By now I’d have to guess that most of your are familiar with DUCKTAILS. The band is fronted by Matt Mondanile, who also plays guitar in Real Estate. In case you weren’t aware, now you are. This is Mondanile’s most recent release, coming out back in September from Old English Spelling Bee. Continue reading “Ducktails – Hamilton Road 7″”
Anybody remember our boys from Australia named IOWA? We covered their first 7″ a little over a week ago. Now we’re back with their latest 7″, which comes from their own personal Desert Mouth Records label. Continue reading “Iowa – Lose Yourself 7″”
Hailing from Chicago comes HEAVY TIMES. These three guys have been out there recording music for awhile now, and their most recent release comes in the 7″ vinyl format from the renowned Hozac Records label. Continue reading “Heavy Times – No Plans 7″”
New week = new music! We’ve got some killer records and singles lined up for you guys this week. Let’s start it off with the Brooklyn electronic duo GAMES who have recently been causing quite a stir in the music blogosphere. Continue reading “Games – That We Can Play EP”
Hey, hopefully everybody’s been having a good holiday week. With Thanksgiving and Black Friday now past us, it looks like things are finally going back to normal. Well, at least until Christmas gets a little closer anyway. We all know how hectic that gets. To finish up the week I’ve got quite an awesome and interesting record here, and I think yr gonna enjoy it very much. Continue reading “Brain Idea – The Survival Scrolls”
Coming from the Kill Rock Stars imprint we have a delightfully new 7″ from Portland’s own HORSE FEATHERS today. This 7″ was just put out at the beginning of the month, and it’s significance comes along with an interesting story, told best by the people at Kill Rock Stars. Continue reading “Horse Feathers – Drain You 7″”
Hey! Last time we heard from LORD HURON it was back in August when the sun was shining and the heat was a reason to be upset. Now we’re nearing the colder months of the year, and Lord Huron drops his second EP called “Mighty”. There’s just one problem – it’s cold now. Continue reading “Lord Huron – Mighty EP”
Coming from a small independent DIY label based in Plymouth, Portsmouth and Weymouth (depending on the season) comes a split 7″ from Exeter’s New Years Evil and Falmouth’s The Black Tambourines. The name of the label is Art Is Hard Records (which could be a reference to Cursive?), and this happens to be their second official release. Their first release was put out in quite a unique fashion, as they sold t-shirts along with a download card of a compilation album from nine of their favorite local bands. This time they stuck to the traditions of putting this 7″ out on wax, but who knows what’s to come down the road. It seems like these two brotherly bros running the show have some new and innovative ideas up their sleeves.
While we don’t know what’s coming next, we can always bring our attention to what we have right now. It’s a 7″ with a song on each side, one from New Years Evil called “Shame”, and one from The Black Tambourines called “Tommy”. New Years Evil come at you full force in “Shame” with crazy rampant drumming, springy bass lines, and some fiery guitar licks that are sure to please. The guitar undoubtedly gets crazy during the final minute after a quick build up, resulting in mind-bending solo action that literally sounds like the dudes fingers were on fire while he played.
Flip that wax and it’s time for the B-side “Tommy”, which starts out on a slower note, only to quickly pick up speed. After that injection of energy the song takes form, bringing concentrated, almost fuzzy guitars to the table with a scuzzy wall of lo-fi grit filling out the song. The tom-tom driven drumming is enough to keep your feet tapping along as the choppy guitars continue to tear everything up in their path, and there’s even some cheerful “woo-woo” chanting in there to help lift the mood that much more, as if this song wasn’t perky enough already. After the joyful chants and forceful drumming, the song starts to slowly fade away into a mysterious abyss with some careful guitar picking, which brings the song to an end. Without a doubt these two songs need to be heard, and you can do so simply by playing them below. If you’re really feeling daring today, why not visit Art Is Hard Records and snag a copy for yourself? I’m sure it’ll be worth it. See ya tomorrow.
New Years Evil – Shame –
The Black Tambourines – Tommy –
My Rating: 7.5/10
Genre/ Tags: Garage Rock, Lo-Fi, Pop
Split 7″: Tracklist:
1.) New Years Evil – Shame
2.) The Black Tambourines – Tommy
New Years Evil on Myspace
New Years Evil on Bandcamp
The Black Tambourines on Myspace
The Black Tambourines on Facebook
BUY the 7″ directly from Art is Hard Records
What’s up people. Now that the weekend’s over it’s time for another new week in music, so let’s start it off with a bang.
