version that resides in my head) in Callers. The band’s sound is difficult to describe, highly unique, and a bit odd. It’s like that music in Twin Peaks — a bit other-worldly and a smidgen awkward. Likewise, their video for the song follows suit. And that’s what makes it damn good.

“How To Hold Your Arms” is available on Live Of Love, Callers new album out now on Western Vinyl.

Download: “How To Hold Your Arms” by Callers

One of my favorite singles of the year is Dream Talkin’ by Family Trees. With an old-time, lo-fi pop sound and great melodies and lyrics alike, Family Trees is also among my favorite new artists of the year. Now to round out the list of three — they’ve put out a great video for their song “No One Will Ever Know”. Like the music, the video is simple, lo-fi, and hints at a different time… oh, somewhere in the late 60s to early 70s. It’s a great introduction to director Amanda Finn‘s work; hopefully something we’ll see a bit more of in the near future.

FAMILY TREES no one will ever know from amanda finn on Vimeo.

After watching “The Mirror” by Kordan, you’ll probably be thinking precisely the same thing I am — not enough videos feature the layers found within this one. And if they did, they probably wouldn’t be as effective as they are here. Kordan is a Brooklyn-based dream pop trio with moody synth lines and numbing, dark vocals. Like their music, this video is entrancing, filled with enchanting drones and a mysterious personality.

“The Mirror” is off the band’s new LP, The Longing, out next month on Last Bummer Records.

Download: “Mirror” by Kordan

There’s something special brewing in Brooklyn and it largely surrounds one Joe Pruitt, whose band Family Trees gave us the single Dream Talkin’ a short while ago. Well, Joe just dropped me a note about his other band, Son Of Rams, and once again I’m smitten. Son Of Rams veers in a slightly different direction, namely Pruitt and company give it a psychedelic edge, although it is undoubtedly upbeat pop. “Triple Eyed” is a new song filled with vocal hooks and catchy fuzz-filled riffs and a wild, psychedelic guitar solo. It’s a bit of a change from Family Trees, but boy does it still have that lovable summer pop sound.

Not much can be found on Son Of Rams, as a MySpace they once had has disappeared. Their website is minimal, containing only songs. And the photo from above is actually from the Family Trees website; I found it fitting as it, too, is mysterious, showing only legs. But there’s a lot of intrigue here, as everything I’ve heard from Son Of Rams is pretty damn solid. “Triple Eyed”, though, is a strong favorite. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think…

Download: “Triple Eyed” by Son of Rams

Family Trees is a Brooklyn-based trio made up of Ryan Trott (guitar and vocals), Amanda Finn (drums), and Joe Pruitt (bass) and they create Woodsist-like light, beachy acoustic pop music with barely discernible hints of garage and lo-fi electronics. Catchy and hypnotic, “Dream Talkin’” is the perfect summer tune, fit to stretch out on the porch on a hot, clear, starry night. Those nights when the nightlife croaks softly in the background, or laps gently on the coast in the distance. It’s a song you listen to with your best friend, look them in the eye, and nod, knowing there’s little else that would make that moment any better.

The Dream Talkin’ single consists of three songs, the title track and two b-sides, “Baby Come Back” and “No One Will Ever Know”. Their sound can be likened to the beach-pop traits of Air Waves blended with the subtle acoustic, melodic nature of bands like Real Estate. Of course, not to mention their greatest influence, The Beach Boys. “Baby Come Back” has a prominent 60s pop guitar, harmony vocals, and a minimal bass-line and drum beat. “No One Will Ever Know”, likewise, features simple but powerful lyrics backed by expert acoustic pop melodies. A few listens to Family Trees and you may very well decide you have a new favorite summer pop band.

Download: “Dream Talkin’” by Family Trees

Father Daughter Records [7" Single, 2010]

1. Dream Talkin’
2. Baby Come Back
3. No One Will Ever Know

Few bands can call the small state of Rhode Island home. In fact, I’d be surprised if, over the four years FensePost has been in existence, we’ve covered more than a small handful of artists from the state. Fang Island, then, could very well be the first. Of course, the band originated there, but have since relocated to a place a bit more familiar — Brooklyn. The music they create is indicative of the burb, or what some West Coaster like myself envisions of the place. It’s centered around good ol’ fashioned fun, and the people that have it.

“Daisy” finds the band chanting amidst heavy rock guitar riffs and instrumental plays on volume. The video features guys and gals in what appears to be a high school gym dancing, some in running outfits with painted faces and others in suits dressed like presidents. The video is filmed in one take by one of the performers (Ronald Reagan?) so the camera is a bit shaky, but boy is it a fun one to watch.

