April 18, 2016 — “Love No One” by September Girls

September Girls

If you only listen to one song today, make it “Love No One” by September Girls (2016, from the album Age of Indignation).
September Girls is a noise pop/post-punk/psych rock quintet from Dublin. They formed in 2011, and released their debut album Cursing the Sea in 2014. That album ended up being our #20 favourite album of the year. I think this new one might do better than that.

As you might guess, the band takes its name from the Big Star song “September Gurls”, but it’s actually The Bangles’ cover of the song that inspired the band name. That cover appeared on the hugely successful album Different Light, and is one of a small handful of Bangles songs that Micki Steele sang lead vocals.

Despite achieving critical success with Cursing the Sea, the band took its time with the sophomore album. It’s a well-executed album with better production value than its predecessor. Don’t worry, though. It’s still dark, thick, and sweaty. In fact, it might be darker, heavier, thicker, and sweatier. It still sounds a bit like 1979. Bassist Paula Cullen is still going to get the comparisons to Peter Hook. And that’s always a good thing.

A couple of years ago, September Girls played a bunch of shows with A Place to Bury Strangers. I don’t think it can get darker than that. They must have gotten on really well, because APTBS frontman Oliver Ackermann contributes vocals to “Jaw on the Floor”, which is also from the new album.

It can’t be repeated enough times: this new album is really dark. Both in sound and in content. A lot of the songs have some heavy political and/or social commentary. I won’t delve into that, though. While there are some other, larger issues being tackled on this album, today’s song is simply about narcissism.

This is that song.
“Love No One” by September Girls

As usual with this band, the bass and the drums are so dark, and they have me pulled in one direction. Simultaneously, the vocals and the guitars are brighter, and they pull me in exactly the opposite direction. That’s one of the reasons that I love this band. There’s different textures and different tones going on at the same time. And it works.

For extra credit, here’s the creepy and intoxicating video for the song:

You can order the album in digital format from Amazon or eMu or whatever. It was released digitally on April 8, and it looks like the physical release (at least in this country) will be May 13.

March 26, 2016 — “Tonight” by Ashley Shadow

Ashley Webber

If you only listen to one song tonight, make it “Tonight” by Ashley Shadow (2016, from the forthcoming album Ashley Shadow).

Ashley Shadow is the stage name of Vancouver indie-folk musician Ashley Webber. She’s about to release her debut record on April 15, but this is far from being her first rodeo. She was a member of the 19-member indie supergroup Pink Mountaintops, and she was a contributor with the stoner rock band Black Mountain. She’s also done some guest vocals on the 2008 Bonnie “Prince” Billy album Lay Down in the Light. It’s probably worth pointing out that Ashley has a twin sister Amber, who was also in Pink Mountaintops and Black Mountain.

I started getting emails about this album early this month, and although I haven’t had time to fully catch up on all of it, I know that I’ve gotten more than two emails about this. So I figured now’s as good a time as any to actually write something about it.

It looks like Webber enlisted the help of Josh Wells (Pink Mountaintops) both in the studio and in the control room. He produced the album, and he’s credited with playing bass, keyboards, and percussion. There’s three other band members, but this is pretty consistently being referred to as a “solo record”.

I didn’t make the connection to Pink Mountaintops and Black Mountain right away. I was more intrigued by the fact that the press email compared Webber to Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, and Neko Case. Tonight’s song is fuzzy and a little dark, and there are certainly some things that remind me of Neko Case or maybe of Angel Olsen. Some of the guitar bits, particularly at the very end, remind me of Galaxie 500, and that’s a really pleasant surprise.

Anyway, here’s tonight’s song:

“Tonight” by Ashley Shadow

I really dig Ashley’s voice. Soft and lovely, but also really powerful.

There’s also a really nice video:

You can pre-order the album in vinyl, CD, or digital download format via Bandcamp here.

March 21, 2016 — “Ether” by Mogwai

Mogwai

If you only listen to one song today, make it “Ether” by Mogwai (2016, from the forthcoming soundtrack album Atomic).

Mogwai is a massively influential post-rock band from Glasgow. Since 1997, they’ve released eight proper studio albums, a ton of EPs and singles, and three movie/teevee soundtrack albums. Their most recent proper album Rave Tapes was my third favourite album of 2014. Their last “soundtrack” album Les Revenants was my 24th favorite album of 2014. I’ve been a big fan for a long time. I’ve only seen them play once, and there was some ridiculous incident with that.
Last year, the band announced that they had recorded the original score/soundtrack for a BBC documentary called Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise. It’s an 80 minute film about the good bits and the horror of atomic energy. Of course there’s focus on the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but there’s a lot of good things like radiotherapy and things like that. Anyway, Mogwai recorded the score for that, and later on, they reworked those songs to be released as an album. It’s not really a proper album, but I’m going to allow it in my year-end list anyway. The album comes out on April 1 via Rock Action (UK/rest of world) and Temporary Residence (US).
While the song “U-235” is really making the rounds, I like this one a little better.

