Nothing Dumb About These Golden Numbers

Good dude Geordie Stafford has been a mainstay in the Brisbane hardcore scene - his efforts in Dick Nasty and Teargas in particular leaving indelible claw marks across the underground. But he found it easiest when he worked on his own - his lone wolf approach to doom metal, Golden Bats, has been incredibly prolific, having put out six self-titled EPs, a few 7"s and some split releases with the likes of Pale Earth and The Steady As She Goes.

He was also involved in the Tym Record Club, where the seminal label put two likeminded artists on flipsides of a 7". Golden Bats' effort sat alongside Adam Harding, a similar Australian rock journeyman who started performing under the moniker Dumb Numbers. Harding has the Midas touch, and on his second album has roped in a who's who of rock and metal royalty to help out (including members of The Melvins, The Jesus Lizard, Einstürzende Neubauten and Dinosaur Jr) - including Monsieur Stafford, who lends his axemanship to 'Unbury The Hatchet'. This song alone also features David Yow on vocals, and Alexander Hacke with keys and throat singing (!). The album itself predictably slays, of course, but I can't be any more stoked for Geordie (and Adam, of course) on this one. Grab Dumb Numbers II here (in purple vinyl no less), listen to the track below, and the entire album below that.

Faux Seattle Has Fallen

After taking in the jagged exorcism that is Brisbane band Clever's new track, it feels a jump to be launching into Fall Seattle, the eponymous debut record from the North Virginian quartet. Out through the excellent Faux Discx label (Sauna Youth, Monotony, Hookworms, Tense Men), it is a lucky dip of  the past, reappropriated in bedrooms, kitchens and basements, crystallising into a sonorous sojourn sparkling with jangle and noise, introversion and extroverted emulsions. There is a Deerhunter-meets-The Raincoats-meets-Grandaddy esoteric clarity to opener 'Carol'; a sundrenched meander through Lotus Plaza's back garden on 'Wanda Jackson'; a Yo La Tengo hopped-up malaise to 'Time'. 'New York' could be Ratcat trying their hand at Dinosaur Jr, a suitably fractious racket with cavernous space that still feels intimate amid the throat-tearing catharsis. The twang and meandering space of 'Boyhood' has me entranced - it is the central song, and the centrifugal force of the album, somehow slowing everything down but bringing it all into focus. The opening drums for 'Blau' is ominous before the onslaught, a shimmering menace not unlike the inimitable Women (which is why it is probably my favourite track here); 'Suburban Stain' is a guitar dream, off the books via the Books; the jumped up yet broody pop of 'Nothing You Can Hold On To' meanwhile sets it all free. 'Demon Son' takes us into black-spark shoegaze territory, albeit with bottom-of-the-well reverb sparseness in fits and bursts (another great song). Fall Seattle close up shop with 'Separation Anxiety', a mild, contemplative that burbles and percolates, a sepia-burnt daydream rumination on all that has come before. This is an incredibly strong record - there have been some Real Estate comparisons (which I can see in part), but despite my constant attraction to band signifiers above, the bowerbird genre splicing here makes the album a unique and highly rewardable listen. I really like this one - you should all grab Fall Seattle here.

Figures Taekare Of Themselves

Figures is a band from Brisbane that like their 90s guitar rock to be sparse yet dark, ruminative but destructive, maudlin yet cleansing. There are checkpoints across their three tracks on their Taekare EP (recorded at Incremental Records) that evokes Dinosaur Jr, Pedro The Lion (especially in the quieter moments of 'Figure Eight'), Sonic Youth...and another band enamoured with the blanket-bomb noise of shoegaze, Melbourne legends White Walls. I seem hardwired to dig bands that take the shoegaze noise aesthetic and give it a brittle edge, stripping away the dreaminess, even the dreariness, to lend it fire. Swervedriver had moments like this, to be far, but it seems like it's the younger bands that have found that serrating the fuzz and distortion gives new shadows to lurk in and burst out of. It's early days to be sure, but Figures look the goods.

