The May Bees

This one’s hot outta the suggestion box. And by the way, let me just say we completely appreciate anyone who takes the time to send in a tip. I know we can take a long time to get to things, but it’s the nature of the proverbial beast that is an inbox jam-packed with music. Alright, on to The May Bees—primarily a dutch duo, guitars and drums (with what looks like a rent-a-bassist), who keep their rock stripped down and ferociously lo-fi without losing an ounce of listenability. They also keep their top myspace friends to a minimum (just four), revealing obvious influences/mentors/kindred spirits—a quadraphonic godhead of American indie rock really—Guided By Voices, Grandaddy, Sonic Youth and The Pixies. And what separates The May Bees from many of the micro-indie bands we cover on this site, is that they’re making a respectable run at touring, especially considering they’re coming across the Atlantic to do so. This is a call for our Canadian, East Coast and Mid West readers to pencil in The May Bees when they come through your town and give ’em a warm North American welcome courtesy of 3hive.

Continue reading “The May Bees”

The Low Hello

I’m hoping the Detroit Tigers will put on a better show in the coming days than they did Tuesday night. Yuck, that was ugly. What’s not ugly from Detroit are the sounds of The Low Hello and their lead singer Sunil Sawani, featured in the post below. (Sunil’s voice isn’t exactly pretty, but that’s a comment for the next post.) We haven’t posted much from Detroit lately, so these low-fi, homemade pop songs — comprising The Low Hello’s EP, which they apparently give away for free at their gigs, as well as online — should make up for our D-town dearth. Anyway, if you like what you hear here, move on to the next post…

Continue reading “The Low Hello”

Sunil Sawani

…and check out some of the solo work of the band’s lead singer. (If you don’t know where the first part of the first sentence is, direct your Internet browser to The Low Hello. See what I mean?) Sunil Sawani’s solo stuff sounds similar to that of his band, maybe with a bit more intropection and melancholy, but still with his weak, nasal voice (that was kind of getting to me after a while). But hey, according to his website, Sunil is getting married on Saturday, so let’s not pick on him. Instead, let’s hope it doesn’t snow (assuming he’s marrying in Michigan).

Continue reading “Sunil Sawani”

King of Prussia

My sister-in-law’s family live in one of those farm suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Whenever we visit them we need to drive to a larger suburb called King of Prussia for our “big city” amenities (i.e., first-run movies or non-Wal-Mart shopping). The running joke is, “Come on kids, we’re off to see the King of Prussia!” You can imagine their disappointment when they learn there is no castle, no king — only a mall just like the one they have back home. I mention all this to contrast with the band King of Prussia (from Athens, GA, ironically), recommended by 3hive reader James A.. Unlike the aforementioned mall, King of Prussia live up to the promise of their name with lush, romantic, and, yes, regal pop. In fact, the only disappointment you’ll experience is figuring out how to get your hands on their debut CD, Save the Scene. (Hey KofP, shed some light if you’re reading this.)

Continue reading “King of Prussia”

Evan Duby

If you’ll afford me a moment of cheerful codgerism: There was a time when you got a self-recorded release and you could tell. The guitar was flat and muffled. The vocals sounded like they were filtered through cellophane. There was no such thing as “layering” – you could barely get in what you needed on the four tracks you had to work with. There’s still plenty of room for such DIY ethics. But thank goodness for ever-improving technology too, because now songwriters like Evan Duby can create tracks that are appropriately multidimensional. The strings on “Words” bathe Duby’s soft vocals in warmth. “Separate Ways” and “Pale” surround themselves in the subtle ambience of an old-style organ, so that they’re acoustic with a little something extra. And his cover of Springsteen’s “State Trooper” has a sublime sonic kick. Of course, the best equipment in the world can’t hide something that was never meant to sound good. Fortunately, Evan Duby has nothing to hide.

Continue reading “Evan Duby”

The Folk Yous

Some cats, like Sean and Clay, were just born with good taste in music. Me? I took the long way, which included a phase of schlock rock—most of it consumed on 8-track. Now some of you youngsters won’t remember the delight of plugging an 8-track cassette into the player and listening to the sweet sounds of REO Speedwagon and Journey. Which means you also won’t remember how songs would fade out midway through the bridge, allowing the cassette to jump tracks with a clumsy “ka-chunk” sound, then the song would fade back in as if nothing had happened. It sounds as though Athens, GA’s Julie Dyles and Courtnie Wolfgang do remember those good ol’ days. Or they’ve at least developed a fondness for the power ballads of that era. Their covers of Asia, Jouney, and REO classics are earnest and well-honed, if a bit difficult to sing along to without falling back on old habits…

Continue reading “The Folk Yous”

Finest Dearest

A year or so finds San Francisco’s Finest Dearest a little more raw and angry, muscially at least. (Carly’s new e-mail was very much as pleasant as the last one, though. Thanks.) Both new tracks off their upcoming 7″ are tense, energetic, argumentative, confrontational and really good listening material. I can’t wait to hear their next message in our inbox.

We’re Making a Sound 1 [MP3, 5.1MB, 160kbps]
March into Flames [MP3, 4.3MB, 160kbps]

Original post: 09/15/05
Carly from Finest Dearest left a nice e-mail in our Suggestion Box recently (nice because she acknowledged that we receive a lot of suggestions) and so here is San Francisco’s Finest Dearest. Yes, Carly, I do like these two songs, particularly “Idaho,” which reminds me of being in high school again for some reason, in a good way. Your classic indie-rock sound is like comfort food, you know? Mashed potatoes or p.b. & j. or whatever it is for each of us. Oh, and good luck with the debut of your EP Pacemaker in a few weeks. If you ever hit the big time and make it to Detroit…

Continue reading “Finest Dearest”

Cola Wars

First, let me welcome any visitors who got the 3hive tip from the recent Michigan Alumnus magazine. (I’m happy with the photo they ran of me in the ‘UM alum bloggers’ article, as it hides my double chin fairly well.) And although today’s post reflects a band affiliated with my other alma mater, the University of Chicago, I encourage any suggestions of good Ann Arbor bands to share. Anyway, Cola Wars. Complex rock orchestration and whiny geek vocals. Social Thought or Math majors? Either way, totally interesting and fresh.

Continue reading “Cola Wars”