Supersystem belt out saturated pop experiments that explode in a cacophony of colorful sound like homemade fireworks on the Third of July – y’know, because you’re too excited to wait for the Fourth. Any of these earnestly analytical numbers (“White light, white light!/what butterflies are made of!â€) is perfect music for kids in the gifted/talented program (is there still such a thing?) who just can’t stomach what Disney Radio is feeding them. Then there’s “Everybody Sings,†which, apart from being the most emphatic social outcast song this writer’s heard in a good spell, with its mega-dubbed chorus, vaguely surf-rock guitar and amped afro-beats takes current Top 40 sensibilities to a gleeful extreme. It’s like something that Justin Timberlake might record…if he was freakin’ awesome!
Canasta
Some bands are made up of those who fled organized education at the first chance possible, while others are just a bunch of math majors. Canasta has got to be one of the latter. Suggested by Dawntread at the University of Chicago (need I say more?), Canasta taps into a Chi-town vibe with melodic, witty and intelligent chamber-pop. For something upbeat, enjoy “Slow Down Chicago,” and glide along with its tastefully muted horn line. For introspection, “Shadowlands” could have been written by heartbreak kings Ben Folds or Mac McCaughan, but wasn’t.
Snowden
Little did I know in my struggling years as a young(ish) shoegazer back in the early 90s that one day bands would be labelled “post-shoegaze” as a badge of honor. Atlanta’s Snowden have been given that tag, but there’s oh so much more to them than just that. Pop and rock are equal parts, and they use a special technique that my friend Mike G taught me after our band broke up many years ago. I was complaining about the stuff I was doing on my own, and his wise advice was to throw on more reverb and more distortion. The result was fantastic. Snowden have taken that same advice. Their debut album comes out August 22nd, and their EP can be downloaded from their website.
Spanking New Podcast 021
Silversun Pickups New MP3 + Album
Hit The Switch
It’s not punk rock if you’re not pissing someone off. Hit The Switch will piss some of you off, and that’s a good thing. When a band names their album Domestic Tranquility and Social Justice you know they ain’t messing around. So yeah, there’s a message here and you may find it leaning too far towards socialism for your political tastes (that’s definitely the case with my father’s political bent…Hi Dad!) but Hit The Switch won’t try to convert you to any one way of thinking, they just want you to think. I suggest you close your political ears and listen with your musical ears and be converted by their fast, catchy, aggressive take on punk rock.
By the way, this is the second half of their album, available as a free download for a limited time from Nitro. The first half of the album was likewise available last month.
Nepotism note: I’m employed by the band’s label. But I dig this band and you dig free music so, so what?
Reminder: Jets Overhead
Jab Mica Och El
From the same label that brought you Secret Mommy come the similarly playful Jab Mica Och El from Denmark. Unlike Secret Mommy, Jacob and Michael seem less interested in making playful songs out of non-musical sounds (with the exception of the bicycle project) and more intent on making playful songs out of familiar instruments such as the banjo, flute, and tuba. After some laptop manipulation and reorganization, the sounds that emerge feel surprising and spontaneous, warm and real — as if some Appalachian robots got drunk and started to jam until they haphazardly came across a tune. Perfect for your next barbecue (Appalachian, robot, or otherwise).
The Stevenson Ranch Davidians
It’s hot, it’s Sunday; let’s get spiritualized. Today I’m happy to point you to four psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs by The Stevenson Ranch Davidians. Theirs is the church of psychedelia and they seem intent on taking their congregation on a trip back to the Summer of Love, ’67 style. They make no apologies for inhaling the effects of the British Invasion, shoegazing, and the music atmosphere of Los Angeles in the late sixties. In fact they’re poised to join the pantheon of L.A. neo-psychedelic bands such as Rain Parade, Mazzy Star, The Dandy Warhols, Brian Jonestown Massacre and Beachwood Sparks. Is it any coincidence I whipped up a batch of grape Kool-Aid for the kids this morning? I think not. Bottom’s up!
Boris
While I love Aquarius Records for their wonderful staff recommendations, I tend to glaze over whenever they ramble on about some Norwegian death metal band or one of their other bizarre sub-sub-sub-genre obsessions. One such act I’d been sleeping on is Boris — filed under “sludge / psych / doom / dirge / drone metal” by the heads at Aquarius. What a fool was I… Sure, they live up to “Japan’s answer to the Melvins” (another Aquarius line) just fine, but stashed between the rabid, big bully numbers sounds are careful, almost vulnerable, epics that build on the legacy of Flying Saucer Attack or even My Bloody Valentine. These two tracks are perfect examples (if you came looking for the headbanger bits, you’ll have to buy the albums). At times, Boris are not at all what you’d expect from a record label whose website features flames as the mouseover animation for its navigation. Then again, a “pink album” doesn’t really fit the genre either — so?