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cults

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Listen: Asher Roth – “Outside”

Just in time for the summer season, Asher Roth released a brand new song titled “Outside”, an ode to the warmth and greatness of the world that isn’t online and in front of a computer. The song features a highly-appropriate sample of Cults‘s “Go Outside” on the chorus and fresh lines from the former “I Love College” rapper. Instant addition to your summer playlist right here. Asher’s Def Jam debut Is This Too Orange? is currently on the way and there’s currently no word whether or not “Outside” will appear on it.

MP3: Asher Roth – “Outside”

Valentine’s Day Mix

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Here’s a mix to listen to.

 

Steel Train – I Feel Weird

The Postal Service – We Will Become Silhouettes

Rivers Cuomo – Lover in the Snow

Elliott Smith – Say Yes

Jimmy Eat World – Invented

The Smiths – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

The Dangerous Summer – Reach For The Sun

Wilco – I’m Always In Love

Limbeck – I Wrote This Down

Girls – Saying I Love You

Cults – You Know What I Mean

The Format – Janet

Best Coast – Crazy For You

WZRD – Teleport 2 Me, Jame (Feat. Desire)

A Year Later… Our First Birthday Playlist

It’s hard to imagine that exactly one year ago, the very first post on this site was released to the world. In the past year, we’ve certainly come a long way, growing rapidly in terms of both listeners and contributors. With our posts over the past 365 days, we hope that we’ve exposed some good music to you, sharing our personal favorites either in the form of an MP3 or simply through our writing. It’s a great feeling to know that somewhere out there, people are reading what we have to say and appreciating music that they otherwise would not have found.

So in celebration of our first birthday, it only made sense to thank you, the reader. Thank you for checking out what we have to say and allowing us to share the music we love. Over the next year, we’ll be looking to grow even more and work with even more great artists. Big things are on the horizon, so please share us with your friends and keep visiting and commenting.

Frank Wu

A Year Later…

OCD: Moosh & Twist – “Beautiful Day”
Neako – “Hello”
Y Luv – “All Night”
Cults – “Go Outside”
Foster The People – “Helena Beat”
Theophilus London – “Last Name London”
Los Campesinos! – “You! Me! Dancing!”
The Dean’s List – “Dear Professor”
Eddy B & Tim Gunter – “Graduation (feat. That Kid C-G)”
Hoodie Allen – “The Chase Is On”
Xaphoon Jones – “The Jackson Pit”
Matt & Kim – “AM/FM Sound”

Review: Fucked Up – David Comes to Life

Fucked Up – David Comes to Life

Released: June 7, 2011
Label: Matador Recordsl
Purchase: iTunes | Insound | Amazon

Fucked Up is a punk band with epic aspirations. And their recently released third full length album, David Comes to Life, only serves to further demonstrate Fucked Up’s ambition. Divided into four acts, it tells the story of David Eliade, a factory worker, and his lover Veronica Boisson’s scheme to construct a bomb and the aftermath of its early detonation; namely, Veronica’s death. Beyond that, it’s difficult to decipher the plot; to do so, one would have to spend extensive time analyzing the lyrics to each track. But as a listener who still doesn’t fully understand the intricacies of the story-line of this self-proclaimed “rock opera”, I can assure you that complete comprehension isn’t at all vital to enjoyment of David Comes to Life.

Besides the complicated lyrical aspects of the album, David Comes to Life isn’t an easy listen for another reason: its length. At eighteen tracks and seventy-eight minutes, the listener must be patient to easily manage a complete spin of the album in one sitting. Yet when in the right mood, one will find this album one of the most rewarding of the year.

Nearly the moment David Comes to Life commences, it’s apparent this is no ordinary punk album. Opener “Let Her Rest” is an instrumental track, decorated with twinkling piano and ambient noise. To some readers, that description might bring to mind post-rock. Yet the song is more accurately defined as a dramatic build, a preparation for what’s to come; as it progresses, the guitar lines slowly become more punk, more representative of the remainder of the album. In effect, the track’s purpose is to gradually accustom the listener to the sounds that follow.

The following track, “Queen of Hearts”, is the first we hear of Damian Abraham’s (A.K.A. Pink Eyes) snarl. It’s as ferocious as ever, yet Abraham seems to have improved his emotional range. It’s also the first we hear of Cults Madeline Follin, who plays Veronica. The shimmery guitars grant the tune a bright feel and the dual narration is a unique storytelling technique. It’s certainly a standout and has the potential to become known as one of punk’s defining love songs.

The next three songs — “Under My Nose”, “The Other Shoe”, and “Turn the Season” — share lyrical similarities in that each mention “the other shoe”. In fact, it is the track named after that lyric which succeeds the most out of the three. Beginning with Follin’s cries of “Dying on the inside”, Abraham soon makes his most tortured appearance, yelping, “It can’t be comfortable when the whole thing’s about to fall.” Far and away, this is the most poignant moment on the album. An unrelated but significant side-note is that Abraham also declares that “The new lyrics follow the same old meter.” And interestingly enough, many of Abraham’s lyrics throughout the album do follow similar rhythmic patterns. But this only serves to further the cohesiveness — characterized not only by the aforementioned but similar guitar tones and song structures as well — of David Comes to Life.

