My love for indie pop guy/girl duets runs deep. I can’t say that Austin’s Wild Child is the most original, but they’re charming, catchy, and adorable. They have a Slow Club vibe in the sense that the melody is happy, but the tone is sad. Their video here “Pillow Talk” depicts a sweet, dream-like work a la Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
This is the title track from their debut album released last October on Major Nation Records. Not sure why their just starting to surface, but I’m curious to see what else this band brings and if they can continue to charm!
Upbeat indie pop from London, Laurel Collective is groovy, noisy, and uber-cool. They signed with an offshoot of Domino Records, Double Six, in their infancy. A sensational introduction to the band with “They Hate Me,” I’m dying to see what these guys come up with on their upcoming debut via Tape Club/Believe.
Aside from working on their own music, they also do their part to foster the indie scene. Apparently they host a now-famous secret festival in a remotely-located forest (called In the Woods), which has featured the likes of Micachu and the Shapes, The Invisible, Pete and the Pirates, and Anna Calvi on the bill. They also hosted a regular night called ‘Hindenburg Mile-High Club’ for a short time in London.
Seems like I should have heard of these guys by now. Have you?
Yes, I now that I’m late on this. But I’m sharing anyway. This sextet indie-folk band from Garðabær, Iceland is extremely talented. As are most bands that are able to make it onto the international scene out of the oblivion that is the icy north. Love it!
I loved Rugrats, so with a name like “Reptar,” you’re bound to get my attention. And it’s not just me– this Georgia-based band has been collecting quite a following since 2008. Their debut album Body Faucet was produced by Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley, Washed Out) and will be released on Vagrant Records on May 1st (review coming soon).
They’ll be playing at SXSW and supporting buzzed-about band Grouplove on tour this Spring. If you’re like me and want to catch them early, come see them at The Echo this Wednesday with Quiet Hooves and Lucius.
REPTAR LIVE DATES
2/23 – Fitzgerald’s (Downstairs) – Houston, TX
2/24 – The Prophet Bar – Dallas, TX
2/25 – Stubbs BBQ – Austin, TX
2/27 – Solar Culture – Tucson, AZ
2/28 – Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
2/29 – The Echo – Los Angeles, CA (more…)
It’s funny how you can hear the name of a band or artist so much that you feel like you know their M.O. I felt this way about Alcoholic Faith Mission–that I knew their schtick and that they weren’t my thing. Then comes a press release with their new video to prove me wrong. Not only are they nothing like I imagined, but their visceral and Aboriginal-inspired video for their single “Into Pieces” shocked me into listening.
The single, from their upcoming LP Ask Me This is as if The Polyphonic Spree joined Bon Iver on an Active Child remix. Falsetto-laden and littered with harmonious choruses over a scaling piano, synth beats, and an arpeggio of vocals, “Into Pieces” is striking in both beauty and strangeness. And yes, Brooklyn Vegan loves them too.
Ask Me This will be out on Old Flame Records on March 27th.
My obsession with St. Vincent is possibly unhealthy. I am absolutely infatuated and this new video, premiered today by Google Music and Youtube, is no exception. The feelings it provokes in such a hyperbolic and artistic way are magical…evoking sadness and desperation. It brings the song “Cheerleader” (from St. Vincent’s completely fantastic Strange Mercy) forward in, not a new light, but in a brighter, more tangible one. Sensational.
It’s practically impossible for me to stop dancing in my seat as I write this. Anna, a soulful alto, has written a deliciously-saccharine pop song. Think Hall & Oats “You Make My Dreams Come True,” but with a female vocalist, more handclaps, and set in something more adorable and teen like Freaky Friday or A Cinderella Story. Ok…. maybe it’s my 15-year-old self that loves this.
Her album Canary In A Coal Mine will be released on February 28th via Paper Anchor Music.
Choir of Young Believers from Denmark is sci-fi pop with 80s/Joy Division undertones. The beats are muted and the synth is prominent on “Patricia’s Thirst.” “Nye Nummer Et” takes a wholer, more cinematic tone, swelling with a violin and minor-key falsetto, bordering on Active-Child indie-opratic.
Their sophomore album Rhine Gold will be released March 20 on Ghostly International and they’ll be on a U.S. tour this Spring. See them in L.A. at The Echo on March 9th.
