Sometimes a band has a song that’s so irresistibly good that once it finishes the only thing you want to do is listen to it again. Recently, I was fortunate enough to encounter such a song, entitled “Caveman Game”.The musicians behind “Caveman Game” go by the names Chris Kerrigan, Dan Apodaca, Tim Jordan, and Kenny Tarantino. Together, they are WALK.

WALK is a pop rock band from Los Angeles that has been around in various forms since 2006 and who advertises itself as being “as much a rock band as an inclusive community of friends”. Now, to me, that sounds like a party, and if I were to join a “community of friends” WALK’s music seems like the perfect fit to listen to in the background.

The ten songs on the band’s debut album, “Icebreaker”, are solid rock tunes that show a band that has certainly been schooled in their modern indie rock music. There are definite hints of The Walkmen amongst the tunes, mixed with The Shins’ knack for hooks and even dashes of Radiohead at times or Real Estate, if they added a bit more muscle to their songs.

Like I said, “Caveman Game” is a real winner for me. Its irresistibly laid back guitar riffs, mixed with the fleeting and urgent synth swirls and the doubled vocals that have just enough fuzz and reverb on them all make for a great mood. Even when the song lets loose, something hinted at around the two-minute mark and unleashed at three minutes, the song doesn’t lose its place or direction.

But to praise “Caveman Game” solely would be to treat the rest of “Icebreaker” unfairly. Other standouts include the Real Estate-y “Hiss”, perfect for any summer soundtrack, or “Anniversary” in which the contrast between the dark and heavily distorted guitars and the near falsetto, relatively clean vocals works wonderfully. “One Try Astronaut” also does a great job of creating an upbeat summer tune that accomplishes a lot in under two minutes.

To me, the members of WALK have more than demonstrated they can write a killer rock tune without ignoring catchiness and pop sensibilities. Don’t take it from me, though; listen and download the tracks I’ve mentioned here and head over to the band’s Bandcamp to grab the album for absolutely free.  If you’re in the L.A. area, be sure to see them live February 27th or March 30th at The Mezz Bar.

Connect with WALK - Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp

WALK – “Caveman Game”
WALK – “Hiss”
WALK – “One Try Astronaut”
WALK – “Anniversary”

Trailer Trash Tracys is a four-piece band from London, signed by Domino Records/Double Six. The band snagged attention with their longing-filled track, “Candy Girl”, two years ago, around the time The XX made their debut, and has only recently released their first album, Ester, to add to their name. Stating Sufi poetry (now if that doesn’t sound intriguing already, I don’t know what’ll pull you in…) and a kaleidoscope of experimental sounds as their influences, this band certainly has a sound that is distinctly interesting, mixing the unfamiliar and the familiar together in an intriguing blend.

I held zero expectations when I first started listening to their debut, “Ester”. Groggy and bored, I wanted something to surprise me, something different from the usual repeats of the usual artists I so often had on play. Glancing at the album cover, I wasn’t sure of what to expect of my auditory companion for the week – the hazed out woman on the cover and the unattractive font reminded me eerily of moments of frustration revolving a stuck Windows computer screen. To the cynical viewer, it looked unimpressive, if not vague, to say the least. What genre of music is this even?? was the all-important question asked the first time I set my eyes on the album.

Thankfully, just as you should not judge a book by its cover, I guess it’s only fair that you do not judge a band by its album cover as well (ha-ha). The first listen of the psychedelic-sounding opener, titled “Rolling Kiss the Universe“, managed to whet the appetite just enough as an opening track. However, what I liked even more was how beautifully in sequence it continued on to the next track, a cracker of a track titled “You Wish You Were Red“. This track, underlaced with Twin Peaks basslines so steadily good, introduces you to the vocals of the singer, Suzanne Aztoria, whose vocals are best described as nowhere near nectarine sweet yet serenely assuring in a dreamily hazy sense. Immediately, comparisons to other bands that come to mind upon listening would be psychedelic bands like Warpaint and perhaps even the much older Cocteau Twins. The lo-fi/shoegaze sound also inevitably draws comparisons to bands such as Still Corners and Sleep ∞ Over. But there is more to “Ester” than just that; add in a dash of dreampop, a strong 80s-soaked influence (think The Jesus and Mary Chain plus longingly haunting lyrics and you’ve got the basic outline of this album.

