As one of the few individuals to own a copy of Ugly But Honest, You Should Be At Home Here and Songs About Leaving by Carissa’s Wierd (sic), let alone ALL THREE, including their super-duper rare tour album, Scrap Book, it’s only with a hint of sadness that I relay to you the news that Hardly Art will reissue all three of the band’s proper albums. But the probable decline in value of rarities is far below the excitement I have for all the world who has yet to …

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 …

Noisy post-punk garage with pop-worthy hooks: if you were lucky enough to snag a wax copy of Golden Triangle‘s self-titled EP on Mexican Summer, that’s what you got. That and one of the coolest pieces of vinyl out there with a cream meets gold display of plastic artistry. Golden Triangle is back and this time they’re giving us an LP on Hardly Art. “Neon Noose” is the first track to surface from the new album and it picks up precisely where Golden Triangle left off.

In their somewhat self-titled debut, She’s The Dutchess, He’s The Duke, The Dutchess And The Duke popularized their lo-fi psychedelic folk with epic tracks like “Reservoir Park” and “I Am Just A Ghost”. With romantically-tinged dual male/female vocals, the duo of Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison reverted to a sound that hinted at another time, one strife with protest and objection to the powers that were, at the time, seen as opposed to the greater good. In that, The Dutchess And The Duke were debuting at a very similar …

Upon first hearing “Beach Town”, the first officially available track off Le Loup‘s sophomore release Family, I noted how it was surprisingly reminiscent of recent Papercuts. I failed to mention that the two artists shared a stage at CMJ 2007, where I saw each lay down a phenomenal set. Well, listening to Family in its entirety, I’m struck by two thoughts.

Gritty in their psychedelic-tinted folk-pop, The Dutchess And The Duke maintain much of their lo-fi folk sensibilities on “Hands” while simultaneously progressing in their mastery of song and style. Always a group backed by the sounds of old, they are undoubtedly modern; entirely hip, in “Hands” The Dutchess And The Duke once again fill their vocals with a modern soul. That being said, this song isn’t nearly as rough or choppy as those off their debut, She’s The Dutchess And He’s The Duke, even when production forces it.

It’s been two long years since any news has come forth from the Baltimore collective Le Loup, fronted by the once tormented Sam Simkoff. Two years is a very long time — enough time for maturity to progress, lifestyles to change, personalities to evolve. And that’s what we’re given with the first single off Le Loup’s upcoming sophomore LP, Family; a sound that holds the vibrant avant-garde nature of Le Loup’s debut, but metamorphosed into something that would ultimately make Darwin proud.

With such a long album name, one would think elements of an experimental nature would likely be found within; and about Le Loup‘s The Throne Of The Third Heaven Of The Nations’ Millennium General Assembly one would be correct in that assumption. Actually, The Throne is a concept album largely inspired by Dante’s Inferno. “Canto I” and “Canto XXXVI” take their names from the first and last chapters of the book. The album marks the second release for Hardly Art.

As of today, Hardly Art now has seven records under their belt thanks to the release of Lessons In The Woods Or A City by Talbot Tagora. These seven hold some pretty blatant differences. Each release drastically contrasts from the last, the last two, and so on back to HAR-001 (In Camera by Arthur & Yu). Despite variations across the board, one thing remains consistent: greatness.

The Dutchess is Kimberly Morrison and the Duke is Jesse Lortz. The two have been playing together for years, but it wasn’t until they struck out on their own in The Dutchess And The Duke that their creative music abilities came full circle. She’s The Dutchess And He’s The Duke is an album mixing lo-fi folk elements (but not too much so) with 70s folk melodies.