"Strange To Know Nothing" by Walt Disco

Gothic disco? Noir dance pop? We are struggling a bit to categorize Walt Disco, but we suspect that Walt Disney wouldn't have like them.  And we feel pretty good about that.  But we feel even better about "Strange To Know Nothing", the Glasgow band's new single.  Glammy, groovy, with crooning lead vocals and an anthemic chorus, it strikes us as fresh and exciting, while still reminding us of some of our favorite '80s acts.

The single is out via IHEARTCOMIX's 1NFINITY label.




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The Pure Conjecture - No Ghosts

It may be pure conjecture on my part, but No Ghosts may be the most subversive indie pop album of the year.  Why subversive?  Because in a music world increasingly bifurcated between manufactured and team-assembled pop on one hand, and scrappy DIY on the other (I'm ignoring classic rock reunion tours and reissues for all sorts of good reasons), The Pure Conjecture takes a highly eclectic band of indie musicians with impressive pedigrees at the scrappy or DIY side of the divide, and creates deliciously bright and smooth pop rock.  Up front rhythms, sweet soul vocals, soaring harmonies, sharp hooks and smooth melodies abound.  The production is warm and crisp, the arrangements full.  If you are looking for a summer album of Northern Soul, washed with sunshine and performed with a reverential nod to the art of Hall & Oates, this is your ticket for the next three months.  We have it on our mobiles, in our cars, and on the home stereo.  It is like the puppy that walks up to you and says "take me home and love me".   Yes, we will.

The band is founded around the songwriting duo of Matthew Eaton and Darren Moon.  They list their location in Cardiff, Wales, but the members come from various points in Wales, England and Scotland.  For this album, The Pure Conjecture are Matthew Eaton (vocals/guitar), Darren Moon (vocals/guitar), Matthew Twaites (synths), Rose Elinor Dougall (vocals/piano), Johny Lamb (horns), Marc Geatty (bass), and Joel Gibson (drums).  Additional contributors are Andrew Michell (lead vocals and co-writing credit on "Knock Four Times"), Ashley Mcavoy (backing vocals on "Not A Cloud In The Sky"), and Joe Harling (lead guitar on "No Ghosts").  No Ghosts, the band's third album, is out today via Glasgow's Armellodie Records.  See the Bandcamp link for details.











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The Kellies - Friends & Lovers

For their third album, the recently released Friends & Lovers, Argentina's Las Kellies are down one Kelly (former bassist Betty), but Silvina Costa (drums) and Cecilia Kelly (guitar) continue to rock on with their own special brand of garage and psychedelic rock with a bit of dubby new wave, along with new bassist Manuela Ducatenzeiler.  There is less of the latter on this album, but Las Kellies' proficiency and growing confidence make for a satisfying listen in the garage/psychedelic rock groove as well.

The band doesn't move to a new plane with this album, but they already were very good, so that would have been a high bar.  Long time fans will be pleased, and prospective fans should find a lot to like.  If Las Kellies have a special sauce, it is that they understand that the kids want to dance. And the band wants the kids that want to dance to be able to dance.  As an example, check out "I'm On Fire" below.

Friends & Lovers is out now via Fire Records.






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Shopping - Why Choose

Throbbing post punk with spiky, angular guitars, stuttering rhythms and talk/sing call-and-response vocals -- are you in?  You should be.  East London's Shopping is one of the unsung gems of the London scene, and their excellent new album, Why Choose, is well constructed and eminently danceable (check out "Straight Lines" below).  With the bass leading the way on many tracks, this album has a deep grove to match its edgy, twitchy vibe.  Fans of The Au Pairs, Gang of Four, and The Slits may take to this sound most readily, but frankly I can't see anyone who likes danceable rock not loving this album.  I liked their 2013 album Consumer Complaints, but Why Choose seems to me to be a big step forward -- more polished, but not glossy, and with better developed song structures.  Most importantly, it retains and improves the band's ability to deliver incredibly taut songs, bristling with energy and urgency and packed with hooks.

Shopping are Rachel Aggs, Billy Easter, and Andrew Milk.  Why Choose is out now via FatCat Records.  The band currently is touring North America. Check out their Facebook page for dates and locations.







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Review: Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas "Secret Evil"

We've been all in for Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas for some time, featuring them here at WYMA a few times, from as early as June 2013. So it's an understatement to say we've been looking forward to their first full length LP, Secret Evil, to be released on August 19.