Believe in the Leaper

Toronto duo Beliefs have crafted a buoyant dream pop winner in their LP Leaper. Starting with the typical yet nonetheless sunnily ebullient 'Tidal Wave', the band take some nicely carved tangentials - '1992' comes out like the calendar-similar Smashing Pumpkins track covered by mid-era Blonde Redhead; the soft-lens narcoleptic grind of 'Drown' ekes out a Dinosaur Jr vibe, albeit one in the Kurt Vile end of the noise pop pool; and the title track fully embraces the duo's penchant love for Sonic Youth angularity and spoken obliqueness. It is clear that Leaper revels in the 90s afterglow - its a steady stream of a dream. Pre-order Leaper through cool little label Hand Drawn Dracula (who also put out stuff from the likes of Fresh Snow and Vallens) here.

Happily Diving Headlong Into This Big Ol World

Happy Diving are a four piece who believe in opening all tracks with wails of feedback, blasting through pop conventions, mainlining sugar-rush mayhem before fading away like an imploding quasar. Their album Big World is basically one song, repeated ten times. The thing is, this actually doesn’t bother me at all – because their clearly beloved song structure of choice is delivered with such relish and volume, all imbued with amber light, it feels like a bliss bomb that you don’t want to stop tearing your very essence apart. So it can be visceral – but we are talking Whirr/Dino Jr/PAWS visceral – a sun-drenched shoegaze aesthetic adhered to scuzz-pop and hipster noise in bite-size form. This is heightened by Jack Shirley’s touch – with Deafheaven and the aforementioned Whirr receiving his mannered touch-ups, he is becoming the go-to for more angular yet aurally accessible shoegaze gauze. The press release compares the quartet to Japandroids, a band that I obviously like, but I feel the band is more akin to another SM fave, Ovlov, albeit with a sunnier disposition. Big World isn’t so big – it’s brash, familiar, and repetitive – but why get out of the pool when it’s so good?

You can get Big World (out through Father/Daughter Records) here – vinyl variations include oxblood or virgin black, but you've missed out on the oxblood and baby blue splatter on double mint - what a delicious disaster that record would be...

Like Sounds Through the Hourglass Tonight

(Post by Fred Savage Beasts)

I’ve been slightly scared for me to sit down and write something about the new Sounds Like Sunset album. This has been a band that I’ve always, in the truest sense of the word, admired. That might sound like a worrying start to a review. Rest assured however, this is no “Dinosaur Jr. has a lot to answer for…”

The tough part is this: Sounds Like Sunset songs have always sidled in at fairly massive turning points in my and many of my friends' lives. They have slowly worked their way through space and time to come to define moments, the best and the worst. Sounds Like Sunset songs are weddings, moving out, getting busted by the cops, moving home after getting busted by the cops. If you can grasp the sense of this, you’re closer to understanding why putting this album on for the first time made me both nostalgic and worried that my wife might be suddenly pregnant – or want a divorce.

There is real beauty to be found in ‘We Could Leave Tonight’. It’s honest and self-effacing and glows the colour of burning tubes. It is an album that doesn’t demand you listen to it, and it won’t whine when you don’t, but you’ll listen to it anyway. It’s lost but it’s finding its way. It’s turning in circles and falling over. It’s looking up at the stars while it’s down there. That might read as lame to you. Maybe so. But you probably never greened out on a cop's shoes and had to move back in with your parents to sort your life out.


Available now on Brisbane’s legendary Tym Records - grab it here.

Don't Dismiss Tony

Tony Molina is an anomaly all right. He plays in a bunch of hardcore bands, and his latest, Caged Animal, is brutal! Here's what they do...



But Tony Molina as solo artist? Think Weezer, Teenage Fanclub, Dinosaur Jr - with 80s metal riffs - all packed into one minute morsels. That's what last year's Dissed and Dismissed LP was all about - and Slumberland has reissued it. Its a fun record that grows on you - it's hard to believe how short yet concise these songs are! I love it - I reckon you will too. Grab it here.

