Y’all aren’t an easy group to please so I’ve carefully brought together a mess of nattily dressed talents to woo you with a combination of name recognition and failure-ready descriptions. Feel free to refute my suppositions.

Dismiss Me With A Smile

Wild Beasts – With a band name like that you’d expect a group of greasy tattooed rockers, not this lot of Bronski Beat rejects with a lead singer that confidently jumps from high notes to low like some dude from Elbow. Jaunty, British, and up for immediate purchase when the release date rolls around.

Jack Penate – So the jaunty and British thing mentioned above translates here as well, with a disco bass for good measure. I found it to be quite ebullient in almost an African music kind of way, and not “Nothing But Flowers” (not that there’s anything wrong with Naked).

The Entrance Band – Bringing the proceedings to a screeching halt because how many us really enjoy energetic experiences anyway? Mewling vocals and 80’s guitar textures punctuate this slow building Baltimore area side project. Notice how I mention Baltimore once an update just to capture the attention of a certain listener?

Blue Roses – Already being feted as fantastic by those in the know, I continue to wait outside in a drizzle for the heater to kick in. Her voice takes that divisive Joanna Newsom style a step further to the left, mated with ‘authentic’ (read: reedy) production and period instruments that scream method over magic. Of course it’s all hidden and obscured on this somewhat palatable selection.

Joe Henry – OK, so I really enjoyed the early 90’s country version of Joe Henry and not the faux-meaningful aka impenetrable stuff from the mid-90’s. Good news is he’s coming down from that high solitude of the one-man mountain he perched hisself on, bad news is he stopped off to visit with Tom Waits. Still, any improvement should be noted in hopes of future gains.

Magnolia Electric Co. – The man is obsessed with Neil Young, we all certainly can observe that from his Songs: Ohia. At least it’s the good 70’s stuff, he hasn’t quite gotten to the Trans portion of the catalog yet. This one still has some fraying on the edge of the natty lapels, and that’s alright with me.

Samara Lubelski – Less is more when it comes to Ms. Lubelski, hushing her able vocals like Nico with proper training yet subtly layering in a wash a keyboards, backing vocals and bass to create a late night hey did the light behind that door just flicker mood.

Mew – Just because I feel like we should end with some production aided grandeur, here’s a band I’ve never gotten wandering into a moment I can relationally draw upon. Hopefully it’s not too Mars Volta nu-prog for y’all.

Swinging by the indie pop clubhouse for a quick visit with some new releases, a few of the power pop kids snuck in to steal some lemonade but don’t mind them they’ll leave once we break out the violins and horns.

Do The Dog Paddle

Sondre Lerche – I never intend to enjoy a Sondre Lerche record, he seems so 80’s Paul McCartney square that my initial assumptions are always skewed WERS style (ie – unexpectedly hearing a good songs on a flavorless radio station) but this one deserves the attention of at least on Josh Rouse fan.

Montt Mardié –Montt’s releases distinguish themselves with their humour, often surrounding the awkward way his characters (or him?) try to navigate life and love across a pop-culture background. Unfortunately not much of that element can be found on this new one, though at least the sound and voice are still present.

Zeus – Plain ‘ol straight ahead power pop from the 70’s that quite effectively captures the vibe without feeling the need to New Pornographers it for the messenger bag crowd (of which I am one, prolly)

The Invisible Cities – Well, we certainly hope they don’t stay invisible given the charm and style on display in this tune which doesn’t quite live up to the explanatory promise of its title … but then again perhaps it does?

The Seldon Plan – The lady came from Baltimore, and so did this jaunty and overly simple tune that doesn’t hang out on the corner much more than it has to.

Cheap Trick – These kids certainly still got the power and have been plagued by the same problem throughout their career – finding someone that can accurately record their superb live sound. This record is as close to doing it right as they’ve been in 20 years.

God Help The Girl – Despite all the press to the contrary this sounds nothing like a Belle & Sebastian record to me. It does tries to studiously ape the 60’s without the requisite energy needed to pull it off nor the vocal talent to sell the concept. Can you tell I’m disappointed? Well, at least I wasn’t expecting that much …

The Postmarks – Now here’s your Belle & Sebastian fix, from this reliable NY based indie pop band that’s made a (likely non-paying) career out of simply orchestrated jubilance.

A collection of recent releases coldly calculated to appeal to the smooth pop afficianado – a demographic unto itself!

Baby In The Back Seat

Reverie Sound Revue – Super peppy and tightly synchronized femme-voxed pop that recalls the heyday of Stereolab or Ivy or any other mid-90’s outfit that placed precedence on reverbed vocals and bass guitar.

Divisible – Another tune with the balance strongly set towards the rhythm section, much crisper jazz inflection in the female vocals but still a heavy emphasis on tight song construction with a slice of stop start perched on the rim.

Olivia Broadfield – She has a few too many miles on the clock (only a few, mind you) to be aiming for the Vagrant teen demographic but that doesn’t stop this gauzy glittery girl, uh woman, from spending her time investigating love and angst for the locker-opening crowd

The Golden Bloom – An extremely strong scent of Maritime or Minus the Bear or any other post-Promise Ring emo project that found the pop portion of genre much more exciting than the sturm and drang can be found here.