Let's cut to the chase - Jessica Hernandez is a star waiting to happen. She's a powerhouse performer, blessed with a memorable and strong voice, and charisma to burn. And the Detroit native is backed by a crack outfit who do the rock and soul traditions of that music mecca proud, yet take it in their own new direction, influenced by not only Detroit's rich musical heritage but by rockabilly, ska, and Hernandez' Mexican-Cuban-American roots, having grown up in an inner SW Detroit neighborhood known as "Mexicantown". Her family owns a popular restaurant and a bakery there. This young Detroiter embodies the new Detroit resurgence - artistic, edgy, street smart, socially conscious.

Secret Evil is a big step up for this young band compared to their early recordings. It's well produced by Argentinian Milo Froideval (won a Latin Grammy for Best Alternative Album for Ely Guerra’s Hombre Invisible), and aided by the radio-friendly mixing of veteran hit maker Richard Gottehrer, owner of Instant Records, the label releasing Secret Evil. Gottehrer produced, among many noteworthy things, the Blondie hits, and there's a similar big city toughness yet accessibility here. The use of horns throughout this CD, which the band employs live as well, is outstanding, makes the songs jump, with a nod to the great Stevie Wonder 1970's hits.

Let's start with "Caught Up", a garage-surf rocker that perviously appeared on the band's Demons EP, with a very winning video here:

"Sorry I Stole Your Man" has a similar avant-garage feel, with a hint of Latin jazz and some fantastic background vocals honoring the band's Motown lineage -- love the girl group sound in the fade out -- though sorry to say there's no audio or video available for that one yet that I can link.  That song has become a highlight of the band's live performances. Aug 5 update: USA Today posted an exclusive audio of the song right here: usatoday.com/jessica-hernandez.

Here's a link to the audio of opening track "No Place left To Hide", maybe the most pure rock song on the record:


"Tired Oak", one of the songs on Secret Evil that seems ready for commercial radio:


Hernandez' range as both a singer and artist is best reflected in a ballad here, "Cry Cry Cry" (an original song, not the Johnny Cash classic), just a beautiful vocal where she puts her big rockabilly belt-it-out gear on pause, and instead shows off her softer and higher register. Recorded version not yet available for public consumption, but here's an audio of a fine live version:
https://soundcloud.com/michigan-radio/jessica-hernandez-the-deltas

The hit here in my view, and hey aren't we all frustrated A&R geeks, is "Dead Brains", a hybrid of Detroit soul, ska, and modern dance rock, with a killer chorus. If the band catches just a little break it wouldn't surprise me to see 80,000 kids at the next Bonaroo or Coachella festival jumping up and down and singing "Your brain's gone dead, you feel no power, where's your head?" Here's an earlier version of "Dead Brains" live, acoustic, super stripped down. Pop quiz: Is there anything more Detroit than piling into a Lincoln Continental with your friends and driving around singing? (A: No).



This album reflects Jessica Hernandez and The Deltas absolutely irresistible sound and personality. As good as Secret Evil is, and it will for sure be high on my Best of 2014 list, I still sense that Jessica Hernandez' best work is ahead of her. The sky is the limit for this band. Get on this bandwagon now while there's still room.

You can pre-order Secret Evil now for just $7.99 at iTunes here.

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"Show It To Me" from King Colour

Ready for another suggestion for your summer soundtrack?  Of course you are.  After all, you don't come here for gardening tips.  My current recommendation is  "Show It To Me" from Sydney band King Colour.  An irrepressibly bouncy combination of funky beats, playfully strutting vocals and slashing guitar accents, this should be in your arsenal.  If the party is starting slowly, it is time to "Show It To Me" with the volume turned up.



"Show It To Me" is out July 7th via Sydney-area label The A&R Department.

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"Hang Out" by Tomboy

Brooklyn's Tomboy is pretty high on my band-to-watch list.  Their latest release is the fine "Hang Out", a sweet synth pop tune with buoyed by a bubbling rhythm.  That song alone would earn them a place on the list, but coupled with the tribal dance rock of the preceding "Roll Out", I'm hooked.  Check out both tracks below.

The band is Sarah Aument and Will McIntyre.  They will be releasing an EP via Captured Tracks this summer.  Hooray!





