I imagine I am a photographer in Sheffield, England. I prefer to use an old view camera, as its gritty, lo-fi style fits that of the respected local indie blog I photograph for. I have a job to do tonight: photograph band Pisco Sour Hour as they play in a local bar.

Arriving, I find the band has already started. Loyal fans are sitting closer to the cramped stage, singing along to all the strange lyrics. Others avoid the unusual group on stage, preferring to sit at the end of the bar and simply watch the lunatics.

The band are clad in frighteningly eclectic attire. The saxophonist wears large, plastic sunglasses; the drummer wears a brown top hat and sweater vest; the bassist sports a white lab coat; and the guitarist wears a kilt and t-shirt.

I set up my camera to capture this curious group, and cover myself with the antique camera’s sheet of fabric when a man (one of their loyal fans) approaches me. For reasons known only to himself, he wears an executioners hood and wields a sledgehammer. I peek out to ask what he wants, and he drunkenly shouts: “For you to join the fun!” He lifts his sledgehammer to smash my camera and I cower backwards. This fateful moment is captured in a black-and-white cartoon on the front cover of the band’s new album, “A Hammer To The Camera Lens”.

Unfortunately, I have never seen Pisco Sour Hour live. I don’t know what they look like and this story never really happened. Still, it certainly wouldn’t be out of place as the subject of one of the band’s songs. In fact, “A Hammer To The Camera Lens” is full of unconventional tales that not only parallel our present world (and times in its history), but point out that it can be a little random and completely screwed up.

Pisco Sour Hour are a tragically undiscovered band. To explain them a way I’m sure you’ll understand: Pisco Sour Hour sound as though Chicago, The Decemberists, and Johnny Rotten had a baby. That baby grew up studying British literature and became a roadie for The Clash, sitting quietly in a corner sipping vermouth (better yet, pisco sour), reading, and smiling knowingly while the rest of the group partied at the bar.

“A Hammer To The Camera Lens” is a little bit of everything I want from any band I listen to: sometimes upbeat, sometimes serious, a little sadistic, and a little sympathetic. From bank robbing monkeys (“Spot Monkey”) to transcendentalist soldiers (“Sir”) to the end of the world (“Bang”), “A Hammer To The Camera Lens” is a lyrical masterpiece. I only obsess over the lyrics, though, because that’s the rarest thing to perfect. Almost anyone can write good music. There are a ton of instrumental albums out there, many received with perpetual critical fanfare, but flawless lyrics are scarce.

Pisco Sour Hour explains their own sound best: “A Hammer To The Camera Lens” is a joyous record with a strong pop sensibility, but one that takes its influence from far and wide, swerving from sax led piano pop, to aggressive punky sounds, to electronic balladeering, to country, all the time maintaining a strong, coherent identity.” The album really is a melting pot of sounds. Sometimes the band breaks down into yelping, Sex Pistols-esque punk; sometimes they drift into pseudo-psychedelic wanderings; and sometimes they make straight, upbeat pop, 70′s style.

Originality is such a hard thing to come by nowadays. It seems so many artists are trying the same gimmicks and making exactly the same kind of music. When you get something truly fresh and original, you know instantaneously. “A Hammer To The Camera Lens” is exactly that.

One of my favorite tracks, album closer “It Only Hurts When I Laugh” (featuring vocals from a mutual friend of the band), seems to sum up everything the band is about. From the ingenious line “you’re looking for a hero, girl/well you know I don’t dig that stuff” to the title itself, it’s perfect proof that there’s something a little off about the music of Pisco Sour Hour, in the best way possible.

Connect with Pisco Sour Hour: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Bang!
Spot Monkey
It Only Hurts When I Laugh

We’ve given Gardens & Villa some love on this site before, but somehow never got around to reviewing them. They’ve done their hard work, finishing their self-titled album and facilitating some more pure listening enjoyment, so now we’ll do ours. These fellows from Santa Barbara, California, have recorded a kind of sonic house party full of galactic synths, rug-cutting drum machines, fuzzy bass parts, a little nostalgic flute, and some seriously impressive vocals to name a few.

It’s a rare thing these days for an album to have its tail end be even stronger than the first portion. I find it’s much too often that artists will have three or four songs that are up to their standards, all of which get stuffed into the first five tracks, leaving not necessarily filler as the rest, but decidedly sub-standard work. You don’t have to try hard to notice when artists have really put their heads down and made sure that each piece of music is up to standard, creating a full, conscious work deserving of an attentive listener. Gardens & Villa, I’m glad to say, have done that and then some. It’s a testament to their songwriting ability and respect for the art of music. As a result, there are no weak points in the album; every song has it’s own identity and quality.

