Brahms have only been an official band for less than a year, they are continuing to make themselves heard in the indie world. Side A of their upcoming 7″ single, “Add It Up,” just premiered as a free download on Stereogum, the same blog which named them one of their “Bands To Watch” in May 2010. “Add It Up” is a strong and dark synth-based dance song with haunting vocals and only promises good things for the band’s debut LP, expected later this year. Get the song HERE.
Meanwhile, the trio left the confines of Brooklyn on January 12th for the next few months to tour the US (and a couple of Canadian cities) alongside Twin shadow and later, Asobi Seksu. Be sure to check if they’re coming anywhere near you.
Athens, GA’s own pop rock band Easter Island will be releasing a new EP called Better Things, on March 1st, just over a year after their previous output, Sneaking. The EP, which will be self-released, was produced by Five-Eight drummer Patrick Ferguson and recorded right at home in Athens’ 1093 Boulevard Studio.
Get a taste of Better Things with the soft, pop song “Proud” below:
Liverpool’s Hot Club De Paris will be making their North American debut this January 18th, with the release of Free The Pterodactyl 3 via Moshi Moshi Records. Self recorded and produced in the trio’s Liverpool rehearsal space, Free The Pterodactyl 3 features tracks taken from their two previous EPs, With Days Like This As Cheap As Chewing Gum, Why Would Anyone Want To Work?, and The Rise and Inevitable Fall of the High School Suicide Cluster Band.
Listen to the anthemic title track “Free The Pterodactyl 3” below:
The Virginians of Eternal Summers are taking over the Internet with their single “Pogo,” off their album Silver, out now on Kanine Records. They premiered the lo-fi, psychedelic video for the song on the almighty Pitchfork, while an Allen Blickle remix of it made its appearance on the equally revered mp3 blog Stereogum. And while the flashing colors and image overlays of the video match well with the song’s retro-pop feel, the electro arrangement Allen Blickle put together for the remix, with its powerful bass puts forth Yun’s voice.
So, to watch the video, click HERE. And to listen to the remix, click HERE.
January 25th, 2011, the release date for Cloud Nothings’ self-titled album on Carpark, is getting closer and closer and after giving us a first teaser of what it sounds like with the premiere of the the song “Understand At All,” we’re given a second excerpt. This song is called “Should Have” and will be out as a 7″ picture disc single on January 28th, 2011. It sounds like those rock songs you love as a teen, except with a little more whimsy both in the vocals and the arrangements but without that pretend-roughness we took for rebel attitude.
Take a listen below:
Cloud Nothings also have a few dates lined up for the end of the month and January so check out below if they’ll be stopping anywhere near you!
Here are their upcoming tour dates:
12/17 – Akron, OH – Musica (with Herzog)
12/18 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland (with Herzog)
01/12 – Grantham, PA – Messiah College (with Oberhofer)
01/13 – Pittsburgh, PA – Brillobox (with Oberhofer)
01/14 – Columbus, OH – The Basement (with Oberhofer)
01/15 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall (with Handsome Furs & Oberhofer)
01/17 – Toronto, ON – The Drake Hotel (with Oberhofer)
01/18 – Montreal, QC – Casa Del Popolo (with Oberhofer)
01/19 – New York, NY – Mercury Lounge (with Toro Y Moi)
Speaking of which, would we have been able to compile such a varied and long list of indie holiday songs a few years ago, in addition to our daily “Christmas Song of the Day” posts? Seeing unsigned YouTube sensations Pomplamousse appear on the TV commercial for a famous car brand covering “Jingle Bells” or finding that Bishop Allen, Best Coast and Wavves appear on a free Target christmas compilation has made me deeply aware and surprised that indie artists have been filling some of their songs with images of snowflakes and mistletoe much more frequently.
I asked Chris Richards, pop music critic of The Washington Post, about what he thought and he seemed to agree with me. “It’s an increasing trend. It signifies in my eyes that indie rock is becoming standardized,” he said. “Everyone, from pop artists to country artists are putting Christmas albums out. They’re money makers. The industry is finding new revenue streams with indie artists.”
So are indie artists “selling out” by treading the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting’s ground? No, and in fact, it may be a well-appreciated breeze of fresh air. “Mariah Carey’s” ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You” is really the only recent stand out holiday classic, so it’s great that indie artists are injecting in new material. If it’s just Arcade Fire covering “Jingle Bell Rock,” it’s not that interesting.”
In the same spirit, Noel Kelly of The Hush Now, who have now released a Christmas single two years in a row, wrote jokingly in an e-mail interview, “I have all the reverence in the world for the classics, but it’s high time we stepped up and stopped hi-jacking another generation’s memories.”
Jof Owen of The Boy Least Likely To, who just released an entire album of holiday songs – covers and originals – called Christmas Special, sees the appeal of writing Christmas music elsewhere. “I suppose indie pop has always been built on an awareness of classic pop traditions, even if they recontextualize them,” he said. “so it’s only natural that the idea of a Christmas record would appeal.”
Not only is writing Christmas songs a new exercise because of how far it stands from the stereotype of the indie artist, it involves a complex songwriting exercise that consists in making your way through the conventions that surround them. Behind the holiday song’s light facade, “It still has to be a strong song. There’s no room for fat,” Kelly said. “You have to get in fast, establish yourself and get people singing along by the end of the first listen. That’s what the classics do. And that’s not the easiest thing to do sometimes.”
In the end, even if you’re an indie artist, Christmas is a fascinating time that allows for reminiscence and reflection, which translates perfectly into song. “I like writing lyrics about Christmas because it seems to be a really magical time but at the same time there’s a lot of sadness in it too,” Owen said. “I often write about the way things change as you grow up and grow out of things, and it seems to be something that I’m always much more aware of at Christmas.”
What looking into this has made me think was that more than a “normalization” of indie rock, the weird element in this discussion is mostly my own surprise at seeing indie artists coming up with Christmas tunes. After all, it’s not because the genre is commercially popular that there is no room for originality. No musician should restrict themselves from touching on any subject in their music. And it seems The Hush Now are on that same wave length.
“We’re even throwing around the idea of doing a holidays album. A different song for 10 different holidays. That would be such a blast,” Kelly said. ” We have the Christmas and Halloween tunes down. What’s next…Secretaries’ day?”
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