WHATEVER, DAD // WHATEVER, DAD

And my unhealthy obsession with the SUNY Purchase music scene continues! WHATEVER, DAD is actually a bit of a change of pace from the rest of the stuff I’ve been posting lately, but I think it’s a rather pleasant way to end the week. It is the solo project of one Elaiza Santos and it’s a rather curious little monster.

Elaiza’s approach to songwriting is so minimalist that it feels like it hangs in the air for mere moments before dissipating. Like the scent of a pretty girl who passes you in public, these tracks exist just enough to warrant a double-take. Recorded directly onto tape (I’m assuming) these tracks consist almost exclusively of Elaiza’s sweetly whispered vocals and gentle guitar plucking. They’re sweet yet not saccharine, cute without being cloying, and most importantly they leave me wanting more. Hopefully that blossoming SUNY Purchase scene will inspire just that.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

…

BANDCAMP | TUMBLR

 

---

 

 

Dreampeter // “Bluebeard”

This is the first that we’ve heard from Dreampeter since the duo’s split EP as Boneglow and Delusions. But now the pair is back together for a new single called “Bluebeard” and they are in top form.

Sticking to their wonky pop structure, these two dudes stuff this track with so much personality that it’s nearly bursting at the seams from everything they’ve injected into it. Stylistically speaking the track’s instrumentation matches the lyrics in feeling like the mad rants of a drug-addled schizophrenic. It seemingly reaches out frantically in a million directions without ever abandoning the task at hand. It’s a fun, hopped-up pop jam that is just begging for the guys to do a full-length release.

…

BANDCAMP | FACEBOOK

 

---

 

 

LVL UP // SPACE BROTHERS

I would be so embarrassed if the dudes in LVL UP were to see the play count of their debut album SPACE BROTHERS in my iTunes; they’d probably think that I was obsessed with them. Come to think of it, I probably am. I featured the NY band as my inaugural post on PORTALS, included a track of theirs on my guest mix for Matinée As Hell, and now I’m finally getting around to sharing them here.

Had it not been technically released in October of last year, SPACE BROTHERS would sit uncontested as my favorite album of 2012, no question. It’s a stellar album of rambunctious and slightly nostalgic guitar pop with hooks so catchy I find myself humming them in the shower. If I was forced to cite one con of the album it would be that some of the songs are painfully short. I can’t really even say it’s a negative thing though, because each one of these thirteen tracks feels like a complete yet concise thought. To add anything to them would be overstating.

At its absolute best, SPACE BROTHERS is an intensely catchy amalgam of styles that has been ground down into a series of shining gems in a basement somewhere in Purchase, NY. The level of variety and the way that the tracks play on each other makes it almost impossible to single one out. Really the only proper way to listen to it is from start to finish. It’s currently being offered as a free download on the band’s site, so if you go ahead and listen to it I think you’ll find that I’m not overselling it. It really is that good.

SPACE BROTHERS saw a modest cassette release late last year on the band’s own label Double Double Whammy. I missed the boat on grabbing a tape, but the good news is that the album is getting a wider release thanks to Philadelphia label Evil Weevil. The first 50 orders will come on green vinyl and will include “a mix cd of my favorite club hits of 2011 and a bunch of promotional materials (posters, stickers, bottle openers, pins, buttons).” Whoa baby. Go grab one.

… 

BANDCAMP | FACEBOOK

 

---

 

 

Honeydrum // “Suddenly Heaven”

Check out this short vid from Cactus-Mouth regulars Honeydrum. It is probably as close to matching a visual aesthetic to their sound as you’re gonna get. For some reason it reminds me of some eerie, never-before-seen footage of Laura Palmer.

The track is a B-side off of the band’s first 7” Stranger Calls which is being released by (surprise, surprise) Amdiscs. Listening to the four tracks on the 7” it’s become apparent that the band continues to distill their sound down closer and closer to perfection, yet they still retain their painfully short track times and their signature muffled AM radio vibes. Over the course of their numerous releases the band has carved out their niche and now they are doing their best to furnish it.

Stranger Calls will be out later this month on Amdiscs, so make sure you pre-order one from their site. Also the band just made many of the releases on their bandcamp available for free so go nuts.

…

BANDCAMP | TUMBLR | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

 

---

 

 

Slam Donahue // Big House Nice Dreams

I found these guys through The Guru who featured them on their Tumblr site earlier this week. Big House Nice Dreams is the newest mixtape from Brooklyn’s Slam Donahue and after only a few seconds of the first track I knew I would totally be into it. Now what constitutes this as a mixtape and not say, an EP? I am not sure, but whatever.

Slam Donahue have such a big and confident pop sound and their melodies are so intensely catchy that I imagine I’ll be singing loudly to this mixtape a lot in the coming months. It’s the perfect kind of music to put into rotation now that the weather is (slowly) getting warmer.If you find yourself in the mood for some fun, catchy, simple pop music then grab Big House Nice Dreams for free from the band’s site.

