Upon seeing the Walkmen play the Hi-tone on Tuesday night, I was just blown away. They were so good and so loud live that I couldn’t even stand to listen their own albums the next day. So while we can’t post the Walkmen again, we can instead talk about the Lil’ Fighters, a New York band with links to the Walkmen. The Lil’ Fighters, however, don’t share that much musically with the Walkmen, prefering a pop foundation that lends to glowing warmth and feeling pleasant and singing lots of la-la’s, which is just what I need to let my ears recover.
Build Buildings
Sometimes I can only explain my bias for a certain artist at a certain moment by blaming the weather. Build Buildings to me is autumnesque in its flickering warmth. Tape glitches and synth chirps swirl around you like cool fog on a country road, with moments of bright melody and humanity bursting through the periphery like orange, red, and yellow leaves. Whether or not you buy the meteorological analogy, you have to admit Ben Tweel’s open-structured compositions are mature beyond the age of his laptop.
Song of the Lakes
Beware! Song of the Lakes is devoid of cynicism, coolness or hipness; the musicians probably don’t wear much black and they likely have a collective age of 200+ yrs. (for the four of them); the flute plays a prominent role in this song. Now that that’s taken care of, if you’re still interested, check out what this near-legendary live act from Up North (northern Michigan / the upper Great Lakes) has to offer. Besides the north woods and lakes, summer cottages and fall-apart piers, maritime traditions and the 19th century, you can hear influences from the British Isles and Scandinavia. More downloads with even more flute are available at the Song of the Lakes website.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
At some point I had to acknowledge the wonders of this band despite or due to the fact that every single one of my favorite music-related blogs has jocked Clap Your Hands Say Yeah — which I won’t acronym-ize because it ends up reminding me of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young when, in fact, they remind me of all that’s good about the Talking Heads, early Radiohead (yeah, Heather, I said Radiohead), and hazy, distorted memories of childhood.
Gardin
How do you like your slowcore? Gardin is delightfully simple, providing surprisingly lush soundscapes from fragile melodies and deliberate vocals, with an honesty that not’s hidden by fluff or distractions. A perfect recipe for the genre.
Captain Sensible
I thought I’d follow up my Sunday Damned post with an obvious segue to Captain Sensible, who, in the early ’80s broke off from The Damned to venture out on his own. He’s got two decades worth of charming, often biting, pop songs that hold up remarkably well. His song “Wot” made quite a splash in the UK and its ripples made it across to our side of the pond. I remember actually seeing the video on MTV. The story ends up quite cheery as Captain joined back up with The Damned for an album in 2001, where Captain questions British Democracy and gets his digs in on a little place called Neverland.
The Damned
Nothing like downloading The Damned on a Sunday afternoon… I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get to The Damned (Clay couldn’t believe I beat him to it), but you just don’t expect some of your old favorites to be this on top of things. I was turned onto The Damned years ago by a good friend who had amassed a huge vinyl collection, which I believe included, close to, if not, everything The Damned had released. I spent many hours at his house taping albums and recording mix tapes of The Damned. Then in 1993 his home was among hundreds burned in the Laguna Beach fire, burning along with it, yes, all that vinyl. I don’t know if I’ve ever really repaid him for turning me onto some great music, so hey, Randy, gimme a call and bring your iPod…
Forest Giants
Just because we all contribute to 3hive doesn’t mean we like the same bands. Jon’s got a thing for prog rock that I just don’t quite understand. Sean has his SoCal punk roots, but these days how bland is that? Joe, a Northerner, likes country! As for Shan, don’t get me started. That leaves Sam, and his lifelong obsession with Billy Bragg (likeable enough, as long as I don’t have to listen to him). But we all share common loves. Sam and I, we loved the Beatnik Filmstars. Forest Giants is the new band of Tim Rippington, formerly of the Beatniks, still cranking out beautiful noise, a la the Beatniks’ Laid Back and English. Mundane Sounds’ Volume Four Sampler includes Forest Giants and 14 other bands, all available for free download. And as for me, well, I’ve got impeccable taste!
Noe Venable
Clicking through someone else’s iPod is a personal experience, like examining the contents of a purse or carefully reading titles on a bookshelf. “She’s got a hell of a lot of 50 Cent on here,” you might say to yourself, and completely remake your mental image of that iPod’s owner. While S. didn’t have a lot of rap on hers — Japanese pop artists were ubiquitous, for some reason — it was Noe Venable that caught my ear. With a clear voice that ranges from innocent to playful to angry, this San Francisco artist’s lush home recordings reflect her strong, intelligent narrative vision. And this reminds me of S., at least “Just a Lil Bit.”
Wonder Ground
Today the suggestion box brings us Wonder Ground, who will be recording an EP at the Ship with a guy from Earlimart, who were described by Joe here on 3hive as “intelligent pop that’s true to an indie-rock spirit.” That statement also applies to Wonder Ground. Joe added four descriptive words to describe Earlimart, but for Wonder Ground, I’ll add comparisons to American Analog Set and Beulah, who were, well, intelligent pop that was true to an indie-rock spirit. Don’t you just love the suggestion box?