Today's Hotness: Parakeet, The Shalfonts

>> Yuck's 2013 sophomore album Glow And Behold signaled the '90s revivalists would be fine, thank you very much, in the wake of the shock departure of founding fronter Daniel Blumberg. But well before that release Yuck bassist Mariko Doi was busy staking out her own place in the proverbial indie rock sun with her sparkling dream-pop project Parakeet, which we first wrote about here in April 2012. The band, a collaboration with The History Of Apple Pie drummer James Llewellyn Thomas, debuted with a single that month, and then issued the very enjoyable Shonen Hearts EP at the end of 2012, which we wrote about right here. After apparently devoting her time to Glow And Behold during 2013, Ms. Doi has returned in a big way with Parakeet's best slate of songs to date on a new EP titled Pink Noise. The short set, which was released June 26 via Marshall Teller Records, never lets up, offering quick, lush and snappy dreamers that accentuate Doi's clear pipes and guitarist Jon Jackson's compelling, delay-heavy moves. The expansive, colorful opener "Paper Town" echoes the reverberated heartache of the first Best Coast album, while also carrying in its chording and composition elements of Best Coast's second, more country-inflected set. Doi's singing is strong throughout, such that one might be tempted to argue that her voice has been sorely under-used in Yuck; she typically enters a verse more subtly and then goes for a full-throated falsetto in the chorus. This is best employed on "Running and Running," which contrasts brightly strummed acoustic guitars with thick drumming. The highlight of the four-song collection is "Pink Noise," a commanding title track offering fluorescent, neon flourishes and power-pop guitar leads, along with even more great acoustic strum. Buy the Pink Noise EP here. A full-length Parakeet release is contemplated for release in 2015, and we are expecting great things given the increasingly compelling music coming from the band. -- Edward Charlton



>> We were surprised to learn earlier this month that the dizzying constellation of Distophia-associated bands is slightly larger than we had previously thought. As it happens, Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam drummer Ralph Morton is also party to a long-running but heretofore-unknown-to-us act called The Shalfonts (you'll recall from our overlong explanation here that Sunshine Frisbee Laserbeam includes former Distophia guy Pete Dixon). The Shalfonts are primarily a virtual band/recording project centered around the songwriting duo of Mr. Morton and Bryn Bowen, with as many as seven contributors based in either Birmingham, England or Bergen, Norway collaborating on tracks shared through the Internet. The group has crafted a steady stream of digital releases, including a couple full-lengths and various EPs and singles, and its most recent set Grant Mansions was released to the wilds of the Internerds earlier this month. The shambling new collection touts a number of solid, acoustic-led rockers that echo a particular early '90s, Sebadoh-adjacent freak-folk sound. Indeed, there is a strange vintage Western Mass. flavor across the entire set, despite the decades and thousands of miles betwixt. The highlight of Grant Mansions may well be the relatively up-tempo strummer "A Long Straight Cue," which materializes at the tail-end of the set. The song rises up over a clattering rhythm with a light, ascending melody sprung from layered acoustic guitars, and a burbling stream of lyrics bouys the song to its odd, but not-quite-jarring final exclamation: "my curls all fall out." Other notable tunes include the relatively tense and swirling preview single "Netman + Bird" and the patient, pastoral rumination "MudHeart." Grant Mansions was released as a compact disc or digital download by the awesomely monikered label Giant Manilow July 7; the CD is available in a limited edition of 100 with packaging designed by The Shalfonts' own Lloyd Bowen. Listen to the entire set via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to purchase the CD or download.

Today's Hotness: Mincer Ray, Tyrannosaurus Dead

>> With an appreciable Teutonic precision (which is sort of funny since none of its members is actually German), Berlin-based Mincer Ray return this month with a new EP titled A Magnate's Reach. We first turned onto the clearly GBV-influenced trio in March 2012, when it issued via Bandcamp the shifty long-player Ray Mincer, featuring the blistering anthem "A Burning Plane." A Magnate's Reach is a more concise five-song slate of tunes evidencing Mincer Ray's continued embrace of punchy, scritchy indie rock. Opener "Franki Jo" is a determined, melodic strummer indebted as much to The Kinks and the Davies brothers’ hip-shaking sounds as it is to the aforementioned Guided By Voices. Ballad "(Ever) The Optimistic Architect II" operates under an appropriately Pollardian title and gradually builds steam across syncopated quarter notes before hitting a wall after 125 seconds. Assuredly, fans of Dayton's finest will find a lot to like on this EP, and if we have a gripe at all it is that the Berliners don't expectorate music at anything approaching the ludicrous pace that Bob Pollard somehow magically maintains. A Magnate's Reach carries an official release date of May 31, although you needn't wait what amounts to months to hear it: it is available at Bandcamp as a name-your-price download right now, and you can hit the stream via our handy embed below. There will be a proper release show May 31, according to Mincer Ray's web dojo, and lucky fans able to make the gig will apparently be able to buy the EP on 180 gram vinyl. Until now, use your ears to process the ones and zeroes below.



>> London's Odd Box Records this week sent over word of some new releases in its pipeline, and we find ourselves streaming over and over two tunes from recent signing Tyrannosaurus Dead. The Brighton, England-based five-piece's "Soft" and "Sadie," from the forthcoming Pure // Apart EP, each present breakneck tempos and guitar-forward arrangements that show the act incorporating into its melodic, fuzz-filled sound the raw power of Boyracer and affecting sentiment -- as evidenced by certain of singers Billy Lowe and Eleanor Rudge's phrasing that forlornly dangles into space at times -- of Belle And Sebastian. Pure // Apart was recorded in London in late 2012 with Rory Attwell, whose name we’ve mentioned previously as the man behind the boards for acts including Big Deal, Veronica Falls and Yuck. Odd Box releases Pure // Apart May 6, but you can already stream the aforementioned noise-pop gems via Bandcamp. The six-song EP is being pressed in a limited edition of 250 vinyl 12" records, and pre-orders are already being taken, also at Bandcamp. Tyrannosaurus Dead previously released two excellent EPs (one eponymous, the other titled Lemonade) and a song on a split cassette, all of which are available via the quintet’s very own Bandcamp right here. But for starters we recommend to your attention "Soft" and "Sadie," which we've embedded below.

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Youth Pictures Of Florence Henderson, The Nimbleines

>> [Photo Credit: Malia James] Internationally sourced and London-based indie rock duo Big Deal disclosed earlier this week that it will release a sophomore set, June Gloom, June 4th. Which, you know, thank God it's actually being released in June, because, duh, am I right? If the spelling-challenged preview track "Teradactol" that first appeared online in November is any indication, the new collection promises a new, noisier and louder sound for the heretofore relatively reserved pair of Kacey Underwood and Alice Costello. June Gloom was produced by Rory Attwell, whose credentials include production work for Yuck as well as the recently released triumph from London's Veronica Falls. Underwood and Costelloe are abetted in the creation of the record by drummer Melissa Rigby (according to SPIN) and an unidentified bass player, yet another indicator that the softly forlorn Big Deal that first revealed itself with the skeletal and haunting single "Homework," released by Records Records Records in 2010, is a thing of the past. Or at least not quite so softly forlorn. June Gloom will be released by Mute and touts 12 tracks in total, and you can stream and download "Teradactol" via the Soundcloud embed below. A video for the first single from June Gloom has been filmed and, according to Big Deal's Facebook page, it will be unveiled soon. The duo's enchanting first full-length Lights Out was released via Mute in the US in January 2012, and we kicked its tires for readers right here.



