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…
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…
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.
Out of Clouds
More Swedes, anyone? Gotheburg’s Out of Clouds play an arena-pop that can only come from being raised on ABBA and ’70s AM radio (do they have ’70s AM radio in Sweden?). Sharp licks, sweet hooks, and vibrant harmonies usher in their second EP Into Your Lovely Summer, which seems only appropriate as ours starts to slip away.
Eskiimo
I usually try to avoid overdoing it with backstory, but Dear Eskiimo [ed. note: It’s now just Eskiimo; check out the comments] has proven to be so confounding that a little context feels appropriate, if only to relieve the mystery in my own mind. About three months ago we got a link in our suggestion box to an entertaining pop mini-mix that merged the mixers’ own tracks with showtunes, Depeche Mode, Gwen Stefani, PiL, Eminem, and more. Eskiimo’s original music was intriguing, if truncated, so I emailed them to solicit more music with which to share the sharing. We exchanged a couple of semi-cryptic messages and I waited for MP3s that never came. So…I go searching the other day and am reminded of Eskiimo, whose MySpace page now features two downloadable tracks. The group counts Gorillaz, Eels, and The Dresden Dolls among its friends on MySpace and it has major press representation, slick photos, and an attractive lead singer. They were apparently on Mercury Records UK when they released their EP last year and now, with a full-length debut on the way, the Dear Eskiimo website redirects to Universal Music UK…where there is no information on the band. Long story short: Dear Eskiimo appears to be a relatively unknown UK pop group that has everything going for it—major label support, cool “friends,†and solid representation. [Read the comments for a demystifying explanation of what’s going on with Eskiimo]
Oh yeah, and talent. Lead singer Katie lists among her musical tastes “good, un-crap pop music,†which is a great way to describe Dear Eskiimo, too. The trio make pop music that doesn’t hide its radio ambitions, but they don’t suffer terribly for it. Dear Eskiimo are quite unlike what we’ve been trained to expect from Manchester over the years, which makes them sort of mainstream outcasts. They merge well with Annie, Scissor Sisters, Zero 7, and other groups you’ll hear at hip clothing stores. And the mix of organic melodies and canned beats might bring back fond memories of, um, George Michael’s “Freedom ’90” and “Faith.” (Let the hater-mail commence.) “Pretty†is a chirpy number about…abusive relationships. The whimsical “Patience†sounds Broadway all the way—I have the sneaking feeling it’s a cover that I just can’t place. In fact, I have the sneaking feeling that Dear Eskiimo may just be “undiscovered†to me and that I’ll get plenty of emails from those in the UK who have been listening to them on the radio for a while now. Oh well. Whether they’re stars or a secret, Dear Eskiimo’s pop music sounds pretty un-crap to me.
All Night Chemists
Len Monachello was the bassist for Thisway, which signed with Reprise in the waning days of the major label indie land-grab of the ‘90s. They released one critically well-received but publicly underexposed album and recorded another that is yet to be released. The same thing happened to Wilco around the same time and on the same label. The name of that album was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Just saying. Anyway, Monachello has no misconceptions about the business of making music, which could be why he’s so good at the craft side of it. The Brooklyn-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist has a mellow, reflective voice that speaks to experience and a way with instrumentation that, as they say, goes easy on the ears. Fans of Elliott Smith, Badly Drawn Boy, Joe Henry and Ron Sexsmith should clear some space on their iPods, as should the rest of you.
Hands Down Eugene
Hailing from Nashville, uh Indiana, Hands Down Eugene is yet another of the fine acts featured on Delicious Berries, MusicalFamilyTree.com‘s cool compilation of Hoosier bands. MFT had the entire Hands Down Eugene EP Full Blast available for free download, so here it is. With a rotating cast of musicians and a little weirdness thrown into the pop-rock mix, there’s probably something here for everyone.
The Screaming Eagles
This is not the screaming eagle from the beginning of “The Colbert Report” (though I hear he’s got a Christmas album in the works). This is a Vancouver, B.C. outfit who play fiery instrumental pop inspired by “pre-shitty Weezer” that’s good enough to not require lyrics…though I sure would love to know the story behind some of these song titles. Their debut album, Enemy Gold, is available at shows or — as wonderfully quaint as this may seem — by emailing the band members individually and making arrangements.
Bel Auburn
Bel Auburn is a quintet from Ashland, an idyllic Ohio town some distance southwest of Cleveland. I say idyllic despite never having been there because the sweeping soundscapes that Bel Auburn have created are anything but ugly and uninspiring. In fact, these tracks, all from the band’s second self-released LP, Lullabies in A & C, are about as anthemic, emotive, and polished as you’ll find from a group of friends living off the cultural grid. It’s reminiscent of Coldplay or early Jimmy Eat World, the latter of which Bel Auburn claim as an influence. The lyrics can drift into codes known only by their author, but once a warm blast of guitar kicks in and Matt the lead singer lets go with a cathartic chorus, you’ll know exactly what Bel Auburn mean even if you have no clue what they’re talking about.
(Selected tracks are linked below; visit the Bel Auburn Website to download the rest of the album.)
Heidi Gluck
Our next artist from MusicalFamilyTree.com‘s great compilation Delicious Berries, featuring the work of Indiana musicians, is Canadian Heidi Gluck. I know, I know… it seems she spent some time in Indianapolis. Anyway, her track on the disc has a heavy country vibe that really works for me, and that you won’t find at all on the free downloads available below. The songs here are all about pop smoothness, either up-beat or down-tempo. “Open Your Eyes” reminds me a bit of Heidi’s Some Girls bandmate Juliana Hatfield. (The cover of their month-old album Crushing Love is the thumbnail image for this post.) And next week, another artist from Delicious Berries.