Those of you that fawning for indiepop are most assuredly going to enjoy the debut LP from European Sun. The band’s line-up alone is enough to make fans swoon, with members that have a pedigree from the the likes of the Short Stories, Heavenly, the Catenary Wires…among others. Today, we’re really happy to bring you this summery pop ditty, in hopes that you’re able to make today your “favorite day.” Steve and Amelia trade vocals to a charming effect; they offer slightly different tones, melding their melodies in some sugary swirl that sticks inside your head. For me, the juxtaposed guitar sounds definitely put a skip in my step, adding a grin to my day. The video is set up like a spectacular post card with ocean views, featuring Amelia on an ice cream cone and Steve munching some chips. This song appears on the group’s self-titled debut, out on September 11th via WIAIWYA.
The world is a shitshow, so what little solace I can grab I’m taking. Luckily, we can all wrap our work day with this really wonderful Galaxie 500 cover performed by Papercuts. Jason Quever is one of my favorite current artists, covering one of those older acts I still can’t get enough of as a listener. Quever recorded the video during quarantine, but it goes along with the 20 songs 2020 project, which featured other incredible acts like Stephin Merritt, Deadbeat Beat, Winter, Jeanines and so many more; you can find more about that HERE. I love how he keeps the noise in the ending, it’s like the perfect way to cap off this track. The only problem is where do I go from here…to Galaxie 500 or Papercuts? For now, you can have both below!
I’ve been all on board with the latest tunes from Dig Nitty off their forthcoming Reverse of Mastery. You’ll surely find a natural joy in the way the song’s constructed up front; Erin and Reggie trade vocal lines with one another, almost in a child-like manner; Erin even claims it kind of “came out like a nursery rhyme.” But, as with all things from the group, you get to find these little breadcrumbs of joy. For instance, here you get a little bit of fuzz underneath as the two trade lyrics, eventually sort of erupting into this cacophonous wall of noise, leaving the childlike wonderment behind, thought not out of your memory. Lucky for you, Reverse of Mastery is only a few weeks away, dropping September 18th via Exploding in Sound.
It feels like Lavender Blush has been working towards this LP since their self-titled EP dropped in 2016; and now we’re prepared to hear the band’s full-length, The Garden of Inescapable Pleasure. The band toy with us for about 15 seconds, mostly getting their feet under themselves; they hit that 16 second mark and the jittering of distorted guitars immediately start rioting through your speakers. The rhythm section does a great job of building that kick-up your shoes dance floor bounce while Ryan Lescure croons atop the mix; the chorus allows him to give off a little more of a disaffected melody that kind of makes you feel like you’re spinning in circles staring at the cloudy sky. The debut LP is available this November via Shelflife, with this new single streaming everywhere on Friday!
There are some bands that just make you feel like you’re life’s going alright, like you’re making all the right moves; that’s what I feel like when I listen to the latest single from Cave People. On the latest single, you get this unassuming bounce; it sort of makes me feel like I wish this was the soundtrack to my life as I walked through the burbs with my headphones on, skipping playfully every so often, maybe even grabbing an acorn or a nut off the ground to marvel. Just has this natural good-hearted vibe, which, to be honest, we all could use in our life at this moment. Looking, the new LP, will be out this Friday via Disposable America/Stereophonodon.
The story of Pop Filter as a band is quite long, although Banksia is their debut LP. But, that story is easy to find for those who wish, so instead, I wanted this post to reflect how the a group of friends was able to cope with tragedy by writing an album full of wonderful pop songs. We dive in a little bit to the process that went into this record, plus, Mark is so kind as to share his recipe for Chicken Fricassee with Porcini Mushrooms; you can really impress your friends with “something you just threw together.”
ATH: The band is essentially a gang of songwriters/friends working together. How does the editing process work for you all? Does is change from songwriter to songwriter, or is there a routine approachyou all use when it comes to completing a track?