>> Oslo-based emo heroes Youth Pictures Of Florence Henderson this week relayed news that its 2005 debut Unnoticeable In A Tiny Town, Invisible In The City has been remastered and will be reissued in March on 180g vinyl by Doognad Records, also based in Norway. The set is available in a limited edition of 250 black LPs, and fans can get one via Doognad's Big Cartel dojo right here for the princely sum of 20 Euros, which according to the Googles Saturday afternoon equals USD $26.76. We're not saying Unnoticeable In A Tiny Town... on 180g vinyl isn't worth that kind of coin, we're just reporting here, folks. According to a Facebook post, the record was remastered by Will Killingsworth at Amherst, Mass.'s own Dead Air Studios. Older and hipper Clicky Clicky readers may recognize Mr. Killingsworth's name from his years playing guitar with screamo giants Orchid (readers may also recall Bedroom Eyes and Best Practices have both made exemplary records at Dead Air). Youth Pictures Of Florence Henderson's most recent release, the 10" EP Small Changes We Hardly Notice, was released last summer and included the stunning opener "All I Remember Is Punk Rock." The set was one of our favorite releases of the year (although, as we got it on vinyl, its aggregate ITunes playcount didn't rate the EP for inclusion in our 2012 year-end list). Small Changes We Hardly Notice was issued domestically by emo powerhouse Count Your Lucky Stars Records -- keep your fingers crossed that the label might get some stock of the reissue of Unnoticable, so you don't have to eat some pesky international shipping. Since it is one of the greatest things since sliced bread, stream the tune "All I Can Remember Is Punk Rock" via the Soundcloud embed below. If you'd like to listen to the old master of Unnoticeable In A Tiny Town, Invisible In The City, it is available for streaming right here at Bandcamp.



>> There is a slippery but quantifiable charm to the debut digital single from the new oddball electropop duo The Nimbleines, who recently revealed themselves via the 12" extended mix of the tune "Let's Play Leaving." The song traverses some varied terrain while hewing closely to some familiar touchstones, laying in gentle vocals, synths and electric rhythm tracks that at different times echo vintage DEVO or Yo La Tengo's "Year Of The Shark." Even with the synth and programmed beats there is a lo-fi aura to the tune that gives it an earthy appeal; The Nimbleines certainly are not taking a sterile approach to the production values, something that we appreciate. The band is comprised of Boston musician and music journo Jonathan Donaldson, who some may know from his work from the delightfully quirky guitar act The I Want You, and Columbus, OH-based James Goodman, a fellow heretofore unknown to Clicky Clicky. The Nimbleines characterize themselves and an electropop/psych act, and its Facebook page indicates a full-length is planned. We don't feel the psych stewing on "Let's Play Leaving," just light, hooky, '80s-referencing synth-pop, so we'll be curious to hear more from the pair. In the meantime, the delicate hooks that cycle through the verse and chorus of "Let's Play Leaving" will give your ears plenty to contend with. Stream and download the tune via the Soundcloud embed below.

Today's Hotness: Endless Jags, Parakeet, Dot Dash, Soccer Mom

>> It's taken for granted at this point, to the extent that anyone really talks about it anymore. But the best part about music blogging is the band that randomly emails you, that says "check us out," and that is totally awesome. It might happen two or three times a year. The last one that blew us away was our beloved Infinity Girl (who, of course, next week will open Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Community Servings benefit show at Great Scott in Boston). But last month brought another, Portland, Maine-based indie rock upstarts Endless Jags. The sextet self-released a self-titled EP Oct. 16, and it is packed with dynamic, emo-tinged guitar pop driven by fronter Oscar Romero's impassioned vocals and overdriven by big melodies. The short set was recorded in part and mixed by Shaun Curran at Napoleon Complex in Somerville, Mass. Trivia hounds will recognize that studio as the same that produced Clicky Clicky favorites Soccer Mom's brilliant debut single and towering 2011 EP You Are Not Going To Heaven. Pegging Endless Jags' sound causes one to grasp in a lot of different directions: there's the care-free energy and care-full emotion of the music echoes that of Mock Orange's stellar First EP; the Farfisa that colors large portions of Endless Jags has not been so brilliantly deployed in indie rock since Rocketship's mind-erasingly good A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness; Mr. Romero's voice is not unlike that of The Walkmen's Hamilton Leithauser. But it is the combination of these elements that makes the EP so potent, from the big crescendoes in opener "Seen Men" to the careening eponymous tune "Endless Jags." We can't wait to hear more from these guys: Endless Jags is a hit!



>> Parakeet, the side project of Yuck bassist Mariko Doi, last week quietly unleashed to the wilds of the Internet a stream of a new EP titled Shonen Hearts. If our minimal understanding of Japanese remains intact, we think "shonen" means "boy," so make of the title what you will. The music on the collection is delightfully smeared and grungy guitar pop. The lead track "Tuomono" layers rich, gritty guitar and bass over a simple rhythm and creates giddy forward movement by overlaying punchy melodies. The title track is a blissful confection that recalls The Primitives. The rest of the collection similarly pits noise against pop; it's not overtly Yuck-y, but there is an element of obviousness and inevitability that makes Shonen Hearts a rewarding listen. The London-based trio's short set is due Nov. 19 as a limited edition gold (we assume gold-colored, not, like actual gold) cassette available exclusively from Rough Trade in the UK. Pre-order Shonen Hearts right here, right now. Parakeet over the weekend played two UK shows with The Walkmen (there's that band name again...); the trio embarks on a short strand of tour dates Nov. 11 with the hotly tipped Diiv, which tour includes stops in Berlin and Cologne in Germany, Kortrijk, Belgium and two dates in London. Parakeet debuted with a single in April, "Tomorrow" b/w "Paper, Scissors, Stone," that we wrote about right here.