That concludes the album’s first, and arguably strongest, act. Its second, however, is by no means bad. “Running on Nothing” is the highlight, with its catchy 50’s rock guitar riffing, and “A Slanted Tone”, with its brief acoustic guitar intro, is another solid tune and one of David Comes to Life‘s fastest.  Despite all this, it is here and in the third act where the album drags most. It’s simply due to a couple of lesser (but still good) tracks which don’t help distract the listener from the album’s length. Yet despite the bit of unevenness in the second and third acts, it’s impossible to penalize Fucked Up too heavily, because there is just so much to explore. And because of that, David Comes to Life is an album with unquestionable lasting value.

The fourth and final act is probably the second best of the four. Its only real fault is that “One More Night” is so good that closer “Lights Go Up” is a bit of a letdown. Yet the positives of “One More Night” far outweigh the negatives of the track’s placement. It’s truly an anthem. Soaring guitar lines complement accented drumming and Abraham’s violent, defiant bark until Abraham’s shouts of “I don’t wanna be right / Just one more night” enter the mix and the guitars are left to ring out. It feels so much like the album’s conclusion; perhaps that’s why “Lights Go Up” is disappointing, merely because the listener doesn’t want to hear anymore of anything. But that’s a small price to pay for such a well-conceived album by one of the best bands operating in punk music.

8.7

Standout Tracks: “Queen of Hearts”, “The Other Shoe”, “Running on Nothing”, and “One More Night”

Video: Cults – “Go Outside”

I love Cults. Not in a creepy way, of course. More in a “this song is my jam” kind of way. So when I saw that “Go Outside”, the same song that launched the duo onto everyone’s radar last year, finally received a music video, I was incredibly excited to check it out. The video was directed by Isaiah Seret and contains footage from Jim Jones’ religious cult, Peoples Temple. For the first time, the band’s name and the word “cult” merge, and it’s awesome. Check out the video below.

Stream New Death Cab For Cutie and Cults

Two of this month’s most highly anticipated releases are now available for streaming on NPR’s First Listen series. This week includes full album streams of Death Cab For Cutie‘s Codes and Keys (artwork is featured to the right) and Brooklyn duo Cults‘ self-titled debut album.

Both albums are set for release on May 31. Codes and Keys will be available via Atlantic Records, while Cults will be available via In The Name Of / Columbia Records. Check out the albums and others here and the tracklistings below.

Cults Tracklist:
01. Abducted
02. Go Outside
03. You Know What I Mean
04. Most Wanted
05. Walk At Night
06. Never Heal Myself
07. Oh My God
08. Never Saw The Point
09. Bad Things
10. Bumper
11. Rave On

Codes and Keys Tracklist:
01. Home Is A Fire
02. Codes And Keys
03. Some Boys
04. Doors Unlocked And Open
05. You Are A Tourist
06. Unobstructed Views
07. Monday Morning
08. Portable Television
09. Underneath The Sycamore
10. St “Peter’s Cathedral
11. Stay Young, Go Dancing

Cults Ready Self-Titled Debut

Cults will be releasing their self-titled debut album on June 7 in North America (May 30 in the UK). The New York duo are currently readying the release via In The Name Of / Columbia Records. The eleven-track album is completely self-produced, but was engineered by Shane Stoneback (Vampire WeekendSleigh Bells).

Check out the tracklisting below.

Tracklisting:
01 Abducted
02 Go Outside
03 You Know What I Mean
04 Most Wanted
05 Walk at Night
06 Never Heal Myself
07 Oh My God
08 Never Saw the Point
09 Bad Things
10 Bumper
11 Rave On

Cults Album and Tour Dates

Pop duo Cults will be releasing their debut full length in May 2011 via In The Name Of / Columbia Records. They will also be heading on a North American tour, playing shows with Small Black and Asobi Seksu, as well as headlining shows of their own.

Check out the confirmed tour dates below.

Cults 2011 Tour Dates:

02/05 – Baltimore, MD @ Maryland Institue College of Art

03/10 – Chapel Hill, MC @ Local 506 *

03/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn *

03/12 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree *

03/13 – New Orleans, LA @ The Saint *

03/15 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgeralds *

03/17-19 – Austin, TX @ South by Southwest

03/22 – Nashville, TN @ The End ^

03/23 – Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light

03/24 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter ^

03/25 – Washington, DC @ Rock N Roll Hotel ^

03/26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas ^

03/30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Knitting Factory

03/31 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge

04/01 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall

04/02 – Montreal, QC @ II Motore

04/04 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern

04/06 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop

04/07 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle

04/08 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry

04/11 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Café

04/12 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios

04/14 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent

* = w/ Small Black

^ = w/ Asobi Seksu

Cults Sign To Columbia Records

Indie-pop group Cults has signed to Columbia Records in the U.S. and in the UK (under the imprint In the Name Of). The boy-girl duo has only released a few songs and only one official single. They’re currently working on their debut album, which is tentatively scheduled for a spring 2011 release.