The sleeve looks good enough to eat. Eux Autres are back with a new single, out June 2nd on Bons Mots Records ! "You're Alright" b/w "A Band Undone" is the bands first release featuring new members Yoshi Nakamoto (Aislers Set, Still Flyin') and multi-instrumentalist Nevada Jones (not to be confused with multi-adventurist Indiana Jones) and it's sure to be a winner. The rad artwork and design are courtesy of San Francisco's Yellow Owl Workshop and might I say, they really outdid themselves! That orange paper looks a lot like [...]
Boy Genius I have to admit, I wasn't all too into Brooklyn band Boy Genius when I first heard them last year, but upon hearing their new single "Blame Love" about a month ago, I'll proudly fly the Boy genius flag now. "Blame Love" sounds to me like some great Small Factory song that sadly never was. No worries though, because Boy Genius wear it well. They deliver perfect boy/girl harmonies in all the right spots and right where I was hoping for it – a killer solo! I reckon Alex, Dave, and Phoebe [...]
The Champagne Socialists Ah! So close the Summer is now! I've got one, two, three paintings to turn in on Tuesday, but then I am DONE until the Fall. Of course, halfway through Summer I'll slip into boredom and long for more schoolwork – funny how that works, huh? Anyway, with all this new found free time I've had for the past couple days, I've spent a little more time on Myspace stumbling upon good songs. After noticing that they'll be opening the Pains Westcoast tour for four days in July, I felt like [...]
That Summer Feeling! No. 2 [MP3]: Jonathan Richman :: That Summer Feeling (Live at the Schauberg, Bremen 1985) Submitted by Scott Summer Cats "It's from a live gig from German radio from I think 1985. I bought it on cassette at a Sunday market that had a bootleg table: I do love a good cassette bootleg table... and this version really makes you believe, though I guess it's kinda a sad/reflective summer ode. I was never a huge fan of [...]
Lacrosse's This New Year Will Be For You And Me was one of my favorite records of last year and they're already back with another one! "We Are Kids" is the first single from their new LP Bandages For The Heart , which was officially released May 2nd on Tapete Records . The video itself isn't quite as enthralling as the video for "You Can't Say No Forever" – likely due to it's lack of cute hand puppets – but it's pretty fun and quite blue.
Number One! I've decided to start a new, season-specific feature here at Skatterbrain! For an as-yet-undetermined amount of time I will be posting some of my very favorite Summer songs. My hope is that perhaps is that it will be a fun thing to do on a regular basis and that it might also spur a little discussion from time to time, which is always nice. All the songs could even be compiled at the end into a super perfect Summer mixtape! I was thinking that some guest posts might be fun for this [...]
Dreamdate Dreamdate's new record 'Patience' has mid-90s Northwest written all over it – and when it strays geographically, it's heart is still in the right place (i.e., that wonderful "Go Fish" cover). Best friends Yea-Ming Chen and Anna Hillburg make up the whole of Dreamdate and it seems the two of them have only got one goal: putting smiles on faces. I read somewhere that they're just barely escaped being pop. Frankly I couldn't disagree more. Dreamdate are undeniably pop. They've got irresistibly sweet, catchy melodies and their songs are full of this [...]
Everyone's got their complaints about YouTube, but folks, this – THIS is why YouTube is great. It was recorded live at the Bull & Gate, Kentish Town, London on August 29, 1987. "Writhing on the Shagpile" was their only single of 1987, actually, and it was released by UK label Tambourine. As they say at the start of the video, it's a very sexual song – haha. Indeed, but it's also one hell of a dancefloor ripper – the song is just rife with perfectly shambolic solos. I would kill for a video of [...]
Liechtenstein In the wake of their appearance at this year's NYC Popfest, Liechtenstein will be doing a small East coast tour, as well!!! Lucky for me, I might be seeing them three times! Luckier for me, The Sugarplums will be playing with them in Baltimore on the 17th! Their debut LP 'Survival Strategies In A Modern World' will be out May 26 on Sweden's Fraction Discs and on June 9 on Slumberland Records . Can I just say – Slumberland is kicking ass in 2009! I can't wait to [...]