>> We've slept on it for weeks ands weeks, but the forever-solid Terry Banks and his band of merry indie veterans in Dot Dash returned last month with a cracking sophomore set, Winter Garden Light, that we've been spending a good deal of time enjoying. Yeah, the title sounds like an installment in the Dragonlance fantasy franchise, but we assure you: this is a very fine collection of indie pop tunes from a coterie of top-shelf scene veterans of bands including Julie Ocean, The Saturday People, Tree Fort Angst, Modest Proposal and legit hardcore legends Youth Brigade. Mr. Banks, et al., craft quality guitar-pop tunes that plant one foot in the future whilst dangling the other in the band's collective college rock past. And like Wire, from whose song Dot Dash takes their name, the D.C.-based act's approach is simple: each tune is an astutely realized nugget of punky songwriting relying on a few chords, aggressive bass work, and swoon-inducing backing vocals. "Writing On The Wall," a stand-out cut from Winter Garden Light, commences with an arresting bass descent paired with Banks' pleasant power-pop patter. Trebly, slapping rhythm guitar follows the vocal, as Banks peels off anthemic lines that penetrate your head like "a penny for your thoughts, my kingdom for a horse." The song closes with perfect snare rolls and a great guitar breakdown evidencing the band's tasteful deployment of delay and minor keys. Winter Garden Light is available now from The Beautiful Music label. -- Edward Charlton



>> Avid readers will recall that a month ago we wrote about the crushing forthcoming single from Clicky Clicky faves Soccer Mom. At the time we could tell you about "Brides" b/w "Canoe," but we weren't able to share any music with you. That's just no way to leave things. So fortunately we're now able to share with you a stream of "A Canoe Shy" (that's the full title of the tune, yeah) below. The song highlights the Boston quartet's dense, punishing guitar attack, features one of founder Dan Parlin's most affecting vocal melodies, and is also notable for being the first official 'Mom release featuring Mr. Justin Kehoe pounding the skins and hardware. As we said last month, Soccer Mom plays a very hot bill Monday at Great Scott in Boston, an evening that features the hotly tipped Tamaryn and west coast shoegaze luminaries Young Prisms. "Brides" b/w "Canoe" will be released by 100m Records the following day, and you can pre-order your copy right here if you aren't able to get to the show to buy one straight from the band.

Forever Now: The Infinity Girl Interview

It's that they make it look so easy, that's what initially enticed us to approach the chaps in upstart Boston shoegaze unit Infinity Girl for an interview. With almost zero warning, the foursome issued in May a very impressive full-length debut, Stop Being On My Side, which we reviewed here last month. There were no singles and very few shows to serve as harbingers for the set, making the band's sudden leap into the vanguard of the city's expanding shoegaze scene all the more surprising. With its remarkable debut out, a personnel change brought on by the departure of founding bassist Ransom for Los Angeles, and some great live bills facing Infinity Girl in August, we thought it was high time to check in with the band, which is certainly among the most promising of Boston's current crop of startlingly good young bands. Fronter and guitarist Nolan Eley and drummer Sebastian Modak were very gracious with their time, and while we ultimately didn't learn why it is the songs seem to come so easily, we did get a feel for how the band did what it did and does what it does.

Clicky Clicky: You've just released a very good record. If you could choose another, released by anyone ever, that you wish Infinity Girl could have made itself, what would it be? And you're not allowed to say Loveless.

Nolan Eley: If I was answering this for myself I might say Emergency And I by Dismemberment Plan, but as a band we'd probably go with Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth.

Sebastian Modak: I think it would have been pretty nice to have made Yuck's recent record. Personally, I would be content with life if I had played drums on Fugazi's 13 Songs (yeah, it's a compilation, but whatever). I can't even imagine what it would feel like to play those songs live.

CC: There were very few shows and no singles leading up to the release of the record. And that's one of the things that made a big impression on me: no single, no fucking around, just a handful of shows and then BOOM, a wonderful, fully formed full-length. It reminds me of the genesis story of the Greek goddess Athena. Did Infinity Girl feel like it was important to make such a strong statement right out of the starting gate?

NE: Thank you, to be honest, it was kind of surprising how easily it happened. I think we just wanted to record the songs we had and at first we were thinking it was probably going to be a 6-track EP when we initially went into the studio. We had just learned "Void" at that point and decided trying to record it. We did a few takes that weren't that great, but listening back, the energy was so good we decided to include that on the record. Shortly after those sessions happened Seb and I wrote "By Now" and we were all like 'we have to put this on the record.' So we went into the studio and recorded that. So at this point we were sitting on 8 songs and thinking 'is this an EP or a full length?' Then "Pulling A Smile From A Drawer" happened almost on accident, I was messing around with this piano at The Record Company, it's an acoustic piano but it has electric pickups on it, so I was running it through a bunch of guitar pedals, just messing around. Thank God somebody hit the record button. Anyways, after that I got the idea to record some instrumental tracks. Those, I think, helped the record really flow together as a full length and brought it up to 11 tracks.

CC: Who does the bulk of Infinity Girl's songwriting?

NE: I've done most of the songwriting so far, but the songwriting process is evolving as we play more.

SM: [When t]he band started [it was] based around songs Nolan had already written. We were already friends and I heard him playing at a weekly songwriter's circle that some close friends of mine used to run at All Asia [in Cambridge, Mass.]. I immediately started fantasizing about how great the songs would sound, louder and with a full band. What you hear on the record is mostly from Nolan's existing songs. But as the band has evolved, so has the songwriting process. I wrote the lyrics to "By Now," while I was in Spain and sent them to Nolan while he was in China... So, it's not always just Nolan. But most of the time he'll be the one that turns our ideas into something that sounds kind of like a song.

CC: The reason I ask about songwriters is that, from a songwriting standpoint, there seems to be a tension in your music between the more pure shoegaze stuff and something like "Cellophane And Gold," which is more uptempo and has almost a punk edge, or the lyrics to the chorus of "Cannons," which is surprisingly up top of the mix and pretty emo?

NE: I think the reason for this is that most of the songs on the record did not start out as a band writing them together. I have always just written and recorded music for fun. Sometimes I would keep the songs hidden on my computer, sometimes I would put them online for my friends to hear. Creating an album with a consistent aesthetic was not my priority. I just wrote the songs how I felt that day or that week. Some of them were straight-up shoegaze, some of them with complex orchestral arrangments, some folky, some electronic. I guess the songs that made it onto the record and into the Infinity Girl catalog were the ones that translated over to a four-piece rock band the easiest.

SM: It's also a product of what we're listening to. Sure, a lot of what has influenced us comes from the same time period, but when you're (subconsciously or otherwise) thinking about "Big Day Coming" by Yo La Tengo and "The Leper" by Dinosaur the result can be all over the place. And I think that's a good thing.

CC: Did you heavily demo Stop Being On My Side? I'm just curious to know how hard you had to work to get the sounds on the record? Did you bring a record to the producer and say "make it sound like this?"

NE: About half the songs I had recorded beforehand, for my own personal enjoyment, so this gave the producer and the band a pretty strong idea of what certain songs were going to sound like. Also we recorded some live demos in our practice space so we could all listen to the songs and share ideas about them. From experience I gained recording my own music, I already had a lot of ideas as far as the sounds for the record. I just had to get these ideas across to the other people involved in making it.

SM: Once we got the idea in our heads to make a record, we reached out to our friend (and new bassist) Mitch Stewart to produce. He and Pat McCusker engineered it at The Record Company -- they're both close friends of ours (I went to high school with Mitch and play in another band with both of them called Friendly People). We did a couple of demos in our practice space as well and I think both Mitch and Pat knew what we wanted in terms of sounds by the time we spent two insane nights at The Record Company. It was a really open, not to mention surreal, experience, considering the time of night we were able to get recording time, and the sounds kind of shaped themselves along the way.

CC: Shoegaze, or at least shoegaze influences, certainly seems to be having a moment in the Boston music scene right now. Does that sort of external influence, what you are seeing out in clubs and basements, factor into what you do at all?

NE: I've been mostly unaware of the local shoegaze scene until recently, and I'm pretty excited about it. I would say that the music we make mostly just comes from us liking the music we like and being friends enough to share a few hours a week together playing what we like playing.

