Times New Viking sure make a whole lotta racket for only three people. The fuzz, the pounding, the screeching organ; it’s like The Velvets on speed, the Velvets how they sounded in the earphones of the young, impressionable future members of Times New Viking.
Eagle and Talon
I love the way “Georgia” meanders its way into my consciousness. It opens in the middle of an off-the-cuff saxophone riff, then the low-end guitar joins in and finally the sweet, laid-back double vocals of Kim Talon beckon my full attention, and unlike Odysseus I’m fresh out of beeswax, so I can’t plug up my ears to avoid certain destruction. Or certain seduction in this case. There’s a bit of nostalgia at work for me with Eagle & Talon. I love Kim’s double-voice work like I loved Julie & Gretchen’s vocals in Mary’s Danish, although Eagle and Talon’s low-fi, earthy production and their stop/start rockin’ and slowin’ recall Sleater-Kinney’s red light, green light energy. Lyrically, Eagle and Talon cover all stages and consequences of desire, from the lead up in “Hot Caught” to the act in “One Lark;” then you’re living with the product of that desire from birth, “Georgia,” through high school, “Ice Life.” Eagle and Talon provide an alluring soundtrack to the entire cycle.
The Sweet Serenades
I’ve got too many playlists of Swedish bands. The first was simply named “Swedes,” then came “More Swedes” and “Even More Swedes,” all including Swedish bands that can find by a little searching our 3hive archives from recent years. Now I’ve got to start another one to include the Sweet Serenades. Martin and Mathias, after many years of friendship, finally decided to start making making music together in Stockholm. The result: a sound that runs the gamut from 50’s pop to 80’s arena rock to today’s hipster indie rock, all in one song, like their new single “Mona Lee.”
Pale Young Gentlemen
The Pale Young Gentlemen are indeed pale. But unless my eyes have deceived me, they’re not all gentlemen and at least one of them is gonna get a smack from mama for their chauvinism. Maybe that’s why there’s all of this talk of only having one good arm, and running through barley and other slightly macabre circumstances. “The Crook of My Good Arm†is an escape song—the string section is low and immediate, the guitar is frantic, and the vocals and lyrics fall somewhere between Tom Waits and Rufus Wainwright. What they’re escaping from, we’re not sure. But there’s a good chance it’s mama’s wooden spoon.
Surf City
December barely rolls in and finally it looks like “winter” around Huntington Beach, CA, aka Surf City USA. “Winter” remains an ideal time to hit the waves for a chilly little surf session, and this warm, fuzzy track from our Surf City brothers down in New Zealand is the perfect soundtrack for such a jaunt. The band started when two friends connected in a video library just after one of the fellows, Davin, had purchased a four track recorder with money he received from a study grant. It sounds as if he spent more time studying the acoustics of a Volkswagen van because that’s what this EP sounds like: a more cheerful Jesus and Mary Chain as recorded in a VW. No matter your geographical location or its current climate, Surf City will sun up your heart and give you cozy toes.
The Soft Hands
The Soft Hands have resurrected the twitch and punch of the ’70s post-punk sound. They’ve more than resurrected it; they’ve bumped it up a notch or two. They’re jumpier than XTC, snottier than Joe Jackson, more herky-jerky than the Talking Heads. Repeated listens may induce seizures, limb-flailing pogo dancing about the room at least. Suffering from restless leg syndrome? Get out from behind your desk and let The Soft Hands shake the wiggles out of you.
Strangelights
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.
Mother Mother
I’ve been sitting on Mother Mother for too long. Please accept my apologies. They got lost in the shuffle that is my life, although I’ve been playing this track on my radio show for months. So I haven’t been completely hoarding the goods. “O My Heart,” the album’s title track, recalls the Pixies in a big way, especially the vocal play between Frank Black and Kim Deal. I don’t make that comparison lightly. I only do so because the band pulls it off beautifully and I only do so because the band is so much more than a Pixies rehash. In fact, the band probably shares more sonic sensibilities with their Canadian labelmates The New Pornographers. The band began as an acoustic trio, with brother and sister team Ryan and Molly Guldemond and Debra-Jean Creelman. All sing, contributing to the band’s arena worthy harmonies. It’s the play between Mother Mother’s big rock sound and their coffee house intimacy that gives the band that comfort food sound.
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.