In listening to Yours To Keep, the solo debut of Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., one can’t escape comparing the album to the Strokes. I’ve always been a fan of Hammond Jr.’s razor-edged guitar playing and the Strokes’ impeccably tight presentation; Hammond is, in his way, a very good guitarist, and it follows that any project he embarks on is worth an honest listen. Yours To Keep is worth more than just one—Hammond has amassed a diverse collection of catchy, clean pop songs marked by maturity and romanticism.
Of Montreal’s 8th full legnth album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? was released on Tuesday.
Here’s what Polyvinyl has to say about the album, “It’s an irresistible and remarkable album, sounding like a logical extension of the erratic indie-disco sounds of The Sunlandic Twins. However, Hissing Fauna is also the most personal of Montreal album to date, with Kevin Barnes, lead of Montreal songwriter, pouring tremendous amounts of emotion, heartbreak, frustration and elation into its twelve tracks.”
In the same spirit as Brazil’s CCS, British indie-electronic quintet New Young Pony Club is silly, irresistible fun. The clipped guitar chords, synth melodies and irresistible beats of their single “Ice Cream” demand booty shaking as much as its goofy, sexual metaphors (“drink me like a licker, come and dip your dipper”) make for the perfect, sassy sing-along. It’s no wonder the single sold out in the UK in three days and is no doubt destined for the sweaty, after-midnight throb of many nights to come. Their self-titled EP even includes the video for “Ice Cream”, in which the band’s three female members bop coyly atop a giant globe of rainbow-colored licorice (“I can make you ice cream, we can be a sweet team”), cat-sized dollops of whipped cream form a carousel around the drummer, and mounds of pink cotton candy loom behind stoic, mustachioed boys on bass and guitar.
After listening to Friend and Foe several times, you may still find yourself pondering exactly what to think of it. Perhaps you’ll consider your admiration for the experimental streak that the gentlemen of Menomena exhibit. Perhaps you’ll express some reservations about their kitchen sink approach to instrumentation and arrangement. Perhaps, after some time, you’ll come to accept the disorienting songwriting technique and the quirky, scattershot charm that it aspires to. It wouldn’t be an unreasonable sequence of reactions.
The Annuals’ new UK EP Big Zeus will be released January 29th in the UK only. The imaginary US version will be called You Can Suck It Big Time since there really won’t be one. The EP will include the previously unreleased “Misty Coy” and “Ease My Mind” which was released as the B-side to the Brother 7″ and can be streamed on MySpace. Also, tour dates with The Dears on Ace Fu.
That’s right. You can now stream the ENTIRE new CYHSY album on MySpace. All 10 songs, including Underwater Yo! Or, pre-order Some Loud Thunder on insound and receive the digital version of the album now for free. This is so nuts it’s like someone had a plate of crazy for breakfast.
After predicting an ‘accident,’ The Chiefs use an innocuous-looking tennis game as decoy for a few maimed dead bodies given the concrete bath treatment
The new Kaiser Chiefs album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, will be released March 27th on Universal. Here’s the lead single from the album called ”Ruby“.
In anticipation of JT’s 2007 world tour, here is a live version of “Like I Love You” recorded in England in 2006 with his current band. But more importantly, here is a link to the Dick in a Box video.
The Black Lips recently played a Tijuana show with Mariachi band and this Zonkey.
Black LipsNot A Problem mp3 I think all you really need to know about the Black Lips comes first-hand from Christen via Vice true concert stories, “Before the show was over, dicks were out, make out sessions were happening on and off stage and I was christened in beer and in love with the Black Lips.”
Ed Bangers I Am Somebody mp3 Vice will be releasing a bunch o’ Bangers digitally on January 16th. Think Parisian dance-punk movement out of Paris.
The Boredoms have been making Japanese noise music since 1987. Here’s a link to their online sampler that includes the songs: Super Frake 09, Pitch At Bunch On Itch, AND Hard Trance Away.