SM: It helps that people are into it right now, but we're just a band that is doing what we individually and collectively love to do. If it turns out that people are into it, then that's fantastic and we really appreciate it. But we'd be doing it anyway if we were the only noisy band in town. It's just that ALL our shows would be at the Elks Lodge, if that was the case.

CC: The common conception is that a band in the early part of its career focuses in and settles on a style in time. Do you guys step back and think about where you are heading, about where you might be stylistically two years from now?

NE: We don't really think about this too much, I know I'll always keep writing music that reflects the music I'm currently listening to, and what's happening in my life, and we will always want to play music, so wherever that takes us is where we'll end up. As long as everyone else in the band doesn't hate me and I don't hate them we'll keep on doing this thing.

CC: Assuming people can agree on what the term shoegaze really means anymore, it's hard to think of a lot of examples of shoegaze bands that have had long, continuous careers -- much to my own disappointent, I'll say. This is sort of a loaded question, but as songwriters and music fans, do you think shoegaze is too limiting a style to sustain a band creatively over the course of, say, a ten-year career?

NE: Shoegaze is such a niche genre. Loveless simultaneously created and destroyed it. Everything that can be said in that language has been pretty much said on that album. I think the only way shoegaze bands can survive is if they have something else to offer along with it. It's not really straight-up shoegaze bands that are surviving but mostly bands with shoegaze influences; bands like Deerhunter or Yo La Tengo that have these undoubtedly shoegaze moments but are diverse enough in their arrangements to avoid being pigeonholed as just a shoegaze band.

SM: Whenever I'm describing Infinity Girl to people, I'll use the word "shoegazey," and immediately feel like an idiot. But it kind of makes sense. It's true that the term "shoegaze" has lost a lot of its significance over time, but I don't think bands like ours are making shoegaze music, in the most traditional sense of the word. Sure, we're inspired by bands like MBV and JAMC but we'll never be them or even sound like contemporaries. That music came out of a very specific time and place, both literally and culturally. What's happening now is its own beast and I think it will develop in its own way, independent of nostalgia. I think we're part of that and that will definitely sustain us creatively. The risk comes only if we box ourselves in, and I don't think that has happened or will happen any time soon.

CC: You've got two shows coming up next month. Will these be the first with Mitch Stewart playing bass live for you?

SM: Yes. Having spent so much time with the songs -- producing, engineering and mixing the record -- it was very easy having him take over on bass. I think he knows the parts better than the rest of us do at this point. Surprised he's not too sick of them at this point. That being said, Ransom is a big part of what has made Infinity Girl what it is and I hope he hates LA (joking... sort of).

CC: What's next for Infinity Girl after the shows in August? What do the next six months look like for you guys?

NE: We are just trying to play as many shows as we can around the area, and get people listening to our record. We've got an EP (probably) still in the demo stage, we haven't started recording anything yet. The songs sound summery and less dark than Stop Being On My Side does, so it would be nice if we could get it done while it's still warm out. Obviously though we're not going to compromise anything just so we can rush it out before the next equinox.

CC: Thanks so much for giving this interview, guys.

SM: Thank YOU. It's fantastic what you are doing for the Boston music scene with your blog. Far too few people are pointing people towards good music with the consistency and eloquence that you do. It's humbling to be included in all of that.

NE: Thank you for taking an interest in us! Seriously, we've all been fans of this blog for a while now and it's so cool to be included in it.

See Infinity Girl live at Precinct in Somerville Aug. 4 [Facebook event page] and at TT The Bear's Aug. 30 with the mighty Soccer Mom and serial face-melters Young Adults [tickets].

Infinity Girl: Internerds | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube

Today's Hotness: Fanzine, Yuck, Whirr, Saint Solitude

>> Fat Possum is doubling down on UK guitar bands, as it disclosed today it will release the debut single from Fanzine, an act vigorously touted by London-based indie phenoms Yuck earlier this year. Yuck, of course, issued its debut self-titled LP via Fat Possum early in 2011. On Nov. 22 Fat Possum will deliver Fanzine's double A-side single "Roman Holiday" b/w "My Stupid Brain" in a limited edition of 500. The single will be available as a traditional vinyl 7" as well as a CD-R packaged with -- surprise, surprise -- an illustrated fanzine. Fanzine's previous self-released EP1 similarly packaged music in a 'zine, although that was distributed as a PDF with an embedded URL pointing to MP3s. "Roman Holiday" has higher production values than the music on EP1, but continues to rely on fuzzy vocals, big guitars and bigger melodic hooks, not unlike the aforementioned Yuck. In case you didn't get a chance to download EP1, it looks like this link is still live. And speaking of Yuck, the quartet continues to ride high on the success of its self-titled debut, and last week launched yet another in a rapid succession of U.S. tours with a stirring performance at TT The Bear's in Cambridge, MA. Yuck has gone over so well that Fat Possum is issuing a special double-CD/vinyl version of the collection whose second disc contains a half-dozen B-sides, including "Soothe Me." The band put the song, recorded a few months ago in London when the band had some down time, up on its Soundcloud earlier this week. Stream the mid-tempo space ballad via the embed below.

Roman Holiday by Fanzine

Soothe Me by Yuck

>> Hat tip to Sonic Masala for bringing to our attention with this item that Northern California-based shoegaze sextet Whirl has re-branded itself as Whirr. The change was apparently due to some sort of legal issue having to do with the use of the name. But more importantly, Whirr has a new single, June, out today on New York-based Tee Pee Records and it is AMAZING. The song "Junebouvier" from the single was premiered elsewhere earlier this summer and we missed it, but we've dropped a Soundcloud embed below so you can bask in the swirling, guitar-y gloriousness. June is available in a limited edition of 250 Coke-bottle green vinyl 7"s, and the single sets the stage for a full-length that Whirr was scheduled to begin recording last month. Back when the band was known as Whirl, it self-released the EP Distressor in 2010, which we wrote about right here. June sounds like a big step beyond Distressor, and we are commensurately beyond-excited to hear the planned full-length; there's no word yet as to when it will be issued.

Whirr-Junebouvier by Not Enough Recognition

>> Today is a big new release day, in case you didn't know. In addition to the Whirr single mentioned supra, The Hush Now's sparkling third record Memos is officially out. Also now available is folk-rock (now-)foursome Saint Solitude's enjoyably breezy sophomore set By Some Great Storm. Think early, more acoustic-oriented Small Factory and you are in the ballpark. Asheville, NC-based Saint Solitude mastermind and one-time sole proprietor Dup Crosson has galvanized a band around him, and, based on a couple listens, it sounds like Mr. Crosson is letting the dynamic of the band take a central role, as opposed to adding sonic flourishes and overdubs like those that filled out 2009's Journal Of Retreat. Crosson mentioned somewhere recently that he'd been feeling a Smashing Pumpkins vibe of late, and we hoped that influence would find its way into By Some Great Storm. The new rocker "Lifted" certainly does lay on the Corgan guitar fuzz and its drums hit a little harder than Crosson's typical jams, but by and large the new record continues Saint Solitude's mapping of rootsier indie pop. Buy By Some Great Storm from Alive And Well Records here or Bandcamp here, and get out to support the band when it comes to your town on tour next month. We wrote about the Saint Solitude's standalone single "Deliverance" right here last month.