Younger Lemons

Fire Records are reissuing The Lemonheads' first three albums Hate Your Friends (1987), Creator (1988) and Lick (1989). Most people (myself included) don't credit the band for being anything other than the mainstream group we know and love (and of course Evan Dando's constant battle with various demons). It's refreshing to hear Ben Deily's punk snarl, and Dando's Mascis emasculation - kids just breaking out. Some of these songs, like 'Out', are discarded gems too. I have to say that these albums are pretty great, and I for one am pre-ordering them right now, you should too.

Vinyl Orgasm, 2013 Style

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL RECORD STORE DAY!

There isn't much I can tell you, other than if you aren't out and about celebrating this at your local record store, I don't know why we are friends. So many exclusive releases, it's incredible! Here is a massive list of some of the things on offer. There is a lot of local gear too, so keep your peepers gleaned!

Here are four I'm pretty excited about:

Baltimore's Dan Deacon is a cuddly maelstrom of gummi-bear electronica, a sugar rush of giddy proportions, yet on last year's America produced a sliver of gravitas that further accentuated his relevance in the 21st century. He has a 500-press only 7" through Domino Records that utilises four - count 'em, four - drummers, two for each cut on the wax. The two tracks, 'Konomo Ripoff No 1' (essentially ripping off the Congolese Konomo No 1 - naturally), features ex-Ponytail skinsman Jeremy Hyman and percussionist Kevin O'Meara on one cut whilst the other sees ex-Double Dagger drummer/current Roomrunner frontman (and regular Dan Deacon Ensemble participant) Denny Bowen and regular Deacon cohort Dave Jacober take control. It's vintage Dan Deacon - therefore, vintage excellente.

Then there is this beautiful absurdity. Indianapolis label Joyful Noise have somehow managed to collate some serious shit under a 7" serious they are naming Cause & Effect, with the premise being an influential, historically-significant solo musician on Side A, and the modern result of that musical influence on Side B. And they ain't fucking around - the first cabs off the rank include Thurston Moore coupled with Talk Normal, Lou Barlow synced with Dumb Numbers, and David Yow vomiting arm-in-arm with Child Bite. The special, limited edition run that is available only to VIP Joyful Noise members is pressed on silver/clear split colour vinyl, while the regular edition for all the other people, is printed on black/clear colour vinyl. Amazing? Fuck yes. You can actually order too - try that here - and try some of the results here and here.

And as I mentioned last week, there is the new (posthumous) Double Dagger record 333 - only 1000, so they will sell like the proverbial. You'd be insane if you had the opportunity to pick this up and didn't - DD are definitely one of the unsung bands of the past ten years, full stop.

Double Dagger - Heretic's Hymn

Finally, for some local flavour, the excellent Tym's Guitar started a record label late last year in the form of a 7" record club (which I am a part of), and it's drawing some pretty special exclusives (including an amazing Earthless one-off). This is another pretty rad one - Californian nutjob guitar rippers The Shrines. If you don't know what they are all about, think Fu Manchu, in your teens, on waaaaaaay too many Red Bull-tainted bowls. Sweet, I know.


So get there. It doesn't even matter if you buy anything. I love going to Tyms, or Title, or Rockinghorse, or Jet Black Cat, or Woolly Bully (RIP), as much to listen and to chat as I do to buy. Many friends have been made in such a place. If these places die out, so will an integral part of why music is the amazing thing that it is. And to remind you, Brisbane is having some pretty cool parties at its stores. Head to any one of the below, and trust me, it will prove to be an outstanding day - it may even change your life.

TYMS - opens at 10am. Second wave of new stock rolls out at 1pm. Bands start at 12pm, including The Nation Blue (most likely their only show in Queensland for 2013 - an absolute must-see!), Bruce!, Midnight Wolf, Emperors, Roku Music and Cannon.

