Posted on

La Sera

La Sera is the side project of Vivian Girls’ bass player Katy Goodman. Sees The Light, her second album on Hardly Art, has a great in your face pop/rock feel to it which I really enjoy. She recorded this album with the help of Rob Barbato (The Fall, Darker My Love) who lent his guitar and production skills to the recording. The result is a great pop record, full of what great pop records are made of, songs about breakups and heartbreak. Enjoy.

La Sera – Please Be My Third Eye from Sees The Light (2012)

La Sera – Break My Heart from Sees The Light (2012)

Hardly Art

Posted on

The Spyrals

Keeping with the genre that Sean just posted, I present for your listening pleasure, The Spyrals. I stumbled upon this San Francisco trio the other night while browsing through bands on bandcamp. They play a very similar brand of 60’s lo-fi/dirty/garage rock, like the said previous post. Their music is irresistible to these ears, it’s almost like they saw me coming. They were kind enough to provide the track below. You can stream or buy their new S/T album on their bandcamp page, and I highly suggest that you do.

The Spyrals – Disguise

Posted on

Albino Father

Utah has always had a pretty cool underground music scene, and Salt Lake City’s Albino Father is just one of the bands making the scene as cool as it is. They released their debut album AGE in 2011. Their style is all over the map, mixing it up with almost every song. In an attempt to sum up their style, I would say that they play a psychedelic/garage/lo-fi/rock hybrid. Check out the tracks below, then head over to their Bandcamp page and make their music part of your collection.

Albino Father – Meth Truck from AGE (2011)

Albino Father – Gorilla Cat Lady from AGE (2011)

Albino Father – The Light from AGE (2011)

Posted on

Sonic Avenues

Sonic Avenues, a punk band out of Montreal, Quebec. Their second album, Television Youth, came out in January on Dirtnap Records. The title track, included below is a great example of their dirty, loud, lo-fi punk rock sound.

Sonic Avenues – Television Youth

Dirtnap

Sonic Avenues

Posted on

Pontiak

Pontiak is a trio out of Virginia. They are set to release their newest album Echo Ono with Thrill Jockey on February 21st. Their style is a blend of several different genres. No matter how you try to clasify them, psych, stoner rock, prog rock, they are simply a great rock band.

“Lions of Least”, the song provided below for your listening/downloading pleasure, has everything that makes a great rock ‘n’ roll song. Loud guitar, loud vocals, pounding drums, and a great driving bass line. This song is just a taste of  how good this entire album is, I highly recommend going out and picking it up.

Pontiak – Lions of Least from Echo Ono (2012)

Thrill Jockey

Pontiak

Posted on

Hospitality

Hospitality is an indie pop trio out of Brooklyn, NY. They released their first full-length, self-titled album on Merge Records last week. This album is catchy as hell, and has been on constant rotation since I received it. The two songs we’ve included below are a mere example of how good this album is. “Friends of Friends” and “Betty Wang” are pure pop gold. Full of fuzz, some surf guitar, and just the right amount of punch. But what really makes these songs stand out, and really the entire album, is Vocalist Amber Papini’s unique style. She sings with a slight English accent. According to Merge, Amber is from Kansas City and learned to sing by imitating Richard Butler on The Psychedelic Furs’ Talk Talk Talk. Enjoy.

Hospitality – Friends of Friends from S/T (2012)

Hospitality – Betty Wang from S/T (2012)

Merge

 

Posted on

Bears

The weather has finally started to turn to winter out here in Utah, with plenty more cold and gray days to come. I’m glad that I just stumbled onto Bears new single, “Eleven a.m.”, from their forthcoming album Greater Lakes, to be released February 14 on Misra Records. I’ve listened to the song several times now and have found that their warm pop melodies are a perfect remedy for the winter blahs.

Bears – Eleven a.m. from Greater Lakes (2012)

www.misrarecords.com

www.bearspop.com

Posted on

Nada Surf

Nada Surf will release their sixth album, The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy, on January 24. Below is a track from their upcoming album for your listening pleasure. Be sure to catch them on tour, and go out and buy their new album on the 24th.

Nada Surf – When I Was Young from The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy (2012)

www.nadasurf.com

www.barsuk.com

Posted on

The Barr Brothers

I love being on the prowl for new music, scouring the web, looking for one of the thousands of musical gems that are out there hiding in cyberspace. I hang out in the WOXY Lives room at turntable.fm quite a bit, I have found this place to be a great place to hear new stuff and talk with people who have similar musical tastes. This is where I first heard The Barr Brothers. I don’t remember which song was played, I just remember having the “I have to check these guys out” moment. I am sure glad that I did.

Founded in Montreal, Quebec, The Barr Brothers are a four-piece folk band comprised of brothers Andrew, and Brad Barr on drums and guitar, with Sarah Page on the harp, and Andres Vial on keys, bass, vibes, and percussion. Their self-titled debut came out in September of 2011, it is a must have. Secret City provided us with two songs for your listening/downloading pleasure. Enjoy these tracks, then go out and buy their album.

The Barr Brothers – Beggar In The Morning from S/T (2011)

The Barr Brothers – Give The Devil Back His Heart from S/T (2011)

The Barr Brothers

Secret City Records

Posted on

Love Inks

It’s a Wednesday night, we are 4 days away from 2012 and the end of the world, my wife and kids are playing Rock Band in the background and I am searching through all the music that I’ve acquired this year trying to find any hidden gems that didn’t get enough attention when originally purchased. One of those gems is Austin, Texas 3-piece band Love Inks. They describe their sound as “minimalist dream-pop”, using just an electric guitar, bass guitar, and a drum machine, along with the simple, yet satisfying vocals of Sherry LeBlanc.

The songs below are great examples of their minimalist ways. While Love Inks isn’t the most musically or lyrically complicated band out there, their brand of pop music grabs hold of you, and before you know it you’re nodding your head and have listened to these songs several times and you don’t know where the last hour of your life went.

Love Inks – Blackeye from E.S.P (2011)

Love Inks – Leather Glove from E.S.P (2011)