“Black Hills” garners single status, and understandably so. It sports an especially clever change in the chorus. But I found “Sunday Morning” and “Neon Dove” to be sensational tracks. “Sunday Morning” is a wonderfully Lennon-esque, albeit a bit unexpected track in which every little piece comes together perfectly. The well-crafted chord progressions, the tremolo guitar, the thin ride, the vocal melodies, everything works. This track alone displays unlimited potential, but they close the album without giving up a bit of steam in “Neon Dove”. Swirling vocal and synth melodies and mysterious imagery wind down the senses beautifully.

What Gardens & Villa have done is prove that they have the potential to be great artists. Their sound may not be completely distinct, granted, but infinitely more important is that their songwriting is already excellent and has potential to be monstrous. I thank them for this latest album, and you can bet I’ll be eagerly waiting for more, confident that I’m not the only one.

Connect with Gardens & Villa – Facebook | Bandcamp | Website

I’ve often admitted that I’m not a huge fan of the Spanish music scene. There are very few bands that I’ve found myself enjoying, and most of the acts I do listen to (such as Polock or The Sunday Drivers), happen to sing in English. One welcome exception to this trend is vetusta morla (who prefer to keep their name lowercase), from Tres Cantos in Madrid, and on first listen to pretty much any of their songs it’s easy to see why.

After about a decade of playing together and a series of self-released demos and EP’s, the band released their first full-length album, “Un Día En El Mundo” (A Day In The World), in 2008 to rave reviews. The six-piece group, led by the charismatic Pucho on vocals and backed by David “el Indio” (drums and backup vocals), Álvaro Baglietto (bass), Jorge González (percussion), Guillermo Galván (guitar, keyboards and backup vocals), and Juan Manuel Latorre (guitars and keyboards), presented a fully formed sound reminiscent of the Brit-rock sounds of Coldplay‘s “Parachutes“ or “The Bends“-era Radiohead, infused with the majestic energy of Arcade Fire. The songs featured swelling guitars and adrenaline-filled builds that fueled their meteoric rise to fame. The record was so strong that one of the standouts from the album, “Copenhague” (Copenhagen) was voted one of the three best Spanish indie songs of the last 30 years, which is no small feat.

With such a solid debut on their hands, it was difficult to imagine how the band could possibly top that. With this year’s “Mapas” (Maps), released in May on their own label, Pequeño Salto Mortal, they may have done just that. Musically, the band has maintained the same formula that worked wonders for them, but has managed to find ways to perfect it. The band looked for a studio in which they would all be able to record simultaneously to analog tape, resulting in a very organic and live feel that is impossible to obtain otherwise and that shows a group dedicated to their craft and who pay great attention to detail. This organic energy becomes immediately apparent in the opening track, “Los Días Raros” (The Weird Days) which begins with a somber piano, slow guitars, and delicate vocals and finishes with an arena-ready build that’s pure ecstasy (an effect that’s amplified tenfold when seeing their live act).

Although “Los Días Raros” sets the bar incredibly high, the rest of the record does not falter and hits you with track after track of intricate lyricism (sorry to all the non-Spanish speakers reading this) and masterful instrumentation. Regardless of whether you understand the lyrics or not, what the band conveys is pure emotion. Pucho’s vocals carry the record throughout, never showing signs of weakness and displaying a wide range of emotions varying from the quiet “Maldita Dulzura” (Damn Sweetness), a lyrical standout, to the almost yelling of “En El Río” (In The River). Live, his vocals display the same range (if in doubt, check out this acoustic version of “Maldita Dulzura”) as they do on record, making it a real treat to watch the band perform on stage.

“Mapas” has become, on its own merits, one of my favorite albums of the year. The album is infectious and offers something for both those willing to enjoy the music as is and those looking to analyze every lyrical phrase. Currently the album is streaming in full on their webpage, and I highly recommend you give it a full listen; it doesn’t disappoint.

Connect with vetusta morla – Facebook | Twitter | Website | MySpace

Vetusta Morla – Maldita Dulzura by ListenBeforeYouBuy

Vetusta Morla – Los Días Raros by ListenBeforeYouBuy

Vetusta Morla – En El Río by ListenBeforeYouBuy

Vetusta Morla – Copenhague by ListenBeforeYouBuy

“Re-Introducing”? This is a new feature to fill a little niche on LBYB, bringing some more attention to artists that we thought would explode but haven’t quite yet, or just throwing the limelight on an act that hasn’t had any recent releases that we just love too damn much not to write about. The Octopus Project are one of those bands.

The Octopus Project are an electronic indie-rock group whose swirling, layered sound owes a serious debt to the work of minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Terry Riley. Their last album, “Hexadecagon”, was originally conceived as a live project: at SXSW in 2010, the album’s 8 songs were played in 8 speaker surround, with 8 projectors displaying videos synced up to the music. Imagine that. Pitchfork dismissed the recorded version, though, with these damning words: “Guess you just had to be there.” Now, I wish I had been there, sure. Even with only two speakers, though, I’m enjoying myself plenty right here, right now thanks.

