Im in the foetal position. Close mate's wedding. At a winery. Good times. My liver packed its bags and left a while ago, leaving me with just a broken soul and these six bands to form this week's Hits From The Box. Fin.
Delaware’s The Sky Drops have done their dues, carving out a sweet menagerie of garage, psychedelics, and shoegaze for a few years now. Their latest EP Moving Mountains could be their gamebreaker. There's a lot of noise and swagger, but through evoking shoegaze yet having that Black Angels harmonies and psych sleaze with a little of the Sloan side of production and pop sensibilities, The Sky Drops dodge the generics and show that they have enough juice under the bonnet to make it past the finish line and more.
The Sky Drops - Explain It To Me
New Christchurch, NZ band Psych Tigers is actually the solo project of 16 year old Samuel Perry. Lil smartarse...NO! I kid, I kid! This is great stuff. Their debut EP comes out on the 16th of July. Perry's band also features Steven Marr from fellow Christchurch band Ipswich, who we raved about here. This is the single. From this, I cant wait another week - give us the good stuff now! Or you can go on your merry teenage ways, kiddo...
Psych Tigers - Crystal Methods
Dovie Beams Love Child is a guitar instrumental project from duo Juan Torregoza and Lito Vales, whose second album DBLC2 (released 2009) really impressed me. Essentially a guitar collage, it is the textual interlay of the tracking that impresses, especially on the longer, more grandiose tracks, punctuated by sudden noise outbursts that startle and help to create a subtle tension throughout. 'Himala' in particular reminded me of something that could be featured in a brutal existential Western film score, something John Hillcoat would direct from a Nick Cave script that has been adapted from a Cormac McCarthy novella. Lovely stuff. You can buy their album from Cactus Killer Records here.
Dovie Beam Love Child - Pasimula
The second band in this week's HFTB to feature from New Zealand, Two Cartoons is a sunny guitar inspired romp based in Dunedin. Consisting of These Dancing Wolves bassist / singer Isaac McFarlane and Aucklander Bradley Craig, Two Cartoons strive to make fun and reckless music with the least amount of complication necessary. Based in Dunedin, their debut double-single Better Coast/Scientific Life is the perfect precursor to the impending EP launch in October.
Two Cartoons - Better Coast
Two Cartoons - Scientific Life
Holiday Shores are a Florida-based quintet who are just preparing to release their album New Masses for Squaw Peak (September 13 through Two Syllable Records). You can hear from the first single from the record, that baffles in its juxtaposition of using tropical beats and woozy production, yet infusing it with some sassy 70s soul and a smidge of psychedelia. In fact, it reminds me of My Morning Jacket in the verses, then Phoenix via Kenny Loggins in the chorus. Weird, but decidedly wonderful.
Holiday Shores - Spells
Jumping over to Africa to finish us off today, Dimension Machine is an Egyptian electronic music duo from Cairo currently exploring the styles of electro-zar (zar is the east/north African trance/possession cult with its own musical tradition, similar to vodoun) and psych-phunk. This is all rather confusing, but their music is decidedly something else - Temple is an EP that delivers some eclectic programmed grooves that don't always float my boat, but are doing something incredibly enjoyable, decadently enjoyable - like enjoying TRON, I guess.
Arpegasus by DIMENSION MACHINE
Happy Sunday! (Now, where is that hair of the dog?)
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