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Wild Cub cover Chvrches - "The Mother We Share"

Nashville electro-rock band Wild Cub has made this song, a cover of Chvrches' "The Mother We Share", available for free download - just in time for Mother's Day:



Apparently, if you will "Shazam" their song "Thunder Clatter" (which we shared previously on WYMA), you will receive this new song as a free download. Wild Cub's music is pretty invigorating stuff, and they certainly have raised their visibility lately. They will be on Conan next week (5/13) and you can view upcoming tour dates at their Facebook page.

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NEW VIDEO: Wild Cub - "Colour" from Youth

We've been enjoying the soulful vocals and rhythmic dance-rock of Nashville's Wild Cub for a while now - first wrote about them prior to the release of their debut album Youth in August 2012, here.

Starting as a duo of Keegan Dewitt and Jeremy Bullock, they've grown to five: Keegan DeWitt (vocals/guitar), Jeremy Bullock (guitar/synths), Dabney Morris (drums), Harry West (bass), and Eric Wilson (keys/synths). They have continued to tour, impressing audiences nationwide, and their album was picked up by respected indie label Mom + Pop. Now they have a video for album track "Colour":



The video is intended as a companion piece to the one for "Thunder Clatter":



They're back out on tour this summer, playing festivals, a Conan appearance in May and some touring in support of Vampire Weekend. You can read up on all of it at one of their websites, below. It occurs to me that these guys are a nice companion to Vampire Weekend - similar rhythmic approach, but not exactly the same sound. Where VW is very airy, I find Wild Cub earthier, and a little bit darker... though the music is plenty upbeat and exhilarating.

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Headspins - VIVIDISIM

Headspins play a brand of rock that it a bit post-punk, a bit math rock and a healthy dose of dance rock.  So it is spiky, jittery and taut, but boasts an infectious groove.  If you are a fan of the work of Seattle band Minus the Bear or UK band Foals, you certainly will want to spend some time with Headspins.  The members of the Auckland, New Zealand foursome are given as Bonsai (Ben), Tobz (Toby), Kiely (Liam) and Witchy.  Their second release, the five-track VIVIDISM EP, hit the streets earlier this month.  The songs are good, and the band has left enough rough edges on the performances to remain distinctive.

We have provided the first and last tracks of the EP for your evaluation.  You can stream the entire record at the Bandcamp link below, and as it is available for "name your price" I think you have a pretty good incentive to do so.





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REVIEW: Fur Trade - Don't Get Heavy

Fur Trade is a duo consisting of Steve Bays of Hot Hot Heat on synths/drums/vocals and Parker Bossley of The Gay Nineties on bass/guitar/vocals. Their new album is Don't Get Heavy, and it's an exhilarating, upbeat record with enough sonic variety and attention to harmony to keep you bopping for the entirety of its 41 minutes. They describe the sound as "yacht rock" - and I'm willing to consider that this may be an emerging genre. We've seen similar sounds from artists like Wild Cub, Beisbol and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. recently, all of them synth-heavy, drumbeat-based but featuring plenty of rock guitar and soul-influenced vocals. Not to pigeonhole, but I'm sometimes tempted to call all these "children of Steely Dan". Like Steely Dan, Fur Trade (and the others I mentioned) have a sound in mind and are willing to put in the work to get it, and don't feel constrained by "genre".

Here's a video for the title track:



Bossley himself describes the sound: “We take our shared love for soft pop from the 70’s and 80’s (Bowie, Sade, Hall and Oates), and add our own touch of modern grime and dirt in there.” It's obvious they pay a lot of attention to the sound - Bays: “Parker and I have very similar sensibilities when it comes to music that ends up in a sort of mad scientist being consumed by his experiments. I’m just obsessed with the blending of old equipment with digital sounds and the audio sculpting to us became just as essential as what riff or melody we were playing.” At the same time, though, they're creative and open enough in their approach to feature a decidedly lo-fi use of modern technology in obtaining the drum sound on "Voyager", one of the best tracks here. Bays said he was playing on a friend's drum kit, liked the sound he was getting so he recorded it on his iPhone - and claims that's the sound you hear on the record... albeit mixed in with swirling layer after layer of synths, guitars, multi-tracked vocals and effects.

Here's a live orchestral version of "Voyager":



Or you can listen to the album version at this link.

There are transcendent moments on this record - the entire second track, "Kids These Days", with its falsetto vocals and slightly off-kilter guitar line over a quietly insistent keyboard, is one.



Another is the last 3:00 of "In Between Dreams". There's something about the way the song (at 5:41 the longest track on the record) rides a quick tempo and treated vocals through the first half, then leads to a nice guitar line about halfway through, and they ride that the rest of the way through the song.