Today's Hotness: Yr Friends, Oupa, Faculties

>> Right, then, where were we...?

>> In the wake of his first solo performance last month under the moniker Yr Friends (shortened from Yr Dead Friends for some reason, as this site evidences, oh, also this), Johnny Foreigner fronter Alexei Berrow has digitally released an EP of Yr Friends material titled Yr Friends Are Lying To You. The EP contains three Berrow originals with characteristically verbose titles, and in true Berrow/JoFo fashion Yr Friends Are Lying To You comes packaged with lyrics, album art and art for the individual tracks as well. A fourth song is a relatively jaunty Irving Berlin composition that sits well with the other material. Uncompressed, airy and spare, Yr Friends' music is lo-fi in the same vein as, say, two of the great Alex Kemp's best, The Godrays' heart-spindling "Carkeys, Ponytail And Gum" or the similarly affecting Small Factory b-side "Movies." Or maybe the breakdown of the Lilys rarity "Excelsior Plainsides." The EP is available for purchase via the Bandcamp widgetini below. The timing may be a little off, as this quiet music may be more suited to the shortening days ahead (although we suppose stale-beer summer dawns will also suit it). But when you're ready to mope your way through your fall semester, this will be the perfect thing for you. And we're hopeful that when Berrow comes up for air after the inevitably lengthy machinations surrounding the release and support of Johnny Foreigner's eagerly anticipated third full-length (which may come packaged as/with a comic book?), that we'll hear more from Yr Friends.



>> Appearing in the lo-fi bin just today is the long-awaited full-length from Oupa, a side project of Yuck fronter Daniel Blumberg that we first wrote about here in April. The new, seven-song collection -- available digitally or on cassette only -- is called Forget and it was recorded by Mr. Blumberg in his apartment this past January. Forget was released today by Fat Possum (also U.S. home to Yuck) in the States and yesterday on Blumberg's own newly commissioned label Boiled Egg in the UK; Forget is also available in France via Atelier Ciseaux, Veeee. A video for the mid-album selection "Physical" was posted to Vimeo last week, and you can watch the thing right here. As for Yuck, the London-based band is already preparing a return United States to continue riding the wave of popularity spawned by its terrific self-titled release that we've mentioned often. The quartet's first domestic date of the fall is at our very own T.T. The Bear's in Cambridge, MA Sept. 22 [TICKETS]; complete tour dates are posted to the band's web yert right here.

>> The self-titled EP from the decidedly -fi and future-present Brooklyn-based electronic duo Faculties was released a few weeks back. You've already heard and loved the teaser track "Weekend Warrior," but the EP has a lot more to offer. We've been grooving as of late on the spooky minimal glitch of "The Paranoid Style," which reminds us a touch of Lali Puna, albeit with big widescreen vocals. While it is more mid-tempo than "Weekend Warrior," the tune is a standout track. Stream the entire jawn via the Soundcloud embed below.

FACULTIES EP by statikluft

Footage: Yuck's "Shook Down"

Premiered by Consequence of Sound, pimped by Pantsfork, but if you still haven't watched this video for Yuck's terrific mid-tempo strummer "Shook Down," you really, really should. It features naked people in it, but we're tired of calling things not safe for work; you are either a grown-up who is allowed to know what a human body looks like, or you are not. Can't wait to hear new material from these guys. The London-based quartet/sometimes quintet releases "Shook Down" as a double A-sided singled with "Milkshake" next week, as we first wrote here in mid-May. Here's an embed of "Milkshake" in case you missed it first time around.

"Milkshake" by Yuck

Today's Hotness: Gold-Bears, The War On Drugs, Yuck

>> Oh man we love this new Gold-Bears tune "Record Store," and we have high hopes for the rising, Atlanta-based quartet's full-length debut Are You Falling In Love? The album was released earlier this month by the obviously dominating and awesome Slumberland Records (although a note at the web site indicates the vinyl version is delayed until June 7). "Record Store" radiates a classic Slumberland sound saturated in fuzzy guitars, espousing big melodies, and rocking most steadfastly. Gold-Bears, who play PA's Lounge in Somerville, Massachusetts Wednesday, formed in 2010 and the band centers around songwriter Jeremy Underwood, formerly of the act Plastic Mastery (555 Recordings/Magic Marker Records). If the rest of the record sounds anything like the song embedded below, we imagine we'll listen to Are You Falling In Love? until people are sick of being around us. Buy the record from Slumberland right here.

"Record Store" by Gold-Bears

>> While we've been looking the other way, Philadelphia's The War On Drugs has been up to a lot. The remarkable folk-rock droners recently announced they would issue a sophomore full-length Slave Ambient Aug. 16 on Secretly Canadian. The collection -- which will be issued as a 45RPM double LP, as well as in those new formats the kids like -- was recorded in a number of places including Jeff Ziegler's Uniform Recording studio. Secretly Canadian is offering the tune "Baby Missiles" as a teaser for the new collection; fans will recognize the rhythmic foundation as very similar to the uptempo shuffle of "Taking The Farm," a stand-out track from The War On Drugs' superlative debut full-length Wagonwheel Blues, which was one of our favorite records of 2008. "Baby Missiles" updates the prior track with some "Walk Of Life"-style synth lines, some Springsteen-esque harmonica wail and a touch more frenetic energy. Taken in sum, the tune succeeds in making us want to hear the rest of Slave Ambient post-haste. In other news, The War On Drugs issued last fall a second EP Future Weather, which completely passed us by, and you can buy that thing right here.

The War On Drugs -- "Baby Missiles" -- Slave Ambient
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[pre-order Slave Ambient sometime soon from Secretly Canadian right here]

>> We've been remiss in noting that London-based indie rock upstarts Yuck will self-release a double A-sided vinyl single June 27. The young outfit's release touts a non-album track "Milkshake" etched into one face; the grooves on the other face will recreate the sounds of the song "Shook Down" -- from the band's excellent self-titled debut issued by Fat Possum Feb. 15 -- when it is correctly scratched by a "stylus" or "needle" affixed to the tone arm of a record player. Not sure why Fat Possum did not issue this single, but perhaps Yuck's was a one-album dealy, or maybe Fat Possum just didn't want to participate in the vinyl release. The quartet returns to the U.S. in mid-July for two weeks of dates beginning at the Pantsfork festival in Chicago and ending with a date at The Troubador in Los Angeles July 30. "Milkshake" is a pretty strong guitar jam, and if you want to do the proverbial try before you buy, hit the Soundcloud stream below. We think you'll dig it. The inimitable Ric Dube -- host of the delightful More Lost Time podcast -- reviewed Yuck's recent Boston show right here in late April.

"Milkshake" by Yuck

That Was The Show That Was: Yuck | Paradise Rock Club | 28 April

[We are pleased to welcome back to these digital pages longtime friend and former editor Ric Dube. Mr. Dube these days hosts the thoroughly wonderful More Lost Time rare indie rock podcast. Subscribe right here -- we heartily endorse his product and/or service. -- Ed.]

