New Music: Parquet Courts- Black And White

I just finished listening to Parquet Courts new album Sunbathing Animal, and I am a little bit surprised. I am not surprised that is it good- and it is very good- but surprised at the length of the LP. I thought it would be like a lot of similar garage artists of their ilk, and it would be a record that is short and sweet. In actual fact, their new record clocks in at over 50 minutes and contains a couple of garage psych jams that push past 6 minutes. The single "Black and White" is the best track off the new album, and its mixture of Black Lips style garage rock blended with Pavement slacker-dom pretty well sums up the whole  record. Watch the video for the song below:

New Music: Merchandise- Little Killer

Florida post punk band Merchandise are back with a new single, and by the sounds of it, they are anxious to show off the new wave side of their band, If you are familiar with these guys, you know a lot of their songs clock in at over six minutes. Not on their new single "Little Killer", however, as the poppy, 80's sounding tune is just over three minutes long. Maybe their new new wave sound is the influence of producer Gareth Jones, who worked with some of that era's biggest standouts including Depeche Mode, Wire, and Erasure. Check out the music video for the track below, which features the band reenacting that era and doing their best impersonation of the Bunnymen or the Mary Chain.

"Little Killer" is taken from Merchandise's new album After The End, which is out August 25th via 4AD.

New Music: Total Control- Expensive Dog

After featuring "Flesh War", the new song from Australian post punk band Total Control, I learned something that I never knew about the band. I found out their guitarist is Eddy Current (Mikey Young) from seminal Australian punk band Eddy Current Suppression Ring. ECSR are probably my favourite group to emanate from down under from the last few years.

Getting back to Total Control, these guys recently dropped a second single from their upcoming new album Typical System. The song is called "Expensive Dog" and it is guitar driven raucous track that wouldn't be out of place on an Eddy Current LP. Check it out below:

Typical System will be out June 24th via Iron Lung.

New Music: Echo And The Bunnymen- Lovers On The Run + Holy Moses + Market Town

Veteran post punk band Echo & The Bunnymen have always been compared-rightly or wrongly- to U2, and one of the trio of new songs they just released will be criticized as sounding a little too much like modern day Bono. "Holy Moses" is an overwrought song about singer Ian McCulloch's religious conflicts, a theme close to the heart of a lot of U2 songs. Fortunately, the other two songs "Lovers on the Run" and "Market Town" are vintage Echo & The Bunnymen and harken back to their Crocodiles or Ocean Rain era musical output. All three tracks are taken from the band's new album Meteorites, out June 3rd via 429. Listen below:

New Music: Total Control- Flesh War

This is the first I've heard of Australian former punks Total Control, but I've heard their back story has a pretty eclectic history. Immersed in punk and post punk their 2011 LP Henge Beat mixed that sound with electronic minimal wave and house music.  Their latest single "Flesh War" keeps the post punk vibe but their sound has matured. The song sounds like a mix of Joy Division, with sullen vocals in the same way as Ian Curtis, and The Horrors with their trademark fuzzy guitars and gleaming synths. Listen below:

"Flesh War" is taken from Total Control's new album Typical System, out June 24th via Iron Lung.

New Music: September Girls- Sister

Some bands you know are going to be good just by the name of their band. Irish group September Girls are one of those bands and not just because they share their name with a classic song by Big Star. Their sound has a slight resemblance to the Alex Chilton/Chris Bell group, but for the song "Sister" these girls are more post punk and shoegaze than early 70's power pop. They released their debut album, Cursing The Sea, earlier this year with little fanfare, but then they made a big buzz at SXSW and people are starting to take notice.

Check out the video for "Sister" below:

New Music: The Soft Moon- Feel

I had the privilege of seeing the The Soft Moon, aka Luis Vasquez and band, play live last year as part of Toronto's NXNE festival. Unfortunately, they only played a 20 minute set because it took them so long to hook up their equipment. Kinda felt sorry for the group since they had probably come a great distance to play the showcase only to be cut short to make way for the next artist.

The Bay area dark wave artist is back with his band and a brand new single titled "Feel". The track is less hyper-kinetic than his previous material, but maintains that dark, goth sound. This new single is just a one off to remind us of Vasquez's brilliance, however there is word that he working on material for a new album. Hopefully soon!!! Listen below:

New Music: Dot Dash- Hands Of Time

Happy New Year!!!

A great way to start off the new year would be with new music from Washington D.C. post punk band Dot Dash. And we are in luck as the band has offered up a brand new song titled "Hands Of Time" from their latest album Half Remembered Dream. As a bonus they are giving away this track plus two  songs from their other albums. Check out " Hands of Time", "La--La Land" and "Tragedy/Destiny"  below and/or go to their bandcamp to download the tracks.

Dot Dash's albums Half Remembered Dream, Winter Garden Light and park>flame>ember>ash are all available now on Canadian label The Beautiful Music.

New Music: Mode Moderne- Strangle The Shadows + She, Untamed

A couple of new songs from our favourite Vancouver post punk group Mode Moderne. The band will release a brand new record titled Occult Delight in January and the songs "Strangle The Shadows" and "She, Untamed" are the first taste of the new LP. The latter track retains that New Order/Joy Division sound that made them so good on last year's Strange Bruises EP and for "Strangle The Shadows" they have added some jangle rock to the mix which adds an air of dreamy mystification to the band. Listen to the two songs below:

Occult Delight will be available January 21st via Light Organ Records.

New Music: Death Of Lovers- Buried Under A World Of Roses

Very cold in this part of the world which means it is good time to post something dark....

