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…)
I saw RAC for the first in concert before I even knew that the acronym stood for Remix Artist Collective, and I have to say they blew my mind. I liked every song they remixed better than the original and RAC stayed on repeat in my room for weeks after. From Lana Del Ray to Chromeo, RAC could do no wrong when it came to remixing. So when I learned that lead producer André Allen Anjos was set to release a completely original EP titled Don’t Talk To, I was giddy with excitement. While the EP is scheduled to release October 1st, RAC recently released the first single “Let Go,” featuring vocals from both Kele Okereke (remember Bloc Party?) and rising elctro-pop star MNDR. So how is this first taste of RAC’s debut venture into producing something that is entirely his own? (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…)
Cage the Elephant has never been a band constricted by a particular style, and they have continued to evolve and develop their sound with this new single, “Come a Little Closer.” After their first album and “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” took radio stations by storm and their second album Thank You Happy Birthday established them as more than a one hit wonder, Cage the Elephant had been remarkably quiet. But now their new album Melophobia is set to release October 8th and the lead single “Come a Little Closer” has quickly topped the charts as the number one most added track for Alternative Radio in the United States. (more…)
Listening to Gold Lake’s single “We Already Exist,” it noticeably comes without much of the grainy lo-fi sound that accompanies many a band’s very first output. “We Already Exist” completely bypasses a band’s awkward, still-finding-their-way-and-working-out-the-kinks phase and immediately enters a song that would perfectly soundtrack one of those gorgeous city time lapses (particularly a Seattle one). If you’ve ever seen one of these, you know its a huge compliment; the song feels expansive and beautiful in this same way. And there’s good reason for this, as Gold Lake’s story is enviable enough to leave me a little mad wondering if my invite to Spain got lost in the mail. Gold Lake was initially formed by duo Carlos del Amo and Lua Rios, who met abroad in Europe and were successful musicians under the moniker We are Balboa in Spain (the trio was completed by drummer Dave Burnett once the band rooted in Brooklyn). And, oh, yeah, Carlos just happens to have opened up a club in Madrid so that they would always have a place to celebrate. So, we have: meet cool European, check; form successful band together, check; and open up hip Spanish club, check. The product is Gold Lake, who have already worked with producer Phil Ek (The Shins, Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty) on their anticipated LP Years, expected out this year.
As you would expect after all their worldly experience, Gold Lake’s single is a polished piece of shimmering pop music. A futuristic take on Fleet Foxes’ first album, featuring similar sparse and tangible guitar strums, and gorgeous layered background vocals. For a band trying to replicate their Spanish successes, their first step has them taking them lead. I only hope that I get invited to Carlos’ cool Brooklyn club when he decides to repeat that success.
If you enjoy the original, check out the hyped up remix by The Helio Sequence.
I think I should preface this review by saying that pop-punk is kind of my guilty pleasure, and Search The City has always held a special place in my heart. Their first album, A Fire So Big The Heavens Can See It (2008) was never anything groundbreaking, but its post-hardcore influences and fun vocal hooks were always catchy and satisfying to sing along with no matter what kind of mood I was in. That’s why I, along with many others, was disappointed when they announced they were breaking up in 2009, expecting that the name Search The City would slowly fade away until it was buried in the depths of my iTunes library.
That is why I was facing some mixed emotions when I learned that Search The City was back together (with some lineup changes) and had recently finished a new album titled Flight, set to release on September 3, 2013. (more…)
Despite the beautiful USA being full of amazing artists, there is a whole world bursting with new music waiting to be uncovered. Let’s try moving east and down under to Australia, from where 22-year-old singer/producer Sterling Silver hails. After listening to this one track, “End Up Like This,” I cannot wait to see what the future brings.
“End Up Like This” is reminiscent of days of roller discos and drive ins. While not actually alive during the psychedelic days, I do love skating and Sonic and can easily picture tearing up the dance floor to this song. Sterling Silver pairs a steady upbeat, funky tune with wispy vocals to create a sound like a 1970’s era Empire of the Sun.
Make sure to get ahead of the game by downloading this song for free:
If you like the song but aren’t trying to take it back to the disco days, try checking out the remix of “End Up Like This” by Tyler Touché:
Uh! Grunts and groans – it’s basically the least and at the same time the most I can say in reaction to hearing Male Bonding’s new primal, churning song, “The Itch.” The song succeeds in so many ways, and builds on what Male Bonding has been perfecting over the years. Male Bonding is at its best when, at first listen, you don’t catch the lyrics; you are dancing in your room to a Technicolor guitar solo. But as you slow down and inevitably are pressing repeat you start to listen and get a little bummed out.
The UK trio’s simultaneously sardonic and playful music is what first drew me to the group. The first single of theirs I heard was “Bones,” a song that’s piston-like drums and screeching guitar is almost enough to distract you from the sobering lyrical content that warns you against achieving your dreams. Their mature pop-punk sensibilities, along with Japandroids, pulled me out of a desolate, molding cave filled with old Blink 182 and Simple Plan CDs. The songs are catchy enough that they could be enormously successful—and as it stands now they are at the very least criminally underrated—but their approach is enough to make critics swoon.
At 16, most of us were wildly ambitious and in way over our heads, maybe some (or a lot) of us dreaming of being famous rock stars that got to tour the world. And this is Male Bonding at its finest, but Male Bonding is a famous, super rad rock group that gets to tour the world. So, when the chorus hits: “Things I have done, things I have seen/ Still miss that buzz from being sixteen” it gives you a little hope that maybe you’re doing something right after all.
Sometimes I notice people passing by with headphones that render them completely oblivious. They are eyes closed, air drumming, pianoing or guitaring, head wobbling like a watermelon about to topple from the picnic table. I can’t help but wonder how they’ve reached this complete lack of self awareness. But sometimes I find myself on the other end, like when holychild’s “Best Friends (DADO remix)” comes on and suddenly, my leg jubilantly finds the rhythm and the next thing I know I’m air-xylophoning in public–no common feat.
If holychild’s “Best Friends” was your way-too-early summer anthem, then here’s a remix to get holychild right back into your “Backyard Bash” playlist. The remix is a juiced-up, put-into-a-machine-and-synthesized-out version of the already unfairly catchy original. And if you’re less of a Drake guy/gal, and more into CHVRCHES and Purity Ring but still want to announce your love and exclusivity towards your friends using the glory of music, then look no further.
Look out for more experimental pop from the band that “can’t be boxed in” this fall when they’ll be dropping their new EP.
