Somewhere under a mountain of music, somewhere behind boxes of stuff from the living room, tucked away on my CD shelf in the back corner of my music room — my personal “man cave” — is a TacocaT album. It’s been a while since I listened to it. So I have no basis of comparison as I discuss the band’s new track “Spring Break-Up” off their EP Take Me To Your Dealer.
It’s fun, it’s poppy, it’s punky, it’s loud. It’s damn catchy, a lady fronts it, it’s reminiscent …

“Nightmare” mixes post-punk and fuzz for a highly infectious coldwave sound. It’s a bit odd, coming from Seattle. The fuzz seeps into everything, the harmony vocals, the percussion, all stemming from the guitar. Grave Babies maintain the nonchalant-ness of their chosen genre, yet there’s something oddly upbeat and positive about “Nightmare”.

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.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Gem Club has now released their debut LP, Breakers. On it is the song “Twins” and the band has given it video treatment. Featuring Eva Perrotta and Michael Pope, this music video is just as haunting as the minimalist music Gem Club creates.

I am a huge Carissa’s Wierd fan. If you are too, you know exactly what I’m talking about — the die-hard fan gets a little extra out of the music, hears a little bit more, and has a deeper, seemingly one-on-one experience with it. New music, for a band that parted ways several years past, is enough to bring tears to your eyes. “Tucson” b/w “Meredith & Iris” is such material and Hardly Art has made the latter from the single available for stream.

Hardly Art is carving a unique niche in the bands they choose to release. While each band has its own distinctive style, three primary types exist. A garage-y pop and punk sound, a folk one, and one most commonly likened to the bedroom. Gem Club fits the last, with beautiful, mystical piano pop. They are the latest to sign to Hardly Art.

Get ready to dub Hardly Art label of the year. They’ve already given us plenty to enjoy, and the second half of 2011 promises to be just as stunning. Take their latest signing as an example. The band is Shimmering Stars, originally out of Vancouver B.C.
Filled with a dark, thick reverb and super catchy dream pop, Shimmering Stars’ first single “I’m Gonna Try” hints of the pop music of the early 60s, thrust forward to clash with the lo-fi pop of today. The song …

The name Grant Olsen may not ring a bell, but mention Arthur of Arthur & Yu, and that may turn on a light or two. If you’re like me, you’ve been wondering where that band went – after all, they were the honored first release from Hardly Art. The answer is I don’t know. But the good news is that we now have Gold Leaves, which is Olsen’s (aka Arthur’s) new project.

Seapony is fronted by Jen Weidl on vocals with songs written by guitarist Danny Rowland and rhythm split between bassist Ian Brewer and an Alesis HR-16 vintage synth for the drum beat. Together, they have created Go With Me, featuring highly lovable songs, most under three minutes.

Hunx And His Punx clashes the 50s style girl group doo-wop pop with punk rock in the first song off their recent LP, Too Young To Be In Love. “Lovers Lane” is definitely influenced by classic teenage tragedy songs like Jan And Dean’s “Dead Man’s Curve” and Wayne Cochran’s “Last Kiss” and even The Shangri-Las “Leader Of The Pack”.