Strangelights is perhaps the perfect name for a psych-influenced rock band. One with sitar-like guitar, maracas, and a wah-soaked guitar riff. This Minneapolis trio has all that and more. And by more I mean a singer who is a dead-ringer (vocally) for Ian McCulloch of Echo & the Bunnymen, but don’t make that the only reason to download “Planet Vesusvius.”
We Landed on the Moon!
Sometimes you just need to dance when you’re sweeping the kitchen floor. Sometime you just need to bounce in your seat on a long drive home. Sometimes you just need to let this Baton Rouge band fill your ears with their dance-y take on 90’s rock after spending time digging through your old shoegaze albums to get your head back to reality. And sometimes I talk about myself in the second person.
Crystal Stilts
The perfect companion to last week’s post on Cause Co-Motion!, since the two Brooklyn bands are currently touring the West Coast together. (I had planned on seeing them tonight in Oakland, but alas, I’ve got torn knee ligaments.)
The Slumberland page for their new album Alight of Night makes reference to a whole slew of bands: Velvet Underground, 13th Floor Elevators, Red Crayola, the Gun Club, the Mary Chain, and also bands from Flying Nun, Rough Trade, and Factory Records. I’d also throw in early Walkmen and the Recoys. Feel free to add your own.
Cause Co-Motion!
Only one minute and thirty four seconds for you today, but it’s brilliant DIY pop from Brooklyn’s Cause Co-Motion! (or alternately caUSE Co-MOTION!) doing their take on the early Television Personalities, or what the Buzzcocks would have sounded like if they had formed in the USA in the heyday of 50’s sock hop. It’s Time!, a 14 song singles compilation is out on tomorrow on Slumberland, and they’re also starting a West Coast tour with Slumberland’s the Crystal Stilts this week.
Another single from the Ettes
+/- (Plus/Minus)
+/- has always given me the impression that they know exactly what they’re doing. Even as their catchy pop has matured, like the members themselves, their songs are still crafted in fine detail; there is no filler, no fluff, and definitely no songs that were mere afterthoughts meant to only take up space. Now that is not to say that there is no passion in +/-. Au contraire, they’re only showing us the passion that they want us to see, dispensing their drug in controlled doses. Xs for Your Eyes, their new LP. will be out October 21st.
Original post from June 30, 2004:
Continuing our tour of former members of the late great Versus (and 3hive’s tour of bands with non-alphabetic names), we now hit +/-, a.k.a. “Plus Minus.” Combining the finer points of electronica and jangly (even emo) pop with their well-honed skills of crunching guitars, +/- purvey a progessive indie rock that’s catchy, hooky, and rockin’.
Polara
While it had been a few years since Polara’s last release, Ed Ackerson did put out a solo album last year, following it up this past May with the new Polara album Beekeeping. It continues the time-tested, 3hive-approved Polara formula of throbbing, wah-soaked mod psych fuzz-pop.
Original Post 4/9/2005:
Ed Ackerson, the main man in Polara, had an earlier mod/power-pop band called the 27 Various. I first bought an album of the 27 Various just because of one sentence on the back cover. They proclaimed their avoidance of a certain musical equipment manufacturer under the song listing by declaring “The 27 Various are proud to be {manufacturer’s name removed} free.” I didn’t like that company’s amps anyway, so I bought the CD. Ed moved on to bigger and better things with Polara, whose song “Counting Down” from their album Clean is still one of my favorites. Polara’s got a new EP out to whet our appetites for a full length LP in the fall; unfortunately no MP3s, so in keeping with Citizen Bird from the other day, here’s some earlier examples of Polara’s soulful fuzz-pop. And Ed, if you’re reading, I’m still {manufacturer’s name removed} free!
Addendum: New EP means new MP3! Polara’s now offering “Thirty Seconds” from their new EP. Enjoy!
Now, Now Every Children
How many of us were in a band in 10th grade? And for those who answered yes, how many are still in that band? Cacie Dalager and Brad Hale started playing together in 10th grade, and, having finished school, last year added two other members to round out their lineup and begin doing this band thing for real. Cacie’s innocently earnest voice steals the show, while the music swirls around her, managing to push her higher still. That’s the danger with their formula; can the music match the level of the singing? Now, Now Every Children make it sound simple, by keeping it…well…simple. Now after listening, for those who answered no, how many of us wish we had been in a band in 10th grade?
The Upsidedown
Similarities between the Upsidedown and the Dandy Warhols are to be expected. Having signed on to the Dandy’s new indie label Beat the World, they also recorded their new LP Human Destination at the Dandy’s Odditorium studio. If mockery is the sincerest form of flattery, the Upsidedown, with members hailing from Portland, Missouri, Kansas, and San Fran, flatter their Dandy mentors by their use of crisp drumming, a steady rhythm, and effects-laden guitar driving the melody. On tour now with the…you guessed it…Dandy Warhols.
Suretoss
My “3hive” bookmarks folder has, sheez I don’t know exactly, hundreds of links to bands that I have bookmarked over the years. For one reason or another, most of them hadn’t made it onto our pages, the biggest reason being a lack of free MP3’s to link to. Looking back through said bookmarks folder brought me first to The Dutch Elms, who did appear on 3hive four years ago, and then to Suretoss, who didn’t make it. Looking back, it was probably because these songs below were listed as belonging to a future release. I can’t tell if they were ever released, but upon this recent listening I found that I still enjoy Suretoss’s spirited indie rock which reminds me of old faves like Superchunk and Les Thugs. More songs can be found on their site.