Today's Hotness: Football, Etc., Diocese, Goodly Thousands

>> Houston emo veterans Football, Etc. have been a known quality around Clicky Clicky HQ for quite some time, and yet here we are just now finally devoting some virtual column inches to them. Over the course of a six-year history, the trio has issued a series of well-received 7" singles and LPs on respectable labels Texas Is Funny and, more recently, the un-eff-withable Count Your Lucky Stars. Across those releases the group chased and most often found a familiar and comfortable sound, one that draws equally from late '90s emo stars like Rainer Maria and the precise brilliance of The Spinanes' early output. And along the way Football, Etc. has proven itself one of the most consistent acts, and as a result its profile continued to rise as those emo revival trend pieces start to pile up. Count Your Lucky Stars this week released Football, Etc.'s latest effort (at least digitally, read on), a very potent EP titled Disappear EP. The four-song 7" contains the three-pieces' strongest work to date, although it doesn't attempt to recreate the wheel. What Disappear delivers is four urgently melodic numbers that glide along fronter Lindsay Minton's clean Telecaster tones despite the persistent unease in her lyrics. Ms. Minton's voice is devastatingly poignant on the opening cut "Sunday," a tune in which she imagines erasing herself to feel better. Everything seems to fall into place on Disappear, which was recorded with the legendary J. Robbins. Stream the entire EP via the Soundcloud embed below, and order it from CYLS right here. The 7" -- which is available pressed to classic black or milky-clear-with-orange-and-blue-splatter media -- was slated for release this week. However, according to the label, pressing plant delays related to the bothersome Record Store Day glut has pushed back the shipping date about a month, which means the band will likely have already been overseas for its short Japanese tour and back before the 7" records ship domestically. In the meantime, fans who made the trek to Austin for the annual South By Southwest branding confabulation had a few chances to catch the band, and Football, Etc. is planning additional U.S. tour dates for the summer. -- Dillon Riley



>> In reviewing its debut LP Detergent Hymns here in January, we noted that Swings are a prolific bunch. This was even more true than we realized at the time, as it turns out that two of the Swings cohort, fronter Jamie Finucane and drummer Dan Howard, log time with another act based out of Oberlin College. The act is presently called BBC America, and we hesitate to call it a Swings side-project as the aforementioned dudes make up the act's rhythm section. Notably, an older and very short-lived iteration of BBC America art-rocked most steadfastly under the name Diocese; was fronted by a woman named Mia Rosenberg; and recorded a self-titled debut that has been making the rounds among the indiescenti of late. Ms. Rosenberg and her singular, elastic voice has migrated west to pursue more pastoral pastimes, a precipitating factor for the name change, but what Diocese left behind after a scant four months shuffling off this mortal coil is a strong eight-song document that relies on some of the same slow-burn intensity and loose instrumental interplay fans have discovered on Detergent Hymns. The sonic freak-out that punctuates the coda on the stunning second track "Matthew Walker" pulls off seething rage in a way few bands that play, moody atmospheric rock such as this can. Stand-out tune "Spoken To" deconstructs before your very ears, but is practically on fire when riding a charged 5/4 meter whose ol' push-and-pull drops off a cliff at the tune's sudden end. Diocese's electric and meandering self-titled effort is being issued posthumously by micro-indie Como Tapes in a limited edition of 75 hand-dubbed, teal cassettes (ask your moms how they work yo) and digital download; order the former here or get the latter for zero American dollars here. And while you can no longer experience the wonder of seeing Diocese live, BBC America (remember them, from the beginning of this paragraph?) are alive and kicking, with guitarist Mike Stenovic up front singing in place of Rosenberg. The act kicks off a short tour tomorrow alongside the also aforementioned Swings. There are two college shows in the Boston-ish area at the end of March (approaching!), so you oldsters start applying your Just For Men now. Inspect all of the tour dates below, and hit the stream of Diocese below that. -- Dillon Riley and Jay Breitling

3.20 -- Gambier, OH -- Kenyon College w/ Sports, Sidebitch
3.21 -- Pittsburgh, PA -- w/ Sidebitch, Glowworms, Blod Maud
3.22 -- Harrisonburg, VA -- Crayola House
3.23 -- Washington DC -- w/ Two Inch Astronaut, Rye Pines, Something Sneaky
3.25 -- Montclair, NJ -- House Show w/ CAVE WETA (NO SWINGS)
3.26 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Aviv w/ BIG UPS, Kissing Fractures
3.27 -- Somerville, MA -- Tufts University w/ Vundabar
3.28 -- Worcester, MA -- Clark University w/ Amanda X



