Last Week’s Jams, Today (4.25 – 4.29)

There were some great new tunes last week, and I certainly can’t get enough of some of the LPs that dropped, which we pointed you towards on Friday. The Dehd track that hit last week is for sure one of their best of late, but I’m still really partial to jamming to that Guy Capecelatro III album. Some intriguing tunes from the likes of Maria Chiara Argiro, Team Play and Rose Mercie make a nice appearance in this weeks track-listing, plus there’s a bunch of other tunes to get you started on Monday morning.

Flight Mode Share Twentyfour Single

I’m a big Flight Mode fan, and with the purity of the band’s revisionist Tx ’98 EP, the band landed with Chris Walla for production on their Torshov ’05 EP. This song seems like it has the classic Walla production touch, allowing the verses to wallow in the mellowness before emphatically bursting with a pop hook that swirls in the chorus. Sure, there are tons of bands that pull that off, but perhaps none better than Death Cab back in their heyday with Walla. Maybe that’s just the good songwriting of this Oslo based outfit; their brand new EP will be out next Friday courtesy of Sound as Language.

Last Week’s Jams, Today (3.28 – 4.1)

Weirdly, I felt like I didn’t cover too much last week, but apparently we got in at least 15 new songs, plus a few extras. I’m getting pickier in my old age, but mostly just figure you read Stereogum first, so no need to cover what they’re covering in their Premature Ejaculation column. I started out this week’s playlist with a cover from Screaming Females, but bookend it with the OG from The Selecter, cuz why the fuck not. Our friends Humdrum had a new hit, and that glorious Papercuts LP finally dropped in. It’s Monday, and there’s jams…I’m just over here listening to the first wave British ska.

Flight Mode Announce New EP

Flight Mode won me over with the Texas ’98 EP, which had some nostalgic moments, both for the songwriter, and myself, someone who was living in Texas in 1998. Now, the Oslo band revisit another place in their own history, looking back on the Torshov neighborhood in 2005. Musically, the songwriting is a little more expansive on this first single, perhaps pensive; it feels like something you’d find on a Jade Tree sampler, or a B-side of a Joan of Arc record. I love how the gentle vocals get a heavier backing vocal to give the song just the slightest edge…the faintest, as this track is too pretty to break up. The Torshov ’05 EP is dropping May 6th on Sound as Language.

Flight Mode Share Sixteen

I don’t give a shit what wave of emo we’re in right now; there’s a brand that totally fits into my mind as the purest form (though admittedly it’s probably like 2nd wave). Still, Flight Mode seem like they’re revisiting their own stories to create something nostalgic and new. Listening through this new single, it reminds me of the sort of breakdowns mid-track you’d get from a Bob Nanna-led band like Braid; it packs the same punch too! Still, the vocals from Sjur are a bit softer, which gives a little bit of brevity from the edged rush of guitars. You’ll find this track on the group’s new TX 98′ EP, which drops June 25th via Sound as Language.

Flight Mode Tap Into 90s Emo

There are tons of bands looking back at the emo days, some reimagining, some just trying to pull it off the best they can. For me, Oslo’s Flight Mode are one of the few who seem to pull it off with actual sincerity. I tend to think of bands like Braid and Mineral, before the brand was more pop than rock, when it was fueled by overlapping guitar lines and soft (emotional) vocals. You get that here in this new single from the band’s forthcoming Tx ’98 EP, which is where singer Sjur was living, and I was too, so perhaps that’s why I’m tapping into his nostalgic revisiting; the EP is being released by Sound as Language on June 25th.