Mark: It genuinely changes song to song and album to album. Sometimes things arrive pretty much done, with a lot of parts already written. Sometimes things are jammed into place. Sometimes things sort of accumulate as we record them. With Banksia, because it was all done so quickly, we basically started recording things before wed even heard the vibe of the song. Then figured it out piece by piece, adding things and trusting that Snowy would be able to mix it into a nice shape. Theres a lot on the album that is first or second take. Most of my guitar parts Im just improvising to the song. It was very loose.
ATH: There’s a huge backstory/history to Pop Filter, but does Banksia represent something new, aside from the name? Does it feel like you have to start all over? And to a certain extent, is it a relief to have it under your belt, so to speak?
Mark: It definitely doesnt feel like starting over exactly. It feels more free, in a way. Because were releasing ourselves from the expectations of what being a band means. Were going to be less interested in concrete things like whos in the band, whats the album title, whos putting it out, whats the artistic statement – and more interested in the simple act of getting together and playing music. For me, its a kind of relief to lose some of those more careerist aspects of being in a band and focus on the real reason we play together in the first place, which is because were friends. In a world where the worth of everything is determined by the clicks it garners and the money it makes, it feels like an act of rebellion to focus on togetherness and friendship as the most important thing about an artistic project – rather than focusing on making a product. I think i speak for everyone when I say that I would make these albums with these people even if no one ever heard it and we never showed any of it to anyone. That would be just as valuable to me.
ATH: Is there a story behind covering “Romance at the Petrol Station?” Any particular connection that brought that song into the album process?
Mark: Everyone in the band has always loved that song and that first Stolen Violin record was Zacs favourite album. Lach had wanted to cover it for ages so it felt like the right time to do it.
ATH: Most of this record has been promoted throughout a global pandemic. How does that affect the way you, as a band, go about promoting the album? Plans for any live streamsor that sort now that it’s out in the world?
Mark: We havent really talked about it I guess. Obviously wed be touring if we could. Most of the band is under a serious shelter in place lockdown in Melbourne while Im free and relatively easy in a totally different state so I can at least go to the pub to celebrate the release. No plans for anything yet.
ATH: I admit this is a tough one to answer, but who brought the best songs this go round?
Mark: A lot of the songs were written in the four days we were recording so not many of us were very prepared! I like them all really. They all hit different feelings and vibes for me. I love Curtiss song Visions of You, and Nicks Kit Home, Jords songs didnt have lyrics at first so I loved hearing all the mixes back months later and discovering the songs anew. Jord pushes his voice to these amazing places on his tracks which I think is super thrilling. Dunno, mate. Theyre all good. You tell me!
ATH: Is there a story to your recipe, or any personal significance, other than you just enjoy cooking it?
Mark: I cook this all the time. Its my oh, this, I just threw something together show off dish. It has bugger all ingredients but is stupidly rich and delicious. Its a Marcella Hazan recipe and its like alchemy. I serve it with a crisp lettuce salad with heaps of Olive Oil, Mustard and Lemon. And crusty bread.
Chicken and Porcini Fricassee
A whole chicken – broken down in four pieces. (Keep backbone for stock)
40g Dried Porcinia Mushrooms.
100ml ish of dry white wine. I try to use resiling because I also like to drink that.
A can of Cherry tomatoes.
Salt
Pepper
That’s literally all the ingredients. This recipe rules.
– Soak the Porcini Mushrooms in about 400ml of boiling water for about 20 minutes. Keep them hanging out in that awesome umami mushroom water! Dont throw it away.
– After youve broken down your chicken pat the skin dry and salt and pepper it liberally.
– Get a decent sized pan (I have a biggish stainless steel one) nice and hot and add a big glug of olive oil.
– Place the chicken pieces skin side down in the pan and reduce heat a bit to medium-low. Leave them on that side for like 15 minutes until theyre really brown and crisp. Then flip em and give them another 5 mins.
– Chuck the wine in and let it bubble for a bit until it doesnt smell quite so boozey. About 3 mins.
