Arizona’s The
The Exbats
Part Time
Part Time’s new album Spell #6 (out now via Burger Records) is one of the best releases of 2018. It is a pop-rock/new-wave gem soaked in so much 80’s goodness, it’s 11 tracks could soundtrack a John Hughes film. Take “Shattered Love” and “So Far Away” for a spin below for a taste.
The Prefab Messiahs
Massachusetts’ Prefab Messiahs are back with Psychsploitation, a new slab of psyched-out, fuzz-pop goodness. This time only taking 2+ years from their last release, Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive – compared to the 32 years between KYSDA and their first album, Flex Your Mind.
Psychsploitaion’s 10 tracks are politically charged and crammed full of all the reverb, fuzz and jangle you can handle. Give my favorite tracks “Having a Rave Up” and the appropriate album closer “Last Day on Earth” a spin below for a taste.
Psychsploitaion is available now on CD via Lolipop Records and on Cassette through Burger Records. Enjoy.
Sufis
Brooklyn (by way of Nashville) duo Sufis are back with the third LP, After Hours, out today (Jan 12) via Burger Records. It’s a groove-filled (seriously, this sucker is groovy as hell), psych-pop romp that’s been on repeat since it landed in my inbox. I highly recommend you spend some quality time with this album.
Give standout tracks “Till I Get Home” and “All Knowing (71)” (below) a spin to sample their goodness. Enjoy.
Trementina
Trementina describe their latest album as “music for lucid dreaming”. Not a bad “file under” for a band intent on evolving beyond the My Bloody Valentine tributes that drew listeners to 2014’s solid shoegazer effort Almost Reach the Sun.
New influences and elements mark each track, from the lilting Beach House sound of “Please, Let’s Go Away” to the cavernous dub of “A Place Up in the Sky”. The modulated wall of guitar and rumbling drums get traded for otherworldly atmospherics with a backbone of machine beats, clearing a bigger space for singer Vanessa Cea to fill with her angelic vocals. Given Cea’s presence it’s tempting to compare her to a coherent Robin Guthrie or playful Siouxsie Sioux but, taking the album in as a whole, her range is too wide to peg.
Compared to earlier recordings, the album feels more connected to its origins: the band’s home studio in the remote town of Valdivia, Chile (its title, 810, refers to the distance in kilometers from the capitol city of Santiago). While I’ve never been, these songs seem to evoke the moods and mindset of a place only the band knows well enough to communicate.
810 is escapist and intimate at the same time, and one of my favorites of 2017 so far.
[Buy Trementina’s 810 on shiny new vinyl in the 3hive Co-op Shop, while supplies last.]
Easy Love
Easy Love is the solo project of Justine Brown, who is also half of the indie-pop duo Summer Twins – the band she shares with her sister Chelsea.
Justine wrote all the songs, played all the instruments, and recorded most of the songs in her bedroom. The results are an intimate, 9 songs of pop rock gold. For a taste, check out the shimmery, jangle-pop goodness of standout track “I Want You To Know”, which is below for your listening/downloading pleasure.
Easy Love is available now on cassette from Burger Records / Lolipop Records, and digitally on Bandcamp as well.
Easy Love – I Want You To Know from Easy Love (2017)
Yea-Ming And The Rumours
Yea-Ming And The Rumours debut album, I Will Make You Mine, is an exceptional 33 minutes of indie-surf-country-pop-rock. Yea-Ming Chen’s smokey voice is a killer, and really matches up well with all the different genres she and her band, The Rumours, throw at these 10 songs. Give the country-like, album standout “You Took Be By The Hand” (below) a spin, you will not be disappointed.
I Will Make You Mine is available now on cassette from Burger Records and also available digitally from Yea-Ming And The Rumours Bandcamp page.
Yea-Ming And The Rumours – You Took Me By The Hand from I Will Make You Mine (2016)
Massenger
Massenger are a 4-piece garage punk outfit out of Ventura, Ca. They play a heavy, fuzzed-out brand of punk rock that’s sure to get the beads of sweat forming on your forehead. Check out the grimey burner “Eego Game” below for a taste.
Their new album, Peeling Out, is available now on vinyl or cassette from Burger Records or digitally from their own Bandcamp page. Enjoy.
Massenger – Eego Game from Peeling Out (2016)
Top 25 Albums of 2015 (ToddS List)
25. Leggy – Nice Try EP [self]
24. Library Voices – Lovish [nevado]
23. Faith No More – Sol Invictus [reclamation]
22. Say Hi – Bleeders Digest [barsuk]
21. Giggly Boys – Bastards of Young [self]
20. The Diamond Center – Crystals of the Brass Empire [funny / not funny]
19. Gun Outfit – Dream All Over [paradise of bachelors]
18. Woolen Men – Temporary Monument [woodsist]
17. Expert Alterations – You Can’t Always Be Liked [kanine]
15. Albino Father – II [self]
14. Mikal Cronin – MCIII [merge]
13. Kurt Vile – b’lieve i’m goin down… [matador]
12. King Gizzard and the Lizzard Wizard – Paper Mâché Dream Balloon [ato]
11. L’Orange & Kool Keith – Time? Astonishing! [mello music]
10. Ultimate Painting – Green Lanes [trouble in mind]
9. Wand – Golem [in the red]
8. Young Guv – Ripe 4 Luv [slumberland]
7. Moon Duo – Shadow of the Sun [sacred bones]
6. Lazy Knuckles – Bucolic [gold robot]
5. Thee Oh Sees – Mutilator Defeted At Last [castle face]
4. Danny James Etc. – Pear [burger]
3. Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear [sub pop]
2. Destroyer – Poison Season [merge]
1. The Butterscotch Cathedral – S/T [trouble in mind]
Sarah Bethe Nelson
I’ve been really enjoying Sarah Bethe Nelson’s debut album, Fast-Moving Clouds, quite a bit lately. Her smooth, breathy vocals and witty song writing skills gel together nicely to form one of the better indie pop albums of the year. Check out the dreamy break up song, “Paying”, below for a taste.
Fast-Moving Clouds is available now from Burger Records.
Sarah Bethe Nelson – Paying from Fast-Moving Clouds (2015)