The star of “Ester” would be the disoriented arrangements of all the tracks; dissonant, weird, foggy, yet surprisingly so amazing in chemistry together. The lyrics are sparsely poetic and the overall music, a varied mash of many clashings, sometimes spacey and tinny, sometimes explosive and chaotic (check out the track “Starlatine” and “Turkish Heights“, both so freakishly good in warped ways). The obvious standout track, “Candy Girl”, is infectious and difficult not to fall in love with, tainted in melancholia and shoegaze as it is.

Then again, this album has its minor faults. This is not the sort of album to swoop you whole at first listen (in fact, it was hard for me to recollect the other songs from memory save for their two standouts the first few times I was listening to it) but it certainly grows on you fast and hard. “Ester” may not bowl you over completely but it is definitely a winner for hazed out nights to remind you of monologues you have with yourself in the dead, solitary hours of the early morning. For what its worth, this is definitely an interesting and a bold try worth crediting for a first album.

Connect With Trailer Trash Tracys – Website | Facebook | Last.fm

Soon, a review of “Let’s Go Eat The Factory”, but first a brief history lesson, just in case you don’t know the story so far. Guided By Voices haven’t released an album in 8 years. Some would probably call it 16 years, since it was in 1996 that Robert Pollard sacked and replaced the rest of the band with an all new line up. That iteration of GBV released some mighty fine albums in their time – I’m thinking “Isolation Drills” and “Earthquake Glue” – and Pollard has made his fair share of strong records in post-GBV collaborations, including one I quite liked last year, but none have quite scratched the same itch as the early 90s GBV did. The hope is that “Let’s Go Eat The Factory”, which sees the classic GBV line up back in the studio after a reunion tour, can capture some of that pre-96 magic.

You don’t have to spend a lot of time with the album to realise that that’s its goal. A glance at the sleeve reveals twenty-one tracks, only three of which break the three minute mark, while opening track “Laundry And Lasers”, which sounds like it was recorded with a walkie talkie, couldn’t do more to signpost a return to a sloppy, lo-fi aesthetic.  These tracks will come on scratchy and fast, just like old times.

And some of them will be no good, just like old times. GBV have always tread a fine line between bite-sized gems and underdeveloped filler, and unfortunately there’s a little too much of the latter here. Some tracks, like the overdramatic “Hang Mr. Kite”, actively miss the mark. Many others are simply forgettable, especially on the Pollard-dominated second half of the album, the exception being sinister closer “We Won’t Apologise for The Human Race”.

The first half of the album is more balanced in the songwriting stakes and is all the better for it. Pollard and returning keyboardist and guitarist Tobin Sprout trade blows on a run of cracking [and crackling] pop tunes, starting with the silly-but-delightful “Doughnut For A Snowman” and ending with the dirty and bluesy “The Big Hat And Toy Show”, both Pollard numbers. It’s Sprout who steals the show though. With his serene voice ever fresh, he exhibits a childlike revelry on tracks like “God Loves Us”, “Who Invented The Sun” and the frankly joyous “Waves”, and that revelry suggests very good things to come from GBV if they can squeeze another few albums from this get together.

“Let’s Go Eat The Factory” is an uneven album for sure, but it should do just enough to sate GBV fans with a retro hankering, and if in future the whole band starts enjoying itself as much as Sprout clearly already is, well, we could be in for another bona fide classic.

Connect with Guided By Voices: Last.fm | Website

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes”, David Bowie once sang. A rather apt song to be thinking of at the moment of my return back to the hallowed halls of LBYB after some time away. I’d like to tell you it was to do something grand like climbing Everest but sadly it was changes to personal stuff. All the while I was gone however, I kept an eye on the site and watched it go through some changes of its own, and what great changes they were.

