by tunmer

New Pains of Being Pure at Heart Single, “Heart In Your Heartbreak”

The fact that The Pains at Being Pure at Heart can make a lyrically anguished song like “Heart in Your Heartbreak,” sound so damn cheery is an achievement in itself. It’s a power pop ballad about falling victim to the vixen that cast you aside and it’s simultaneously sweet, fun, pathetic and resilient.

It’s a multifaceted song with edgy electric guitar, effervescent and gliding vocals and a fun, dance summoning synth bit toward the end. It begins immediately with a really cool line that kind of epitomizes the single: “Take a look around when you’re goin down cause you’ll never get so high.”

California based label Slumberland will release the single on December 14th as a teaser for upcoming album Belong, their second full length to be released in March 2010.
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart “The One” by Slumberland Records

12.09.10

by tunmer

The Sword travels to “Lawless Lands” in New Single

“Lawless Lands” is the second chapter in the epic tale of The Sword’s mystical travels from Earth to Space, called Warp Riders, also the name of their latest album. “Lawless Lands” is the next installment after the first chapter, “Tres Brujas” or “Three Witches” in English. As one could surmise from the title, the Texas metal outfit in a haze of “sacred smoke” encounter three witches in “Tres Brujas,” the first of whom will “rob,” the second will “deceive,” and the third will “show you the way.”

As a perfect segue, the third bruja shows The Sword the way into “Lawless Lands,” or outer space, as it turns out. “Lawless Lands” immediately takes a new musical tone from “Tres Brujas,” from epic to looming doom with the change of riffing, fast paced guitar to slower, more ominous bluesy rhythms. The video looks like a hodgepodge of old school sci-fi movies like Willow and The Dark Crystal with some Star Trek mixed in, centered around some chick who is part goth princess, part child empress from Never Ending Story.

The Sword puts a fantasy twist on metal with “Lawless Lands” and the rest of Warp Riders that is nothing short of totally awesome. The Sword is currently on an American tour for the release of Warp Riders through mid December.

12.06.10

by tunmer

Jimmy Eat World Take on Conan and the planet

Jimmy Eat World is fun, accessible, easy, and their name sounds like a comic book. No wonder they’re widely popular and live up to fans’ expectations time and time again. The same holds true for their new album, Invented featuring the single “Coffee and Cigarettes.” It puts you in a good mood just by hearing it. It’s not groundbreaking or mind blowing; it’s just really good, like Jimmy Eat World itself.

The chorus line “Coffee and Cigarettes/As Simple As it Gets” off the track pretty much sums it up. The lyrics are straightforward and modest with westward-bound self discovery and romantic nostalgia themes, while the melody and music are masterful pop creations. In conjunction, it’s a simple pleasure that needs no further explanation.

Catch them play “Coffee and Cigarettes” on the triumphant revival of Conan O’Brien December 13^th on TBS or on their many tour dates including New Years Eve at the Fiesta Bowl Rock Party in Tempe, Arizona and international shows in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

12.02.10

by tunmer

Wet Wings Debut EP ‘Skin to Soil’ Out Now!

Lucy and Darian are Wet Wings, the coed duo from New Zealand who recently released Skin to Soil, their six-song EP on a limited-edition cassette tape through Infinity Tapes.

“Sleep Tight” is an eerie and morbid lullaby as Lucy sings “Sleep tight, my baby but don’t forget to wake up, my baby.” The cello that makes an appearance halfway through the song is gorgeous and emotional, introducing Lucy’s crooning that carries the track to its finish.

“Keep it Together” is a complex blend of electronics, trumpet and piano. There are a lot of different components going on in this song, but they all work wonderfully on their own and with each other.

“Whisper Always” has odd, competing vocals between Lucy and Darian. The song itself sounds like water and awakens the desire to go night swimming.

