'Tis the season for slacking and enjoying some extra sun time. Yet one must wonder what too much sun does to our pop heroes' heads. Cases in point; this week we saw Of Montreal hyping their Grotesque Animal, Thurston Moore's “Circulation” musings, and the Drums needing “Money,” all while Blink 182 came out of nowhere in full overcompensation mode with “Up All Night.” We have seen worse weeks for the wear, but now the time has come to roundup the women and men who made our week worthwhile, in no particular order.
This week's “best name award” has got to go to Letting Up Despite Great Faults who have dropped the memorable “Teenage Tide.” The single brings to mind flannels, favorite summer sweaters and all the youthful yearnings affected in the vocals and anthemic melodies. You can find their EP Paper Crush in stores everywhere compliments of Old Flame Records. Listen here.
The buzz board has been lit up with The War on Drugs' new single “Come to the City,” which is probably the best endorsement Philadelphia has ever had. The single is released ahead of their upcoming album Slave Ambient due August 16 and should keep you inspired yet hungry until that time.
Juan Maclean with some help from Amy Douglass have formed Peach Melba and have a single on the way called Can't Let Go that drops July 26 via DFA. Juan's always good for bringing the cleanest disco to town, especially when the local burnouts at the fabled Endup are in need of aural inspiration that's not Donna Summer or Gaga.
I blinked and discovered that Generationals are here again to share their new EP Medium Rarities with us all. If Actor-Caster was not quite enough, here is yet another generous helping to add some further sunshine to your mornings and afternoons.
Next up is Austra performing at Room 205 performing “Darken Her Horse.” More video installments from Austra at Room 205 will follow in the weeks to come and we will keep you updated as they are released. To all the good folks at Room 205, thank you for the great videos of these great artists and keep up the good work. Our ears are still buzzing from the Soft Moon in-house series.
Soft Metals just debuted a new dance floor jam called “Eyes Closed.” The Portland duo is preparing to release their self-titled debut for Captured Tracks this upcoming Tuesday, July 19. To commemorate the occasion, I recommend plenty of rolling impromptu listening dance parties in living rooms around the world.
MP3: Soft Metals, “Eyes Closed”
It is with great honor to anounce the dawning of Brilliant Colors' new album Again and Again for Slumberland Records which is set to bring joy to all of our lives this Tuesday, July 19. And what better way to ring in the good news than to celebrate with the album cut, “Round Your Way” with their “C86 in 2k11” sound and a vintage feeling video with beautiful vistas of San Francisco for your enjoyment.
Also want to spread the word about the Henry Miller Library's big 30th Anniversary where artists like Fleet Foxes, Gang Gang Dance, Gillian Welch, Little Dragon, Explosions in the Sky, Philip Glass, MGMT, Thurston Moore, John Waters and more will pay tribute to the late great modern author/provocateur's Big Sur sanctuary. Go here for dates and showtimes.
After much hyped up anticipation, we finally get our first aural glimpse from the Jacuzzi Boys' sophomore album, Glazin. The track is “Cool Vapors,” an ode to cruising and vapors of the I suppose “cool” kind. I like their style. Glazin comes our ways August 30 from the beautiful people at Hardly Art.
MP3: Jacuzzi Boys, “Cool Vapors”
Surfacing this weeks from Jack and Meg's Vault 8 are unreleased covers from the White Stripes. Arthur Lee and Love get a tribute with “Signed D.C.”, while Otis Redding gets some love with “I've Been Loving You Too Long”. Now the question is how many more “vault leaks” will we see from the Detroit duo post-partum?
Whenever I think of the Venetia Fair I am often reminded of their lively take on Britney's “Toxic”. The Boston bunch dropped their EP last month and are currently on the Vans Warped Tour promotion circuit and have offered the super studio toned “A Lady and a Tramp” streaming here.
The new video from Theophilus London will send you to an alternate Space Jam, Jetsons or South Park looking animated universe for the track “Girls Girls $” off of his Timez Are Weird These Days also coming out this Tuesday, July 19. If you think London packs an eclectic punch in his production and creative lyrical flows, then this video will keep your audio visual sense piqued if not overloaded.
Speaking of Mr. London, he also recently did a collaboration with Bay Area/Columbia Records alt-rap darling Kreayshawn on “Shrimp Pt. 2.” Lots of swag boasts taunts of the like with a sick beat, but I suppose we can all be thankful that the unsavory White Girl Mob alum V-Nasty is nowhere to be found here.
We really dig Death Grips and have been playing the video for “Beware” and freaking out most of our square friends with its jagged radar effects and militant stepping. In a love letter to pop culture I humbly write: more of this please. Also recommended is the Grips' recently released exercise in mixtape excellence, Ex-MIlitary.
By now you are probably already sick and or creeped out by the Cults splicing of genuine People's Temple and Jonestown footage by blending themselves in with the archival film for the their recent video for “Go Outside.” One upping their previous video for the song starring James Franco's bro Dave; the video progresses from Jim Jones sermons in San Francisco to the moments before the final solution in Jonestown, Guyana. With respect to the victims, the closest you get to the massacre are the moments before Congressman Leo Ryan is assassinated on the Jonestown tarmac. A well directed video, building upon the unease beneath the surface and even syncing up the Jim Jones samples along with Madeline's voice with People's Temple members high on the worship kick. In another word; just plain weird.
And before we go, a little bit of knowledge from MONTREALITY, Gudda Gudda, Jae Millz & Short Dawg in an interview that spills some insight into the following areas:
A. CARTER IV
B. Their favorite airport
C. Jobs they had as teenagers
D. What they spent their first big paycheck on
E. What they have in their pockets
F. Wifey material