Music that relies so heavily on loops as The Octopus Project’s dense material does is always going to sound a bit clinical. Even if it never sounds like the band is cutting loose playing these tracks, you sure will listening to them. The ever-increasing layers and constant crescendos that drive these songs forward are completely irresistable, never more so than on the utterly delicious “Fuguefat”, which makes 7/4 sound like the most danceable time signature in the world. At 3:37, it’s criminally short, but none of the other tracks on the album leave you hanging, with some even hitting the ten minute mark.

Aso totally worth checking out is The Octopus Project’s collaboration with Pensylvanian indie-poppers Black Moth Super Rainbow, which you can stream here, called “The House Of Apples And Eyeballs”. Firstly, that title and those band names make for some of the longest tags you’ll ever see on a music blog post. Secondly, it shows off the same sort of electronic, layered pop as “Hexadecagon” does, but in a much shorter form factor: the 15 track album comes in at only 36 minutes long. If you want an easy way in to The Octopus project, this is it.

Is this all old news to you? Well then you’ll be pleased to know that the band also has plans to release a new album in the first half of 2012, and we’ll definitely be reviewing it when it comes around. For now you can stream “Hexadecagon” below.

Connect with The Octopus Project: Facebook | Website | Last.fm

This post is a “QuickPick”.

QuickPicks are my attempt at getting all of the music that’s sent to me that I like (or just music I like but have no words for because it’s so awesome!), out into the dubya dots, picked quickly. Less for you to read, more for you to hear.

Artist: Vadoinmessico
Genre: Indie/Ambient-Folk
Links:  Facebook | Vimeo

Marzia by Vadoinmessico

Admittedly, I welcome when a song opens up my memory bank, overloading my senses with nostalgic associations. This new tune becomes a snowball of time and space that makes me spew more references than I know what to do with – if you haven’t yet noticed. Yet to stick, it’s got to do more than just evoke memories of things past.

Andrew Pierce and Sable Yong of  Chalk And Numbers make songs that are reminiscent of the ’60s pop psychedelia of their influences – think Beach Boys for sure, and throw in a little Strawberry Alarm Clock for good measure. Ms. Yong is an interesting frontwoman, her voice very reminiscent of the dreamgirls that ruled the pop charts more than five decades ago (Carole King, The Shirelles). Yet she has a nervousness, an endearing nervousness that is not coy, but impossible to replicate and takes the songs further from pure nostalgia tripping. I like her voice imperfect, prefer it with the instrumentation, as the worst thing that can happen here is for everything to become the pretty baroque wallpaper it teeters on.

Their latest “He Knew” EP is a sweet taste of what this Brooklyn duo do, ranging from the ’60s psych pop reminiscent like the opener “He Knew”, where Ms. Yong delivers with all the power of Colin Blunstone of The Zombies (they actually do a cover of “Whenever You’re Ready“) to more saccharine fare comparable to She & Him (“Let’s Go Away”). Chalk And Numbers thankfully veer slightly left of the wonderfully formulaic female driven pop songs that defined these eras past. Instead, they deliver their songs with a masculinity that retains a sense of vulnerability.

The icing on the cake for me is the song “Summer Nights (And Summer Days)”. My favorite songs from the 60s girl groups were always the ones that were gilded, had something more sinister lurking underneath the perfect pop structure (The Crystals’ “He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)” and “Past, Present, Future” by The Shangri-Las; much of the Beach Boys). “Summer Nights” does just that. It packs the lushness of the hazy August dusk, the dark undertones of being lovelorn and obsessed that hide under the blush of infatuation with the new. It’s post-Sandy and Danny. It’s the modern love, but still one that’s been around as long as we can remember.

Connect with Chalk And Numbers – Bandcamp | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud

Chalk And Numbers – ”Summer Nights (And Summer Days)”
Chalk And Numbers – ”Let’s Go Away”
Chalk And Numbers – ”He Knew”

Lo-fi garage rock comes with a series easy observations; with it’s simple melodies it’s an easily accessible aesthetic, a sound that can easily be traced back to 60s surf influences. Chances are fairly high that if you’ve heard one lo-fi garage-surf band, which you will have done if you were paying any attention to music in 2010, then you’ve heard something similar to Miami band Jacuzzi Boys.

With the group’s debut with label Hardly Art, “Glazin’”, the trio reinforce the garage oriented-stereotype, churning out ten songs that fit right in with any end of summer playlist. Charming but indistinguishable, carelessly crafted and effortlessly produced, there’s no love-hate dispatch when listening to “Glazin’” or any of the group’s previous efforts.