…

BANDCAMP | SOUNDCLOUD | TUMBLR | TWITTER

 

---

 

 

Jerry Paper // Vol. 1

In engaging with the Diane Kensington Devotional Band I have subsequently been immersed in the world of Jerry Paper (one of those responsible for dear old Diane). He sent me this release this weekend and I’ve been allowing it to slowly absorb itself into my brain in an almost osmosis sorta way. I really couldn’t have stopped it if I wanted to. It’s very compelling. 

The ten tracks on Vol. 1 find a very comfortable living space somewhere between simple pop song structures and the digital world in which they reside; and yet the whole thing feels era-ambiguous. It’s a space filled with pastel casio beats, sci-fi synths, very light live instrumentation, and Jerry’s tender vocal melodies. It’s also a release that is so immensely easy on the ears that it would be possible to digest it and not give it another thought, but a closer listen (or maybe a few) will reveal its calculated structure replete with hidden gems strewn all over the place. All you need is a careful ear willing enough to dig them up.

Vol. 1 will be seeing a limited cassette run which you can pre-order on Bandcamp. You can also stream/download the whole album there or on his Soundcloud page.

…

BANDCAMP | SOUNDCLOUD | TWITTER 

 

---

 

 

Corrective Lenses // Corrective Lenses 2

I was chatting with Jake Tobin the other day on Facebook. The conversation started with my asking a favor of Jake. You see Jake is something of a design wizard where my knowledge of the subject is about as rudimentary as it gets. It didn’t take long for the conversation to turn to the subject of music. We talked about heavy metal (he happens to really dig sludge and stoner metal, go figure) and we talked about Julian Lynch and we eventually talked about Jake’s own music.

I knew that Jake, who had previously been recording under the name Fruit Flesh, had been planning a new release a few months ago and I wondered where the project was at in its metamorphosis. He then revealed to me that it was actually out and that he just dropped it online without really telling anyone. People seem to be doing that a lot lately. Anyways I quickly snatched the release up on his bandcamp and began to listen.

The project was recorded under the name Corrective Lenses and even though I can sense subtle differences between it and Fruit Flesh, they are still both undeniably the work of Jacob Tobin. Retaining (and even amping up) the tenor saxophone that I came to identify with his work, Corrective Lenses 2 is such clean and expertly crafted release. Jake erects these tracks around a few basic elements (piano loops, cavernous percussion, sax and synth) that are rather skeletal by definition but yet they feel so full and alive. The release is also short but very fluid with each track bleeding rather seamlessly into the next. It’s such a rad listen and it’s free to download so I really hope you’ll take a moment to check it out!

…

BANDCAMP | SOUNDCLOUD | FACEBOOK

 

---

 

 

Kiss Kiss Fantastic // Dark Matter

I hope that this album blows up in a manner of which it deserves. It is one that I (and countless others) had been waiting so long for. The funny thing is that the duo never even really hyped it up. Other than a few hint-laden tweets from Rachel, this thing arrived to little or no fanfare. In my opinion that made its humble arrival all the more sweet.

The duo throws around the fact that they’ve never met in person like a major corporation slings around a catchy slogan. But after listening to this album several times through, my mind is still blown by this simple fact. Dark Matter is truly an album of the modern age; conceived, born, and sustained completely within the wires. This makes the craft on display here all the more impressive. The level of competence and maturity of songwriting are so tightly congealed that it is almost impossible to imagine Jeremy and Rachel apart from each other. 

If you’ve never gotten a chance to check the band out I implore you to do so. Catching just one singular track is no way to experience their craft. Dark Matter is available for free on their bandcamp, so make sure you grab it. Easily one of the best musical offerings of 2012 right here, folks.

…

BANDCAMP | MYSPACE | TUMBLR | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

 

---

 

 

Lizard Kisses // “Water Tap”

It’s been a while since we last heard from Lizzard Kisses. But knowing Marc and Cory, they are never ones to have much idle time. They are always toiling away on something creative and their latest split 7” with My Friend Wallis is no different. 

I’ll let the band explain to you what makes this particular release so special: Both bands made collages for their respective sides of the 7”, making each one unique and one of a kind. You can view all 35 individual record sleeves here. The clear lathe cut records were hand-pressed to a numbered edition of 35 and include typed inserts on vellum. The sleeves were sent back and forth between Brooklyn, New York and Vancouver, Canada over the course of a few months.

Cool, yeah? On top of that, the band’s track “Water Tap” is a smiling surf pop number featuring Jordan Lee (of Mutual Benefit) and Andrew Morehart (of Share-a-tories). Check out the full project and pre-order yourself one while you’re at it right here.