Oddly, even though Bryan Adams used to sing "everywhere I go the kids wanna rock," all he ever served up was that Canadian, Phil Collins-type ballad gunk. Maybe his observation was one of despair. "I'd like to help," he was trying to say, "but I only know these songs about Robin Hood."

And this is where we're at with rock n' roll these days. The kids want to rock but so many of the bands are still heavily involved with the bleeps and the la-la-la. Sure, there are plenty out there that would like to bring it, but they just don’t have the songs.

Which is why it was so damned exciting to see the audience at the Paradise last night love Yuck.

The beauty of Yuck is that the London-based quartet's songs are deceptively simple and extremely influenced by much of the best classic alternative rock of the '90s (Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Sugar, Pixies, Lemonheads) and thus, fantastically well written and about as common these days as a Drop Nineteens reunion.

For a quartet of near children -- two members of the band were without wrist bands, suggesting they are not of drinking age -- Yuck boasts a road-weathered confidence. The 45-minute set consisted of tunes from its debut record released in February, performed on a pair of Fender Jaguars with a self-assurance that follows from constant touring over the past 12 months throughout England and Europe. On one hand, tight performance sound can make an act seem unenergetic. But to Yuck's credit, this professionalism made the songs extremely accessible for anyone there to see the evening's headliner, Australia's Tame Impala, and not already familiar with the act.

Also, there's something to be said for pacing a set; at this early phase in its career Yuck is finding a performance style. For now that means keeping things moderately restrained and focusing on the songs for most of a set ("The Wall," "Get Away," "Suck") so that its finale ("Rubber") is that much more effective when it's time to really open up stage presence.

The few simple tones of "Rubber" throbbed within a haze of feedback, a young artist’s punk rock symphony about hoping away his virginity. The room groaned and surged, as if the floor might suddenly part to reveal a layer of fossilized music that might explain this as sound left behind decades ago, when Dinosaur Jr. and Galaxie 500 had procreated and left behind a fertilized guitar pick that was covered in volcanic Rolling Rock (your father’s PBR). Fans already familiar with every note became indistinguishable from the undetermined number of immediate converts. Both stood thoroughly involved -- closed eyes, heads slowly nodding in unison. -- Ric Dube

Yuck: Internerds | YouTube | Facebook | Flickr | SoundCloud

Previous Yuck Coverage:
Today's Hotness: Oupa
YouTube Rodeo: Yuck's "Get Away"
Be Prepared: Yuck | Self-titled | 15 February
Footage: Yuck's "Rubber" [NSFW]
Footage: Yuck's "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty"
YouTube Rodeo: Yuck's "Suicide Policeman" Live
Footage: Yuck's "Weakend"
Footage: Yuck's "Automatic"
Today's Hotness: Yuck
Today's Hotness: Yuck

Today's Hotness: Oupa, Mercury Rev, Walter Schreifels

>> Do you remember all the confusion about Yuck and Yu(c)k, how the latter was a side project of the former? Probably not, these are the things that trouble only the most ridiculously fanatic among us. Our position on this was why bother confusing us, just pick one name and we'll accept the fact that you make guitar music and quieter music. Well, our unspoken and un-offered advice has gone unheeded, but the good news is that things are now somewhat less confusing. Yu(c)k is now Oupa. We know, you are relieved. But this is important; in case you were not aware Oupa is the solo vehicle of Yuck fronter Daniel Blumberg, and we love Yuck. Oupa plans to issue in July (via an as-yet unannounced label) a full-length set titled Forget, and although the collection will likely contain some songs with which we are familiar, it's the new stuff that we are most excited to hear. Here's an embed of the presumed titled track to Oupa's debut, which is pretty enough, but not as gripping as "Automatic" or as devastating as "Weakend." One final tangential thought -- doesn't the art above for Forget remind you of this?

Forget by Oupa

>> Let's just say at the top that we like old Mercury Rev better; Boces in particular. But even so, we think it is notable that the band's breakthrough record Deserter's Songs is being reissued May 15 by Co-op Music. The record, originally released in 1998 and Mercury Rev's fourth, so potently evokes specific good times. Nothing sexy, nothing exciting, just this: the first time we heard the record we had just flown into Charlotte, North Carolina, where our best friend picked up me and the missus and drove us in his Jeep on small roads out to a lake house in Morganton. The windows were open on the Jeep, the night was warm, and we cranked Deserter's Songs, and it was just perfect. The lead track, "Holes," in particular just haunts you. Co-op's reissue packages the collection with a second disc containing demos, outtakes and b-sides. To remind folks of how great this record is, the band is giving away the tune "Opus 40." Have a listen, maybe that first night it's warm enough for you to leave the windows open. European fans can catch the band when it unleashes a strand of live performances in mid-May; the full itinerary is at Mercury Rev's web dojo right here.

Mercury Rev -- "Opus 40" -- Deserter's Songs [reissue]
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[watch your favorite digital storefront for pre-order information]

>> We really did not know this until H-Dawg From Accounts Receivable told us: apparently there is already another Walter Schreifels solo record in the offing. According to an interview with Alter The Press from April 2010 (you read that correctly, we're reading this a year late), a new Schreifels solo set was "85% done." The same interview says that the reason it hasn't seen the light of day yet is because Mr. Schreifels was releasing the Rival Schools record (the wonderful set Pedals, issued last month) in the interim and wanted to take time to properly promote that. In the same interview Schreifels states the new solo set will be titled Jesus Is My Favorite Beatle, but it is hard to tell whether he was joking or not. Considering how roundly excellent Rival Schools' Pedals is, we expect it will be promoted through the summer, but who knows? Either way, we are excited for the new solo collection, and we'll keep you apprised. Schreifels' debut solo collection An Open Letter To The Scene was our second-favorite record of 2010 [review here].

>> While we weren't the most rabid or vocal fan, we are sorry to see neo-emo luminaries Joie De Vivre call it a day. The band's song "Summer In New London," which opened their 2010 collection The North End, was one of our Top 10 songs of 2010, although we ended up being to busy to publish our list (we did give The North End a nod in our aforementioned albums list). Sorry Joie De Vivre. There is apparently one more album in the can that will be issued post-humously. We look forward to hearing what the members of Joie De Vivre do next.

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Adebisi Shank, Dananananaykroyd

>> Oh the things we've wanted to tell you of late. We're going to start making up for lost time right now. Like, did you know that the planned single from Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans Johnny Foreigner is no longer a single but an EP? We hope you did, because it was a limited edition physical release, a CD affixed to a frisbee, for God's sake. The thing sold out in fewer than 24 hours, there having been only 250 on offer. Fans can still buy the MP3s from Alcopop! right here, which label -- along with kindred operation Big Scary Monsters and upstart phenomenon Audio Antihero -- sits firmly among the only labels worth a damn anymore. The Johnny Foreigner EP is titled Certain Songs Are Cursed, and it contains four tracks: "What Drummers Get," "Twin Sisterzz," "Johnny Foreigner vs. You (Cursed Version)," and "Certain Songs." We've heard the EP, it's characteristically brilliant. The official release date is 18 April. Two of the tracks are already streaming on Soundcloud, and you need to hear them, so hitch your wagon to the streams embedded below. Something else we missed: Johnny Foreigner have compiled all of their b-sides released from 2008 through 2010 under the title European Disco - Collected B​-​sides and Remixes, 2008​-2010 and they are being sold at Bandcamp for five pounds. Which is nothing -- the song "I Heard, He Ties Up Cats" alone is worth five pounds. So if for some inexplicable reason you've not been obsessively collecting Johnny Foreigner songs since 2007 like we have, well, here's your chance to (try to) catch up.