– Pour in the mushrooms and the amazing juice theyve been soaking in, along with the can of cherry tomatoes, and bring to a boil.
– Turn heat down to low and half cover the pan. Cook for about half an hour. Turning the chicken every so often.
– When the chicken is definitely cooked through but not horrid and dry take it out and set aside for a bit.
– Then you want to reduce the sauce down so its barely watery at all, its just super charged mushroomy, tomatoey slightly wet mush. It will look brown and gross, do not worry. It is meant to look like that.
– When the sauce is thick and mega rich (prob 7ish mins), salt it to your liking and return the chicken to warm through.
– Serve it in a bowl with salad and bread. You can squeeze a lemon over it if this is your thing. You can also garnish with parsley if thats the vibe.
– Impress your friends with something you just threw together
This Friday, Royal Forest will finally release their new album Waiting Drum; it feels like its been a long time coming, though that in part has to do with the band’s attention to detail in the process. This new LP, for instance, was recorded in a nearly century old farmhouse in Arkansas, which inevitably left its mark on the group’s sound. Digging through the latest single, I’m really impressed with the way they’ve created this dense lushness in their sound, with each note seemingly brimming with thoughtfulness; really love the song’s latter half where electronic textures are woven in and out. That said, the vocals help the group maintain a certain pop sensibility that makes their organic musical exploration accessible to even the pickiest of listeners. If you’re willing to go on this journey, grab Waiting Drum this Friday via King Electric Record Company.
I love Andrew Anderson. For starters he’s part of both Proto Idiot and Hipshakes, two band’s I quite enjoy. He hails from Manchester, home to great music and my favorite soccer team. But, he’s also filled with ambition, like his latest, Be My Guest LP. It’s an album of 14 songs, each one featuring Andrew composing a track with a featured guest from all over his local scene. Of course, my jangle tendencies had me fawning over “High Window,” which sounds like it’d fit right along tons of the Aussie stuff we’re all into over at ATH. You get some disco-funk along the lines of something Kevin Barnes might pull off in “Tell Me About It,” or you can check in on the calm of “Under the Trees.” Just imagine a playlist full of the sounds that influence your favorite artist, only this time, that artist is playing on the record! It’s cool, plus all the money earned is being split between Booth Centre and Black Lives Matter UK. Stream it all below!
Fridays in the music world have become crazy during quarantine as this seems to be the popular day for new music to drop all over the place. With that in mind, I miss things from time to time, like this impressive new single called “Forget (Friendly) from Montreal based band Gulfer. For those who know my musical tastes, one can quickly see why I would share a song like this despite my tardiness. The track clearly has some of those late emo vibes I love when the genre started getting grittier, with a more punk rock influence seen in bands like The Casket Lottery or Cursive. If nothing else, you have to love the tense, emotionally driven vocals from leading man Vincent Ford.
If you’ve ever met Jared Leibowich you’d know that he’s devoted to his craft; he’s writing non-stop, whether that’s for Jarebear, the Infinites, his solo stuff, or the Zoltars. We were actually super fortunate to help put out the last Zoltars effort Telling Stories, but the band is ready to return with Mystery Kids. Today we’re more than happy to share the aptly titled “August 24th,” the lead single from the new LP. I think my favorite piece about this tune is the crisp way the guitar notes turn, popping out of the mix perfectly. And that chorus, fuzzier guitars and a swell of Jared’s voice supported by some textured backing notes. In the second go round, the song gets more emphatic, almost in a sort of a fanatic stage diatribe; it’s actually a cool touch that I think gives the song just enough of an edge. Mystery Kids will be out on October 1st via Rock Tumbler Records.
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There are some bands that just make you feel like you’re life’s going alright, like you’re making all the right moves; that’s what I feel like when I listen to the latest single from 
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If you’ve ever met Jared Leibowich you’d know that he’s devoted to his craft; he’s writing non-stop, whether that’s for Jarebear, the Infinites, his solo stuff, or