Then I got to choose my first band to feature for my return and came across Emma Grace. I had a listen to a track of theirs, told them I’d like to feature it and keeping in with the general theme, they came back to say they had just made some changes to it! Had to be really, didn’t it?

Quick bio for all you fact fans out there: Emma Grace isn’t a singer called Emma Grace, but Zach Crystal and Sam Sokoloff from Toronto, Canada (both you’ll notice not female or with Emma or Grace in their names). They’ve known each other all their lives and have wanted to be in a band and write music together since they were 5!

With a range of influences from The Beatles to Radiohead, they’re the kind of pair us non-musical types look at in envy as they both play multiple instruments and sing. Oh and create great indie songs like this one.

“Stuck In The Air” is a brand new track from the guys that kicks off with a great guitar intro. Bursting into a multi layered mix showcasing their talents, it features a highly catchy chorus and the kind of beat that you can’t help but rock along to. Throw in some strong harmonies and a superbly floaty ending that at first sounds eerily reminiscent of a slowed down Nirvana, this has been stuck in my head since I first heard it.

They’re letting us add it as a download here but if you hop over to their bandcamp page you can also get the delightful 6-track 190 EP.

Connect with Emma Grace – Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp | Soundcloud | Last.fm

Listen to a stream of Blondes debut self-titled album, due out February 7th on RVNG Intl.

We haven’t really featured Blondes on the site, so here’s a short bio:

Blondes is a collaboration between Sam Haar and Zach Steinman, who met in college and began making music together, eventually deciding to set up camp in Brooklyn after a bit in Berlin. The band put out an EP, titled “Touched” in 2010, and their debut album, which comes out next week, is a combination of three 12″ vinyls that the band put out over the past year along with a couple new songs for a total of eight songs. Despite only having eight songs, though, the album is over an hour long, with the shortest track clocking in at 6:42.

As far as their music goes, Blondes sticks to mostly instrumental music, which rides on slow builds and subtle grooves. The instrumentation is, for the most part, gentle enough to have in the background, but also has enough detail to make for an exciting listen on (good) headphones. While the style of music may not be for everyone, there’s definitely a lot to be enjoyed if you give it a chance. Also worthy of note is that the last two songs on the album, “Gold” and “Amber” were actually almost entirely improvised and recorded in one take each, which is really impressive, especially considering how much is going on.

The self-titled album is actually being released on two CD’s, one containing the original eight songs, and the other containing eleven remixes, at least one from each track.

Stream the first CD of the album below, and let us know what you think in the comments. If you dig it, you can still pre-order the album here.

Connect with Blondes - Facebook | Website | Soundcloud

Beginning the record with a dancehall radio ballad dream entitled “Eulogy For Whiskers, Part 1″, Whitehorse certainly set themselves apart from the crowd of country-folk mix that seems to have suddenly permeated the country. What is perhaps even more incredible, though, is the follow-up to this lazy, tripped-out modern take on a ballad is unmistakable rockabilly rock ‘n’ roll with harmonies to boot on “Killing Time Is Murder”, which is available for free download below.

This duo owes their lyrical passion and musical complementariness to the fact that they are partners on and off the stage – a connection that I personally think always shines through in art. Although both Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet had achieved quite a name for themselves as solo artists, this couple decided to team up and the result is almost as magical as the fact that some people can still also create a successful marriage.

In Canada, they have won such prestigious awards as Junos, Independent Music Awards and Polaris; listening to their slow-burning cover of Springsteen‘s “I’m On Fire”, it is easy to see why. Their record, which is self-titled (“Whitehorse”), is a mere eight songs long, but they certainly pack a punch. “Passenger 24″ reveals just how rough they can get, with raw guitars and edgy lyrics, and even that ’70s-style whirling guitar that almost sounds reminiscent of Footloose, but works perfectly in this context.

