The National Splits

Let us celebrate the midpoint of summer with the National Splits. Mike Downey of the famed Chicago popsters Wolfie decided to go his own way a few years back, hence the National Splits. Perfect for BBQing, pool-crashing, and road tripping.

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Two Gallants

Young and well-read, this San Francisco duo have, thankfully, spent very little time listening to (and even less time being influenced by) their rock ‘n’ roll contemporaries. Instead they’ve forged these songs from their own blood, sweat, and tears, and brought them to life with the simple tools of voice, guitar, and drums.

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Mouse on Mars

Mouse on Mars have mastered many genres by showing allegiance to none; rather, they rely on sound songwriting to make even their most adventurous work feel just right. This cut off their eighth LP, Radical Connector, is a case in point: a breathy vocal pop track sliced ‘n’ diced in a vocoder-stutter-funk stylee without once losing sight its memorable tune.

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The Velvet Teen

The Velvet Teen have always been cool about sharing their deepest discontents, and it turns out the secret ain’t the riffs. On these lilting new tracks they nearly forgo guitars completely and opt for a baby grand just shy of overblown that helps Judah Nagler get in touch with his inner torch singer and they replace the riffs with a string section that gives “precious” a good name. But don’t worry, those signature keyboards and rhythms still sparkle like a sky full of shooting stars.

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The Dismemberment Plan

After ten years of recording their own spastic, elastic brand of pop, The Dismemberment Plan “open sourced” 11 of their songs and let the public have at them in a sort of remix-off. Some notable — and wildly eclectic — results were released on last fall’s swan song, A People’s History of The Dismemberment Plan. Me? I can’t decide between the breakneck bricolage of “Pay for the Piano” (featuring cameos by Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up”) or the strolling mash-up of “Superpowers” (built on the guitar line from the Faces’ “Ooh La La”).

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(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope

(The Sounds of) Kaleidoscope excel at producing that whirling, swirling D.C. (okay, mid-Atlantic, maybe even all the way up to Boston) indie sound. With ex-members of The Ropers and The Still joining founder Damien Taylor, and Lilys Kurt Heasley lending a helping hand, how could they not?
Your toes are gonna be tapping in no time. I guarantee it.

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Pilot to Gunner

Seaweed + Fugazi + Quicksand + Superchunk = Pilot to Gunner. Hey, this ain’t mathematics; no equation is perfect, but I’ll be damned if PtG aren’t channelling shards of four of my absolute favorite bands from the ’90s.

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Vetiver

Folk is well on its way to becoming the sound du jour thanks to the likes of Andy Cabic and the group of friends and neighbors he enlists (Devendra Banhart, Hope Sandoval, Joanna Newsome, and Colm O’Ciosoig) in crafting a collection of acoustic gems lined with daydream edges. An extravagantly simple melody that you can really sink your ears into.

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