May = Plaid? Maybe? May might not equal plaid, but it certainly equals pop songs, I think. Monthly mixes, or at least intentions of monthly mixes, are nothing new around here, but here I go again, trying to get it going. By next month I'd like to see if I can't just make it some kind of podcast instead of downloadable mp3s like I've always done, but we'll see. The mix opens with one of my favorite Dislocation Dance songs, "I'm Doing Fine", from their third LP 'Midnight Shift'. It's not my number one favorite song [...]
The Pains have just released a brand new video for "Young Adult Friction", their second single from the best record of the year. It's much in the style of their previous video for "Everything With You" except this time around the whole band is in it. Along with skeletons, mannequin hands, beds, and a whole bunch of books. The Pains never cease to be brilliant. A Brilliance much like that of a perfect Summer day. You don't quite know why, but it just makes everything seem better. Watch Away!
Danny and Jen Transmittens! With the very Springtime-ish weather we've been having lately, I've been keeping lots of fun, sunny pop songs in heavy rotation and Transmittens ' "Balloons In The Sky" is one of them! Their debut record, Our Dreams just came out WeePOP! Records – to no surprise, as they're some of the finest purveyors of fun, sunny pop out there! – and it's sure to be something to hold on to in the upcoming Summer months. "Balloons In The Sky" is a blast. It makes me want to [...]
Another beautiful day today. I walked home from class listening to this one. All Springtime Fridays should have some Unrest involved, I think.
Sunny blue sky! thanks for nothing photobooth. Video for "Making Gerard Smile" by San Francisco band Juniper. This was Juniper's first single, released in 1996 on the Orange Label. The Following year they released a second single, "Think and Die Thinking" on Fantastic Records. Both are very worth your money if you can track them down. Which you should do, of course.
I hope I haven't tainted SF Popfest's branding with my yellow monotone. In the ever-growing list of popshows and festivals I will NOT be able to attend this year, the San Francisco Popfest remains one of the few that I'm the most broken up about. The lineup is amazing and who wouldn't want to hang out in San Francisco all weekend??? My hopes and dreams of making it this year are all but washed away, but now that it's back, hopefully the SF Popfest will continue to keep going and I'll be able to [...]
The Soulboy Collective The Soulboy Collective – whom, unfortunately, I may have overlooked because of the name – were recently highly recommended to me by the always reliable Andreas! I cannot thank him enough for introducing me to them because, like he promised, they play an undeniably toe-tappingly fantastic blend of indiepop and northern soul. Just listen to that guitar! and that beat! and oh, those sugary sweet vocals! And how exciting it is to have them come back to us after all of eight years! Here's some more info: [...]
Hey! My apologies for the lack of action around here lately. Whenever I get busy this blog tends to be the first thing to get knocked to the bottom of my list of priorities. But I wanted to make a quick post to say that I fiiiiiiiinally got my Mayfair Set and Brilliant Colors 7"s in the mail yesterday. The wait, long as it was, was well worth it in my opinion. I've had them both spinning constantly for the past 48 hours and they seem to only be getting better. At the moment I think I'm loving Brilliant Colors [...]
Knight School I haven't done an interview for Skatterbrain in quite some time and so who better than to do a new with than my good pal Kevin Alvir of fuzzy Brooklyn pop band Knight School! Their debut LP The Poor And Needy Need To Party is an absolutely great record through and through and Kevin's unmistakable wit and natural ability of making catchy happen are widely evident. If you haven't picked up a copy yet, you must! You really must! Here's the interview! How did it feel to get [...]
Songs About You It had been at least two years since this record had played in my presence, but I played "Leaving" in the car the other night and now I seem to be on an endless and dreamy Language of Flowers kick. It's a lot like love, really. I don't recall these songs meaning as much to me before as they seem to now, which is entirely possible – it has been two years, maybe I actually understand them now. Now if only the clouds would part and dreams would [...]
Judasracer? Cheap Red are a brilliant new pop band in the form of Stewart and Jen of Boyracer and Akina and Arland of Kanda! They list influences as Judas Priest and Marine Girls, though they ultimately end up sounding like a more tender, mid-tempo Boyracer. Though the word mid-tempo typically conjures up images of really boring songs, Cheap Red are actually anything but. The songs on MySpace are all replay again and again worthy and the whistling chorus in "Let's Start A Riot" is particularly amazing. They've got a debut DOUBLE CD coming [...]
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