"Four dudes raised by alcoholic wolves. Fast rhythms and sweet melodies. Loud mouths. Leather jackets. Last spotted without t-shirts. Stripped down, New York-styled garage rock and roll that pays tribute to the punk and power-pop movement of the late 19702s. This debut album is for those who like to shake and pogo". Picture a steaming night at the Marquee , Soho, London circa 1978, New Wave/Punk kids bouncing of the walls to an amphetamine induced tantrum, a fabulous image from exciting times for pre-digital guitar based music. Skip swiftly forward to our fast fix internet [...]
ARAB SPRING by Literature Literature is a pop rock group whose sound has a lotta jangle and a little lo-fi. It's a familiar angle, but the songwriting is too catchy for me to ignore, reminding me a lot of groups like Smith Westerns. While most tracks on this Literature LP have a happy-go-lucky vibe, they never stray too far from their rough and sorta rowdy rock attitude, keeping these tracks from getting too sweet. The band is currently allowing a digital download of this LP for whatever price you'd like. Grab the [...]
The Plimsouls touring "Everywhere at Once" live in 1983 Fan's of Peter Case's early work with the Nerves and Plimsouls have been richly rewarded over the past few years. The Nerves' original EP was issued in enhanced CD form as One Way Ticket , a rare 1977 Nerves live set was released as Live at the Pirate's Cove , a transitional project with Paul Collins as The Breakaways was released as Walking Out on Love , and a blistering [...]
Around New Year The Virtues released the single "Hope". A really beautiful ballad which you can listen to and download here below. "Hope" is the finishing song on the band's latest album "Beautiful Game", their fourth one since 2003, and was released last year. I haven't written about it yet, so I took the opportunity to listen to it now. And I like the album, it's a good rock/pop-album with a lot of vibes from Big Star and Tom Petty and a dose of early New Wave. I love the intimate sound in the songs; retro, airy and [...]
Je ne suis pas assez fou pour vouloir analyser en profondeur l'influence exercée par les Beatles sur la production musicale des quarante dernières années. L'entreprise serait évidemment trop fastidieuse et reviendrait, grosso modo, à étudier l'impact du soleil sur le climat terrestre. C'est donc à un exercice plus modeste (et plus amusant) que je vais me livrer aujourd'hui : sélectionner des morceaux qui ressemblent à s'y méprendre à des chansons des Beatles, tant par leur composition que par leurs arrangements instrumentaux et vocaux. La ressemblance avec le groupe de Livepool est si [...]
A funny little song from the forthcoming Neverever EP, Shake-A-Baby . The title: "Mexicoco." It's the kind of song that would have been a surf pop hit in the 60s if it had a better recording going for it. I can see leagues of teenage girls chewing gum and gossiping about guys on the phone while this song spins on a 45 through a nearby record player. While it's kinda kitschy, Neverever seems more than aware of that, and that makes the total package a little tongue-in-cheek. So just catch a wave and bop your head to [...]
The fuzz pop of San Francisco's Terry Malts is equally indebted to the flapping, mop tops and punk rock of The Ramones and the disaffected stares of UK shoegazers. Yet, if one were to choose, pogo or pout, shout or sulk, songs like "Nauseous," should make the choice easy - Make yourself a pit, do the pizza man dance and the gorilla dance, too. There will be time enough for introspection once the music's done. MP3: Terry Malts - Nauseous Look for Terry Malt's debut full length, Killing Time, February [...]
One of the bands that I've really enjoyed following over the last several years has been Norway's I Was a King . They've just issued a really small run of a split 73 EP on Splendour Records with Half-Handed Cloud , and I'm really enjoyhing their effort here. There's a great swirling melody that is underscored by the guitar work, one of the prominent instruments in this band's repertoire. If you haven't had an opportunity to check out this band, the time is right [...]
With The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy, power poppers Nada Surf remain undeniably Nada Surf.
Brendan Benson was the first artist I bought tickets to see live. I did go and see him, that's not why I worded that first sentence so oddly. But, there was a Kenny Loggins' concert I went to with my Dad at a young enough age where I was probably still pooping my pants. I mention that because with that memory, Brendan Benson, built himself an eternal place in my heart. His power-pop ways have soothed my ears for 7 years now, which is why this post is particularly exciting. It's new Brendan Benson, the first track [...]
