This is fine.
Good show last night, good shows this weekend, but going to watch the footie in Houston. This week’s HANW track is from Missions, the second single from the pending Holodeck Records release Subcreature due August 2nd. It is an Italian disco synth laden piece of bliss with buried vocoder vocals. Zone out for a bit at the office and dream of tallboys and new vinyl smell.
Myself and Mr. Gray pretended like we were young again on a cool Thursday night in Austin and made it out to Barracuda to see the famed Appleseed Cast. We talked some soccer, shared too many beers, and discussed the validity of The Cast music as a soundtrack to major life events. It was a great bill with many hits played. Hit the jump for more words, full setlist and some fancy ass photos from B. Gray.
For as much as I love a good bedroom pop tune, there’s a lot to be said about a band who starts in this humble way and then fleshes out the sound to a more expansive mix. Such is the case on this new track from Laundrette, out of Cardiff. “Southerndown,” starts off as a slow moving beast, creeping along in shoegazey, hazy fashion with simply the vocals and some ambient noises filling the space. After a minute and a half or so, the track begins to build, and guitars and drums enter, resulting in a post-rock climax. It’s a great tune for ramping up your energy, which is exactly the kind of track that’s perfect for a Friday. Take a listen below.
The history of Remington Super 60 goes back over 20 years ago, and while that alone is remarkable in this day and age, what matters most is that they sound just as delightful now as they did back in ’98. I think the first immediate comparison that comes to mind is that ground popularized by Camera Obscura; it has that same structure of indiepop, bringing in classic pop sounds and updating them in a more modern fashion. Of course, there’s this natural warmth here too, which almost makes me wish it was Winter time, so I could sit by a fire and let the magic of this track do the rest of the work for me. Look for a new EP from the group later this Fall.
We love to work with our friend John over at SideOneTrackOne, who also handles one of Austin’s local radio shows, 101X Homegrown. We’ve teamed up with him this week to bring you a show of great importance over at Cheer Up Charlies; you get four incredible Austin acts for the price of a Bud Light at any of the bars on 6th Street. Zettajoule kicks things off for the evening, followed by Yukon Gold, Star Parks and Lowin. It’s important to note here, of course, that Yukon Gold is the supergroup formerly known as All Eyes, but with a new singer. Doors are at 9 PM, with more info HERE.
I hadn’t heard of Adam + Attack by Fire until recently, but I was immediately taken by his new single, “The Final Show.” It has that sort of swirling glam rock styling that endears itself to fans of Bowie or Bolan, with the thematic element shining through on this track; it’s all about the trials and tribulations, the peaks and valleys, and all the things we learn in-between. I think a nice touch comes by way of the buzz from the electric guitar working against the ideas presented by the acoustic strumming, with Adam letting his voice ride those sonic intermingling. This track is the follow-up to the recent album The Disease of Knowing, so you might wish to visit that as well!
What an amazing endeavor…
Drift is a weekly series from Underworld where they collaborate with visual artists and fellow musicians, creating new music, tweaking old sample sets and constructs left stranded on the console. all culminating in an album due in October. I’ve been highlighting some of these weekly updates on their Youtube channel. “Border Country” is so very good and it is a musical collaboration with [Phase], a producer, engineer and visual artist.
The evolving build to 5:48, like I said, amazing.
It’s probably not a bad thing that Detroit’s Deadbeat Beat reference the Clean in their bio, as it definitely got me to tune in here. Their latest single does employ some of the similar strategies of the legendary Flying Nun act, particularly in the way the rhythm section works; it serves as a solid backbone, letting the guitars work to do their own thing. At times, those guitars match the rhythm, providing a bounce, while other times they take these discordant twists and turns, bending about. Plus, the harmonies during the chorus are pretty spot on, laying on the pop sensibility really thick here. The band will release How Far on August 2nd via Crystal Palace and Arrowhawk.
Hey it’s a lovely day here in the ATX and I have a fun, energetic track to match my mood. It’s called “Deader” and comes by way of Hartlepool based musician James Leonard Hewitson. The song is a lovely bit of slacker, garage rock/pop music sure to brighten your day even if you are moderately bummed out. Fans of the the new track can purchase a very limited 7″ run via JLH’s bandcamp page. Hewiston also has a new full length LP entitled Only the Noise Will Save Me coming out later this fall.
It’s only been a few short months since LIPS dropped their remarkable self-titled EP, and they quickly return with this stunner of a new single. Vocals are stretched across the opening few seconds, reaching that dreaminess favored by the likes of Alvvays and Flying Fish Cove as of late. Behind Rachel’s stellar vocal performance the band finds their guitar work flirting with that jangle-gaze sound; it’s the sort where you can’t tell if the band’s flirting more with dream pop or jangle pop, but you’re ears are at full attention soaking it all in. This is a band on the ascension, so be sure you’re on board!