Rockinghorse - opens at 9am. Bands start at 12.30 and include Per Purpose, Living Eyes, Brainbeau and Half Spoken.

Jet Black Cat Records - opens at 9am. Bands start at 12 with We All Want To, with Thelma Plum at 4 and Morning Harvey at 6.30, with a mystery band thrown in for shits and giggles.

SEE YOU THERE!!!

Boyd Well

It's sad when something of a gem falls at your feet, only to find out that you cannot bask in its glory. That was me and Nirvana - as a thirteen year old I was a little late to the party when ol Cobain dusted his cranium. And of course that speaks to a lot of past glories - the Beatles, the Kinks, the Who, Fugazi... And I've been lucky enough to see bands re surge to something that has equalled if not eclipsed those younger days of their musical heights (Swans, Dinosaur Jr and Godspeed You! Black Emperor being the latest and most prominent of these acts). 

But it is much more likely that you will blink and miss a local act. In Brisbane and other ephemeral melting pots like it in the world, there are so many side-projects, vanity features and one-offs that it is easy to have something slip through your fingers before you even knew it existed. One such band was almost James X Boyd & the Boydoids. Essentially a solo venture for James Boyd (Velociraptor, Running Gun Sound, The Majors), he has been doing the local circuit in sporadic bits and bursts over the past year, first back by the CEOs and now with the much more excellent Boydoids. And just as he releases his first album, Boyd announces that he is winging his way to Europe, thus the likelihood of catching these tracks on this excellent debut record has gone down to slim to none. Which is a downright shame, because this lil bruiser (put out in cassette form by Long Gone Records, with rumours rumbling a vinyl version is in the near future) is one of the best troubadour-esque albums to come out of Australia in a looooong time. Whilst I'd be wary to put it on the same pedestal as Gareth Liddiard's Strange Tourist or Ben Salter's The Cat, in my opinion James X Boyd & the Boydoids is at least on the same dais, even if it's taking out the bronze. It’s understated, it’s founded in a juxtaposition of posturing and frailty, it’s very funny, and it is incredibly measured, dry, well-rounded pop of the highest esteem.

The music itself is tempered, an engine to drive Boyd further into the spotlight. It comes back to Boyd’s drawled, distinctly Australian vocal delivery, and those laconic lyrics that are as steeped in abject romanticism as they are watching The Simpsons and Sunday morning blues. Ordering takeout “if you want to”, singing songs that you can’t get wrong, ditching jobs and travelling the world with painted shoes, being in the movies with friends and people you love – it’s all highlighted with wryness and effervescence, warmth and a twinkle in the eye. And it is indelibly entrenched in the Sunshine State – Blue Apia’s banana trees proving to be a beautiful sight to see, whilst Brunswick Street Junkies revels in seesawing love and revulsion of the tenacity of a Fortitude Valley addict. Boyd’s skewed lyricism is something to behold, and it deserves to be front and centre amongst the warmly buzzing guitars, the subtle piano, and the languid brushstrokes. 

Check the album out below, and buy it here. He does have one final show next Wednesday night, ANZAC eve, at Alhambra Lounge alongside Velociraptor, The Good Sports and Pool Room. It's the official album launch too - it would be sensible to make your way along, I think, don't you? Grab a ticket here. 

Regretfully Depending On Hazels Wart

As you may have noticed I occasionally whinge about how I sometimes miss out on great new music, either because it slips through the cracks of my ever-overflowing inbox, because I'm overworked, because I drank five thousand beers and woke up in a strange bed. Whatever. It happens. There's lots of good stuff that hasn't graced this hallowed hall. But I always hope that when one of these bands bring about a new release, I can smash that one to the bleachers for all and sundry to scrabble over.

