Mysterious, ethereal and eerie, Keep Shelly In Athens create an all-encompassing sound in the whispery tune “Running Out Of You”. Filled with enormous dreamy synths, the song is dream pop for nearly two thirds of its four and a half minutes. The final third adds a heavier beat, turntable scratching, and an 80s hip hop sample in which a guy says Break It Down. Read More »Keep Shelly In Athens: Running Out Of You MP3
Rock music should be fun, so why is so much of it not? Bad Sports know this and they’re out to teach bad bands a lesson. “Teenage Girls” rubs it in those bands’ faces a bit, and Bad Sports know this. It may, in fact, be a reason they selected this particular moniker. Their style of pop-influenced garage-based punk is most welcome. Read More »Bad Sports: Teenage Girls (MP3)
Letters return to that sound I loved so much from their earliest release on their latest album, All The Adventures… Read More »Letters: All The Adventures To See Them I Will (Album Review)
The Glasses‘ Story Problems was a favorite of mine from a few years back, so it’s with great anticipation and excitement we receive Love Is Queer. Their latest LP is filled with just as many lovable pop hooks as the last album, both vocal and instrumental. This is twee-ish indie pop at its greatest; plenty of jangle-guitar, packed with male/female vocals, and filled with lyrics that simply make you happy. Read More »The Glasses (Feature)
Gardens & Villa has a new video for “Black Hills” off their recently released self-titled LP and, in a way, it reminds me a bit of E.T. You have the young kid on a bike with a foreign object in the basket. He’s being chased by the enemy, which in this case is a few crazy blokes in a pick-up truck. But unlike the Spielberg flick, this one is much more artsy. Typical, of course, for a music video; the concept is anything but and definitely worth a view or two. Read More »Gardens & Villa: Black Hills (Video)
Night Falls Over Kortedala was one of my favorite releases of 2007, topped only by Fishboy’s release that year. It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since that album, and that it’s taken so long for Lekman to follow it with new material. Wait no longer; Lekman is back with a new EP dubbed An Argument With Myself and we have been given the title track to enjoy as a little taste of what’s to come. Read More »Jens Lekman: An Argument With Myself (MP3)
Just the other week we wrote about Girls’ new song, “Vomit”, off their forthcoming third release Father, Son, Holy Ghost. They have now presented us a video for the tune, which after countless listens I shall now dub their most accomplished song to date. The video begins with seductive footage ’60s cherry red Mustang convertible then changes pace to a drive through the city. Interesting angles and bright colors amidst a dark background all emphasize the song’s power. Read More »Girls: Vomit (Video)
Some artists seem to prefer a sound that is constant, well structured, and predictable in the kindest sense. Krist Krueger, a.k.a. Southerly, is not one of these artists. But this is not to say that he is a frantic-minded artist hell bend on chaos, for he is actually quite the opposite. Krueger simply denies the crutch of conformity by offering up a hundred different tastes and feels of indie pop that he can squeeze into one album. And this is exactly what you will hear on his third release as Southerly, Youth. Read More »Southerly: Youth (Album Review)
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. Read More »Carissa’s Wierd Release First New Song in over Seven Years!
During my first spin through The Devil Whale‘s new album, Teeth, I did a little research on the band and pulled up a few press pieces. Each had their own spin, calling the band psychedelic pop, dubbing some of their work chamber pop, and even dropping a lighter side of 70s classic rock. At first, I wasn’t sure any of them fit. Read More »The Devil Whale: Golden (MP3)