It’s true that Mogwai have been reinventing themselves pretty frequently, adding some electronics and some vocals to the mix, and that each album has a slightly different flavor. This is more true to the “old school” Mogwai. This reminds me of some stuff like “Mogwai Fear Satan” (1997, from the album Young Team). This has some tuned percussion and some horns, but it’s mostly guitar, and it slowly builds to a huge crescendo at the end that makes Mogwai what they are.

This is that song.

“Ether” by Mogwai

Listen for the tuned percussion in the early bits of the song. Mostly, though, listen for the slow build to the huge wave that crashes down at the 3:37 mark. That’s what it’s all about. In this respect, it’s a lot like old school Mogwai, and like old school Explosions in The Sky. Which is strange, because the forthcoming Explosions in The Sky record (which also comes out on April 1 via Temporary Residence) has a bit more electronics than we’re used to, and it sounds a bit like new-school Mogwai. New Mogwai sounds like old Explosions, while new Explosions sounds like new Mogwai. And if you’ll excuse the reference to “Almost Famous”: If Mogwai is doing Explosions, and Explosions are doing Mogwai, then Mogwai is still doing Mogwai.

Speaking of old school, the band recently had a split with one of their long-time members in guitarist John Cummings, who was with the band since 1995. They had the same lineup for 20 years until he left to pursue solo projects. 20 years with no lineup changes, and yet nobody talks about them as a band with longevity. It’s a bit of a disgrace if you ask me.

IF you’re in the US, you can pre-order Atomic via Temporary Residence here. If you’re in the UK (or anywhere else in the world), you can pre-order the album through the band’s own label Rock Action

March 15, 2016 — “Captain” by OxenFree

OxenFree

If you only listen to one song today, make it “Captain” by OxenFree (2016, from the forthcoming album Beacons).

OxenFree is an indie rock quintet from Brooklyn. They formed in 2013, and they released their first EP — Fire, If We’re Anything— in 2014. With that release, they won comparisons to Canadian supergroups The New Pornogrphers and Broken Social Scene. I’m on board with those (the latter more than the former) but they were also compared to The Replacements, and I don’t really see the comparison there.

I didn’t know about the band until I got a couple of emails about them and a preview copy of their forthcoming debut album. Although it’s not quite as pronounced on today’s song, the rest of the album really does remind me of a You Forgot it In People-era BSS. I love that album to pieces, so the fact that this OxenFree album reminds me of it is a very good thing.

Again, this song only sounds a little like BSS. The rest of the album sounds a LOT like them.

I love the energy behind this. With this song, I’m reminded a little of Milwaukee post-rock/indie folk group Altos. In case you don’t know that band’s name, they’re a 12-piece band. BSS had as many as 17 members at any given time. The point is that OxenFree, with its five members, reminds me of two bands that have more than 10 members and many more moving parts.

While I’m not crazy about OxenFree’s name, I like what they’re doing. I’ve listened to the whole album a couple of times, and I’m very impressed. I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up doing very well on my 2016 year-end list.

The album comes out on May 13 via Brooklyn-based Sneaky Bear Records. You can pre-order a digital download or purple vinyl physical copy via Bandcamp here.

March 11, 2016 — “Ride” by Phosphene

Phosphene

If you only listen to one song today, make it “Ride” by Phosphene (2016, from the forthcoming EP Breaker).

Phosphene is a shoegaze/dream pop trio from Oakland. They released a self-titled album in the summer of 2014, and the six-song Breaker EP is scheduled for release on April 29. I don’t know anything else about this band. I got something in the mail bag with the RIYLs of Wye Oak, Alvvays, and Torres. Indeed I do like those three bands quite a lot. I was of course also drawn in by the “Bay area dream pop” description. While I do like what I’ve heard from Phosphene, I’m definitely reminded more of DC-area shoegaze and dream pop than of bands from those genres in the San Francisco Bay area. And speaking of DC-area shoegaze/dream pop, I’m specifically reminded of Baltimore noise-makers Thrushes. If Thrushes had to tone things down and play a “quiet” gig, I think this is exactly what they would sound like. And that’s brilliant.