This weekend was a cold one (at least where I’m from, anyway), and I spent a greater portion of it driving around my hometown delivering pizza’s from the comfort of my cars stereo. Being the delivery guy always gives me ample time to check out various new musics, but sometimes I get a little sidetracked if something new and special presents itself. In other words, what I meant was I had a good deal of stuff to check out, but only ended up listening to one thing. Was it because of the cold and how absolutely perfect the music complements the weather for this time of year? Was it because of my undying love for John K. Samson and The Weakerthans? Would you have guessed that a band like Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans would even be on this blog? For some reason my guess is “probably not.”
Jim Bryson and The Weakerthans toured together in the Fall of 2007 (for the Weakerthans “Reunion Tour” album), and I’m not sure if that’s when this whole project began to take place, but it sounds like a good starting point, right? Before this album, that was the Weakerthans last studio effort, while Brysons was 2007’s “Where the Bungalows Roam”. With that being said, it’s about time that both of these acts got back in the studio to lay down some new tracks. There’s just one issue – they didn’t record in a studio. They spent this past January in a cabin in the middle of a -40C winter on Falcon Lake in Manitoba, and the results are quite stunning. To see for yourself where I just got all that information, follow this link to the Jim Bryson website and scroll down to his posts from the beginning months of 2010.
I had never really thought to check out Jim Bryson (even after he opened for the Weakerthans in 2007), but I can tell you right now that I’ll be looking into his stuff after hearing this new album. These Canadian musical masterminds are obviously doing something right, and they certainly deserve a little praise for this record here. Coming from a Weakerthans dominated musical diet (and not so much Bryson), I have to say this – it’s like a Weakerthans album with the country-esque twangy guitar and laid-back approach, but with the addition of Bryson the music gains a little more energy at times than a Weakerthans album normally would have (like in tracks “Wild Folk”, “Up All Night”, “Kissing Cousins”, and “Decidedly”). If you’re familiar with the Weakerthans song “Watermark”, pretend they transplanted the raw energy from that song and spread it out around “The Falcon Lake Incident”. The result would be this album we have here.
One of the songs that first comes to mind that has that natural energy is the fourth track “Wild Folk”. A truly glorious song when driving down the highway, leaving all the other cars in your dust behind you. There’s a constantly pulsing vibe you can grasp in this song, as you can feel the pure energy rush through your veins. There’s even a feeling of comfort worked into the song, which just says that “everything’s going to be okay”. Maybe it’s the blissful “ba-ba-ba-ba” chants from Bryson, or just the reassuring lyrics about staying back at home, which seems like the only place worth being in this song. Coming around within the final minute, the song peaks off as they rock a single guitar chord into the end as the song slowly winds down with a mysterious vibe.
Please guys, don’t sleep on this stuff. There’s something worth smiling about around every corner of this heartwarming album, whether it’s the homely feel or just the way it seems to fight off the cold weather. Jim Bryson and the Weakerthans gang put together quite a project here, and I’m more than happy to be sharing it with you guys today. Listen to the songs below, smile, and enjoy.
PS – Why would you ever grow leaves just to watch them fall off again?
Metal Girls –
Fell of the Dock –
Wild Folk –
Decidedly –
My Rating: 8.6/10
Genre/ Tags: Folk Rock, Alt-Country, Indie Rock
The Falcon Lake Incident: Tracklist:
1.) Raised All Wrong
2.) Metal Girls
3.) Fell Off the Dock
4.) Wild Folk
5.) Constellation
6.) Freeways in the Frontyard
7.) Up All Night
8.) Kissing Cousins
9.) Decidedly
10.) Anything and All
Jim Bryson – Official Website
The Weakerthans – Official Website
BUY the album directly from Kelp Records (LP)
or BUY directly from MapleMusic (CD)
In relation – an older Drone post about John K. Samson
Twin Sister have had quite a busy year in 2010. They’ve toured extensively, released their “Color Your Life” EP which came out on Infinite Best back earlier this year, and they even put out this nifty little cassette tape through the Curatorial Club, amongst other things. Now they’re currently about to go play some more shows over in Europe, but before they left for the trip, Twin Sister put out a brand new video for their song “All Around and Away We Go” from their EP. It’s a colorfully dazzling mix of carefully choreographed dance moves and all-too-serious but totally awesome hand jives. Check it out with the link below, and then I’ll see you guys next week.
Follow the link here to watch the video: All Around and Away We Go
Twin Sister – Official Website – see their show dates in Europe
Twin Sister performing in Philadelphia back in May – Videos
Styrofoam Drone 