Ian and Lara Plunkett, recording wistful acoustic pop in Italy. At least that’s what I remember this track sounding like. I’m working on giving myself access to the song… You see, I’m writing this post up on a new laptop purchsed for me by my wife Jennifer — Thanks honey! This is way cooler than your “right shoe for my birthday, left shoe for Father’s Day” idea! — and I don’t quite have it set up correctly yet. I hope the rest of you can enjoy the mellowness of Plunkett as I navigate the MacBook world. Ciao!
The Loose Salute
Any friends of Mojave 3 are friends of mine. The Loose Salute is both: Ian McCutcheon, Mojave 3 drummer, and friends. Built around McCutcheon and newcomer Lisa Billson, The Loose Salute continue the tradition of modern-day Brits singing about California, its coast, sunshine and surf like it was 1973. A little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. A lot of summertime gems just in time for the impending solstice and bbq’s.
Shout Out Louds
It’s no surprise that Swedish bands hold a special place in our collective hearts here. So, like many of you who email us saying “I can’t believe you haven’t posted band xyz,” I can’t believe we haven’t posted the Shout Out Louds. Well, that’s not exactly true; we’re used to being late on the typical blogosphere darlings. It appears that the Shout Out Louds didn’t survive the Capitol/Virgin merger as Merge Records released this new EP and the new album in September. All the better since the new label facilitated pairings with The Essex Green, among others (The Russian Futurists and Kleerup provide dancefloor versions), for collaborations and remixes.
OK, so I tried really hard not to mention The Cure here, but that’s just impossible. “Tonight I Have to Leave It” owes several riffs and melodies to a twenty-two year old Cure song “In Between Days.” Moreover, vocalist Adam Olenius nails Smith’s stuttering affectation with military precision. Regardless, the song is plenty strong enough to stand on its own. But I also suspect that in the future it will stand as the epitome of the overwhelming tendency by this decade’s indie-bands to plunder and steal from Robert Smith. Not that there’s anything wrong with it…
Ra Ra Riot
Art is often speckled with tragedy. I was planning to post on Ra Ra Riot beforehand, but now with the untimely death of their 23 year old drummer John Pike early this month, I have to forgo some of the general enthusiasm and lightness of these posts in favor of something a little more somber. All there is to say really is that the music made by this Syracuse band is lovely and this is a terrible loss and it just breaks my heart to hear this sad news. Hopefully the music they make in the future will be able to be a testament to the young man who helped create their sound and the music they have already made will be a beautiful reminder of him. The ‘Hive sends its love to Ra Ra Riot.
Scissors For Lefty
I’d be a bit surprised if, as an astute pop music aficionado (as most of our readers are), you have yet to stumble across Scissors For Lefty during your daily downloading sessions. This California quintet of bosom buddies with a hankering for The Beatles and a good boogie-down have steadily spread their sound in and around the West Coast and the UK. Their debut album hit first on British shores last October and this week L.A.-based Eenie Meenie Records is finally bringing the album home. “Lay Down Your Weapons” borrows Weezer’s guitar-attitude and mixes it with the more playful, dance-able moments of The Cure. If this song doesn’t win you over immediately, peruse their e-card and be sure to check out “Ghetto Ways.” That should do the trick. For the next two weeks Scissors For Lefty are making their way up California, then across to the Midwest. Catch ’em if you can.
Page France
There are so many ways to go with this post… Let’s list them:
1. The original post ran on the weekend of our friend Serge’s wedding in NYC, and it was awesome. Old friends from all over came in (I hadn’t seen Pei or Kent in years!), and the DJ-fest at the reception was a blast. We also had our first 3hive get-together (minus Jon, which was a bummer). It was so good to see Sean and Clay again, and to meet Shan.
2. I remember writing this post late, late, late at night in the hotel room Sam and I were sharing. Sean and Pei had just left, and the room was pretty dark, and I had trouble seeing the keys on Sam’s computer. Good times.
