This post has been a long time coming. Because I haven’t loved any music lately, and because, well, I’ve been so very MIA. So first things first, hello again! Some things change (i.e. the seasons, my computer [!!!]), etc but thankfully never, ever my weakness for the british accent and quirkilicious bands. I’m really glad that these poppy, punky girls and boys decided to cite Architecture in Helsinki as an influence on their own accord, so I didn’t have to do it first. Los Campesinos has the same big, bombastic, pleasantly messy collective sound and the same absolutely misleading kind of name–these seven british kids don’t appear to be anywhere from anyplace that speaks any kind of Spanish (although I could be wrong). I feel like seeing them live (which I have not) would be a blast of colors and dancing and rocking out and just a whole lot of fun. I look forward to it.
The Black Hollies
Here’s a little something I’ve been playing on my radio show for the past few weeks. I really wish more bands did the neo-psychedelic sound. It’s a sound I’m quite fond of, a sound that I felt I found on my own when I was fourteen years old, old enough finally to ride my bike (uphill both ways!) to Camel Records or Music Market to dig through rows of records searching for The Three O’Clock albums that came out before Sixteen Tambourines, a record I heard in the back of a friend’s van heading south on Pacific Coast Highway on our way to a church dance in Newport Beach. And while The Black Hollies sound more like The Seeds than The Three O’Clock, I dig their way-back sound. As you can tell it takes me way back to when the Sixties were twenty years past, not forty.
Vanilla Swingers
It was my daughter’s birthday yesterday and the major festivities happen today, so the in-laws are in town (they just walked in the door) and my hosting and fathering skills are required, but I don’t want to short change the ‘hive or this band. Lucky for me, Anne and Miles of Vanilla Swingers just dropped these tracks of gold into our suggestion box yesterday, saving me the trouble of digging through piles of mail, electronic and snail. While their name rings oxymoronic (I imagine swingers to be more of a Rocky Road or Chocolate Fudge Ripple variety) there’s nothing contradictory about Vanilla Swingers’ music. Moody, electronic tracks are the backdrop for hushed boy/girl vocals telling the story of two lovers who run away to London then travel back in time. “I’ll Stay Next to You” epitomizes Vanilla Swingers’ cinematic themes and sound, while “Danger” sounds as if the Pet Shop Boys slowed things down to about 90 bpm and were fronted by a gorgeous, brunette chanteuse. Oh yes, despite their name Vanilla Swingers sound very brunette, the color of my desire.
We Are Standard
Before you download “On the Floor” from this group of Spain-bred English-speakers that have already invaded Europe and, if their wishes come true, will invade the United States next, you might want to hop into your Mini Cooper and drive back to 2002. We Are Standard’s brand of art-school-post-punk-cool-geek music—they cover “Waiting for the Man” for crying out loud—reached its high water mark around that time, with all of the “The” bands (Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Moldy Peaches, Hives) selling records and getting airplay on terrestrial radio (remember terrestrial radio? You didn’t even have to pay for it!). That’s not to say that they don’t sound good today. On the contrary, lead singer Deu Chacartequi almost makes me believe he really is both a sex symbol and a rock star. The thing that keeps such hubris from being too nostalgic and goofy is that you get the sense that he doesn’t quite believe it himself. But he does a little.
The Felice Brothers
The Felice Brothers seem to have a good time spinning out bizarre, wistful Bob Dylan-esque songs about deals gone wrong and inevitably bad relationships. The sloppy fun of “Frankie’s Gun!” makes me wish I’d been in that studio, banging on something, making some noise as the tape rolled. Made up of three actual brothers from the Catskills — Simone, Ian and James Felice — plus “a 19 year old called Christmas,” according to the press info, these guys don’t mind playing a wrong not or two. It’s the thought that counts, right? And their thoughts seem as pure and sincere as a streetcorner singer in the middle of summer, telling everyone how it is.
Honey Claws
As most of the music world heads to Austin, Texas this week for the annual South By South West music festival I’m stuck here in my front bedroom doing the virtual bar crawl hunting for something new to listen to and re-living past SXSWs. Honey Claws is just the sort of thing I’d hope to run into at 1 A.M. my feet weary from the walking, my head hurting from all the rocking, but these grooves would buoy me up for another couple hours. These two tracks sound a bit like Nine Inch Nails tempered and mellowed through Beck’s beatbox and microphone. The rest of the album will take you on a wild bounce deep into the heart of Austin’s freak-hop-tronic scene. Sure, that may just be the Honey Claws’ garage but bigger things have blossomed from humbler origins.
SXSW showcase: Wednesday night @ 115 Club.
Rademacher
Really? Has it really been two a half years since Rademacher first appeared on 3hive? This foursome, led and driven by Malcolm Sosa, continues to mature, while still doing their own thing, man. Yes, they’ve made some changes over the years–style, personnel–but they still have their independence, their quirkiness, and an ear for a good tune, finally releasing their first full-length Stunts in December 2007 after three earlier EP’s.
Original Post 8/24/2005:
Okay, there are three good things that come from Fresno, Californ-I-A, and no, not one of the three is Cher. My old lady (oh crap, she’s gonna read this, make that my young bride, to quote my father-in-law) hails from Fresno, as do Let’s Go Bowling and Rademacher. The relative isolation of the Central Valley has allowed the young ones of Rademacher to develop their own take on indie rock that is intense, melodic, and original while being vaguely familiar. The first song is from their new EP out this fall.
Under Electric Light
Danny Provencher began making music as a child secretly singing over records (something I still do, not so secretly, as a full-grown man, often over records I only hear in my head). At some point he committed his music to record, leaving out, ironically, his vocals. The earliest recording as Under Electric Light features four synth-pop instrumentals that sound like a mix between early Depeche Mode beats awash in New Order melodies. From my not-so-scientific investigation, Provencher didn’t come out of the proverbial vocal closet until about three years later. The result is a clean, dreamy, earnest style free from any bells and whistles, content on remaining inconspicuously, well, great—and entirely timeless within the window of the last four decades. “Wintertime” is nothing less than a small epic worthy of ushering out this current season, while leaving the listener wanting more: oh, play that chorus again, please! “This Moment” fills that gap by repeating its gorgeous, soaring chorus once. Oh well, I’ll just have to listen to them for the fifteenth time. Pull my leg.
British Sea Power
It must have been 2004’s edition of our year end lists when I included British Sea Power in my section of “Our Favorite Wish-We-Could-Put-Them-on-3hive Artists” after I had been enjoying their LP The Decline of British Sea Power. Now jump to present day, and, voila, here is British Sea Power on the 3hive, asking you the question in the title of their latest LP Do You Like Rock Music? It’s also my way of making up for missing them at Noisepop in San Francisco last week (I also missed the Walkmen, ug). I know, excuses, excuses.
Thao
I imagine everybody else has already heard these new tracks from Thao (formerly known as Thao Nguyen and also seemingly masquerading as Thao with the Get Down Stay Down). If not, then you should know they absolutely and completely rock (in a folk-pop way). Pulled off of We Brave Bee Stings and All, her Kill Rock Stars label debut, Thao brings in the kitchen sink and everything else to slap together a huge party in these two teeny-tiny songs. From the HGTV-inspired lyrics of “Bag of Hammers” — “Shake the frame of this house / Distress the wood, make it shout” — to the lost love of “Beat” and its accompanying brass (is that a tuba?), Thao doesn’t let you down. (Sadly, though, I think the links on her old 3hive page do.)