Shoegaze touring partners Whirr and Nothing have decided to put some of their talents together and have formed a new band called Death of Lovers. The collaboration have come out with a new single titled "Buried Under A Bed Of Roses", a song that tones down their respective other band's shoegaze. Instead the style is very dark and sounds goth. There is no release date for the single but they have come out with a music video. Check it out below:

New Music: Dot Dash- A Light In The Distance + Music Video

Washington D.C. post punk band Dot Dash are back with a new song and accompanying music video. "A Light in the Distance" is a raw punk song with a sound that harkens back to the late seventies and early 80's when bands like The Stranglers, The Buzzcocks and Wire ruled Britain's indie air waves. Watch a live performance of the song and then head on over to Dot Dash's bandcamp to download the track for free.

"A Light in the Distance" is taken from the album Half-Remembered Dream which is out now via Ottawa label The Beautiful Music.





A Light in The Distance from Dot Dash on Vimeo.

New Music: Frankie Rose- Street of Dreams

We have already heard the excellent "Sorrow", Frankie Rose's first single from her new LP Herein Wild, and now we get a second taste of the album, "Street of Dreams", which is actually a cover of a song recorded by punk band The Damned. Rose gives the song a modern post punk makeover by replacing the male toughness of David Vanian's voice with her own beautiful haunting airiness and adding synth pads in place of the original's brass and saxophone. Listen below:

Herein Wild will be out September 24th via Fat Possum.

Five Star Songs: Bauhaus- Terror Couple Kill Colonel

This little gem came up on my iPod the other day.....

 "Terror Couple Kill Colonel" is unmistakably goth and is the third single released from the dark UK band Bauhaus. The song was inspired from the Red Army terrorist group that used to operate across Europe and were responsible for the murders of both prominent and innocent people.

New Music: Frankie Rose- Sorrow

This news just made my Friday......

Frankie Rose has announced she is following up her awesome 2012 album Interstellar with a brand new LP this fall. The record is titled Herein Wild and will be available September 24th via Fat Possum.

The first single, "Sorrow" sounds even more post punk than anything she recorded on Interstellar. I guess she has left that lo-fi garage music in the dust and fully immersed herself in the magic that is dream pop. Listen below:

New Music: TV Ghost- Elevator

TV Ghost are a new discovery for me even though they have put out a couple of albums over the last few years.  If their newest track "Elevator" is any indication, then I will have to go back and listen to their earlier stuff because this song is really good. The gothic song starts off with a wall of shimmering guitar and then descends into hellish darkness courtesy of lead singer Tim Gick's seismic voice. Listen below:

New Music: Flaamingos- All I Wanna Do Is Live

Flaamingos are LA duo Jerry Narrows and Daniel Koontz, a couple veteran musicians who in the past have worked with a number of projects including performing in shoegaze bands. The two decided to combine their expertise and as a result they have come out with the slow burning post punk single "All I Wanna Do Is Live."

The duo also have a new self titled album coming out on August 27th via felte.

New Music: Ell v Gore- Lobotomy

It's good to see that Toronto's underground rock scene is getting a little bit of attention outside of the city. It may have started last year when Metz signed to Sub Pop and released one of the best indie rock albums of 2012. The buzzometer on this city's music scene seems to be heightening with bands like Odonis Odonis, Hooded Fang, Little Girls side project Prince Innocence and Army Girls side project Diana garnering plenty of hype.

Not to be outdone, Toronto post punk rockers Ell v Gore are poised to release their long awaited new EP, Sex Static, tomorrow and included on the release is the distorted gothic track "Lobotomy." These guys sound like they are inspired by everybody from the Bad Seeds to the Cramps with a little bit of Joy Division mixed in for good measure. Listen to the song below:

Sex Static will be out June 4th via Ben Cook's (Fucked Up, Yacht Club) new label Bad Actors Inc.

New Music: A Grave With No Name- Aurora

London post punk project A Grave With No Name are set to release a brand new album titled Whirlpool on Lefse Records. The LP was recorded at Holy Mountain Studios in London and features guest contributions from Linda Jarvis (Echo Lake) plus Akiko Matsuura (Comanechi, Big Pink)

The hushed post punk "Aurora," the first song from the new LP, features the beautiful vocals of Ides' Alanna McArdle. Download the track below.

Whirlpool will be available July 2nd.

Five Star Songs: The Teardrop Explodes- Passionate Friend

"Passionate Friend" was released in 1981 and was the first single from the The Teardrop Explodes second and last album, Wilder.

News came this week that the seminal 80's post punk band will be reissuing Wilder in a two disc CD set. The first disc will contain the original eleven song album and the second disc will feature a plethora of b-sides and BBC sessions including those recorded with the legendary John Peel.

Wilder originally had a poor showing in the charts when it was originally released back in 1981 and deserves a second chance. The colourful art rock sound of the album simply didn't gain an audience.
Shortly after they concluded the tour for the album the band went through major upheaval with infighting and disagreements between members. In 1982 lead singer Julian Cope decided to leave the group and he went on to forge a successful solo career.

Wilder will come out on June 24th via Mercury/Universal Music catalogue. Look for it in record stores.

New Music: Gauntlet Hair- Human Nature

Denver indie rock band Gauntlet Hair are back with a new single and their second LP, Stills. According to singer Andy R. the new album was inspired by the music he listened to when he was a kid growing up in the 90's.

Drummer Craig Nice added, “I started listening again to the stuff I would have in my discman in the back of my mom’s car,”  “White Zombie, Marilyn Manson — the production on those records is so amazing."

The first single from the record, "Human Nature", hints at that nineties sound and does not have the band's signature jangle guitar that was so prevalent on their debut self titled album. But don't worry these guys will not be making any angry industrial metal anytime soon. Listen above.


Stills will be out July 16th via Dead Oceans.

For fans of A Place to Bury Strangers, Women.