New Jangle Discovery: Desario - Mixer

Desario is a Sacramento-based jangle rock band with excellent guitars, and hooks aplenty, throughout Mixer, their second record. I really enjoy the quick pace of "Develop Destroy", the big guitar hooks of opener "Cement Sneakers" and the jangle of "Call Out Your Rivals" and "Occasional Monsters" - that one's got a really nice hook in the intro. The band consists of John Conley (vocals / guitar), Jim Rivas (drums / percussion), Mike Yoas (guitar / synths), and Mike Carr (bass).

Here's the video for "Victoria Island":



You can learn more, and buy it, at Test Pattern Records' website.

New videos from Veronica Falls and Violens

This post is brought to you by the letter "V".


Veronica Falls' self-titled debut was one of my favorite albums of 2011. This band has a sound I absolutely love and I'm always hoping for more. We now can celebrate a new song from the foursome, "My Heart Beats".

Veronica Falls - My Heart Beats from Army Of Kids on Vimeo.

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Brooklyn trio Violens are releasing their new album, True, in May on Slumberland Records. While waiting for the big package of fuzz, reverb and new wave sheen, we can enjoy this video for album track "Der Microarc" --

Violens - Der Microarc from Slumberland Records on Vimeo.

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Seattle Showcase: Blooper and The Creakies

Here are two Seattle bands that likely will be new to you, but have a good sound and promising future.



Blooper is a Seattle powerpop trio whose members areAdriano S. (guitar/vocals), Darrin Ruder (bass/vocals), and Chris Quirk (drums). If you are reminded of Teenage Fanclub while listening to their music, they will be flattered. Their new single, "Secret Song", available for free download:


Ballard Avenue EP was released last July. It also is available free.


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Seattle noise pop duo The Creakies consists of Lily Kerson and Tori Wolffe. They recently released the Redwood EP. Give it a play --


This collection of live performances was released last November, and is available to download free:


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No Waves/No Ass single by FIDLAR

LA band FIDLAR is releasing "No Waves/No Ass", a two track single on the Mom+Pop label, to coincide with their invasion of SXSW. FIDLAR's music is an energetic blend of garage, punk and surf, and I recommend it. Here is a live version of the A-side:



You can stream the B-side, "No Ass" here, and you can download it free from the band's website.

FIDLAR is Brandon, Max, Zac, Elvis. By way of fun background, here is a stream of the band's April 2011 album, DIYDUI.





Link for purchasing the single
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"Paw Prints", a single by Tango in the Attic

Scottish band Tango in the Attic is having a busy year. Currently at SXSW, they released the single "Paw Prints" yesterday (it is available to download free). The single is taken from their second LP, Sellotape, which will be released April 23. The band features a full, adventuresome sound with elements of garage and electro-rock. Here is "Paw Prints":


Jordan Craig, Jonathan McFarlane, James Crook, and Paul Johnson formed Tango in the Attic in 2008 at Edinburgh University. They currently live a bit north of Edinburgh in Glenrothes.

We will cover the album next month, but to tease you a bit, here is a live version of album track "Swimming Pool". I think this is going to be a good album.


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New Stuff: The dBs (and important SXSW info)

The dBs, new stuff? Those late 70s-early 80's giants? That seminal American power pop band, the bridge between Big Star and the mid-80s explosion of great American bands like R.E.M., the Replacements, The Plimsouls, The Connells, etc.?

Yes those very dBs are releasing a new full length CD called Falling Off the Sky on Bar None Records in June. Here's a video for a righteous new storm trooping rocker "Revolution of the Mind":

And in preparation for their SXSW appearance later this week in Austin, Bar None let a couple more tracks out today.

Here's a page where you can hear "That Time is Now" and see where and when the dBs are playing in Austin this Friday, if you are lucky enough to be making the trek:

http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_MS16924

The best news in all this is that the reunion lineup includes all 4 original members, including Chris Stamey, who sings lead on "Before You Were Born":

http://www.bar-none.com/downloads.php

After Stamey departed in 1982, Peter Holsapple, Will Rigby and Gene Holder continued the dBs and made some very good records, flirting with breaking out bigger with mini-hits like "Spy in the House of Love". But few bands have achieved the artistic heights reached on the two records made with Stamey - Stands for deciBels and Repercussion.

Even though they had unjustly abysmal record sales, the dBs had an indelible influence on virtually all American power pop that has come after them, including, whether the kids even realize it or not, the young pop bands that WYMA regularly brings to your attention. Certainly the Parson Red Heads are much in their debt and part of the team with Stamey having produced their most recent CD Yearling.