Released in Canada by Six Shooter Records, the Toronto couple are currently residing in New York and are planning a US tour coming up this year. This will be just another gem from Canada that will find a crowning place in the diadem of American music; these two certainly know what they’re doing and their passion is obvious. Traveling easily between rough and ready, to the break-up ballad of “Broken”, and even haunting guitar strumming-based tracks like “Emerald Isle”, Whitehorse will work their way into any heart. For those who like the old country sound of Emmylou Harris, or even more recent releases like Gram Parsons, Whitehorse’s record is definitely worth a listen … and another. And another.

Connect with Whitehorse - Facebook | Website | Crash Avenue Publicity

Whitehorse – ”Killing Time Is Murder”

Listen to the new Band Of Skulls album “Sweet Sour” below.

It’s February, so that means Band Of Skulls are about to drop their sophomore album “Sweet Sour”, but it also means a bunch of other things too, like “are you ready for leap day!?”.

On February 7th they’ll release “Sweet Sour”, the follow-up to 2009′s “Baby Darling Doll Face Honey”, and if you’ve been following the tracks they’ve been releasing from the album over the last couple of months like “Devil Takes Care Of His Own” and “Bruises” then you should have a fair idea of what the album sounds like.

On their debut there were monolithic tracks that seem to have been left out for the most part here, in place of well-constructed and more deliberate foot-thumpers with a crunching metallic (and melodic) sheen. Spin got the stream of the album which you can hear below, and you can buy the album right over here.

Connect with Band Of Skulls – Facebook / Twitter / Last.fm

Watch Active Child take on Eurythmics‘ “Sweet Dreams” live in an Australian Radio session.

Active Child, who had one of our favorite albums of last year recently stopped by Triple J to perform a great cover of the Eurythmics classic song “Sweet Dreams”. Active Child creative force Pat Grossi said that the 80′s pop band have really influenced his sound and that he and their lead singer, Annie Lennox, have similar vocal styles.

Watch the fantastic cover below, which, in classic Active Child style comes complete with a “mother-flippin’” harp. The band is also on tour, so be sure to see them live, it’s bound to be a spectacle.

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This one’s a treat. Cheyenne Marie Mize was a folk singer-songwriter from Loiusville, Kentucky. I say “was” because although her first album, which you should check out if you haven’t already, was a mature collection of stripped down folk tunes showcasing Mize’s beautiful voice, her latest EP represents something of a transformation. On “We Don’t Need” Mize explores a range of new styles in just six short tracks and nails almost all of them. No need to beat around the bush with this one: this EP is almightily good.

Almightily best of all is “Going Under”, a piano driven blues tune with a clapped beat that’s frankly irresistable. I don’t envy anyone who isn’t compelled to move their feet when listening to this track. Mize is right up front as she belts out lines like “I want to take your hand… I want to have a good time with my lover” with confidence and invigorating cheek. That confidence is even greater on soulful opening track “Wishing Well” where, backed by nothing but thumping percussion, Mize’s voice is so powerful that it induces a slight buzz of distortion in an otherwise clean mix by the song’s conclusion.

From the soul and blues of the first side, “We Don’t Need” settles, briefly, on more conventional rock for its second half with “Keep It” and “It Lingers”. The first is definitely the stronger of the two, a bouncy guitar-pop tune with a cheesy organ line in the background that keeps the mood emphatically light where “It Lingers” is just a smidge more moody. The EP’s only hint of tonal consistency doesn’t last long though, as closing track “Back Around” once again sounds unlike anything else on the record. It’s a reverberating, hazy, shoe-gazey instrumental whose thundering climax provides the EP with a surprisingly fierce conclusion.

If “We Don’t Need” faulters anywhere it’s on “Call Me Beautiful”, a track whose would-be sinister message – “Don’t call me beautiful. You don’t know how ugly I can be.” – is a little spoiled by the inconsistency of Mize’s vocal delivery: she opens with the hesistant breathiness of Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino on “Your Plants Are Dead” but slips into a Winehouse like twang by song’s end. Don’t get me wrong, both are fine vocalists to emulate, but perhaps not at the same time.

