Family. Gotta love em, hey? The past fortnight has been filled with family get-togethers - chewing the cud with the Ma and Pa, rockin and drinkin with my cousins, and my sister getting married (in London - I couldn't make it - gutting). They are blood, you can't walk away from em - lucky mine are all right. No Huxtables - who is? - but at least it's not the Kelly residence either...
Today brings the newest release from Olympia, Wa. indie rock experimenters, Letters. Released on Yoyo Records (former home of Mirah, The Mountain Goats, and The Microphones), All the Adventures to See Them I Will is a languid sonic journey. Not adhering to any genre, this is an album as experimental as it is infectious. Below are the first two singles off the album...
Letters - Musk Of This Ink
Let's fly over to Berlin (via Tel Aviv - racking up the frequent flyer miles) now to have a quick toe to toe with TV Buddhas. They listen incessantly to Husker Du, The Wipers, The Ramones, and Modern Lovers, and the two tracks from their current 7" certainly showcase these influences. The 7" is out through Staatsakt Records, and can get got from Rough Trade.
TV Buddhas - Hello To Loneliness
TV Buddhas - Just Another Day In My Head
I do like me some slightly hokey yet generally awesome band names, and Shitty/Awesome fits the bill on many levels. Their statement that they straddle the paradoxical line between farcical and substantive sums it up nicely. Having formed on a road trip to the 2009 SXSW does add some credence though - hell, that's pretty much the same circumstances behind which Sonic Masala came to be! Now having played alongside the likes of Lightning Bolt, Nobunny and Abe Vigoda, their love of the amazing Tyvek, and with their debut LP coming out through Guestroom Records, Im thinking that the throwaway banter won't distill the notion that there is a good garage band bubbling away here. At the end of the day its all about having stupid, decadent fun, and Shitty/Awesome intend to provide it all in spades.
Shitty/Awesome - Hang Up
Bloomington Indiana based band Hypocrite in a Hippy Crypt must have one of the shittest names of 2011. Im sorry guys - but seriously? I much prefer the name of your album, Tweaker In The Park. Out through Gulcher Records (Kurt Vile's first label), Tweaker In The Park is pretty lo-fi and unassuming, yet has a couple of cracking tracks on it, especially the lazy easiness that oozes from 'The Town Crazies' (another good (or at least much better) name for a band guys...) Don't judge this band by its title - give the below track a listen first, you should be pleasantly surprised...
Hypocrite In A Hippy Crypt - The Town Crazies
Now I can't pretend to know much about Italian duo M+A, but this track really hit me. Not really like The Books, or Cornelius, yet infused with some of the same glitchy spirit, with a slight Akron/Family effusiveness, 'Liko Lene Lisa' is a great track, and worth the time to delve further - or at least checking out their forthcoming LP Things. Yes that comes out in November...
M + A - Liko Lene Lisa
The second HFTB to have an album out on Guestroom Records, Tulsa's very cool Broncho. This track is delightedly tripping the light fantastic insofar that they effortlessly sound like Greasers from the 60s and modern-day flannel garage rockers at the same time. 'Pick A Fight' as a signature tune couldn't be any more perfect. This is hook-laden rock at its most devilish, with enough attitude to scare hipsters into ditching their black-rimmed unprescripted glasses and see the light. The Fonz wouldn't stand a chance with these guys. This is my soundtrack for the rest of the day - Im now off to go drink some Bloody Mary's with my bud Dan C.
Broncho - Pick A Fight
Happy Sunday!
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