For those of you who are not familiar with the work Holsapple and Stamey did together, here's a taste with one of my favorite songs of all time:

We will do a full on review when the record nears release date. But I really like what I hear.

Band web page: http://thedbs.com/. There's a very thorough and interesting biography of the band in there for anyone who wants the full story.

Two new songs from PreTeen

We profiled San Francisco band PreTeen last October. If the lads were dedicated to pleasing us, they would have released an album by now, but for some unfathomable reason, they haven't. But while traveling to our therapist to deal with the disappointment and the crushing winter blahs, we do have two recently uploaded PreTeen songs.

Here is "Cool Your Jets" --


And "Nora Jane" --


I feel better now--no need for the therapist. Thanks, PreTeen!

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REVIEW: Damien Jurado - Maraqopa

Damien Jurado's Maraqopa is a haunting, beautiful record. The treatments on the vocals, the juxtaposition between a loping, easy pace and some searing electric guitar (which is played almost as backdrop, seemingly to create a sense of unease) and the overall quality make this one of the best records of 2012.

Yeah, I guess it's folk. I certainly understand why any release from Jurado is going to carry that label, but this thing is so much more layered, has so many different ways to grab you than just the lyrics and an acoustic guitar, that the label seems inadequate. But what do you call it? Perhaps citing Ennio Morricone, Stephen Stills, Stevie Wonder and Buffalo Springfield as influences might at least grab your interest enough to get you to give a listen. I hope so... this record certainly deserves it.

Here's the video for "Nothing Is The News" - love the reverb on the vocals:



And here's a free download of "Nothing Is The News".

The next song, "Life Away From the Garden", recreates the Eden motif from "Woodstock", and you can certainly hear CSNY as a touchpoint... but with a children's chorus. Later, "Museum of Flight" takes a Jurado falsetto on the chorus and layers it on top of treated guitars, an easygoing rhythm section and a well-placed piano. The last song, "Mountains Still Asleep" reminds me very much of the similarly layered Neil Young (Buffalo Springfield) song "Expecting to Fly"...and that's pretty high altitude for a singer/songwriter.

In places you will hear folk, psych (including the searing guitar solo behind "Nothing Is the News"), country rock, gentle '70's style soul and a wall of sound approach... but throughout you will hear Swift's creativity and Jurado's haunting voice, and the soundscape they create here do justice to both.

Damien Jurado Website

Damien Jurado Twitter

New Stuff: The Tough Shits; The Poor Sons; The Bare Wires; Apache (Burger Records)

I wrote about the Summer Twins here last Sunday, then enjoyed what I heard by The Burnt Ones in Rocksteady74's post a couple days ago. I discovered Ty Segall here in a post by Rocksteady74 back in July (http://whenyoumotoraway.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-ty-segall-goodbye-bread.html) and have been digging his garage sound ever since.

Then I realized that all 3 are on Burger Records, a label based in Fullerton, California. I went in for a closer look at that label this morning. And wow!

Burger Records is fantastic, sort of a modern day Bomp! Records, full of one great garage/pop/punk band after another.

Check out the Tough Shits:



The Poor Sons:



The Bare Wires:



Apache:



Okay, we here at WYMA officially endorse Burger Records. With gusto.

Looks like they have a showcase at SXSW next week, which alone might be worth the trip to Austin.

http://www.burgerrecords.org/

Free Stones Throw Download: Vex Ruffin - Eulogy EP

Vex Ruffin is a wildly creative artist, melding a variety of influences both strange and sublime... Bauhaus, Public Image Ltd., Joy Division, and probably a few I don't even know.

Check it out:



And go to the Stones Throw website to download.

Here's a video for "Losing Control", a single released in 2011:



Also appearing at the Stones Throw Showcase at SXSW (with Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf, among others):

If I was going to SXSW, this would be something I would not want to miss. Stones Throw is putting out an absolutely amazing variety of music... of course, very creative hip-hop, but also a great deal of stuff like Vex's which just smashes together a variety of influences, samples and styles - from indie rock to darkwave to grunge - to great effect. Spend a little time on their website after you download the EP, you won't regret it.

The Soul Corner - The Chambers Brothers "Time Has Come Today"

Here at the Soul Corner, we love that place where soul music and rock'n'roll meet, as highlighted by artists and songs featured on many previous Fridays - Solomon Burke, Sly and the Family Stone, The Tempts' "Can't Get Next to You", etc.

