Austin Town Hall

While line-up changes are never fun, they sometimes push bands into new horizons, which seems like the place where The New Tigers will go after losing drummer Kece. For me, the first thing I noticed was the spritely step in the bands sound; it’s immediately more playful than anything they’ve created before.  You’ll still find swirling guitar work in the background, but the light-hearted attitude is immediately charming.  You’ll be able to find this track, and others on the band’s second LP, which will be released by our great friends over at Soliti Music.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download: The New Tigers – Quicksilver [MP3]

Man, what a great day with two great announcements. The first announcement is that are friends over at Chapter Music in Australia are celebrating their 20th anniversary.  It’s a great feat for any label, let alone a small label offering across the sea; they’ve been making huge waves in the States with acts like Twerps and Dick Diver.  The second announcement comes with the release of 20 Big Ones, a compilation celebrating the anniversary.  I’m stoked because it features this new song from Crayon Fields, the first band on the label that I fell in love with back in the day.  I’m excited by a new track, and I hope to hear more from them soon, as a new record should be on our way shortly. Cheers to Guy and his mates on 20 Years of being rad.

We’ve long supported the four dudes in So So Glos, but oddly, we’ve yet to see the full-length they alluded to earlier in 2012.  But, they do have another new song, which may bring us closer to that release.   As the band nears up for a frenzy at CMJ, this song appeared, again showing the bratty rock n’ roll stylings of the band; this time they’re turning up the noise even more, but still holding tight to those inner melodies they’ve got going on.  Here’s to the boys, and hoping they get that album out to us as soon as possible.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download:So So Glos – Son of Ambition [MP3]

A bit ago I brought you a sweet gem from Allah Las, a California group with an homage to the classic psychedelia of their home state.  Well, lucky for you, the group is nearing the release of their self-titled album, which comes out on September 18 via Innovative Leisure.  Again, the group is tossing back their sound, and that guitar sounds so incredible coming through the speakers.  I can’t really see a lot of modern bands giving the sound this kind of classicism, which proves to me that this group really has something special going on in their tunes.  It’s not a rehash; it’s a re-imagining and it sounds great.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download: Allah-Las – Don’t You Forget It [MP3]

Man, this band is really becoming something special. Psychic Ills have a new record that is set to come out early next year on Sacred Bones, and our first listen has me really excited.  It’s almost like the group has transformed into a psychedelic version of Spiritualized, using that strummed guitar, a bit muted, and including foggy vocals that lightly rest atop the instruments; it’s all juxtaposed with an organ that haunts the background of the track.  

You can check out a video of the song HERE.

This song has been floating all over the Internet this morning as the Danish group formerly known as War changed their name to Var–you might also know about the group already due to their relationship (read: participation) with Iceage.  There’s a really throbbing electronic element to this track, and while I realize that the vocals are not the most pristine, there is some element of this song that keeps me coming back.  I don’t know, there’s some tribal element in the demi-chant, and I just want to play the song loudly here in my little office. Hope you dig it, and who knows, maybe they’ll play the track as a pre-cursor when they come to Austin next month for Chaos in Tejas.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download: Var – Your Arms [MP3]

Just a week or so ago we brought you a new jam from one of our favorite groups, Mystery Jets.  Now we’ve got another tune to share with you from the band’s excellent new record, Radlands.  There’s definitely a slight change of the group’s sound, though you could see that coming with their last effort, Serotonin.  On this song, you’ll see the more subtle pop structures the band has been working with, rather than the jangly pop they began their career with years ago.  Either way, I’m always going to love jamming with these dudes–such good songs.  The album hits American stores on June 5th.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download:Mystery Jets – Sister Everett [MP3]

The Internet has already given some great coverage to Dana Buoy, who really is Dana from Akron Family.  His debut album Summer Bodies will be coming out in a few short weeks (May 8th) via Lefse, and we’re all pretty excited around here for the street date.  For me, I fell for this song because of the way it builds, using atmospherics, then his voice enters, then it continues to build with a bit of a background stomp until the end.  These sort of tracks are always entertaining, and for some reason, there’s a little bit of an emo affectation to his vocals that’s really working for me today. Just give a listen and see what you think.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download:Dana Buoy – So Lucky [MP3]