>> The glistening sound of '80s UK guitar pop is alive and well, well, just across the Irish Sea. Dublin trio Goodly Thousands, which formed five years ago in Dundrum, Ireland, exhibits a persistently bright jangle on an EP set for release later this month. The four-song collection is titled Sunshine Hair and its title track is just as its name suggests: breezy and beautiful. The tune succeeds in a big way on the strength of restless and sparkling 12-string guitar picking, crisp drumming and fronter Colm Dawson's emotive tenor. Along with "Sunshine Hair," the EP offers the tunes "Walking Home," "Kiss Me Upside-Down" and "Ponytail." Shelflife will release the Sunshine Hair EP March 24 in a limited edition of 300 vinyl 7" records and as a digital download, and you can pre-order a copy right here. Goodly Thousands' debut single "Honest" b/w "I Wish" was issued by Shelflife in 2013, and is nearly sold out at this point (although different versions of those two tunes and two others are available for free download at Goodly Thousands' Bandcamp right here). Stream the irresistible "Sunshine Hair" via the Soundcloud embed below.

Today's Hotness: Literature, Lattimore/Zeigler, Mooncreatures

>> We make every effort to stay abreast of the Philadelphia music scene, even as we lack the time to cover every single development from the fertile scene. We were surprised, then, to learn recently of Philly indie-pop unit Literature, whose sophomore album Chorus will be released later this month via Slumberland. The group is following up 2012's wonderful Arab Spring, which dropped shortly after Literature moved to Pennsylvania from Austin (which, we suppose, explains why these cats weren't on our radar). Literature has also appeared on various notable compilations in the intervening years and played events such as the NYC Popfest, and supported such Clicky Clicky-approved acts as Brown Recluse,Sic Alps and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. And so, unsurprisingly, the new set sounds right at home in the Slumberland catalog. On lead single "The English Softhearts," Literature distinguishes itself with effective keyboard playing (which switches warm synth tones mid-song) and dances with the bright Smiths- and Orange Juice-styled guitar work. If there's a member of the band playing both that and an electric guitar throughout the tune live, props to them. Also notable is lead singer Kevin Attics' voice, one among a fine procession of anglophile Yankee singers that aims for an accent but ends up with something ultimately more exotic and in-between (Nota Bene: this isn't meant as a slight, but rather is intended to illuminate a phenomenon that this reviewer famously enjoys). Mr. Attics succeeds at this more than most, sounding legitimately British (or at least an expat?) and much like a recharged and exuberant Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele. While "The English Softhearts" trades in all manner of classic dynamic tics, the best part of the song is the four-bar bridge toward the end, where pillowy synth-strings and a deep bass line seal the deal on the implied elegance to which the band earnestly aspires. The second preview tune, the elegant dreamer "New Jacket," is no less excellent, pairing nervy guitar jangle and wiry leads with a glistening, icy ambience that feels urgent but timeless. Chorus is set to arrive on CD and vinyl via the legendary Slumberland Aug.19; pre-order the set right here, and consider taking advantage of the label's limited time offer of a bundle of Chorus and Arab Spring. Has the label ever steered you wrong before? -- Edward Charlton



>> In-demand Philly studio guy Jeff Zeigler, the busy engineer behind Clicky Clicky-approved records by artists like A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Kurt Vile, Nothing and Purling Hiss (as well as the frontman for the visionary Arc In Round), this past winter teamed with harpist Mary Lattimore to craft a pleasantly meandering set called Slant Of Light, which will be released by the esteemed Thrill Jockey label Sept. 22. As this blog can't foresee anything not to love about Zeigler's work (we eagerly, eagerly await his long-anticipated solo record), this collaboration seems certain to deliver compelling ambient/post-rock optimal for autumnal daydreaming. Although the four-song tracklisting has been announced (and a version of the lead track "Welsh Corgis In The Snow" previously graced Zeigler's Soundcloud at one point, but is understandably now absent), at press time no preview single from the record has been released. The press materials announcing Slant Of Light, however, point to a compelling live video of the pair performing an untitled piece last summer that indicates what fans can expect from the duo's debut. Lattimore's harp makes unbelievably beautiful and avant garde sounds strained through a Line 6 delay while Zeigler manipulates the mix in real time and lays in smooth, pulsing bass synth chords. The twinkling and ethereal work demonstrates a masterful patience and exciting sense of play that makes us especially eager to catch the duo live. It does plan to make appearances to support the set, which can be pre-ordered right here. The record is being sold on CD and vinyl, with the latter available in a limited edition of 500 pressed to white media. Interface with the video below. -- Edward Charlton



