Tag: shelflife records

Last Week’s Jams (5.8 – 5.12)

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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

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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!

Oceans Share New Single, High

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The lockdown, while still looming in our thoughts, brought about a lot of creativity for artists, and it seems to have spun Australia’s Oceans in a slightly new direction. Now operating as a full band, there’s a bit of promise on the horizon, and I mean that in more of a metaphorical sense. You can still feel the darkened edges that were present on the Come So Far EP, but there’s an electricity that seems to be dashing through on this brand new single (the first as a full band). For starters, the time stamp has it at just over 2 minutes, meaning the band have to apply a frantic nature to it; you can hear that in the drum’s pounding away and the stabbing guitar lines that knife their way in and out. Still, that dreamy vocal seems to rise and crest, just as the guitars hit with more enthusiasm, blasting you with a cool breeze of delightful melody. This new single is brought to you courtesy of Shelflife Records.

Submotile Shares Foreshadowing Single

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Dublin’s Submotile aren’t quite content with rehashing the past or touching up on fads regarding the shoegaze genre. Instead, they seem to have taken notes, then said “fuck it” and crafted their own vibe, which is both powerful and refreshing. Starting off running, you get this propulsive rhythm pounding the beat with cascading guitars working in the background; it starts to evolve into a really heavy post-rock soundscape vibe, which makes the drop in all the more special. Noise swirling, vocals come in, melodic and cool, crafted in such a way that it almost feels like another layer gets built into the complex fabric. Personally, the back and forth between the noisier elements and pop hooks is what just tugs at me, so I’m all in for the band’s new LP. One Final Summit Before the Fall will be out on October 21st via modern legends Shelflife Records.

 

My Raining Stars Share Behind Her Lovely Smile

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Thierry Haliniak is no stranger to the sounds of pop music, having been on the edges of the indie pop realm since the early 90s, but it’s really been the last decade or so when his solo work as My Raining Stars really seems to have sprung to life. There’s that nostalgic carousel of jangling guitar licks chiming through your speaker. All that, dreaminess, yet its still the warmth of Thierry’s voice beckoning you to dive further into what’s lurking in this new LP. Searching for crisp pop music to transport you back to the 90s? Well, then you’re going to want to grab 89 Memories, the new LP, which is dropping today via Shelflife/Discos de Kirlian.

The Holiday Crowd Return with Party Favours

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We haven’t heard from Holiday Crowd in quite some time, but boy is this new single a welcome return. The group just dropped new of a new 7″ for Shelflife Records, and the A-side is the sort of slinky-jangle pop nod, toying with a hint of croon to the vocals. In a way, it’s kind of a Sarah Records influenced take on Two Wheels Good-era Prefab Sprout, which should hopefully catch your ears. The jangles aren’t over the top, but the melodic charm of the chorus really helps sell the sound here, particularly when pace is added to the vocals giving the song that sort of swirling allure. Party Favours 7″ is out on April 15th.

Sugar for the Pill Share Drink Conium

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Greek outfit Sugar for the Pill will be releasing their debut LP next week, but we’ll be out and about at SXSW most likely, so wanted to make sure we’re up and at ’em by throwing our support behind the group’s new effort. We’ve got a brand new single too, so you win either way! This track is filled with these cascading guitar lines, shimmering behind the vocals, which I think tends to give the track that shoegaze mark, but a closer ear will reveal some extra elements that have me excited about what the band brings to the table. The rhythm section is bouncy, offering up catching lines that have you tapping your toes, so you get a little post-punk inflection in the tune. Plus, there’s these gang shouts that pop up in the chorus and at various other points, breaking through the dreaminess and giving a more punk ethos to the tune. So, while you’d like to lump them in with your like-minded dream gaze acts, check out how they turn it into something wholly their own. Wanderlust is out March 18th via Shelflife Records and Make Me Happy Records.

 

Whimsical Share Rewind Video

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We’re going to have ourselves a little Shelflife party over here at ATH, which is completely okay, as it’s one of my favorite labels. Earlier we had that hot Salt Lake Alley tune, and now we bring you the latest from the dream-gaze outfit, Whimsical. The video, like the song, is definitely shrouded in a bit of denseness, with the guitars churning out this wall of noise that serves as the background; the video uses slow pacing and these similarly heavy color tones to match that vibe. Musically, Krissy Vanderwoude’s voice is able to pierce the shroud of darkness, delivering this pulsing bit of melody that shimmers on the surface, as this genre should. If you dig it, Melt will be out on April 1st.

Salt Lake Alley Announce It Takes Two

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The year’s had some great pop tune, though I’ll be honest, as I’m not quite sure that anything’s really delivered the supreme jangle that I deserve! Well, that all changes today when Salt Lake Alley announce their sophomore LP, on Shelflife no less! From the moment you press play the guitars skate and shimmy, sort of skirting around you speakers as the beat bounces lightly in the background. I love how Mikael and Gustav seem to be trading off vocal roles on this song, adding this real dynamic punch that charms a pop fan like myself. Oh, and please please hang out just pass the 1:37 mark as there’s one hell of a guitar solo just waiting to make you swoon over the hooks. Their new LP, It Takes Two won’t be out until 2022, but you can enjoy the first sample below!

Astral Brain Share Five Thousand Miles

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You’ve got to leave it to Shelflife Records for their continuous output of acts that are mostly completely new to me. Just take a listen to the lead single from Swedish outfit, Astral Brain, who will be releasing the Bewildered Mind this October via the US label. When it begins, the vocal performance from singer Siri tends to waver back and forth between pastoral and baroque. But, at the minute mark, the song just lifts off, lifting you spiritually out of your chair and into the dreamy caverns of the soundscape created by Einar Ekstrom. Siri’s voice is the perfect foil for Ekstrom’s work, at times, her control of melody doesn’t even require words, merely spinning out charming monosyllabic notes to make you swoon. This gem of an LP will be out on October 15th, you can order it HERE!

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