The song is off their recent self-titled LP, out now on Sargent House.

Download: “Daisy” by Fang Island

Picking up their Home(here) EP, one gets the impression that Big Tree is somewhat of an organic band. The smooth screen-printed cardboard cover is minimal but effective, and the music contained within follows suit. Placed somewhere between folk and jazz and blues, Big Tree is a mesh of many genres. “The Concurrence Of All Things” is the EP’s opening track and it hits the band’s highlight traits.

Opening with an angular, pointed vocal part in a consistently varying time signature, the song is infinitely complex beyond what may appear a simple and straightforward tune. It is anything but. The song builds as it continues, adding multiple backup vocalists and slipping in a hefty guitar drone while they’re at it. By the end of “The Concurrence Of All Things”, one is hit, too, with various forms of pop, from experimental to orchestral.

Big Tree is a difficult one to classify, but an easy one to enjoy. Home(here) EP comes out June 1. The band is currently getting ready to “kick” off a tour, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign to purchase a vegetable oil van.

Download: “The Concurrence Of All Things” by Big Tree

I recently posted a list of ten bands that I should have checked out last year and there was an overall theme to the ten: several were from the Woodsist label. Beach Fossils has the sound of that label, and it’s no surprise; the band released a 7″ via Woodsist late last year. Their sound is packed with the fuzzy folk-pop jangle of bands like Woods and Real Estate and Fresh & Onlys. “Youth” is the band’s next single and it’s off their forthcoming self-titled release on Captured Tracks, out any day now. It’s a laid-back summer indie-pop jam, filled with jangly guitars and chilled-out percussion.

I’m not sure about you, but music like this makes me want to sit outside in the shade and drink a cold, dark beer while watching the trees sway in the light breeze and soft clouds slowly pass by, occasionally blocking the heat of the sun. And, of course, do it all while cranking up songs just like “Youth” and “Vacation” and “Daydream”. Beach Fossils is the latest of many groups to utilize this sound, not necessarily soft but also not fast. It’s a mix that bodes well for the coming summer months.

Beach Fossils will be released via cassette, CD, and vinyl.

Download: “Youth” by Beach Fossils

Download: “Daydream” by Beach Fossils

I found this Small Black video in the trove of videos on the Jagjaguar, Secretly Canadian, Dead Oceans collective Vimeo page. Small Black creates fuzzy lo-fi electronic pop in the vein of romance and various other pleasantries, and “Despicable Dogs” fits the description well. I love the dreamy nature the song takes throughout its four minute melody and cacophony. There’s beauty in dissonant harmony, and Small Black knows how to exploit this fact. The video appears to be a tribute to aging surfers stuck in the late 70s and early 80s with awesome Hulk Hogan mustaches and blond mops of hair.

There’s something very special and nostalgic about the video that brings forth an easy smile. An image title for the above photo leads one to deduce the guy is “Uncle Matt” and he seems like someone you’d want to get to know. What does it for me is the youthful guy from the band who pops up here and there. It makes me think of my dad and how as I grew older I realized that he’s a pretty cool guy rather than just the stodgy parent I always saw him as during my childhood.

In a way, it’s a video about coming of age and enjoying life for what it is. On the flip-side, there’s a hint of mid-life crisis going on, but more in the sense that the crisis has resided and joy has been achieved. However you look at it, it’s totally excellent.

“Despicable Dogs” is off Small Black’s 12″ EP, out now on Jagjaguwar.

Download: “Despicable Dogs” by Small Black

“Despicable Dogs” by Small Black from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

Clash art punk with the resurgence of a somewhat Grrrl Rock sound and you’ll begin to get the picture Golden Triangle paints. Double Jointer is the band’s debut full length, following a self-titled EP from last year. Golden Triangle’s sound is based around noise. Everything is loud, in your face, and over the top. Exotic and slightly erotic, “Blood And Arrow” and “Eyes To See” bring forth a bit of crazy. That crazy is a common theme throughout Double Jointer, and it’s just as present (if not more so) than it was on their debut.

The consistent use of tambourine to accompany the percussion and the overpowering dual and triage of female vocal shouts work together miraculously. Add to that the echoing reverb of jangly punk guitar riffs cranked up to infinity and Golden Triangle has developed a sound that is truly all-encompassing. Despite epic volume, this six-some produces music that is catchy and fun and ear-piercingly good. It isn’t hard to fall in love with “Cinco de Mayo”, “Rollercoaster”, and “The Melting Wall”, and the same can be said for practically everything off Double Jointer.