“Ride” by Phosphene

The new EP will be out next month. In the meantime, you can buy this track via Bandcamp here.

March 8, 2016 — “Weightless” by Mayflower Madame

Mayflower Madame

If you only listen to one song tonight, make it “Weightless” by Mayflower Madame (2016, from the forthcoming album Observed in A Dream).

Mayflower Madame is a post-punk/shoegaze/darkwave quartet from Oslo. I know virtually nothing about them, but I got something in the mail bag about them, and they were compared to The Jesus & Mary Chain, Bauhaus, and Spacemen 3. Naturally, I was interested when I saw those reference points. When I got around to listening, I wasn’t disappointed at all.

The band’s debut album Observed in a Dream will hit shelves on April 22. In the US, it’ll be released via the Virgina Beach label Custom Made Music. Meanwhile, in Europe, it’ll be released by the Oslo-based label Night Cult Records.

They released the first single from the album last month, and then last week they released the video, which is dark and creepy and snowy and wet. And creepy. And fantastic.

First, here’s the song:

“Weightless” by Mayflower Madame

I’m reminded a bit of the Brooklyn post-punk/noise rock band Weekend. So between Bauhaus, The Mary Chain, and Weekend, they’re in some really brilliantly good company.

I haven’t heard the rest of the album, but based on this song, I’m going to love it. I have very high expectations.

Now, here’s the video. I don’t know how to make this any more clear: it’s a little creepy. And it’s fantastic.

I get the impression that Custom Made Music is a really small operation. There isn’t anything at all about the band on the CMM website, so obviously they don’t have a pre-order. Put it on your radars, though. Put it in your calendars. Put it in your spreadsheets. However you organize your list of 2016 new and forthcoming releases, just put this one on there.

February 22, 2016 — “Arizona” by Memoryhouse

Memoryhouse

If you only listen to one song today, make it “Arizona” by Memoryhouse (2016, from the album Soft Hate).

Memoryhouse is a dream pop duo from Guelph, Ontario. They released their debut album The Slideshow Effect in February of 2012, and that album ended up being my #13 album of that year. That record was released by Sub Pop, and they made a really big deal about it. They did a lot of promotion for it, and they did a presale with loads of bundle options. It was crazy to see that for an unknown band. I think Sub Pop really wanted them to become the next Beach House, and they did their best to will it into happening. While on tour with that album, the band had a bunch of gear stolen from their van, and they used a successful crowdfunding effort to get back on their feet.

I really liked that album, and I didn’t hear anything new from them, so I sort of assumed that they were just another of many to make one really good record and then disappear. I was really happy when the new album appeared on my radar late last year, and even more happy when I finally heard it. The album was self-released on February 9, and this is one of my favorite songs from it. Even though this is only my third favorite Canadian new album from February, I’ve still got this penciled in somewhere in my year-end top 20. That’s written in pencil, and it may slide up or down the list. This year is already shaping up to be almost as good for new releases as 2015 was, so I’m certain that my year-end countdown will have at least 50 albums. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, this is that song.

“Arizona” by Memoryhouse

Sure, it starts off all dreamy and all that, but I love the moment at 0:36 when it suddenly gets really noisy. The guitar, the bass, and the drums all come in pretty hot, and the rhythm is infectious, almost “funky” even. There’s a brief moment in there that reminds me of the first Hooverphonic record. The unusual heaviness of the music and the delay on Denise Nouvion’s vocals add together to make me think of Hooverphonic. I say “unusual heaviness” because even though the new record is generally speaking much noisier than the first, this song is even noisier than the rest of the album. The album is still basically dream pop, but there’s just quite a bit more noise. And we like that.

There’s no Bandcamp on this, but you can buy a download via iTunes, or you can get it from Amazon here. Annoyingly, the only physical format on this right now is cassette, which can buy that via the Memoryhouse website/store here. It looks like they’ve arranged something with the French label Beko Disques to do a small run of CDs, but there’s been no word about the possibility of releasing this on vinyl. Because Denise Nouvion is a photographer first and a singer second, there’s also a very nice-looking photo booklet for sale via the Memoryhouse store. It’s limited to 200 signed copies. I know from getting a physical copy of The Slideshow Effect that her photography is pretty damn good, so it’s worth looking into.

February 18, 2016 — “Softly” by Crescendo

Crescendo

If you only listen to one song today, make it “Softly” by Crescendo (2016, from the forthcoming album Unless).

