The Dare Share Girls

As previously mentioned, I’m in a hyper-dance/pop mode today, trying to ramp myself up, energetically. Luckily, Fire Talk continue their Open Tab project with this hook-laden jam from The Dare. As soon as you press play you’re going to immediately recall that early 00s era of NYC, with acts like the Rapture or !!! and LCD; it’s a club banger, albeit one with some interesting lyrical content. I just want to turn it up real loud and bounce around my room right now until I’ve spent all this energy from my two cups of coffee!

Terry Malts Start Label + Release Music from Their Old Acts

cosmosI’ve made no secret of my love for Terry Malts, both as musicians and people. But, that really all started for me when I discovered Magic Bullets. That’s a good place for the story to start because the band has just created their own label, Parked In Hell. What will be their first two releases? Ah, yes. Music from their first few bands, The Cosmos and Magic Bullets…see the full circle? The Cosmos (which also featured members of Girls) will be a 2001-2004 Compilation, while Young Man’s Fancy will be the title of the Magic Bullets album…it’s got a bunch of unreleased material on it that we’ve never heard (I thought I had it all). Also, keep an eye on the label because they’ll be releasing an EP from Malt man, Corey Cunningham too! Here’s some sample tracks off the first two releases!

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Straight Pop From Decorations

unnamedThe ATH crew here loves us some good pop music when it comes our way and this new track called “Girls” from L.A. based Decorations is perfect.  It’s a straight pop number with some louder guitars and some super slick synth parts thrown in to really brighten things up.  Seriously, I’d find it hard to believe if anyone told me they didn’t enjoy such a hit as this.  So hit play and treat your ears.

Debut EP, Girls, is due out October 16th via Frenchkiss Records.

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Take A Listen to Cotillon

cotyWhen you get an email about a new act on Burger Records, you generally know what to expect from the label…that is until you hear the work of Cotillon.  It’s this dreamy little bit of bedroom pop, akin to the work of early Captured Tracks acts.  The LA act worked with JR from Girls, so you can count on the production quality to be successful when the band release their full album.  Personally, I love the way the song slowly fades out over about a minute, growing softer and softer until you can no longer hear it.  Look for the group’s self-titled album to come out on January 26th.

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New Album from The Memories

memorieI’ve got some tunes from the Memories; I like the band well enough, I just feel like they could do a bit more.  But, it looks like that time has finally come, as the band are readying a new album that’s been worked over by Sonny Smith, who I trust above many others.  There’s already a subtle R&B production to the tune, while the band maintains their approach to brevity in their songwriting; it sort of reminds me of Girls early on…you know, when that band meant something. Look for the band’s new LP Hot Afternoon next month from Burger Records.

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New Tunes from Deep Sea Arcade

You know we love the Aussie’s over here at ATH, so it figures that I’d stumble upon another act from Sydney that I’d dig.  Deep Sea Arcade has a different sound than the majority of the acts I fawn over from Oceania, featuring a cleaner guitar sound and hints at nostalgic Britpop…in my ears.  I love the wash of the vocals on this track, which comes from their album, Outlands; it’s just been released in the States by Microfiche Records. If you’re looking for some sprightly tunes in the way of classic guitar rock then enjoy this track!

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DeepSeaArcade_Girls.mp3]

Download:Deep Sea Arcade – Girls [MP3]

Royal Headache – S/T

Rating: ★★★★½

Lo-fi recordings and accompanying jangle pop rock have been the rage for sometime, and that’s all well and good, but sometimes you just want to have a little bit of a twist on tried-and-true fashions. When you head to your local record store, and you should do so immediately, to pick up the self-titled record from Royal Headache you’ll find exactly what you’ve need. This album’s furious and fun, but just different enough to make the group stand out among the masses.

Side A of this excellent LP opens just as you would expect from a band with garage leanings, furiously paced by the gritty guitar sound.  But, then enters frontman Shogun, using his voice to take you back to the nostalgic soulful recordings of the 50s/60s.  Perhaps you’ll hear bits of angular post-rock similar to Cloud Nothings, but the vocals take you somewhere else entirely.  Oddly, the powerful dynamic between Shogun and the rest of the band fits the mood of Royal Headache perfectly.  From start to finish, Side A is a winning adventure of six incredible tracks, with the frenetic “Girls” remaining my personal favorite.  That being said, the exuberance isn’t always a pummeling in-your-face affair as evidenced by the somewhat slowly paced “Kinds of Love.” The fact that there aren’t any lyrics might come as a surprise after the first five tracks, but it’s the perfect cleansing before you flip the record on its backside.

If you fell for Side A then Side B is absolutely going reaffirm that Royal Headache  are your new favorite band.  “Down the Lane” definitely fits into the modern musical spectrum though it has a tendency to sound dated–in an absolutely good way.  At times, Shogun even sounds a bit like Robert Pollard stretching his vocals to the maximum; it’s perhaps one of the most emotionally captivating songs on the entire record.  Plus, you don’t want to miss the closer, “Pity,” another track that seems to have ingrained itself in my mind.  I definitely enjoy the steadiness in the vocals on this number, leaving you with the sentiment that the group has evolved with regards to the conceptual aspect of the record.

Nowadays it seems that a lot of people can record in their bedroom or make an album of lo-fi tracks that quickly burst into a huge success, but you’re not going to find anything at all like Royal Headache.  That alone is one reason that you need to get your hands on this LP, but you couple that with the fact that there’s not a single track on this record that you could skip, and you have a winning group of songs that you might not ever escape.  Each song is infectious, whether you base that on the inherent hooks or Shogun’s performance; you’re not going to want to listen to anything else for some time to come.  Yeah, I said it; it really is that good.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/RoyalHeadache_Girls.mp3]

Download:Royal Headache – Girls [MP3]

Friday Top 10: Fun Fest Bands

Our Fun Fest coverage is nearing an end, but we have yet to give you a top artists post in typical ATH fashion.  So here ladies and gents is your ATH top 10 fun fest acts.  This is a list compiled by all of our writers and collaborators who did their best to check out as many bands as we could this weekend.  Keep in mind that we see as many bands as we can, but certainly can’t blanket the whole fest.  Follow the jump for list.

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Show Pics: FFF6 Day Two

Fun Fun Fun Fest photo coverage continues at Austin Town Hall.

Made it through another day of pics. Day Two includes attempts to indeed Keep Shelly in Athens, a little time on Future Islands, Fugazi’ing solo, rolling in the T’Bird, being Formidably Joyful, Tuning the Yard, Egging on a Riot, rolling on the M83, pic’ing up some Girls, paparazzi’ing Ms. Li and salvation from The Damned.

Head past the break for the pics, a link to many more pics and a commentary…
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New Jam From PAPA

Been enjoying this new song from called “I am the Lion King” from L.A. based pop outfit PAPA.  The tune features Darren Weiss who drums for indie superstars Girls.  It’s a catchy little tune that appears on the band’s new EP A Good Woman Is Hard To Find due out October 4th on Hit City USA Records.  Enjoy.

[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/02-I-Am-The-Lion-King.mp3]

Download: PAPA – I Am The Lion King [MP3]

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