Monthly Archives: January 2013

Listen: Julia Brown – “library”

Julia Brown
After the disbandment of Sam Ray’s project Teen Suicide, I was hopeful that a formation of a new band would occur and fortunately it did. Sam Ray, whom we have mentioned earlier under the moniker of Ricky Eat Acid, has teamed up with Alec Simke, and John Toohey to form a new band called Julia Brown. This three piece noise pop band already have two songs circulating from the upcoming eight song album, to be close to you hopefully out by the end of February.

You can download one of the songs off the upcoming release called library. It was released through a friend of the band, Mat Cothran’s (Coma Cinema/Elvis Depressedly) blog. Compared to Teen Suicide this track has a much more pop aesthetic with both male and female vocals creating a completely different sound and an all together beautiful track. Fans of any of the bands affiliated with the Unlimited Free Milkshakes Label or part of the 420 Love Songs compilation should definitely check this band out. You can listen to a Julia Brown B-side song titled dizzy below.

Track Listing:

1. ‘im falling in love’
2. library
3. how i spent my summer
4. i will do this for the rest of my life
5. 5/21/11
6. i was my own favorite tv show the summer my tv broke
7. virginia
8. to be close to you

Review: Castlecomer – “Danny’s Den”

Castlecomer – Danny’s Den

Castlecomer Album

Released: March 30, 2012
Purchase: iTunes

Forming in late 2010, Castlecomer finally unveiled their debut release on March 30th, 2012 and did not disappoint. Armed with their high-energy shows, combined with their flawless five part harmonies, Castlecomer are one of the most exciting indie bands that Australia has to offer.

Castlecomer began their journey as a band by posting videos of both original songs and covers on YouTube including Mumford and Son’s The Cave, and Passion Pit’s Take A Walk. These fantastic videos led to fans around wondering, and near begging them to release an album.

On March 30th Castlecomer finally released their six song EP entitled, Danny’s Den. Tracks include songs that are found on their YouTube channel, as well as songs that have not been heard before. The EP is not what was first expected, as on YouTube all of the songs were played acoustically with a strong focus on the harmonies, however on the album there is a lot more use of electric guitars and drums, but this does not take away from their harmonic melodies. Even though it was different to what I was accustomed to, it was still successful, selling 1,200 hard copies, and 1000 digital copies. These five boys from Sydney are starting to make a name for themselves.

Fans, much like me, are eagerly waiting the next EP to be released, as they have only posted more covers such as Coldplay’s Till Kingdom Come and The Lumineers‘ Ho Hey. But they haven’t released any new material, so no one knows what to expect. Luckily there shouldn’t be a long wait as they have already finished the recording for the second EP, and it is due for release sometime in early 2013. If you enjoy indie folk bands with spot on harmonies, Castlecomer is a band to look out for. Check out their Facebook and YouTube pages!

8.5

Stream: Unknown Mortal Orchestra- II

ii
On February 5th, Unknown Mortal Orchestra will be releasing their sophomore record II. Unknown Mortal Orchestra is a three piece American/New Zealand indie rock band formed by Ruban Nielson in 2010.  With the release of their first track “Ffunny Ffriends” they created mass amounts of buzz throughout the indie scene, everyone wanted to know who was behind this lo-fi/psychedelic single.  II is a wonderfully breezy, psychedelic record. It’s full of poppy guitar riffs that blend well with the soft and mysterious falsetto vocals. Tracks like “The Opposite Afternoon” and “From the Sun” are some of my favorites and relate to some of R. Stevie  Moore’s work, but with a more well rounded sound. The record flows very nicely and is full of tracks that don’t disappoint.

Their new record II, is available for streaming exclusively through NPR and can be preordered from their website. They begin touring February 2nd, all of their February dates are available below, the dates to the rest of their tour are also available on their website.

Tour Dates:
Feb  02 – Zepp Divercity (Tokyo, Japan)

Feb 06 – Trix Club (Antwerp, Belgium)

Feb 07 – Paradiso (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Feb 08 – Prince Charles (Berlin, Germany)

Feb 13 – Great American Music Hall (San Francisco, CA)

Feb 14 – Constellation Room (Santa Ana, CA)

Feb 15 – Echoplex (Los Angeles, CA)

Feb 16 – Beauty Bar (Las Vegas, NV)

Feb 18 – Lowbrow Palace (El Paso, TX)

Feb 19 – The Korova (San Antonio, TX)

Feb 20 – The Mohawk (Austin, TX)

Feb 21 – Fitzgerald’s (Houston, TX)

Feb 22 – One Eyed Jacks (New Orleans, LA)

Feb 23 – 529 (Atlanta, GA)

Feb 27 – Rock & Roll Hotel (Washington, DC)

Feb 28 – Bowery Ballroom (New York, NY)

Mar 01 – First Unitarian Church (Phildelphia, PA)

 

 

Listen: The Strokes – “One Way Trigger”

The Strokes
The Strokes, garage rock indie band from New York, have released a new song called One Way Trigger from their upcoming fifth album. This synth filled song reminds me of an 80’s pop song combined with frontman Casablancas trying a new approach to his vocals. The track features his familiar distorted vocals alongside a falsetto approach, which he surprisingly pulls off. This release creates a lot of anticipation for what their new album will sound like and if they will stray farther away from their original garage rock sound like they did with their last release Angles. You can listen to the track below, and download it for free from their website.

Paramore Releases Track Listing For New Album

Paramore
American alternative rock band Paramore has released the track listing for their upcoming self-titled album. You can check out the 17 track names below! The band’s fourth album will be released on April 9th, 2013 by Fueled By Ramen.

Track listing:

1. Fast In My Car
2. Now
3. Grow Up
4. Daydreaming
5. interlude: Moving On
6. Ain’t It Fun
7. Part II
8. Last Hope
9. Still Into You
10. Anklebiters
11. interlude: Holiday
12. Proof
13. Hate To See Your Heart Break
14. (One Of Those) Crazy Girls
15. interlude: I’m Not Angry Anymore
16. Be Alone
17. Future