Crescendo is a dreamgaze quintet from Los Angeles. I really don’t know anything about this band, but even though there are five members, every picture I’ve seen of them has only the three. I heard a different one of their songs in my Soundcloud feed and I became quite interested. They’re also part of the We Were Never Being Boring collective, which is another thing that always piques my interest.

The band released their debut —Lost Thoughts— in 2014, and their sophomore long player will be out tomorrow.

You can hear a lot of 1990s dreamgaze influence on some songs, and some 1980s indie pop influence on others. I haven’t heard the entire album, but I really like what I’ve heard, including this:

“Softly” by Crescendo

I really like everything about this. While I’m usually a sucker for coed vocal harmonies, what they’re doing is a bit different. At least on the songs I’ve heard, it’s like they focus less on harmonies and more on simply sharing the vocal duties. Gregory Cole sings part of the song while Olive Kimoto sings a different part. It’s quite nice, actually. I don’t know whether it’s Kimoto’s voice, or the miles of delay on it, or some other vocal effect, but the parts that she sings really remind me of something that I can’t lay a finger on right now. Something much more contemporary than the 80s indie pop and 90s dreamgaze that I talked about. Anyway, I really like this song, and I like the other songs that I’ve heard. I don’t have the album yet, but I will soon, and I’ll probably have it in heavy rotation in my car and on my iPod.

In the US, you can order the album now via Bandcamp here. Fans in the EU can pre-order here.

February 10,2016 — “Icing Sugar” by Keiandra

Keiandra

If you only listen to one song tonight, make it “Icing Sugar” by Keiandra (2016, from the forthcoming EP Empty Palaces).

Keiandra is a dreampop/indie-folk singer/songwriter from Newcastle Upon Tyne. She’s just 18 years of age, and she’s set to release her debut EP in March. A couple of days ago, I got something in the mailbag promoting the EP, and specifically tonight’s song. She released a single called “Wanted” a couple of months ago, and the single for “Icing Sugar” will be out on Friday. According to her blog, the EP should have been out in September of 2015, but we don’t really know anything other than what the email says. The EP will be out on March 11. Whatever the case, this is a really impressive tune from the youngster, and I’m really looking forward to hearing more from her.

No matter, here’s tonight’s stellar song:

“Icing Sugar” by Keiandra

It’s hard to say that this sounds “like” anything, but it’s easy to say that it sounds good. Really the only thin I know is that she lists Daughter as one of her influences. By the way, I haven’t spent very much time with the brand new Daughter album Not to Disappear, but I do like it, and it’s going to end up near the top of a lot of year-end lists.

Tonight’s song is dreamy and beautiful and it’s got me knocked over. If this song and the other song I’ve heard indicate anything, this young woman should make a pretty big impact both in the UK and here in the US.

February 3, 2016 — “True Kindness” by Savage Sister

Savage Sister

If you only listen to one song today, make it “True Kindness” by Savage Sister (2016, from the album Speechless).

Savage Sister is a dream pop/darkwave/shoegaze band from Chicago. The band is fronted by multi-instrumentalist Michael Tenzer, who is really busy with this project as well as Lazy Legs and Eyes Behind the Veil. Savage Sister has been around since 2012, and they’ve released a couple of EPs, a couple of 7″ records, and one other album. This album was supposed to come out in early 2015, and I actually wrote about it last January. Unfortunately, the release kept getting delayed, but it finally came out yesterday.

Tenzer is a huge fan of Scott Cortez, who is the genius behind the super-ambient and super fuzzy projects lovesliescrushing and astrobrite, and who incidentally also lives in Chicago at the moment. Although this isn’t as fuzzy as those, Tenzer’s interest in and influence by those projects is very evident.

It’s a really dreamy and beautiful record that carries the listener off to a really safe and warm place. As always, Tenzer’s composition sparkles. As always, Chloe Lundgren’s soft, sweet vocals soar.

“True Kindness” by Savage Sister

I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, but because it got pushed by an entire year, I almost forgot about it. I got a notice about it yesterday, and although real life has been kicking me in the pants, that news really cheered me up. I immediately bought a download and spent some quality time with it last night, even while I was doing some other writing. I absolutely love this album, and I’ve penciled it in to the top 15 of my year-end list. I’m expecting that list to be 50 again this year, and I also expect to have another extensive “honorable mention” list this year. I know it’s crazily early to start those talks, but I know what I like. For the record, I know that this won’t be my favorite February release, and I’ll have a lot to write about that matter next week. Still, though, you can count on this being very near the top of the final list.

You can buy Speechless in digital download format via Bandcamp here.