A spiraling downwards. It’s something we have all, at some point, felt. That moment you know you have made a huge mistake, or (you self-assuringly tell yourself) someone else has at your expense. Felt the stomach implode and the brain go numb, but we have never really heard it the way BANKS guides us through that moment. Hushed enough, but brimming with enough teeth-gritted confidence we hear BANKS defiant stance through filtered vocals. BANKS pitch on “This Is What It Feels Like” shakes like one teetering on the edge of bursting with anger and sadness. Synths swarm around her escalating the tension as BANKS ushers in the chorus. The magnitude of these swelling emotions accurately depicted in BANKS new video, seen below, as a lonely BANKS revels in the storm ravaging outside.
Thanks to this video, all I wanted to do this week while I had finals was party my face off and take whiskey shots. Krewella had a huge commercial breakthrough last year with their Play Hard EP, and has captured the hearts of the American electronic scene with their live performances. Their new album Get Wet is set to release on September 24th, and if the single “Live for the Night” is a sign of what’s to come we can expect their first full length album to packed with bass-heavy bangers. (more…)
A Two Door Cinema Club track produced by all-star electronic artist Madeon? Obviously this is going to be a winning combination. Their new single is titled “Changing of the Seasons,” and the Irish trio recently released the official music video in preparation for an EP of the same name scheduled to release on September 30th. (more…)
I’m so hungry. All those people eating ribs. It was a little discombobulating in the middle of Wavves’ new music video “That’s On Me,” but all in all still looked delicious.
Now, I may be a sick individual if I can watch this video, which graphically filets a hanging pig, and leave hungry. But not everyone can enjoy a song which in one line says “You’ll regret your whole life” and in the next says, whatever. Wavves has been doing weird shit like this throughout their career and, let’s be honest, their music has always been a little off-kilter. They’re constantly bridging the real and the absurd, whether that be sonically or visually. This Waves track is the next in a line from these disenchanted rockers that I can get fully on board with. (more…)
Oh My Goodness’ single “OMG OMG” starts off gleefully enough before lead singer Therese Workman starts rapping as fast as she can to make sure she won’t be left off the next list of rappers Kendrick plans on murdering. And then, the whimsical whistling comes back as quickly as it left as if nothing ever happened. It’s the musical equivalent of falling down the stairs, and then looking around to make sure no was looking before getting the hell out of there.
The sound that the Brooklyn based duo (a would-be shocking fact if the link to the video wasn’t right there simply because there’s just so much going on) has come up with is uniquely their own. Oh My Goodness seem to get bored of staying in one place–very much represented in their video where, even if they are just standing in one place, they’re being cut into jagged pieces of themselves. The band rushes between indie pop, rap, and ends with a chaotic, swarming guitar. The distorted guitars, ability to play with space, constantly filling it up to a bursting point before popping the balloon to let it all rush out, and ooohs and aaaahs all remind me vaguely of Grizzly Bear if Edward Droste would do what we have all been waiting for and start rapping his lyrics.
“OMG OMG” is the first video to come from Oh My Goodness’ debut self-titled EP, which you can download here.
The Naked And Famoushas a lot to live up to with their new album In Rolling Waves, set to release on September 17th. They are one of those pop bands that released their debut album and immediately filled U.S. radio stations, commercials, and TV shows until everyone and their grandmother had, at the very least, heard their hit single. Their lead single off of their first album Passive Me, Aggressive You wastitled “Young Blood”, and damn was it catchy.But if you delved past the radio-prepared pop-synths and generic production you could find some more punky guitar riffs and darker tones. Despite this, I expected that The Naked And Famous would quickly become stale and overplayed, destined to a short stint of radio station brilliance before everyone got sick and tired of hearing their music. Yet somehow they never overstayed their welcome. So when I listened to the first single off their new album and felt the familiar twinge of the colorful synth-filled hook injecting happiness into my mind, I didn’t object. (more…)
I’ve come to the realization that no matter how hard I try or how diligent I am about keeping up with my inbox, there’s just no way that I can relay all of the amazing tunes that I receive. In an attempt to keep up, I’ll be sharing my “Friday Favs,” a compilation of some of the best things to come my way. Enjoy…
“Luck Now” by Big Scary
I’m going to have to bring you more on this band later, because there is so much love happening here. This Aussie duo just signed to Barsuk and their album Not Art is due out September 17th. Preparing for obsession then. (more…)
After their grooviest output yet, album Holy Fire (released February 11th on Transgressive Records), Foals follows up the extremely unsettling video for “Late Night.” A video with an ending scene that depicts a man hanging himself with another assumedly deathly scenario.
Foals are making a tradition of these NSFW videos. The opening scene of “Bad Habit” finds Foals’ lead singer Yannis Philippakis collapsed in the dessert. Suddenly Yannis is spurred on by the band’s trademark spunky guitar lines as he stumbles after a nude woman, representative of, “A bad habit. one he cannot shake.” One he urges “not to follow.” Heedless to his own advice, Yannis chases this woman further into the dessert. And as the song climaxes in a sparkling, frantic guitar solo, the oasis before Yannis’ eyes collapses, leaving him stranded, struggling in the dessert.
The video serves as the perfect showcase for Foals’ new, funkier sound which may lack in the intense introspective nature of previous releases that sometimes left Foals sounding like rock’s awkward little brother. This, along with songs like “My Number,” are a step towards a dancier, much more fun version of Foals–more akin to the pure pleasure Two Door Cinema Club pumps out. Something appropriate to bump at dancehalls and not just bedrooms with vinyl players.
Nabil, the director of this video, has a knack for these nihilistic visual accompaniments. He’s also worked with the Yeezus-dropping Internet-breaking Kanye West, creating pairings for the solitary sounds of “Welcome to Heartbreak” and “Coldest Winter” from his album 808s & Heartbreaks.
Speaking of Kanye, he (He?) could surely offer the most succinct summary of a man’s quest for the bare lady through the dessert: He thirsty.
Hot off the press from one of my favorite labels, Hidden Pony brings us this great video from The Danks. It’s a kaleidoscopic, drug-hazed, fun-binge of slightly hazy indie rock and cotton candy.
Their new record Are You Afraid of the Danks is coming out on May 22nd and I have no doubt it’ll shine.
