Bright New Tune From Stray Fossa

The sun is out in Austin and I was looking this morning for some tuneage to match the bright and sunny mood here. Today I need look no further than my new amigos in Charlottesville based band Stray Fossa and their new single “It’s Nothing”. It reminds me a bit of my old pals in Grand Archives if they added some dreamy, pop elements to their sound. Clearly this band has taken a bit of a dated, overdone genre and taken it into a new avenue with a refreshing, bright and airy style.

Listen to Why Sun

I’m not sure why this Copenhagen outfit hadn’t popped up on my radar until recently, but I’m really grateful to stumble back a few weeks to the release of Frugte EP, losing myself in the immense wall of sound the Danes have built. One of the album’s standout tunes, “Traffic,” just sort of hangs out there with this drum beat, solitary and alone; then guitars being to fuzzily drift in from the left speaker; then another guitar carefully glides in through the other speaker, paving the way for the deep deep vocal tones. If you’re one of those that fancies themselves a fan of noisy shoegaze with pop sensibility, then do yourself a solid and go get lost in the music of Why Sun.

Slacker Shoegaze From bdrmm

Hailing from Hull in England, allow me to introduce one of my favorite new upstart groups bdrmm. The band manages to create their very own unique style of slacker, sludge rock combined with just a hint of shoegaze and emo stylings. Take for example this new song “Question Mark” which is a slow burning jam which will draw you in and keep you listening for the full 6 minutes. I’ve hit play upwards of 5 times on this one today and I find myself totally entranced and sucked in. Hope you enjoy it as well.

This song appears on a new Singles Club release from UK label Sonic Cathedral which can be purchased now.

TARA Has Something Special

TARA are in the midst of a five single cycle, dropping a track ever so often, and below we have the second of those five, perfectly letting you drift far off into the weekend. It’s almost like a post-rock piece, fuzzy and awash with these ambient guitar sounds while the rhythm section sort of propels us all forward. Wes Deimling’s voice is lighter than air, almost added as a textural element to really build the song’s depth. It’s a hypnotic number that flirts with a plethora of genres, ultimately just landing in the realm of great pop music that hopefully keeps you coming back for more.

Blushing Share Dream Merchants

Remember when we released Blushing‘s Weak EP? Yeah, that ruled. But, the band hasn’t slowed down since then, dropping a 7″ and now this new single as we await their full-length LP on the horizon. The song features the band’s signature approach to songwriting with guitars feuding in order to create this huge wall of sound…one that is eventually filled by Noe’s screeching guitar wail. Vocals intoxicate, swirling about in the shadows of the track, peaking as the melodies all smash into one another. It’s the perfect way to start off that sleepy Monday morning.

Stream Ways a Season by She Sir

We’ve been operating the label here now for half a dozen years, and each year, I’m forever grateful to the bands that let me put myself behind their music. And for years, I’ve fawned over She Sir, one of Austin’s most underrated acts; I bugged them enough until they finally agreed to let me release their new Ways a Season EP. You can grab a copy of the limited orange vinyl HERE, but I also wanted you to be able to stream the EP with a little bit of commentary by yours truly. There are not enough words to say how proud I am of the label and this release, so please go down and listen to everything below.

Austin folks can catch the band at End of an Ear on March 31st for a free in-store performance.

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New Shoegaze from Corasandel

Last year we discovered the UK outfit, Corasandel, and now that they’ve announced their latest EP, it’s time we sit back and take a listen. On this number, the band, admittedly, operate under two musical worlds. One is driven by simple drum beat, quietly pushing the song forward. The other half is where the band excels, leaving guitar chords to hang in the ether while vocals faintly drift in and out of the front of the mix; it doesn’t hurt that they layer it all with various sonic flourishes. Dreamy and loud, this is how you want it to be done; look for All the Hours are One on April 29th.

 

She Sir Announces Ways a Season

For years I’ve begged She Sir to work with them; we never managed to make it work, until now. I’m really excited to share a new single from She Sir, as well as welcome them to ATH Records for the release of Ways a Season. This track exemplifies the band’s direction on their latest release, aiming to elevate their brand of pop music to the highest echelons of art. Plus, the art matched with the vinyl is ridiculously beautiful (orange 12″, if you’re asking). You can Pre-Order Ways a Season by going HERE, and keep your eyes peeled for even more new music off this release in the very near future.

Pre-Order Link

French Shoegaze from An Ocean of Embers

Not in the too distant past, An Ocean of Embers covered Moose‘s “Last Night I Feel Again” (Reprise 1991), and they’ve finally touched it up and added an acoustic version, as well as instrumentals to craft their own single. I love that you get to hear the acoustic version because it really offers up that soft underbelly that so many folks seem to ignore in favor of guitar noise reverberating through their speakers. The latter half of the original cover gets awfully noisy at the end, building perfectly into the acoustic version should you choose to stream it all. Enjoy!

Burning House Bring Out Noisyy Shoegaze

Burning House have quiet a live tour resume, having played with Wire, Moon Duo and Shonen Knife (to name but a few), and lucky for us, their new single has the punch to illustrate why the band is such a hot commodity. This track, if you peeled back the pop sensibility, would be a pretty heavy banger, filled with noisy guitar noodling and walls of feedback. But, the reason I love it is the gentle feel of the vocals, set perfectly against the sonic wall; it sort of reminds me of the shoegaze version of my late 90s heroes The Comas. Turn this jam up.

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