With their slackerfied-Blondie sounds, California trio Best Coast have a lot of potential as an up and coming band to get big on their first time around.
Shimmery Spector-tinged bedroom pop. The NYC couple follow last year's sweet, buzzy 7" with a surprisingly substantive album. Girlish vocals skirt the edge of saccharine and xylophones do tinkle, but thoughtful lyrics, solid bass lines and echoing crescendos give the songs backbone: this is pop that delivers. Album out 6/7.
The yelping + jangling emitted by Florida 4some Holiday Shores recalls '70's Talking Heads.
Of the most interesting bands ever from the label that gave us such great bands The Magnetic Fields, Neutral Milk Hotel and Arcade Fire. Now just releasing their first album in 9 years, Superchunk came from the late 80s, back in a time when there really was no such thing as Indie music in the US. There was just a bubbling cauldron called "Underground" that contained everything from local college radio, various stuff from UK (Rough Trade) and whatever 7-inches showed up in xeroxed catalogues. It was more of a wild-west, and ironically for the heavily-distorted Superchunk, they had a big handing in curating/shaping the more mannerly, melodic face that the indie label has ended up with.
Touring nationally after last year's Vinyl/CD release "The Flaming Lips And Stardeath And White Dwarfs With Henry Rollins And Peaches Doing Dark Side Of The Moon”!
She & him frontwoman Zooey Deschanel has soulful, clever lyrics (ex: "running away from you is like running a business") and a voice like freshly-baked pie. Cooling on a windowsill. In Venice Beach. In 1945.
Caterwauling Brooklyn experimentalists Dirty Projectors have collaborated with Bjork; a track from their new Album Ascending Melody can be downloaded for free at their official website!
Author of numerous musical paeans to boston, Jonathan Richman's lyrics are sweet, sad, funny, and readily comprehensible; his melodies are witty and pretty; his live show is intimate. here's a video of Richman performing crowd favorite "I Was Dancing At A Lesbian Bar" on Conan.
"New York's loudest band" channels 80's angst heroes like the Cure and (especially) Jesus And Mary Chain. Don't be fooled: there are sweet melodies behind the fuzz and echo.