Erotic things are wanton fodder for those with weak-willed when it comes to lust and obsession, and Golden Triangle uses this to their advantage in Double Jointer. These sounds will get inside your head, your loins, and give you an itch you can’t scratch — one that feels oh-so-good. Prepare to fall for this band, and prepare to fall hard.

Golden Triangle: Jinx [mp3]

Golden Triangle: Neon Noose [mp3]

Hardly Art [CD, 2010]

1. Cinco de Mayo
2. Blood And Arrow
3. Neon Noose
4. I Want To Know
5. Jellyroll
6. Death To Fame
7. Rollercoaster
8. Eyes To See
9. The Melting Wall
10. Jinx
11. Arson Wells

World Atlas is slated to give us their self-titled EP early next month on Magic Marker Records. The band is joined by Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good To Me) on guitar and The Umbrella Girls on hand-claps, tambourines and back-up vocals. Fronted ultimately by Brian Groux on vocals and guitar, World Atlas is what you’d expect from a band on Magic Marker — they dig The Smiths and Velvet Underground, and list as influences the various indie-pop and twee sub-cultures.

“The Winter Stories” is the first track to be cleared off the EP and its sounds are piano-heavy with a shuffle in the percussion and a Glasgow-ish vocal pop sound. Thick with instrumentation, from harmonica to strings, “The Winter Stories” is the perfect late winter song. The sun is out and the sky is clear, but the frost has yet to melt away and the air has a harsh bite to it. It’s the perfect fireplace song, cozy and swaddled in a comfortable blanket. You could have this song on repeat all day. World Atlas couldn’t come at a better time.

World Atlas: The Winter Stories [mp3]

Brenda Malvini has this classic, smokey side that make her vocals mystic and mysterious; not entirely unlike those of Jeremy Faulkner, whose similarly unique styling made Ah Holly Fam’ly one of last year’s best releases. North Highlands hail from Brooklyn, rather than a progressive rural Idaho town bordering Washington. Yet listening to songs off their debut EP, Sugar Lips, one gets the impression that their sound wouldn’t be out of place amidst wheat fields and century-old farmhouses.

Malvini’s masterful vocal styling is joined by expert instrumentation. Mike Barron provides hints of jangle amidst eclectic folk-pop guitar, and Jasper Berg’s intense percussion further draws on the emotion Brenda and Mike pump into the vocals and guitar. Rounding out the band are Andy Kasperbauer on bass and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Stewart, who assists the band in creating a unique sound by adding mandolin and violin accompaniment.

“Collar Bones” has a laid-back feel that capitalizes on Malvini’s songwriting abilities. Title track “Sugar Lips” stands out with hints of an oriental instrumental influence that dominates the verse, giving the song an entirely unique sound for folk-pop. North Highlands shows insurmountable promise; with a debut EP as strong as Sugar Lips, I know I’m not the only one clambering at their door to hear more.

Above Photo by Lena Hawkins.

North Highlands: Sugar Lips [mp3]

North Highlands: Collar Bones [mp3]

If Kate Bush and Robert Smith had 5 children together with the intention of creating one of the most uniquely talented batch of kids for the new millennium, Anthem In would be those products of success. Much like their predecessors, this is a band that can make you cry as you dance the night away. And The Cloudbusting EP (derived from Kate’s 1985 single of the same title) rains down genius and prosperity over the unwilling to adapt.

Each of the 5 tracks Anthem In throw your way are potential singles. “History” is a middle cut that should go just as noticed as the cover track “Cloudbusting”. Each song is sure to please; there is no question of that. And when Ashley Proffitt’s Wurlitzer starts to kick in, the dreams of these 80′s-inspired troubadours become clear and can inspire you to feel things you never thought possible.

Prepare yourself for 25 minutes of ecstasy. Yes, they’re that damn good. The Cloudbusting EP is nothing short of a healthy portion of unfiltered indie pop goodness. Anthem In’s greatest talent lies within their ability to transcend the past yet be just as nostalgic of a greater period in history at the same time. But, in the end, it can be clearly noted that this is a group with abundant talent. And that can never been a bad thing.

Anthem In: Cloudbusting [mp3]

Quiet/Loud Records [CDEP, 2009]

1. Cloudbusting
2. Universal
3. History
4. The Boy Is On My Side
5. Leanings