brooklyn

Beach Fossils [Feature]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 21, 2010April 18, 2010

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. Read More »Beach Fossils [Feature]

Small Black: Despicable Dogs [Video]

Andy Fenstermaker
April 14, 2010April 13, 2010

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]

Golden Triangle: Double Jointer [Album Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
March 3, 2010March 2, 2010

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. Read More »Golden Triangle: Double Jointer [Album Review]

World Atlas: The Winter Stories [mp3]

Andy Fenstermaker
February 24, 2010February 21, 2010

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. Read More »World Atlas: The Winter Stories [mp3]

North Highlands [Feature]

Andy Fenstermaker
February 18, 2010February 14, 2010

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. Read More »North Highlands [Feature]

Anthem In: The Cloudbusting EP [Album Review]

Ron Trembath
January 28, 2010January 23, 2010

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. Read More »Anthem In: The Cloudbusting EP [Album Review]

Tigercity: Fake Gold [Track Review]

Andy Fenstermaker
September 21, 2009September 19, 2009

Vintage synths conjure thoughts of wild hype bands and pop creativity. Tigercity utilizes such instruments but they defy expectations in songs like “Fake Gold”, which drops in a laid-back tempo despite a sound and lyric that could easily warrant the contrary. But don’t get me wrong, laid back tunes can certainly be worthy; in that, “Fake Gold” is no exception. Seriously, with lyrics like Baby I just want you to know / That I’m wearing fake gold, how can you go wrong? Read More »Tigercity: Fake Gold [Track Review]