>> Perhaps, as this reviewer would like to think, London-based "reverb-pop" outfit Mooncreatures took seriously our executive editor's March lament regarding a two-year release gap, as it is already queueing up the release of a second title in 2014, a cassette called Sand Maps. While the noteworthy and cinematic prior release Gaslamps was reason enough for celebration, Sand Maps presents still more of the band's impressionistic ambience augmented with fresh dynamic elements that point to the project's continued evolution. The mysterious duo -- which we now know includes Rhys Griffiths and Martyn Dunn -- proffers windblown, dreamy new age/wave within a specific and fragile analogue/electronic context that is singularly their own. This time out, however, on songs such as "The Shallows," the act somewhat surprisingly arrives at something resembling a noisy, traditional rock song, complete with full-blown guitar solos and palm muting -- not what one would generally associate with the typically steady-yet-soft project. Opener "(sea cure)" ratchets a short-delay loop pedal after the first 39 seconds and doesn't let up. "Salt Sea," "Pacific Theme (Solar Effect)," and "Tender Stems, Desert Winds" all tread in territory similar to their previous releases, but retain much of the the delightful affectations -- vocal sibilance, rich synths, and heaps of delay. "Landgrab" perhaps best pulls at the heartstrings, its yearning melody and subdued beat attaining an admirable floating effect while tasteful reverse-delay threatens to derail the tune, just like the harsh gales of the English moors where these two creative minds at least telepathically reside. Sand Maps was released July 18 by the new London-based and Beko Disques-affiliated label Balloon Festival in a limited edition of 40 pea-green cassettes. Buy it here. -- Edward Charlton

Review: Fire Island Pines | True Grit

We all have some idea of what it means to be subversive. And in an era when indie rock's prevailing influences are loud, gritty, angular and so-called "'90s acts" like Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. and Nirvana (all of which, we should point out, first released music in the '80s), is it not just a touch subversive to embrace the New Romantic-descended pop propounded in the quieter, more refined corners of the '90s? We're talking about the first few The Sea And Cake records (not to mention the subsequent transcendent solo sets from principals Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt) or the work of Unrest, Eggs or even mid-period Haywood. We can't say whether Cornwall, England sextet Fire Island Pines has ever heard any of these latter American acts, and it is probably overstating things to say the band is bent on subverting the dominant paradigm, but the British six-piece's keen and anachronistic devotion to genteel indie pop on its sparkling debut True Grit makes the record as refreshing as its hooks are potent and breezy. The set is a very confident and competent collection from a five-year-old act ready for a substantially higher profile.

True Grit opens strongly with new, shinier versions of "You Didn't Mean To Hurt Me" and "Nineteen Fifteen," the lead tracks on 2011's Bratislava EP and last year's "1915" digital single, respectively. "You Didn't Mean To Hurt Me" unfurls over a self-assured beat and slightly funky bass playing, and bursts into bloom during the chorus as layered synth chords and horns stretch toward a distant horizon. "Nineteen Fifteen" positively soars, which belies somewhat fronter Anton Rothschild's wonderfully unsure equivocation "it's up to you, if you wanna stick around." Indeed, there is a delicious unease creeping within Fire Island Pines' ostensibly easy-going pop, a dimension that comes to the fore in the brilliantly realized album highlight "Bo Dep," which materializes from and decomposes into cinematic ambience, and alternates verses of palm-muted guitar and quavering vocals with bold, tastefully reverbed choruses appointed by majestic piano and horn. True Grit is back-weighted with ballads, but spreads its wings one final time with the thrilling closer "Sister Ruth." The tune teases with an intermittent, piano-anchored introduction, but accelerates quickly with layered guitars and vocals echoing one another over a bounding beat.

True Grit will be released Friday as a vinyl 12", CD, cassette and as a digital download. The vinyl 12" is being issued in a limited edition of 300 pieces by German label Firestation Records, who have pressed the collection to black vinyl. Firestation is also doing the honors for the CD version, which comes packaged with a four-page fold-out booklet. The band is handling the cassette release itself, and has a hyper-limited amount of same in an attractive package containing mint green media. All formats can be ordered via the Fire Island Pines Bandcamp page right here, and all of True Grit is streaming via the Soundcloud embed below. That the lads from Cornwall are putting out a record via a German label seems somewhat unusual, we suppose, but not when considered in context: the aforementioned "1915" single was issued by Minnesota's Manic Pop! label, and the digital download of the Bratislava EP was issued via the San Francisco-based collective Vulpiano (which also issued Mr. Rothschild's 2010 solo EP The Year Of The Kitten). That its label partners are relatively widely scattered underscores Fire Island Pines' broad appeal, and hopefully portends big things for the understated sextet.

Fire Island Pines: Bandcamp | Facebook | Internerds | Soundcloud



Related Coverage:
YouTube Rodeo: Fire Island Pines' Transformative "1915"
Today's Hotness: Fire Island Pines
Today's Hotness: Fire Island Pines