…

BANDCAMP | SOUNCLOUD | TUMBLR | FACEBOOK

 

---

 

 

Each Other // “Sit Still”

This track is an all-out absolute banger. The dudes in Each Other sent it to me as the b-side to their upcoming Traces to Nowhere 7”. What I want to know is: if this is the b-side, then how crazy awesome will that make the a-side track? That remains to be seen as the boys have yet to unveil it, but they told me it should be soon.

As far as the track itself, “Sit Still” is a wonky pop track with jangly guitars that make full use of that pesky whammy bar. The vocals are multi-layered with Everly Brothers-esque harmonies that remind me of fellow Canadians Shimmering Stars. It’s seriously and A+ of a song and I’m eagerly anticipating its fellow.

…

BANDCAMP | FACEBOOK

 

---

 

 

Triathalon // Relationchips (Remastered)

It is an unfortunate fact of life that there will always be “the one that got away.” Well in the case of music blogging there are multiple instances of this. Sometimes I log music I want to post away in my mental filing cabinet only to have some of those potential posts fall through the cracks. Such as was the case with the Savannah, Georgia band Triathalon. I listened to their excellent EP Relationchips numerous times and fully intended on featuring them but then… I… just never did. Shame. So when I saw that the EP had been fully remastered and re-released I knew that I could not make the same mistake again.

Relationchips is first and foremost a guitar EP. It’s just brimming with robust, jangling, reverbed guitars. It creates this thick, warm environment for the catchy pop vocals to absolutely flourish. With a professional remastering now on their side, the excellent songwriting of these tracks reveals just how killer it is. In particular, some of these guitar riffs and surf solos are so crisp they have me air-jamming with reckless abandon. If you are a fan of driving power pop with tinges of surf rock, the Triathalon should be right up you alley.

…

BANDCAMP | TUMBLR | FACEBOOK

 

---

 

 

Spectral Park // Factory Peeled

Sorry for the double dose of music this weekend, but I have a ton of good stuff that I really want to share with you guys. Actually no, I’m not sorry because Spectral Park is way too good not to share no matter what day it is. I actually found my way to his bandcamp via Twitter. With no previous knowledge I began to listen to his five-song EP Factory Peeled and I was quite instantly hooked.

It’s important to note that this is all the work of one dude named Luke Donovan because of the sheer weight of his music.  There is an immediacy here that acts as a sort of instant gratification that you can sink your teeth into, but it’s not until you sit down and really listen to these songs that you realize how tight and densely constructed they actually are. He writes these really classic pop hooks but he buries them in a treasure trove of ambiguously familiar noise. I know there is some heavy sampling going on here, but he weaves it so seamlessly into the rest of the music that it really gels together into one satisfying whole. I could keep rambling on about just how great this EP is, but I’m just going to insist that you download it for free and listen to it instead.

…

BANDCAMP | SOUNDCLOUD | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

 

---

 

 

Video Thrills // Video Thrills

Featuring three of the four members of Honeydrum, this new side project Video Thrills is the most recent outing by these crazy New Brunswick dudes. If you’re familiar with the pitch-perfect retro pop of Honeydrum then listening to Video Thrills self-titled album should not be too much of a mental stretch. They are definitely riffing off of the same era, albeit in a fundamentally different way.

Just going off of the name, the song titles, and the artwork should give you a clue as to what to expect here. But let me tell you that these guys are into more than just resurrecting and looping tired VHS soundscapes. What they do here is somehow manage to corral what sounds like lost 1980’s commercial transmissions that have been seemingly bouncing around in space for 25 years. Abandoning pop sensibilities for vibrant droning ambient pieces, Video Thrills has created something that feels simultaneously vintage yet wholly new. Fitting in alongside acts James Ferraro, Punks On Mars, and Rangers; the sounds of Video Thrills will thrill for sure.

Stream the album in its entirety on the Amdiscs soundcloud and then pick it up on either cassette (via Animal Image Search) or CD-R (via Inyrdisk).

 

---

 

 

Colby Bryant // Shredd Aquarium

The guys in Colby Bryant aren’t even out of high school yet, so the fact that their music seems so effortless comes as a bit of a shock. Typically this is a quality achieved after years of honing a craft. And even though the music is a bit “sloppy” in the general sense, it’s apparent that therein lies the charm. These kids are just making music as a fun outlet and we are fortunate enough to experience the finished product right along with them.

It’s also true that these guys have been long-time supporters of my blog so that might have caused me to be a bit biased, but I honestly think that thy are onto something good here. For proof just check out the easy-going and aptly titled “Swift Current.” They take their good old time getting to their final destination but once they do you realize that the journey was what made the trip worth while. Bubbling guitars and wobbling synths weave their ways in and out while the plodding bass keeps everything on a steady course. It really is a stellar song and I’m hoping that it’s a microcosm of something bigger and better on the way in the future.

Download the Shredd Aquarium EP for free on their bandcamp.

 

---