And 3. Page France is one of the best bands I’ve posted here, probably in my personal top five, and “Chariot,” (now with a dead link) is one of my favorite songs, period. Enjoy the others, everybody, as they may have short lifespans. I especially like “Hat and Rabbit,” off the band’s latest release …and the Family Telephone.
Hat and Rabbit [MP3, 3.5MB, 160kbps]
Original post: 02/24/06
Seeing as I’m probably the least religious of the 3hive crew — I’m not Mormon, I never served on a mission, I never lived in Utah (that covers everyone else) — it feels a little out of character to post a Christian band. Then again, I loved U2 when I was in high school, and if Bono wasn’t a soldier for the Lord back in the day then I wasn’t a pudgy, insecure teenager. Ah, whatever. Anyway, the term soldier fits nicely with the steady march-beat drumming of “Chariot” by Baltimore’s Page France, and, if the end of their war is the ascencion of a happy ending, their victory certainly seems to be won.
Poison Control Center
Ian, who just signed the Poison Control Center to his label Afternoon Records, refers to this Ames, Iowa, band as “spastic pop wonders.” And that’s all you really need to know before downloading!
Dinosaur Jr.
After a couple years of playing live shows together, the original Dinosaur Jr. — J, Lou, Murph — went into the studio and freakin’ took it back to the old school. Beyond is everything I loved about the original Dino Jr. It’s a noisy collection of reluctantly romantic rock and roll, both hopeless and hopeful, air guitar worthy and turn-out-the-lights-and-sulk worthy. Plus, look at the cover, a throwback to their Homestead/SST releases. It’s just like heaven.
Original post (from 12/10/2005):
As may have already been documented at some point on 3hive, Sean, Clay, and I met as college students. But ours was a college town with no college radio (unless you count 24/7 classical music and church sermons as college radio). So Sean decided one day to start a college radio station, with a more typical college radio format, and enlisted his friends — me and Clay among them — in the cause. To this day, there are songs I can’t hear without being taken back to that tiny booth with the temperamental cart machine and wobbly microphone. While my love for Dinosaur Jr. certainly pre- and post-dates those days, I can’t hear “Freak Scene” without feeling the impulse to punch out the two F words and back sell it with, “That was Dinosaur Jr. on AM960, The Student Underground Network…” Old habits die hard.
Minus the Bear
A few weeks ago, Paul dropped Minus the Bear in our Suggestion Box, describing the Seattle outfit as “catchy and upbeat.” We all need a little catchy and upbeat now and again, and most of the time MTB works it in a fresh, complex way. Check out the pop hooks on “Pachuca Sunrise,” my favorite among these, off the 2005 release Menos el Oso. You can practically see the rays of sunshine filling your room. If you’re looking for something a bit heavier, though, “Dr. L’Ling” and “Drilling” (featuring Minneapolis rapper P.O.S.) the former off the upcoming Planet Of Ice, due in August, give you plenty of noise, thick guitars and heavy drums. Either way, heavy or light, thank Paul for the Minus the Bear tip.
Maximo Park
I’ve always been a sucker for things British (colonial exploits excluded). Recently I had a mad craving for a British-made Lion Bar, which has the perfect combination of caramel, chocolate, wafers and what I swear tastes like nougat (although I am told I am wrong on this). It’s the perfect candy bar and I just can’t seem to find anything else as good stateside. While I was visiting the British establishment in New York that actually sells this confectionary achievement, I couldn’t help but enjoy the salesman’s accent. Which brings me to my point, Maximo Park. While Maximo Park is perhaps more straight up radio poppy than the music that I general enjoy (but always want so much to like), it’s British radio poppy! So I love it! And while I commend all of the accentless Swedish acts that astound me so, there is just something about someone singing in a Newcastle accent over a ragey guitar. Go figure. So as the sun gets hotter and the days get lazier, I recommend giving in to your sillier side, snapping up a Lion Bar (if you can find one) and slapping some “Our Earthly Pleasures” on the Pod. Earthly pleasures, indeed.