One of the all-time great rock and soul jams is "Time Has Come Today" in all its 11 minute, psychedelic, LA, freak out, funky cowbell glory:



The song was recorded live in the studio in a single take and became a smash hit in 1968. Since then it's been sampled and used in more than 100 movies, TV shows and ads. Yet the Chambers Brothers never saw much at all in the way of royalties due to the shady business dealings that were all too commonplace in those days. Oh how the Chambers Brothers could have used a righteous label like Merge Records and a capable, honest manager. Here is Lester Chambers' own recent handwritten statement:

NK:

This video by Lester's son Dylan Chambers launched an as yet unsuccessful campaign to get the Chambers Brothers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though maybe 2013 will be their year.

New Robert Pollard - "Obvious #1" from upcoming release Mouseman Cloud

Robert Pollard's got a new record coming out March 12 via Fire Records "over there" and April 3 in North America via Rockathon Records (click to pre-order). Check out the lead track, "Obvious #1" which features a great guitar intro and a strong Pollard vocal:



I'll have more to say... of course I will.

Get to Know: Johnny Reb

I wrote about Johnny Reb last year, and it is very rare that I will write about a band again absent a new release of some sort. But as I wandered through some of my favorite playlists last weekend, I came listened again to The Portugal Years and decided that it would be a public service to bring the band to the attention of those who weren't readers of WYMA at that point, or who were sleeping in the back of the room.

Originally from Manchester, the four-piece called Glasgow home when this collection of demos was recorded (in Portugal). Fans of Morrissey, the band contacted Morrissey's guitarist and collaborator, Boz Boorer, who agreed to record the group at his home in Portugal. The result is an edgy, exciting alternative indie rock with captivating talk/sing vocals that, in my view, deserved a wide audience. Here is the superb lead track, "Nine on the Line", which allegedly serves as a lament to a fallen cat and an indecent proposal to an admired female Scottish musician.


I feel strongly about the quality of this EP, and given that the band is giving it away free at the Bandcamp site below, you don't need to invest more than your time to learn if you agree with me.



Bandcamp

Get to Know: The Candy Strypers

Paul Hughes, recording as The Candy Strypers, is one of the guys keeping the jangle pop tradition going, and we thank him for his service. And you'll thank him too because the four song Soundcloud set available below is available for listening and downloading. I think you'll agree that guy from Manchester has a nice touch with a pop song. All of the tracks are good, but I particularly like "Malibu" and "Problem No 6".


And here is one of Paul's songs that wasn't included in the above set, "Four Minute Mile" --


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Garage Rock Discovery - The Ettes, "Teeth" (also SXSW info)

The Ettes, one of a growing number of nifty garage bands working in Nashville these days, have a new 7" and accompanying video... they've enlisted the help of the Turbo Fruits, another of those Nashville garage bands (and Useless Eaters, a Memphis cohort):



"Teeth" is the opener from The Ettes' latest album Wicked Will. It's limited to 700 copies on three colors of 7" vinyl, and features the previously unreleased "Safely Down the Road" on the B-Side. There are 175 copies on Red Vinyl, 175 copies on Gold Vinyl and 350 copies on Black Vinyl--the band will have all three colors with them in Austin. Or you can order it on their website, linked at the end of this post.

Speaking of which, their SXSW schedule:

THE ETTES AT SXSW:
Wednesday:
3pm - Blurt party/Dog Fish IPA @ Gingerman Pub (301 Lavaca St.)
11pm- Eastside Tone Sessions (301 Chicon St. Suite F)

Thursday:
4:05pm - Riot Act Media Part at Swan Dive (651 Red River)
12am - Krian showcase at the Iron Bear (121 W. 8th St.)

Friday:
10pm - Beyond Race/Perfomer Magazine/EiPR party at The Lodge (411 E. 6th St.)

Saturday:
12 PM: Quantum Collective/Thrillcall at Whole Foods rooftop

And here's another song from Wicked Will, "Excuse":



Psych, fuzz, garage... what more could you ask for?

The Ettes website

REVIEW: Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker & Yim Yames - New Multitudes

Time for the other half of the long-lamented but incredibly fecund Uncle Tupelo diaspora to have its go at the Woody Guthrie catalog. Where Jeff Tweedy and Wilco chose to team up with British busker/troubador Billy Bragg on the excellent Mermaid Avenue records, Jay Farrar grabbed three kindred American spirits: Anders Parker (Varnaline), Will Johnson (Centro-matic and South San Gabriel) and Jim James (My Morning Jacket), and they've made a similarly excellent record that reflects the expansiveness and, in a very real way, the loneliness of Guthrie's American journey.