Today, that band is Hazel's Wart, a San Francisco trio whose sloppy emotive noise-pop has really struck a chord (three of my all-time records being The Lonesome Crowded West, Perfect From Now On (the dude sounds sooooo much like Doug Martsch!) and Dancer Equired!, it kinda makes sense). Back in 2011 they brought out a great scuzzy guitar pop album in Together We Didn't - not in the garage, throwaway sense, but more in tune to the early 90s alternative rock that pre-dated the "grunge" push, fuzzed-out guitars with slightly underdone production because that's all they knew how to do. But they are now onto a softer vibe that is akin to early Modest Mouse (which was always there from the beginning), if new cassette Regretful Dependencies is anything to go by - and the even lower frequency production actually makes this slight shift in sonic direction even better, steeping it in the era that its definitive influences come from. Hey, does that guitar on 'Checked' sound like a J Mascis-worshipping dip of the cap? I believe so!

 

Seriously, Hazel's Wart are a damn fine band, playing damn fine music that people seem to be a little adverse at taking on as their own anymore. I know, I know - trends and tastes shift etc etc. But that's for fools to embody - if it's this good, just like it already! You can grab Regretful Dependencies here, and I strongly suggest getting into Together We Didn't also - you can pick that up here.

Hazel's Wart - Cheap Thrill
Hazel's Wart - Checked

Sweltering In The Dusty Heat

 

New Orleans based band Heat Dust throw a lot of shit into the industrial mixer – noise rock, punk snot, fuzzed rot, rhythmic flot(sam) – all while ring-a-ring-a-rosying around a maypole devoted to J Mascis and Robert Pollard. The five tracks on their self-titled cassette EP are fizzing with hooks embalmed in 90s sepia-tinged euphoria, a pertinent dynamic in 2012. Strident hooks and melodies are rife, culminating in tracks that are impossible to ignore nor dislike. Having jumped on board San Antonio based Texas Is Funny Records (home to SM faves God Townes and Grasshopper Lies Heavy), Heat Dust are red hot.

Heat Dust – Sleeping Call
Heat Dust – Thick Distance

J Won't Keep You Thinking For Long

J Mascis has been the gift that keeps on giving this year, hasn't he? After the impressive solo album Seven Shades Of Why (through Sub Pop), he is releasing a new 7" single featuring a cover of Edie Brickell's song, "Circle", and the b-side, "I've Been Thinking" - which is yours below! Not only is this an opportunity to listen to new J songs, it's also on purple/green vinyl--it looks a like candy, and sounds just as appealing.



J Mascis - I've Been Thinking

But that isn't all! The master of rock will be all solo-ed up (and acoustic!) to take on the Brisbane heat as he heads to the sublime environs of the Powerhouse on Thursday January 10! This is incredible news, all the more so due to the fact that Danny Widdicombe has snavvled the support - way to bring in 2012 in style buddy! Grab your ticket here.

Totally Slack At Thrashin'

I spoke of New York band Total Slacker a little while back, stating that their track 'Psychic Mesa' was one of the best tracks Id heard this year (see here). That statement is still holding up, especially as it hits the conscience as the opening track of their new LP Thrashin' (out on Marshall Teller Records). The album itself is pretty decent, with some stellar songs that rival 'Psychic Mesa' and that play back towards the greater sounds of the early 90s. The entire album, and band's modus operandi, is a loving homage and pastiche of all things indie circa 93 (they even have a track called 'Stuck in '93', and another titled 'Secret VHS Collection'). It doesn't always work - Tucker Rountree's vocals on 'Life On Easy Street' grate pretty quickly, like within the first twenty seconds or so; and some of the references read more like a hipster reference guide. That is the thing - Thrashin' treads that fine line between having fun with the slacker ennui and culture of the 90s, yet also adhere to wear these influences like a perfectly placed Dinosaur Jr pin (Cheetos, Myspace and New Kids On The Block are referenced in the 1st three lines of 'Magical Date Night'). However in the main Total Slacker stave off an overt claim of pretension by creating continually catchy hooks, some effective vocal harmonies, and that killer opening track.

Grab Thrashin' here.