The record is out now on Last Gang Records (released July 23rd). You can learn more, buy a download or order at the links below.

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Kill the Captains - Sounds Mean

Kill the Captains aren't pulling punches with Sounds Mean.  On offer are eight tracks of experimental, genre-bending rock and roll.  One track will deliver pop rock, another post punk or psychedelic rock, yet another experimental pop.  But it is energetic, fun, and eminently danceable.  The production is well-balanced among the instruments and vocals, which gives the album a fittingly big, bold sound.  The songs run a bit longer than the average pop record and, along with some style changes mid-track, there is a bit of a jam feel to the proceedings.  But the pace and performance ensure that the songs never have worn out their welcome before the close.

Given the scope of the material, it is difficult to provide representative tracks, so I have elected to give you a few of the different styles.  I encourage you to stream the entire album at the Bandcamp link below.  In the meantime, here is the pop opening track --



The first single is "Disco Nazi", which features a wonderful bassline, electronic blasts and distorted vocals --



"Safety Words" is an angular post-punk track with solid pop credentials, and is my current favorite on the album --


Kill the Captains are Leon Carter, Bic Booth, Giles Robinson, and Paul Collins, and they are from Sheffield.  Sounds Mean is out now on Glasgow's fine Armellodie Records.

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REVIEW: Béisbol - Lo-Fi Cocaine

Beisbol is a duo, brothers Jeff and Ryan Burian. Originally from Southern California, now based in Portland, they describe their sound simply as "pop rock music with synthesizers implemented within." But like a lot of one-line descriptions, that falls woefully short of capturing the joy in this music. It's summer pop, for sure, and very well-crafted, deftly combining yet hiding a variety of pop rock influences throughout the album. Songs like "Ready For Something" and "Disappear" have more than trace amounts of Steely Dan influences. "Disappear", with a falsetto vocal, is kind of mesmerizing:



Here's "Big Folk", a sweet, soothing instrumental:



Here's "Nothing Strange", probably the best, most fully-realized track on the album - and a newly-released video:

Béisbol - Nothing Strange from Emilee Booher on Vimeo.



It's a most impressive debut. There aren't many ways you could get sounds this smooth yet invigorating from just two dudes... it probably helps, them being brothers. It's out now (released in June) on Bad Cop Records. Looks like iTunes or Amazon is the way to buy, for now.

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"DIYSCO" by Tieranniesaur

Well, this is something a bit different -- an Irish band named Tieranniesaur.  Their music is packed with danceable rhthyms and upbeat melodies.  This is good summer stuff, people.  They have released a 13-track LP called DIYSCO via the Popical Island collective (on vinyl) and Soft Power Records (on cassette).  In addition, the title track and and "Horse With Melting Eyes" are being released as vinyl single by Soft Power Records.  You can stream both tracks below, and for those that want a look at the live performance, we've included a video for "DIYSCO".  The name of the album








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New Video from The Tablets - "Flowers"

We recently featured music from Liz Godoy's Tablets (WYMA post here)... and are happy to have another chance to share their trance-inducing mix of dance-rock and shoegaze in this live video for "Flowers":



There are a lot of postpunk female-fronted bands playing a take on garage or beach rock. There aren't many playing stuff this dark and jagged - it's well worth checking out. The album will be out June 4.

New Liverpool Dance-Rock Discovery: Vasco Da Gama - "Brigadier" from Geography EP

Vasco Da Gama, a four-piece band from Liverpool, is playing some exciting music, stuff that I think is commonly described as "math rock" - bass and guitar lines that race back and forth, quick and nearly constant changes in time signatures and urgent, shouted vocals. They've just released an EP titled Geography, and are currently touring. The band consists of John Crawford – Vocals & Guitar, Chris Lynn, Guitar, Joe Falconer – Bass and David Kelly – Drums.

Here's "Brigadier":






Here's "The Greenland Problem", which seems to have a little bit more of a Latin lilt to it, but still explodes with the guitars and shouted vocals:




The EP is out this week (Apr. 22) and they're touring the UK:


Sat 27th – LINCOLN The Shed
Sun 28th – LIVERPOOL Kazimier
Wed 1st  – LONDON The Old Blue Last
Thu 2nd  – SOUTHAMPTON Avondale House
Fri 3rd  – LIVERPOOL Sound City
Sat 4th  – LEEDS The Packhorse

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