What Drummers Get by Johnny Foreigner

Johnny Foreigner Vs You (Cursed Version) by Johnny Foreigner

>> This is also true: Northern Ireland-based spazzcore savants Adebisi Shank's transcendent -- transcendent, we said -- second record This Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank was released worldwide last month by the ever-tasteful Sargent House label (you know the label, they also picked up the Maps & Atlases record and released that way back?). The collection was previously released last June by Big Scary Monsters in the UK. As we quipped elsewhere, the record is every single record you wished Trans Am had released after its tour de force Surrender To The Night. The most mind-blowing track on the Adebisi Shank record is the impenetrably titled "(-_-)," but the entire thing is wonderful. Free music, you say? Sure. Here's track three from This Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank, "Ghenki Shank." It's got more of a later Trans Am vibe (read: vocoder).

Adebisi Shank -- "Ghenki Shank" -- The Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank
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[buy This Is The Second Album Of A Band Called Adebisi Shank right here]

>> Oh yeah, so Dananananaykroyd are back. The always-quality Another Form Of Relief blog has all the details here, but we'll recount the highlights, which are these: the Glaswegian fight-pop standard bearers' forthcoming sophomore set is titled There Is A Way; There Is A Way is being released on the band's own label Pizza College June 13. According to Dananananaykroyd's Internet Home Page, There Is A Way has 11 tracks and was produced in California by Ross Robinson. Ross Robinson, at least at Wikipedia, is referred to as the "Godfather of Nu Metal." And yes, he is the guy who produced that really flat-sounding The Cure record from 2004. On the upside, Mr. Robinson produced At The Drive-In's towering swan song Relationship Of Command [this is one of the greatest late-night TV performances ever]. We'll be very interested to hear this thing. Hit the link to AFOR for an MP3 of the new track "E Numbers."

>> And have you heard the new Yuck b-side? It's called "Doctors In My Bed," it's the flip to a planned forthcoming single release for the the lead track from the London-based quartets phenomenal self-titled debut, which lead track is "Get Away," in case you didn't know. The "Get Away" single is slated for release in late April, during the band's upcoming U.S. tour that commences April 13 in Los Angeles, although said single is not listed on the Fat Possum site -- perhaps it is tour-only? Yuck, as we've been saying for months, will play Paradise Rock Club in Boston April 28, and Clicky Clicky will be there. As far as "Doctors In My Bed" goes, well, it may be the first Yuck song we've heard that we do not love. But they've put out so many awesome songs, you can't hold this one against them. It's not bad, it just lacks the sort of melodic magic we've learned to expect from the band. Just buy the single for the A-side, it's a scorcher.

Doctors In My Bed by Yuck

YouTube Rodeo: Yuck's "Get Away"

Kinda hot, kinda weird describes both Yuck's new video and the terrific and rising London-based act itself. The clip embedded above is the lead track from the quintet's superlative self-titled debut, which was released by Fat Possum last month. The band has a surprisingly busy SXSW schedule next week, playing a grand total of nine appearances over the course of four days, March 16 through 19. Local fans not able to get to the annual Austin-based music confab next week will have two shots to see Yuck bring the rock next month at the tail end of a West-to-East U.S. tour. The band plays Boston's Paradise Rock Club April 28 [Ticketbastard] and Northampton, Mass.'s Pearl Street nightclub the following evening. We mention the Pearl Street gig specifically because Yuck shares the stage with the absolutely fantastic NYC UFOs that night, making it one of the strongest bills we see on the radar. If you can't get enough of that Yuck rock 'n' roll stuff, here's a Soundcloud embed of the jam, but we can tell you from personal experience the Fat Possum dudes are totally obliging and will absolutely make sure you get your money's worth. Buy Yuck from Fat Possum right here. It will make you happy.

Be Prepared: Yuck | Self-titled | 15 February

You already know this is coming: we've been telling you for weeks and weeks. But, jeepers, our hopes are high. That's because Yuck, more so than just about any band since Johnny Foreigner, is musically about all the things that we are musically about. Which basically means they make flawless -- if somewhat anachronistic -- music, music that sounds like the best things the early '90s had to offer. Like Johnny Foreigner, Yuck has yet to make a musical mis-step -- not bad for a quartet (five, if you count guest vocalist/"part-time member" Llana Blumberg, sister of Daniel) that has been around fewer than two years. Yuck the album will be released in the U.S. by Fat Possum on Feb. 15, according to a recent email. Other new news? Yuck the band will return to America for a tour on the heels of a series of UK dates in February, which tour will lead up to a performance at the 2011 edition of the annual music confab SXSW in March. So if you were disappointed when the foursome cancelled its short strand of planned October 2010 dates, there is a chance to make up for lost time come spring, yeh? Here's the track list to Yuck, as well as some familiar Soundcloud embeds:

1. Get Away
2. The Wall
3. Shook Down
4. Holing Out
5. Suicide Policeman
6. Georgia
7. Suck
8. Stutter
9. Operation
10. Sunday
11. Rose Gives a Lily
12. Rubber

Suicide Policeman by Yuck

Rubber by Yuck

Footage: Yuck's "Rubber" [NSFW]

Every new song we hear from London-based indie upstarts Yuck is the newest reason why we love the band. And while the quartet has been giving away "Rubber" for free since October, only today did it drop this visually stunning and curiously provocative video for the track. The clip conflates lingering and rapidly looped footage of dog grooming with lingering footage of a woman washing herself in a shower. It's just weird. But the images have that super crisp quality that you'll remember started cropping up in MTV videos of a certain late era. The song, of course, is perhaps the sludgiest thing Yuck has offered to date, and it is the lead track to a 12" EP released by The Pharmacy Recording Company in the U.K. on Nov. 1. That label will also issue Yuck's debut full-length in the U.K. in early 2011; Fat Possum recently signed Yuck for North America, and will release the full-length here around the same time, as we reported here last month. Fat Possum releases the single "Georgia" b/w "The Base of A Dream Is Empty" in the U.S. Nov. 23 [pre-order], and we posted a video clip for the b-side right here recently. If you have a little extra time, watch this very good video interview with Yuck's Daniel. Two things we did not know: drummer Johnny is actually American, from New Jersey even. And Daniel is heavy into Silver Jews.