It’s hard to knock any group that manages to tread through those menial margins, but at the same time it’s hard to applaud one that doesn’t push any of it forward. The album’s highest ends never go too much further from the most sedated ones, mixed with flashes of glam and spark, but nothing too far from the album’s easy to get to core.

Straight line shots at the overall effort aside, there are a few slashing moments that make “Glazin’” a bit more of a triumph, like “Silver Sphere”, which manages to force out a heavier punch than the album’s other tracks. Unfortunately, “Glazin’” doesn’t spare too many of those moments.

The beauty of lo-fi is almost purely visceral. From Jacuzzi Boys’ well-regarded live shows it’s easy to see that “Glazin’” is more of a piece to push the band forward, rather than outside of their comfort zone. Stream the album here.

Connect with Jacuzzi Boys:  Website | Facebook | Last.fm

Listen Before You Buy is always looking for more writers and contributors, we just don’t always make posts like this to advertise the fact (even though to some it seems like this is ALL we do).

That being said, below are the positions we have available (currently non-paying, but with the prospect of making a few bucks as the site grows). If you’re interested in either of these positions then please get in touch with us with your name, your preferred position, an example or two of your written work (if you don’t have one then write up a mock review of a song or album), and either include your Last.fm account or list your top five albums of 2010 and your top five albums of 2011.

Album Reviews:
You’ll be writing reviews of albums released since the start of the calendar year. You’ll integrate with our current team of reviewers and report to our Reviews Editor…they’re all very friendly, you’ll get to pick which albums you want to review (within reason….we won’t be posting Justin Bieber reviews, unless he goes off in a White Stripes kinda direction), and you can say what you want about the album you review.  As long as you’re not being racist, homophobic, sexist etc, there’s no censorship. You:

• Must have an excellent grasp on the English language (with English being your first language)
• Must be able to work to a deadline
• Must be easily reachable (preferably via email)
• Must be passionate about music and writing, otherwise you won’t sound genuine
• Knowledge of WordPress, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and Grooveshark are preferred but not required (we can walk you through it)

Artist Discovery:
You (with the rest of our team) will be going through the hundreds of new music submissions we receive every week (it sounds daunting but we have a slick system in place). You’ll be in touch with artists, labels, and PR companies to make sure that the band you just found get the best possible exposure, and you’ll report to our Artist Discovery Editor. We’ll provide you with the means of discovering new artists but you’ll also be more than welcome to submit your own. You:

• Must have a drive for discovering the next big thing
• Must be open to different types of music
• Must have an excellent grasp of the English language (English doesn’t have to be your first language)
• Must be able to work to a deadline
• Must be easily reachable (preferably via email)
• Knowledge of WordPress, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and Grooveshark are preferred but not required (we can walk you through it)

New Music Guru:
An integral part of Listen Before You Buy is posting some of the best new music that the musical world has to offer, and by new music I mean the kind that’s released on a daily basis that grabs peoples attention (OMG, new Radiohead song!). This is probably the most difficult position of all because it requires more of a time commitment than the others, but it’s one of the main aspects of the site that helps it grow and reach wider audiences. You:

• Must have an excellent grasp of the English language (English doesn’t have to be your first language)
• Must be open to different types of music
• Must be connected with artists, labels, PR companies, blogs, and sites via Twitter, Facebook, and RSS feeds
• Must be able available daily (Mon-Fri especially) to catch the new music as it’s released, listen to it, write up a post about it and post it live to the site
• Must be passionate about music and especially the music you’re writing about
• Must be easily reachable (preferably via email)
• Knowledge of WordPress, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and Grooveshark are preferred but not required (we can walk you through it)

Click on the image to listen to Animal Collective – “Campfire Songs” for free.

If you follow the site on Twitter or Facebook you’ll know that lately I’ve been talking a lot about Dreamers Of The Ghetto, and how much I’ve fallen in love with their debut album “Enemy/Lover”.

Back at the start of September we tagged them as Ones To Watch and as they get ready to release “Enemy/Lover” next week (October 4th via Temporary Residence) they’ve been garnering extremely positive reviews of their album, for good reason. Not only are they one of my favourite discoveries of the year (thanks to our boy Jay) but their album is up there as one of the standouts too, and when you hear a track like “Tether” I challenge to think otherwise.

Via our buds over at CoS, today they dropped another new track from the album called “State Of A Dream”, one of the shortest, but catchiest and affecting songs on the album. You can listen to it and download the mp3 it below, and expect to see a stream of the album soon, but if you can’t wait you should make use of the album purchase page, the vinyl is stunning.

Connect with Dreamers Of The Ghetto - Tumblr / Facebook / Twitter / Last.Fm

Dreamers Of The Ghetto – “State Of A Dream”