Avevo un ricordo di un inizio anno consumato in parte ad ascoltare un disco dei Nada Surf . Una piccola ricerca e mi accorgo che era il febbraio del 2008, ben quattro anni fa. Mi sembra tantissimo rispetto al ricordo vivo di quegli ascolti che alberga nella mia testa, proprio oggi che la cosa si ripete. Non era nemmeno un disco particolarmente brillante "Lucky", solo una onestissima raccolta di canzoni, venute fuori un po'col pilota automatico tra qualche briciola di gioia. Cosa cambia oggi non lo so, apparentemente niente in superficie; invece, scavando un po' più a fondo mi [...]
Guided by Voices Let's Go Eat the Factory GBV Records From the beginning, the Guided by Voices reunion of the mid-90s lineup was different. It may have read like the familiar script - Cult band tours theaters and the festival circuit, gets their due and gets some dollars, but unlike many of their peers there was a palpable sense that Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos, and Kevin Fennell were actually enjoying themselves the second time around. Bob brought his full array of rock kicks and microphone tricks. Mitchell [...]
March 20th / Douchemaster Stream: Gentleman Jesse and His Men- "All I Need Tonight (Is You)" / via /
Three reasons to rouse from your slumber for a delightful rock show at Double Door tonight... 1. Chicago power poppers Daemon Familiar certainly have an apt name. The trio contains trace amounts of such familiar artists as the Beatles and Cheap Trick, but with less than serious song titles that are generally named after celebrities like "Oprah" and Bangles lead singer "Susanna Hoffs." LISTEN: " Oprah ." 2. If The Day [...]
The Coastals - Burn White Hot by thecoastals DC power-punk band The Coastals just released their second disc, Burn White Hot , and the band is playing a show this Thursday at National Underground with Greg Burroughs, Neil Davis, and Will McCranie. On this new disc, the band delivers 17 songs about love, anger, addiction, mental illness, class warfare, and mortality, pervaded by the themes of resilience and finding strength in adversity. The band describes their music as mixing [...]
Take another look at some of 2011's best music.
Mel Has A Problem by flashlights A new set of tracks with an old sound from Florida band Flashlights. The group's latest album, I'm Not Alone , features a pretty catchy and accessible mixture of pop punk and indie rock. The track Mel has a problem has some guitar riffs that remind me a lot of the 2011 British Sea Power track "Who's In Control?." These guys ain't exactly breakin' new ground, but they've got this style down path, and they compliment it with a messy, lo-fi recording, too.
So I've become buddies with this terrific guy, Chris Kocher: he writes for the local paper, knows everything about the Kinks, has a radio show on the college station where he plays whatever the heck he feels like. Over Thanksgiving, a remarkable confluence of bad luck (on his side) and good luck (on mine) threw us together in a car for an extended period, and we had a long talk about the neverending manuscript (I'm promised two solid weeks to finish, starting Monday!), the genre of power pop, and other important matters. Long story short: [...]
<!-- --> Click here for download Sounds like: Two Door Cinema Club, The Strokes, Foals Song: Last Dinosaurs - Zoom [download here ] What's so good? Indie Shuffle's review of Last Dinosaur's earlier single " Honolulu " described them as a "less polished and refined version of Two Door Cinema Club." Their new [...]
The Gripweeds "Under The Influence Of Christmas" This reliable New Jersey power pop band could have made a great album about Festivus if it wanted to. The originals here like "Christmas Dream" and "Santa Make Me Good" are excellent songs, full of loud riffs and bluesy harmonica. Included is a cover of The Pretenders "2000 Miles," a great tune not always played out during the holiday. There are wonderful flute, harmonies and jangling guitars on traditional songs like "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" and a very mod "Welcome Christmas" that Pete Townshend would approve of. An impressive album that [...]
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Download: Lissy Trullie - "It's Only You, Isn't It"
‘SNL’ Showcases Karmin, Honors Whitney Houston
SBTRKT – Pharaohs (What So Not’s ‘Club ReRub’)
Love You Whitney