Total Slacker - Psychic Mesa
Total Slacker - Stuck in '93

Take Iowa With Complete Control

Melbourne's Iowa have another tune for us, and this time around it doesn't reference SY or Dinosaur Jr insomuch as it resembles the shoegazers of early 90s England - think Adam Franklin covering Souvlaki. Its another ace tune, but it begs the question - with so many influences flying, how will Iowa piece it all into a coherent whole when it comes to a longplayer? Well, hopefully we will find out soon. Until then though, hand over the controls to these guys and enjoy...

Iowa - Complete Control

Loving Soccer Mom Won't Get You To Heaven - But It'll Get You Close

Another day, another bad moniker... I have discussed this with members of Boston band Soccer Mom in the past (read the 7" review and interview with Dan Parlin here), and true to their word they have stuck to it. What's in a name? Sometimes, not a lot. And when you hear the first strains of '(A) Natural History', the opening track to the band's new EP You Are Not Going To Heaven, it is clear that any conceived notions of what to expect are about to be shattered. Sonic Youth, Swervedriver and Dinosaur Jr influences are worn liberally on the sleeve - Parlin's vocal delivery is so much like Thurston Moore it's chimeric - yet such aping is not intrusive at all. There is a real sense of nostalgia here that rather than have you hankering for the masters, has you asking the question, "When will Soccer Mom stop mucking about and put out an LP already???" 'American Shirt (Eagle Flag 911)' is the truest sense of an amalgam of musical stylings that sounds so 90s that it MUST be from the 21st century - and it's these notions littered throughout that are exciting.


You Are Not Going To Heaven is out next week - pre-order this sucker here!

Soccer Mom - (A) Natural History

Barlow Is Having Another Bakesale!

Sebadoh released Bakesale in 1994 some years after progenitor Lou Barlow's unceremonious yet somewhat funny ousting from seminal act Dinosaur Jr, and along with Jason Lowenstein and new drummer Bob Fay created a masterpiece of concise heartworn pop that they, or many others, have failed to match since. Bakesale swings like a metronome between Barlow's rumpled affairs of the heart and Lowenstein's passive/aggressive stoner stoushes, the seesawing effect of which was the formation of an album that spoke - and continues to speak - on a multitude of levels.

There isnt a mediocre track on here; hell, most of them surpass the term "good". And this is coming from someone who believes that Barlow's ouevre is patchy, whilst also really despising the man himself as a major jerk. Be that as it may, Im uber excited that Domino Records are re-releasing Bakesale next Friday (April 15) on double CD and via digital download, with a bonus disc stuffed with singles/EPs/rarities from the period complied by the titular twosome, Barlow and Lowenstein. The tracklisting, plus a bit of 'Skull', is below. Start saving, yeah!

Bakesale Tracklisting:
1 License To Confuse
2 Careful
3 Magnet's Coil
4 Not A Friend
5 Not Too Amused
6 Dreams
7 Skull
8 Got It
9 S. Soup
10 Give Up
11 Rebound
12 Mystery Man
13 Temptation Tide
14 Drama Mine
15 Together Or Alone

Bonus disc:
1 MOR backlash
2 Not a friend
3 Foreground
4 40203
5 Mystery Man
6 Drumstick Jumble
7 Lime kiln
8 Fancy-ass / Destitute
9 Perfect Way
10 Give The Drummer Some
11 Cementville
12 Social Medicine
13 On Fire (acoustic)
14 Magnet's Coil (acoustic)
15 Rebound (acoustic)
16 Punching Myself In The Face Repeatedly, Publicly
17 Sing Something / Plate Of Hatred
18 III Screams (wet synth mix)
19 Monsoon
20 Rainbow Farm
21 Hank Williams
22 Careful
23 Dramamine
24 Not Too Amused
25 Shit Soup

Several Shades Of Brilliance

J Mascis’ efforts in Dinosaur Jr over the past twenty-five years have been monumental. Yet whilst the slacker shaman busied himself shredding the minds and perforating the ears of grateful fanatics worldwide, it is his band mate and Sebadoh ringmaster Low Barlow who is renowned for writing the eloquent ballads. What with the thunderous rollercoaster of Dinosaur Jr’s two reunion albums and quaking live shows, it seemed likely to remain that way. But Mascis has always been full of surprises, and with Several Shades Of Why, he delivers an album that takes the plug out, instead ramping up the pathos, fragility and elegance, in doing so creating an achingly beautiful gem.