Really, though, the failure of “Call Me Beautiful” speaks to what makes “We Don’t Need” successful as a whole: the genre hopping might get a little muddled on that one track, but elsewhere Mize shifts through stylistic gears without a single misstep. It’s tempting to call Cheyenne Marie Mize promising because her career is so young, but that’s underselling it: “We Don’t Need” is a compelling record, equal parts fascinating experimentation and plain fun, and as exciting as Mize’s future will no doubt be, she deserves your attention right here, right now.

Connect with Cheyenne Marie Mize: Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp

I have a confession to make. I am a huge fan of Tool, A Perfect Circle and all things Maynard James Keenan. HUGE. That being said, I can already see your cursor poised over the Back button, ready to click, but WAIT, hear me out. Puscifer (puss-if-her) is a horse of a different color and shouldn’t be grouped together with Maynard’s other creative accomplishments. Puscifer’s music isn’t intimidating, like Tool can be, nor is it painfully introspective, like A Perfect Circle. Instead, “Conditions Of My Parole” is the most listener-friendly of Maynard’s offerings to date. It is a complete 180 from any of his previous work (including the first Puscifer album, “V is for Vagina”) and he is inspiring in his evolution and growth. Which is why, despite it’s October 2011 release, I feel compelled to shine the spotlight on it now. This album did not get the recognition or exposure that it deserves, and it is very deserving.

Recorded amidst the wine casks at Caduceus Cellars, Maynards’ winery, this album sounds just like the surrounding Arizona landscape that he calls home. “Musically, it’s like Twin Peaks in the desert” Keenan told SPIN Magazine, and honestly, I don’t think I could describe it any better myself. The album is full of wide open spaces, mirroring the vastness of the desert sky and sands. The music soars, giving it an atmospheric, airy feel that has an element of eerie to it. What keeps it from being downright spooky is Maynards’ honeyed tones, taking you from dusty desert floor to dizzying mountain top.

According to Maynard, this venture of his is “the space where my Id, Ego and Anima all come together to exchange cookie recipes”. I’m not sure if it’s because of all the digging in the dirt that Maynard’s done, in his wine-making endeavors, but those voices of his appear to be of a distinctly feminine nature. Puscifer’s music is earthy, sensual, it oozes She. This album breathes; it has a heartbeat. It takes you in its arms and rocks you, from beginning to end. Like being in the womb; warm, enveloping, nurturing. There is nothing rushed about this music. Every note is heard, experienced, soaked up. You will take it in, as it takes you in.

While this could be considered Maynard’s solo project, as he writes and composes all the music himself, it could not be carried off so successfully without the revolving door of musicians he has accompany him on his various Puscifer projects. The cast of 16, this time around, includes Tim Alexander (Primus), Mat Mitchell (APC, NIN) and even Maynard’s own son, Devo, on cello. The chanteuse du-jour, British singer/songwriter Carina Round, provides the perfect accompaniment to Maynard’s own angelic voice. She has a haunting, heart breaking quality that compliments the album so very well. Specifically, listen to the last track, “Tumbleweed”. Even the banjo seems to sing with her.

Surprisingly, Keenans’ latest album does not appear to be about the lyrics he’s so well known for (or if it is, I have yet to crack the code). That’s not to say there isn’t wisdom to be gleaned here;

‘The more you take, the more you need / The more you suck, the more you bleed / The dead know better, so listen to the letter / The more you suck, the more you bleed’,

so says Maynard, in “Telling Ghosts”. This time though, I think it’s about the music. It’s about where it takes you and how it makes you feel.  Maynard keeps digging deep, pushing past his own boundaries, and we are the richer for it. “Conditions Of My Parole” is an album to be listened to in it’s entirety, to fully appreciate it’s ebb and flow, but leave your expectations at the door. Maynard’s mind is an interesting ride, and well worth the price of admission. Stream the album below and, if you’re interested in hearing some of their earlier work, you can listen to the large collection of remixes on the band’s website.

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