Last Week’s Jams (5.8 – 5.12)

Last week kicked off with a bang; we covered a whole bunch of tunes right off the bat, only to kind of fade towards the end of the week. Still, we managed to get up 20 tunes you should listen to, though the Mope City single isn’t out there yet on streaming services. Some Austin love came our way with Tearjerk and Balmorhea getting solid mentions, while we couldn’t help but to continue our fawning over Night Beats and their latest barrage of bangers. Threw in some new Shelflife releases from Lost Tapes and Youth Valley, and in the end, the new stuff from Shrapnel and Special Friend definitely won awards for my faves of the week. You’ve got an hour of legendary streams below!

Catching Up with Shelflife Records: Lost Tapes + Youth Valley

As much as I might hate to admit it, I feel like sometimes I take Shelflife Records for granted. Much like a Slumberland or Trouble in Mind, they just put out such consistently great albums, that I’m like “Yeah, of course I’ll love it, I’ll come back to it.” But, as was the case the last few weeks, we missed some real gems from bands we love: Lost Tapes and Youth Valley. Lost Tapes has a new Crossing Towns EP coming out in June (6.21), and the first single has a slight jangle, perhaps melted a bit in the global warming crisis, turning into a mellower slow churn that flirts with dreams. Over in Greece, Youth Valley are dropping a quicker bit of jangle pop, bringing sharp notes that open up for the melodic vocals to hide in the song’s middle; they’ll release their new Lullabies for Adults LP in June (6.25) too! Don’t take your favorite labels for granted! Go check out all the other stuff Shelflife has for you!

Pleased to Meet You: The Lions Constellation

Spanish outfit The Lions Constellation has some familiar faces, namely RJ Sinclair from ATH faves Lost Tapes. This time RJ and friends are ditching the playful side of indiepop to give us these heavy walls of noise, but as anything with Sinclair goes, there’s definitely still a huge pop bent, albeit a noisier one!I love how each song balances the sheer noise with these delicate little moments of pop writing blended into the tunes. You get three short burners, and one drawn out, exploratory tune, so it’ll be interesting to see where the band goes on their next release; you can be assured based on the tunes below that it’s going to be deliciously loud!

Lost Tapes Return with Quoting Salter EP

I always love the stuff that Lost Tapes release; they seem to have this knack for crafting just the right brand of melodic pop that lets the mind wonder. With their latest single, I can’t help but think of myself rocking gently in a nice hammock, breezily blowing in the wind as I let my eyes rest and my mind escape the mundane daily rituals. Things seem so clean and perfect in the way the duo work their songs, and in doing so, they create these nuggets of pop joy; it’s like unwrapping your Christmas present early and realizing nothing else in this moment matters. They’ll be releasing the Quoting Salter EP on December 4th via the esteemed Sunday Records.

Lost Tapes Share Six by Six Video

Last year’s The Bill EP was a really great listen from Lost Tapes; it was four incredible pop tunes that had the duo working at the peak of indie pop. One of the highlights was “Six by Six,” using these softened melodies from Pau and RJ to entrance the listener; it was dreamy in feel, but buoyed by the percussive bounce throughout the song’s duration. The video is using found footage pieced together to kind of draft the song’s narrative; I’m particularly interested in this punk rock kid dancing about in his bedroom…feels like someone had a camera in my childhood home. It’s a great reminder of the longevity of great songs, showing us that years later the song still has the charm. This EP is available courtesy of Shelflife.

Lost Tapes Return with The Bill

It’s been a few years since we last heard from Lost Tapes with their collection, We Thought It Was Okay at the Time. One thing’s for sure today, the band definitely are doing okay right now, hitting that musical sweet spot of my personal tastes. For starters, there’s a wash over the track, matched by some of the shadier attributes of the accompanying video; this haze hangs on to the vocals too, giving off this dream state. But, just beneath that fuzzy pop is this stuttering jangle pop; it’s sounds a great bit like “Rip It Up” by Orange Juice, which is a sure-fire dance number for me and my wife. Not every day you come across a number that hits the dream pop and the jangle at once; this tune appears on the group’s new EP, out on Shelflife on February 22nd.

Lost Tapes Release New Video

12742816_1027405533983391_6617029569881673984_nBeen spending a lot of time listening to the dreamy pop sounds of Lost Tapes over the last few weeks. They just got up their debut album, Let’s Get Lost; it’s an understated bit of dreamy electro pop. I like the imagery of the video, especially the fact that it’s shot in black and white. It seems to fit well with the song, as the vocals are resting just behind the mix, at least in my ears. If the song strikes you, you’ll love listening to the record…relaxing and thoughtful, but filled with emotion.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/GJ_eln46LZo[/youtube]

Get Weird With Mr. Divisadero

mr-divisadero-promo-2015-650x400The story of Mr. Divisadero is a long one, and I won’t bore you with some long, drawn out story here (Pop Matters has a good full length).  My short version tells it that co-founders of record label Axis Mundi happened upon a long since lost album, got in touch with the original band members, and decided to release the damn thing because the tunes are so rad.  So after nearly a decade of being forgotten, we are treated to some tunes from our yesteryears in the form of this hot new track “Dreams”.  I dig the quirky, yet bright pop sounds created here complete with riffing guitars and interesting vocals.  Maybe the band will reunite and tour the country?

Pick up Mr. Divisadero’s debut, self-titled album on September 4th via Axis Mundi Records.

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Pure Pop from Lost Tapes

LostTapesCover500x500-300x300Two things are great about the following track. One, it comes from the Spanish duo, Lost Tapes, who’ve managed to craft some really outstanding pop songs, which I will never tire of hearing.  Two, it’s the latest release from Eardrums Pop, one of the great small labels doing their best to promote great music across the globe. I like the bouncing rhythm of the drums, and the gliding feel of the vocals.  If you’re into this tune, you can head over HERE and grab the EP from EPop, but do the site a favor and toss a dollar or two their way so they can keep bringing us sweet tunes.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Lost-Tapes-1-War-in-The-Netherlands.mp3]

Download: Lost Tapes – War in The Netherlands [MP3]