We Were Promised Jetpacks – My enthusiasm for this post-punk outfit is quite reserved, not because I’m so over the early 80’s revival but because the mewling vocals hint at something much more modern, an inevitable intrusion I suppose (years ago, I might have known).

Madness – Here it is, the best song off the new Madness album, accept no substitute. It has the horns, the piano, the loping pace, the audible sneer underneath a weighty sigh. Perhaps I shouldn’t place heavy expectation that Madness ’09 = Madness ’83 but quite frankly if they don’t deliver on that unwritten promise then there’s no need for another Madness album.

Throw Me The Statue – While the band’s name shows up early in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the song is not quite a face-melter but it generates as much cool as heat like the electric fans in a professor’s office, functionally brilliant.

Summer Cats – Return with me to the early 90’s indiepop landscape, where appearing in a VW commercial was the pinnacle of success. There’s quite a bit of that DNA inherent in this tune, which hits with the wicked force of a great Velocity Girl song (admittedly there weren’t many, and they weren’t very forceful).

Allow me to make a peace offering to the agitated, the anxious, the affable, the amphibious listeners of this blog with these eight songs from new releases that know how to craft tension and release, sometimes in the same song.

A Worthless Tourist

Amazing Baby - A lovely melding of glam styles with some textured guitar and perhaps even a bit of Spanish horns for a slice of fun that’s aiming for MGMT like success.

Foreign Born – Bit of a plodder here but it carries a punch worth waiting for in the chorus that can’t be denied as it earns a chance at the title fight.

Dinosaur Jr. – New album is actually carries some Sire-era polish despite still hanging on to the pre-Sebadoh lineup, one can’t deny this sprawling rocker earns its extended length.

Wussy – Former Ass Ponys members can barely seem to hang together in this rough late 80’s alterna-rocker but whenever they led the lady take the lead I find their songs undeniably addictive.

Phil & The Osophers – Former dumbest band name on the concert report winners prove they have to be better than anyone else for fear of being laughed out of the club upon introduction.

Cosmos – If the names Robert Pollard and Richard Davies stoke your excitement well it’s not exactly Cardinal-esque precision you’ll find on this full-length despite the evidence to the contrary presented here.

Malcolm Middleton – Must admit while it doesn’t fully remind me of Arab Strap it does carve a wave of its own out of its unpredictable tempo and boisterously british presence.

David Axelrod – Soundtrack instrumental that aims for an early 70’s sun and seashore vibe and hits the target with one hundred and EIGHTY like precision.

8 more highly synthetic tracks more likely of interest to those stuck in 80’s new wave or 90’s dance club culture than anyone hanging out here with the punchbowl crowd.

The Sidewalks And The Sky

Patrick Wolf – His latest is adorned with a remodeled image worthy of A Flock of Seagulls member, and the music is equally authentic and inspiring new wave.

Romance – Another in a long line of gothy post-punk bands chasing after a golden ring that has long since tarnished, but I won’t complain until they are all uniformly terrible instead of intermittently so.

YACHT – The stutterstep pace would likely frustrate the faithful dancefloor denizens, but a building-crusher like Godzilla would find plenty of meaning in both the lyrics and the music.

Circle Vs. Square – If you still see a stack of quarters as an opportunity to hit the Galaga machine and not the washing machine, this faux arcade game tune will give rise to a smidge of nostalgia.

Grafton Primary – Now we’ve ventured into the serious electro dance territory, where the real goal is to become a soundtrack to a flashy luxury car commercial.

Kleerup featuring Lykke Li – Swedish dance means addictive fun in my dictionary and this album could be a top tenner, as it makes the electronic sound compulsively organic.

Penelope[s] – Wandering back towards a new wave and post-punk affectation, in both the vocals and the bassline I suppose it’s New Order meets Pet Shop Boys (or wasn’t that called Electronic?)

Silk Flowers – The most consciously lo-fi of the group and hence the most original in modifying the static form – which also translates to probably the least entertaining.

Thanks,
keith

60% more than a handful of new tracks in the latest sampler revealing some music from fascinating new releases

Ripe Enough For The Terror

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Tafo (feat. Nahid Akhtar) – This came from a compilation of 60’s era soundtrack music from Pakistan, the manic energy of this guy’s stuttering vocals and the interplay with his hyperactive female counterpart is bewildering.

Generationals – Energetic retro-pop that bounces from garagey to bubblegum while spiking it with a slight twang.

Sean Bones – Lo-fi garagey reggae that retains an appropriate sense of enthusiasm while adding his own style to the stock memes of the genre.

The Aggrolites – Pretty much a note-for-note cover but when the original is that good there’s really no reason to mess with it (unless you’re getting paid to be on a soundtrack that is).

Brian Glaze – Former drummer of the Brian Jonestown Massacre does something that sounds nothing like the Massacre and everything like a home bedroom project which probably kept the neighbors up at night.

Eugene McGuinness – Kaleidoscopic Brit-pop that borrows from the 60’s through the 90’s with piano and guitar seemingly lifted from late-period Kinks.

My First Earthquake – Low budget new wave dance pop with hyperactive chanting about two subjects and nothing at the same time. If you’re a cleaning lady with a sexual hangup here’s a song for you.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Jangle-pop mated with crooner quality vocals and subject matter, at some times coming off slightly Beach Boys-ish at other times sounding like a summer day gone long.