Listen To Me immediately throws you – Mascis standing on his own, his questioning vocals laid bare without the rambunctious rhythms of his day band. In fact it’s the notable absence of drums that is most prevalent here, placing all the emphasis on Mascis, his iconic vocals, and that acoustic guitar, which he wields with the same level of proficiency, bravado and nuance as his electric counterpart. The beautiful title track is all melancholy, heightened by some elegant picking and the haunting violin of Sophie Trudeau (of A Silver Mt Zion fame), whilst the rambling Not Enough has some jovial tambourine and there is a long list of guest backing vocalists such as Ben Bridwell, Kevin Drew, and Kurt Vile. It is savvy vocal interplay that elevates the toe-tapping sweetness of Not Enough, or the haunting catch-in-your-throat Very Nervous And Love. However these collaborations never take away the focus of Mascis’ innate brilliance at curling words, carving pop hooks, and even a beautifully iconic electric solo explosion in back porch crooner Is It Done? The influences of other troubadours such as Nick Drake or Springsteen lurk in the shadows, but this is decidedly Mascis’ show, one which we can only dream he will continue to bring to us for another 25 years to come.

Several Shades Of Why is out through Sub Pop in March.

J Mascis - Is It Done

J Mascis - Several Shades Of Why

And also check out this absolutely amazing video interview with Mascis!

J Mascis Isnt Done Yet

J Mascis' solo effort Several Shades Of Why (out on Sub Pop) is getting closer to launch time, and to have us salivating even more he's thrown us a second track from it. Its called 'Is It Done?', a beautifully whimsical acoustic number that still highlights Mascis' husky, strained vocals, but also surprises with backing vocals from Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell and a nice little bit of Dinosaur Jr-esque distorted guitar break midway through. This album is promising to be something quite special. And if you're Stateside, you can see J Mascis as he tours the country - first with Kurt Vile in March/April, then picking up with the Black Heart Procession in May.

J Mascis - Is It Done?

The Exceptional Empire Express - Heavenly Brilliance

The post/krautrock ensemble Empire Express are based in Stockholm, Sweden. The band has been embraced by artists like Broken Social Scene, Stars and Faust - all Canadian bands/artists/collectives, and won The Music Think Tank International Awards & Festival 2010 in their genre with the song 'Stronge 7 km'. Their "top friends" on Myspace list Explosions In The Sky, Mono, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, ...And You Will Know Us From The Trail Of Dead, Do Make Say Think and Dinosaur Jr. They have only played a handful of shows, almost all of which have been in their home country.

And whilst this will give an indication of the calibre of this group, forget all that. You must know only this - Valleyland is fucking amazing. This is the kind of post-rock album that the titans refrain from making anymore, so thank you Empire Express! Valleyland has the perfect blend of harmonious melodies, whimsy and cascading sonics, so much so that opener 'Stronge 7km' - their first ever written song - was hailed by Faust's Zappi Diermaier as his favourite song ever. And he isnt half wrong - this entire album is exquisite, in the way that Explosions In The Sky are, but with horns. Thats Empire Express in a nutshell then - Explosions... with horns.

If this band doesnt go stratospheric this year, its a crime. Do not miss out on this one - pick it up ASAP and guaranteed it will become jammed in your subconscious for days - nay, months - to come. Gush...

Valleyland is out now through Western Lodge Records.

Empire Express - Stronge 7km
Empire Express - Asil (part 1)