Rubber by Yuck

Footage: Yuck's "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty"

We're loathe to post two videos in a row, but of course last night's tribute to Mr. Ruane was unplanned and certainly important. Today we have the video for London quartet Yuck's fantastic, shoegazey b-side "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty." The song is overdriven, melodic and a bit understated, but in a completely wonderful way; download the MP3 right here. "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty" will appear on the forthcoming "Georgia" single being released by Fat Possum in the U.S. Nov. 23 [pre-order!], and it also appears on the Rubber EP being released in the UK this coming Monday by The Pharmacy Recording Company, as we first wrote here earlier this month. Fat Possum intends to release in early 2011 Yuck's debut full-length recording, the title of which has not yet been disclosed.

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Varsity Drag, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

>> We ignore about as many pitches in a day as breaths we inhale, but there are certain folks whose recommendations are lead-pipe cinches, and we got one of those cinchy pitches a few weeks ago about the fast-rising, London-based indie rock duo Big Deal. The pair, whose MySpace URL is charmingingly MySpace.com/WeAreABigDeal, flew onto the radar of the British rock press after only its second show, and Big Deal's debut single "Homework" b/w a cover of Big Star's "13" doesn't even street until 18 Nov. and is not yet available for pre-order. The single, incidentally, will be issued by London's Records Records Records, who you may recall recently issued the completely terrific Superman Revenge Squad EP Dead Crow Blues. Anyway, Big Deal is songwriters and guitarists Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe, and the pair's music sounds a fair amount like another hotly tipped London act, that being Yuck, which means Big Deal sounds like Yo La Tengo, in the best way possible.

"Homework" b/w "13" will be released in a limited vinyl edition with "hand finished" artwork (we don't know what that means, but yeah, awesome?), and both tracks are already streaming at the aforementioned MySpace along with three others. NME recently posted the smouldering strummer "Locked Up" as its track of the day, and we're taking the liberty of re-posting the track below because it is brilliant. Big Deal are apparently recording new material with Gordon Raphael, who aging hipsters may recollect was the producer of the early Strokes material; according to Wikipedia Mr. Raphael now works out of Urchin Studios in London.

Big Deal's "Homework," "13" and "Locked Up"

>> An update on the goings-on of hometown indie punk superheroes Varsity Drag is overdue. Sadly, drummer extraordinaire Josh Pickering has parted with the band. Word is -- well, actually we read it here -- that Mr. Pickering has been succeeded on the stool by a cat named Jonas Meyer, who is currently rehearsing with founding member Ben Deily and trusty bassist Lisa Marie Deily. And from the WTF file: Varsity Drag has been tapped to provide music for a forthcoming production of "Hamlet" being staged by an area theater company in 2011. No word what that music will sound like or whether it will be available for general consumption by non-theater goers. Varsity Drag's most recent release was the digital single "White Cat In A Snowstorm," a song originally written and released by UK punkers Ipanema. The song is slated to appear on a comp being concatenated by the Drag's UK label Boss Tunage, but no release date on the comp has been disclosed. Grab the track here or stream it below.




>> Dream pop phenoms The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart will release a sophomore full-length recording on Slumberland Records in March 2011. The album as yet has no title, but a first single, "Heart In Your Heartbreak," will be issued in November with an exclusive b-side. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's self-titled debut was released last year, as was the band's Higher Than The Stars EP. The New York-based quartet is on tour through the end of November and you can review all tour dates at the band's Myspace hacienda right here.

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Mobius Band, Yuck

Oh, the things we haven't had a chance to report during our very busy last several weeks. Let's catch up together, shall we?

>> Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans Johnny Foreigner are presently in the midst of their first full tour of North America (mostly the U.S.), where they've been supporting the truly terrific Los Campesinos! But the big news is the announcement of two releases on new label Alcopop! The first is an EP confoundingly titled You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And Sea So Calm, and it contains six songs: "The Wind And The Weathervanes," "Who Needs Comment Boxes When You've Got Knives," "Elegy For Post Teenage Living (Parts 1 and 2)," "Robert Scargill Takes The Prize," "Harriet By Proxy" and "Yr Loved." Alcopop! will issue the EP in November in physicial and digital editions, but the EP is already available to North American ITunes shoppers [LINK] as a way to harness the hype the band hopes to generate during the current tour. The physical release of You Thought You Saw... will feature unique art for each unit shifted, which art is being crowdsourced from actual photos being submitted by fans. More deets about that right here. The second release Johnny Foreigner will do with Alcopop is a split single with new labelmates Stagecoach. The split, limited to 500 copies and carrying a Nov. 15 release date, features each band performing one of their own songs as well as one song by the other act. Johnny Foreigner's contributions are the new track "Tru Punx" and Stagecoach's "Good Luck With Your 45;" Stagecoach turn in what is apparently an amazing acoustic version of Johnny Foreigner's "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" and the new track "Not Even Giles (... Would Say We'll Be OK)." The two bands tour the UK from 18 November through 11 December, and you can see all the tour dates here at ThisIsFakeDIY. Pre-orders for the Johnny Foreigner EP will be taken imminently; the JoFo/Stagecoach split will be sold on the bands' tour, but we have it on good authority there will be some copies stocked in the Alcopop! store and Banquet Records is already doing pre-orders as well.

>> Reformed post-rockers/electropop geniuses Mobius Band officially announced its hiatus. This is sad, in a rented hatchback. The very fine trio has released to date two excellent full length recordings and a seemingly endless number of EPs, and we're sad to see the band taking an indefinite break, although that break has been going on for what seems like a couple years at this point, so it is not exactly a shock. Each band member continues pursuing musical interests. Guitarist Ben Sterling's Cookies project already has a 10" record on offer with the tracks "Summer Jam" b/w "Throw A Parade." The a-side sounds very much of a piece with the Heaven-era Mobius Band stuff, and features a very solid female vocalist whose identity we don't know. Both tracks can be downloaded or streamed at the Cookies web hacienda right here. Ah, what the hell, here's the link to the .zip file, have at it, music aficionadoes. Cookies will make its live debut Nov. 5 in Manhattan at Mercury Lounge. Mobius Band drummer Noam Schatz -- seriously, the drummingest mofo you will ever meet, by the way -- has a new project LOLFM and an album of electropop gems titled We Are Its Waves freely downloadable from Bandcamp right here. Bassist Peter Sax also has free rock on offer under the nom de rock Ladies And Gentlemen; check out "Up To Us" here and "What You Could" here. All of these new musics have their charms, but we certainly harbor hopes the trio will be reconstituted at some later date. Mobius Band, we salute you.

>> Superlative upstart indie rockers Yuck, who make their US debut in Boston at Paradise Rock Club next Wednesday who recently cancelled their planned US dates (see comment), have signed with Fat Possum. The label will release the London-based act's full-length debut -- as-yet untitled -- in early 2011; the set will be issued in Europe by The Pharmacy Recording Company around the same time. Preceding the full-length will be a US single on Fat Possum for Yuck's "Georgia" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty." The single will be issued Nov. 23; fans, of course, know that "Georgia" was previously issued as a single in the U.K. in March. U.K. fans have a new, 12" Yuck single to look forward to as well: "Rubber" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty" and "Dark Magnet" will be released Nov. 1 on The Pharmacy Recording Company. If you haven't yet heard "Georgia" in all of its Yo La Tengo-esque deliciousness, feast your ears on this.

Yuck -- "Georgia" -- "Georgia" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty"
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[pre-order the single from Fat Possum right here]