Odd, rhythmic, friendly pop that strays just slightly off course from its Athens, GA/Elephant 6 roots. Here’s the quick geneology: The New Sound of Numbers was founded by Hannah Jones, percussionist for Circulatory System, which is the band W. Cullen Hart formed after Olivia Tremor Control broke up. And Olivia Tremor Control, well, that’s where the Elephant 6 reference comes in. (Scott W. told me once I tend to assume everyone’s following along, so for you slowpokes here’s a handy Elephant 6 history lesson.) The debut album, called Liberty Seeds, is due out in October 2006 on Hart’s own Cloud Recordings.
Teddybears
For all intents and purposes summer’s coming to a close real quick. Sweden’s Teddybears drop a late entry for Summer Song of the Year with “Cobrastyle” featuring Mad Cobra on vocals. Mad Cobra flavors the track with highly addictive dancehall rhythms and resurrects Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba” (who knew that song could be salvaged??) in the process. Other guest vocalists on the album include Iggy Pop and Neneh Cherry (drop by their myspace page for her contribution). Either of those songs make for a perfect soundtrack to this season’s closing credits and should easily get your party started.
The Black Neon
I have to admit I’ve been squatting on this one for a while. Leaving a blank post in ol’ Movable Type just to keep my 3hive colleagues from posting The Black Neon before I do. But blank posts aren’t a very effective way of sharing the sharing, so here goes… The Black Neon’s first full-length is called Arts and Crafts. It’s a regular appetizer tray of styles, as evidenced by these two tracks — one a nostalgic psych-pop ballad, the other a searing electro-rock instrumental. And there’s even more goodness if you dig deeper on the album, which I’d love to play for you in its entirety but that’s your job now, isn’t it?
Favourite Sons
You get the idea when listening to the Favourite Sons that at least one of them owns a beat-up denim jacket and that at some point in his life he wore that spindly thing even in the dead of winter. The Sons’ rock ‘n’ roll oozes with such self-imposed discomfort. They’re the guys who, rather than pretending to have a life story actually went out and got one. Ken Griffin was tending bar and contemplating his musical future when Matthew Werth and Justin Tripp, both formerly of Aspera, ventured up from Philly to find the former Rollerskate Skinny member and talk him back into the business. Good thing for us. Griffin has the cynically assured swagger of Ian McCulloch and can curve a hook as good as a fisherman. In Werth and Tripp he’s not only found a perfect rhythm section, but some people who care about his unpretentious brand of art rock as much as he does.
RIP: WOXY.com??
Pagoda
Super low-key, starry, fuzzy music from DC, good for cool, late summer nights, waiting for fall. (Sorry if the blurb here is a little too thin; work beckons. If anyone wants to editorialize a bit, go ahead and hit the Comments.)
Play It As It Lays #250
The Prids
Sure, this whole 80’s thing is still going on, but let’s just remember there was more to the 80’s than the Clash and the Thompson Twins. There were many European bands who straddled the lines between post-punk and goth/industrial, as in Clan of Xymox, Trisomie 21, the Cassandra Complex, the Legendary Pink Dots, New Order, etc. The Prids update this sound for the new millenium, with a whole boy-girl interplay that provides a freshness to what they’re trying to do. And considering the boy-girl, David Frederickson and Mistina Keith, were married, then divorced, and still play in this band together, well that gives a whole new meaning to sexual tension.
Squeeze More Lemonheads
Justin Rutledge
I was listening to the always excellent CBC Radio 3 podcast a few weeks back while flying cross-country. Maybe it was the altitude or lack of non-peanut sustenance but Justin Rutledge’s live, sing-along rendition of “Don’t Be So Mean, Jellybean” made me bust up a cryin’. Here’s hoping it makes the cut for his new album due out in the fall.