Here's Anders Parker singing "Old L.A." - this track is pure California:



And here's Yim Yames with "Talking Empty Bed Blues" - he also sings "My Revolutionary Mind" in which Woody is found longing for a "good leftist woman":



Johnson's songs kind of split the difference between the sweet and sad South San Gabriel ("Chorine My Sheba Queen" and "No Fear") and the guitar-slinging, feedback-drenched work of Centro-matic ("VD City", a raging, tragic song on which Johnson's excellent vocal puts a suitably forlorn touch).

And Farrar, well - let's just say if you buy this record because you like Son Volt and Farrar's other work, you won't be disappointed. He's one of those artists who never sounds much different... and for good reason.

I'd have to believe that these four artists, having built their music careers the way they have - writing their own music, seeing the country through a windshield as they built a base of support, and having fans identify very strongly with the sound and sentiment of their music - found it very easy to inhabit the persona of Woody Guthrie... and to write great music behind the lyrics. This is a really good record, and I feel fortunate - four of the best singer/songwriters working today, for the price of one record.

New Multitudes Website

Buy at the Undertow Music site - check out some Centro-matic while you're there.

"Meet the Golden One/LUV" by Burnt Ones

San Francisco trio Burnt Ones are releasing a new 7" on Burger Records. The tracks are "Meet the Golden One" and "LUV". "Meet the Golden One" is a delicious slice of boogie rock, and is presented for your pleasure in this following video. You can judge for yourself, but these tracks suggest to me that this band is about fun. I feel like throwing a party just so I can book them to play at it.



The group consists of Mark Tester, Amy Crouch and Brian Allen. The 7" is released on two labels, Burger Records and Gold Records. If you don't mind the digital form, it only cost $1 on Bandcamp.

Here are both tracks from Bandcamp:


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REVIEW: Jonathan Segel - All Attractions

All Attractions is an old-school California rock album with some terrific guitar work from the multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Segel, part of what was always great about Camper Van Beethoven.

The record was started by Jonathan working with fellow Camper Van Beethoven bandmate Victor Krummenacher on bass and guitar, and their SF Bay Area cohorts former King Missile/Moth Wranglers' Chris Xefos playing some bass and doing the recording and mixing, and John Hanes on drums. The lead guitar on the track "I Know You Know Me (Hey You)," you'll say "this sounds familiar" and you'd be right. It's Brett Netson from Built to Spill. This record carries a lot in common with BTS records - long songs, impeccable chops and good melodies.

The first song, the 8:30 "Ever and Always", starts off with about a 5:00 instrumental introduction, reminiscent of maybe "Interstellar Overdrive"... and the album takes off from there. It's heavy on the psychedelic guitars, well-played and Segel's understated vocals grow on you. But the guitars grab you from the start. That's what you'll come back for.

As a bonus, there's a 7-song EP called Apricot Jam which is included if you buy a physical CD. From Jonathan's website: "After the last basic tracks were recorded for the accompanying CD All Attractions, John Hanes (drums), Victor Krummenacher (bass), Graham Connah (organ) and Jonathan Segel (guitar) jammed for several hours. These were 6 tracks, which started there, taken home and made into composition out of the improvisation, (which is always super fun.)"

Read more about what Segel's been up to, and sample more of his music, at the Magnetic Records website, or check out downloads at Bandcamp:



If there's anybody out there who still likes extended-length guitar rock songs, this record is good news. Out today, and recommended.

"Telling Lies", by Evans the Death

Today's single spotlight is on "Telling Lies", from the UK's Evans the Death, a tight band with incredible female lead vocals. With its fuzzy and chiming guitars, the A-side manages to pull together C86 and Creation Records influences with a good dose of Pixies-style rock. The B-side is "Morning Voice" is a softer, nearly partially acoustic affair with an appealing '60s slow-dance vibe. It nicely highlights the band's versatility.


Evans the Death, which is named after the undertaker in Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, consists of Katherine Whitaker (vocals), Dan Moss (guitar), Olly Moss (guitar), Lan McArdle (bass, vocals), and Rob Mitson (drums). Their UK label is Fortuna Pop!, and their US label is Slumberland Records.

Here is the just released video for the title track:


We understand that a full length will follow, and based on the strength of "Telling Lies", we look forward to it.

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Slumberland Records
Fortuna Pop!

"Zenithobia", by Discopolis

Probably the hottest electro-rock outfit in Scotland is the young trio known as Discopolis. The band's new single, "Zenithobia", was released on March 5 on Kids Records. These guys were good a year ago, and the quality and maturity of their music is impressive; I predict big things for these lads.


Fergus Cook, Laurie Corlett and Donald Dave Lloyd are from Edinburgh. Additional tunes can be streamed from this Soundcloud link.

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