Each band mate has a calming, even therapeutic voice with Darian’s having a Jose Gonzales quality and Lucy’s sounding like it belongs in an esteemed chorus group. Their moody, dream pop effect is perfect for late night cuddling.
Keep It Together by smally pockets

11.29.10

by tunmer

Album Review: No Joy – “Ghost Blonde”

The 90’s are back, girls and boys and I, for one, am pretty stoked about it. Laura Lloyd and Jasamine White-Gluz are the feminine forefront of the noise-fuzz-dream-rock band, No Joy. Their second album, Ghost Blonde was just released on esteemed Brooklyn label, Mexican Summer – host to buzz-worthy band Best Coast, among others – who picked up No Joy in less than a year after their conception.

If you could pick out a song to be released as a single on the album, it would be the second track, “Heedless.” It’s driving and droning with plenty of feedback, distinct guitar melody and soft, silky, and sweet vocals a la The Breeders or Amber Valentine from Jucifer when she’s not shrieking. That pretty much goes for the rest of the album, as well. Their signature sound is largely due to a contrast between masculine, forward music and feminine, restrained vocals. It’s hard to make sense of the lyrics amid the sonic layers but one line from “Heedless” is discernable: “if you don’t care, then I don’t care,” adding to the grungy, submissive tone of this great song that could easily have been released in 1992.

A lot of songs like “Maggie Says I Love You” start out with the slow buildup of static and dissonant guitar reminiscent of Sonic Youth that lead into echoey, drawn out vocals and persistent and repetitive percussion. Others like “You Girls Smoke Cigarettes?” are quick, loud and more varied musically, making for a song that’s easy to rock out to. Each song is about four minutes long on average, so you get the best of both worlds: progressive rock sensibility and pop rock length. This gives the listener just enough time to come up for air before plunging back in to the pool of noise laden with reverb and distortion.

It might be assumed, for no other reason than their name, that No Joy is a sad, complaint-rock band, and even if traces of such mentalities are detected, they are in a purposeful and passive way. More than somber, Ghost Blonde is a female driven record with balls that has sexy guitar riffs and vocals that knock you down and then float you away.

11.24.10

by tunmer

Birds & Batteries Release New Video

The new video for “We’re An Industry” by the San Francisco band Birds & Batteries conveys a lot using just some metal and other hard materials employed by the method of stop motion. The video was carefully crafted by the Made By Cabbage Head production company who designed the set by hand and filmed frame by frame.

The protagonists of this video – seeming like more of a short film – are two steel wool people placed in a desolate, industrial setting with pipes, coils and other constructional components who discover they create sparks when touching together.

The song itself is a lamentation of belonging to the center of the earth with lyrics describing baring the burden of causing natural disasters under rough and hot conditions, sorrowful strings and mechanical, almost militaristic drums.

Then, the instrumentation becomes looser and builds up with the percussion quickening and the vocals all the sudden taking a new, proud tone. Greenery begins to grow up the metal structures and flower as the vocals harmonize and reach higher notes and the two steel wool characters look on, sparking hand-in-hand. By the end of it, you are left with a beautiful, resolved feeling.

Birds and Batteries are currently on an American tour:
November 26, 2010
9pm
San Diego, CA
Soda Bar
with: Longstay, Patrick Norton & The Saints, DJ Lord Nelson

November 26, 2010
5pm
Los Angeles, CA
Origami Vinyl

November 27, 2010
Tucson, AZ
Cafe Passe

November 28, 2010
Albuquerque, NM
Low Spirits
with: The Cave Singers, Excalico

November 30, 2010
Lubbock, TX
Bash Riprock’s

December 1, 2010
Austin, TX
The Mohawk
with: The Authors, Sunset

December 2, 2010
Frisco, TX
Lochrann’s

December 3, 2010
Fort Worth, TX
Lola’s

December 4, 2010
Denton, TX
A Spune Christmas
Hailey’s
with: Telegraph Canyon, Doug Burr, Monahans

December 7, 2010
Memphis, TN
Buccaneer

December 8, 2010
Louisville, KY
Zanzabar

December 9, 2010
Pittsburgh, PA
Thunderbird Cafe
with: Nik Westman and the Central Plains

December 10, 2010
New York, NY
Pianos
with: ARMS