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Small Black: Despicable Dogs [Video]

small-black

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. Read More »Small Black: Despicable Dogs [Video]

Home Compilation Vol. 1 [Album Review]

home

Sharing is caring. Home is where the heart is. These are two very cliché sayings we have been hearing our entire lives. But in the realm of independent music, they have taken on whole new purposes. The fine folks at Rash Records greatly understand this new purpose. So many artists are spreading their beautiful words almost entirely from home and sending it out on the super information highway for the entire world to hear. The days of peddling cassette tapes at your local harbor or public park and depending on direct word of mouth are over. Rash’s compilation, Home, is a wonderful collection of living quarters-based folk and acoustic-based artists wishing to share with you a fresh cup of coffee in the figurative living room recording studio.

Read More »Home Compilation Vol. 1 [Album Review]

Salmon Thrasher CD Discharge Party

Salmon Thrasher

It’s finally here — the Salmon Thrasher debut CD release party. Although they’re calling it a “discharge” party, which conjures all sorts of unpleasant images. But then again, they are a band named Salmon Thrasher, so what can you expect?. The debut album is called What Gives and you can pick it up over at their bankcamp page. The “Discharge Party” kicks off at 9pm this Saturday (April 17) at Blue Moon Tavern. The band will play with My Goodness and Police Teeth. Read More »Salmon Thrasher CD Discharge Party

Nurses: Winter [Video]

nurses

On Friday, Skagit County saw it’s first true day of winter for the ’09/’10 season, which is a bit strange as it’s now April. It hailed in between bursts of clear, sunny skies. It was also the first day of the summer barbecue at Red Apple; and it was the day I saw “Winter” by Nurses over at Sound On The Sound. Nurses should have been included in my list of 10 bands I should have checked out last year. They made several end-of-year lists, including #3 on SOTS. “Winter” aptly demonstrates what led this band to place so high. Musically it’s excellent, and the video is occasionally reminiscent of something you’d expect to see from Sweden’s The Knife. Read More »Nurses: Winter [Video]

The School: Let It Slip [Video]

The School Band

The School is the latest band to debut on the beloved Minty Fresh label, and it’s easy to hear what attracted them to this band. Their style of pop is extremely uplifting, with tempestuously quick beats and the luscious beauty of 60s girl pop with back-up singers and instrumentation that’s as pleasant as a cool breeze in summer. The School takes the harmony vocals of The Pipettes and smooths out the rough edges, combining it with the melodic instrumentation of masters like Belle And Sebastian. “Let It Slip” is the title track off the band’s debut EP and the first single off their forthcoming LP Loveless Unbeliever. Their video for “Let It Slip” is a testament to the band’s dreamy pop. Read More »The School: Let It Slip [Video]

Campfires [Feature]

campfires band

Campfires creates what I would dub as melodic noise pop. Harmony is created through peaceful chords and the chaotic, fuzzy percussion is organized nicely with synchronous guitar strums. Campfires will warm your soul on a mildly chilly evening. The woody smell of smoke permeates these songs, wafting circular with the wind and occasionally burning the eyes. The instrumental “Pancake City” blends almost too perfectly into “Burning Rivers, TV Flickers, Drifting Off to Bed”, the title track from the band’s cassette on Leftist Nautical Antiques. It’s not what you’d expect from a so-called jam session, but the seemingly erratic nature of Campfires’ music fits the description. And their moniker fits their music; a controlled mayhem, an audible version of the dancing flames that are so hypnotic and mesmerizing. Read More »Campfires [Feature]

The Morning Benders [Feature]

The Morning Benders

It seems like everyone’s raving about The Morning Benders this year, and after picking up a few copies of their single Promises, I’m joining the crowd. While “Promises” isn’t my favorite, it does warrant a hefty portion of merit thanks to unbearably catchy guitar riffs and vocal hooks. It’s an easy track to love, packed with plenty of pop and a fair share of originality to boot. My true favorite, though, is “Excuses”. Read More »The Morning Benders [Feature]

No Kids' Nicholas Krgovich

No Kids: Judy At The Grove EP [Album Review]

If you’ve been following the doings of Vancouver, BC’s Nicholas Krgovich, you know he’s been a busy fellow. Maintenant by Gigi has garnered substantial hype this year and the band’s debut LP certainly warrants the attention. Krgovich is back under the guise of No Kids, whose last release joined together sounds not typically associated with pop music. Despite recording a 60s do-wop pop record under Gigi and performing under the P:ano moniker since the band’s last release, Come Into My House, No Kids picks up pretty much where they left off in 2008. Judy At The Grove has a similar cool pop meets funky R&B.

Read More »No Kids: Judy At The Grove EP [Album Review]

Elk City: Jerks On Ice [mp3]

Elk City

I recall enjoying Elk City‘s last release, but boy do I dig “Jerks On Ice”, the band’s new single off the upcoming House Of Tongues. Again the band combines traits common to folk, pop and even jazz for a sound unique with a hint of contemporary and a fair share of originality. “Jerks On Ice” is a laid-back pop song with a light bounce and an awesome electric guitar solo during the bridge. The lyrics are simple but memorable and filled with plenty of rhyme and hook, and an added warble treatment to Renée LoBue’s smooth vocals during the chorus enhances the tune in ways unimaginable. Yeah, I may have enjoyed New Believers, but for me “Jerks On Ice” tops everything on that previous release to the point of being absolutely stunning. Read More »Elk City: Jerks On Ice [mp3]

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