This is fine.
I’ve streamed the track below and “Traffic”. Giving the rest a listen, a quick forty-seven minutes. But so far, ANIMA is what I was hoping it would be. Nathan will probably hate it, but I am definitely looking forward to zoning out in a field with a few thousand friends at ACL.
I’m really hoping that this new Moon Duo single holds true for the band’s new album, Stars Are the Light. I feel like they’ve been flirting with constructing dreamy synth driven pop over the last few releases, moving further away from their original psychedelic sounds. I mean, here, there’s this beautifully soft beat, matched by the gentle shared vocals; a guitar flourishes in the middle, but then becomes just a part of the song’s emotions as the vocals return to carry the weight. The song’s latter half illustrates that there’s still room to jam it out, but the band’s focus on pop sensibility in the front half of the track has me won over. The new LP will be out on September 27th via Sacred Bones Records.
The sun is out today, the weather is cooler than normal and it’s a perfect day for a sunny, breezy pop song! My man Terry Price, who records under the moniker Photo Ops, is providing the perfect summer tune today with his new track “Time For an Innocent Song”. It’s a lovely bit of music which catches your attention with a little acoustic ditty as it slowly builds into hazy pop number with hushed vocals and perfectly timed drums. It’s equal parts Fruit Bats mixed with CSNY and little touch of pop sensibilities. Check it out now.
Photo Ops will release a new album entitled Pure at Heart sometime later this year.
We’ve gotten a handful of singles from the forthcoming album by Stanley Brinks and the Wave Pictures, but this most recent is definitely my favorite, thus far. It has Stanley recounting or sharing on a love lost, but it’s told through the lens of someone who has been drinking heavily…or at least we assume so; that’s definitely something I think most of us can attest to having done in our own lives. All of this, of course, makes perfect sense, as Stanley’s a very literal songwriter, and together with the Wave Pictures, they’ve named their latest release Tequila Island; go give it a listen via Fika Recordings.
Earlier this month Alpine Subs released their debut self-titled LP, and I’d like to personally apologize for giving you late notice of how great the LP is. It’s weird, it has this strange blend between the mid 00s college indie rock vibe and the omni-present power-pop; it uses these two consistently, giving you 12 songs that can be either soft or be seen as rock. I like the 2/3 punch of “Miles Away” and “Menomonee; the former has this soft swagger akin to I Was a King, while the latter has this innate softness in its style that gives you a little ear candy. But, the more I sit around and listen, the more I realize that the entirety of Alpine Subs is probably best suited for a sit-down/listen-all-the-way-through moment, but you do you…just stream it below.
If there’s a band you listen today that makes you think differently about the world, or makes you approach music differently, then it’s going to be Trash Kit. While they can obviously craft a tune, their songwriting and playing style is such that everything seems out of whack, everything is being thrown off…and yet it all makes such beautiful sense. The bass line is the central force of this song, yet as things growdiscordantly, the band match it all up with these swelling multi-part harmonies. Should come as no surprise that the band’s Horizon LP is being handled by the esteemed Upset the Rhythm on July 5th.
I was real high on Operator Music Band‘s Coordination EP back in 2017, and it looks like they aim to continue their rhythmic intoxication with their new album, Duo Duo. It’s like spaced-age art pop, with the vocal interplay between Dara Hirsch and Jared Hiller crating the gravitational pull for listeners; it’s like they’re offering up some sort of call and response poem. In other bits, it’s the little nuanced touches that really bring the song some depth; you’ll hear these little discordant guitar stabs just around the 1 minute mark, later unfolding to a more atmospheric wash atop the song’s distant horizon. It’s quite a marvel, leading me to believe that Duo Duo will be something special; it drops September 20th via Broken Circles.
I really enjoyed last year’s Toss Up from Kevin Krauter, so I’m looking for him to keep the pace with this new follow-up single. It’s almost as if he’s afraid of his voice here, scared he might frighten himself, so he turns his tones towards an overwhelming gentleness. This suits the track perfectly, giving room for the guitar to sort of rise and fall and rise and fall, all the while ensnaring the vocals in their own trap. In the end, it’s you the listener that is likely to fall for the trap, ensnared in the song’s natural hypnotic state. Quite a nice return, if I must say.
Operators is on tour right now. I saw them live. You should, too.
Current touring lineup is Devojka, Sam Brown and Dan Boeckner. It is a tight trio across the front of the stage letting you pick if you want drums, guitar/vox or synths front and center for your earholes. I will ruin any form of review by just telling you it was so good. The collision of this band, visuals from the display screen behind and outstanding sound in the venue made for a fantastic night for fans.
DOOMSQUAD, a Toronto trio of two sisters and a brother, laid down quirky disco grooves in their opening spot as a bonus.
Click through as needed…
Poppongene might not be a name on everyone’s tongue just yet, but Sophie Treloar’s project definitely will turn some heads with this new single. At first, it’s the voice that really draws you in, dangling through your speakers as it allows for the guitars to carefully ring from behind. I was fully immersed, just lost in the song, much as our character is in the video, pushing through life. But, just after the 2 minute mark things start to take on a bit more volume, layers are added to continually flesh the track out…and with that Treloar’s voice reveals this beautiful softness that caresses your ear holes. This song will appear on a new EP via Our Golden Friend later this year.
