New Music: The Luxembourg Signal- Distant Drive

Okay...the warm weather has been holding off for way too long. It is time for some summer music and The Luxembourg Signal are here to fulfill that need. The Luxembourg Signal are an indie pop group made up of former members of seminal UK twee bands Aberdeen and Trembling Blue Stars. By the sound of their latest single "Distant Drive", that twee-ness has stuck around from their former musical incarnations. Perfect jangle indie pop for warm summer days, if they ever come. Check it out below:

New Music: Jack White- Lazaretto

I went to see the Jim Jarmusch flick Only Lovers Left Alive this weekend, a rock & roll vampire movie starring Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton. The movie was pretty amusing and featured some strange moments. One of the weird scenes had the two vampires taking a night tour of Detroit and ending up at Jack White's boyhood home. In front of the house Hiddleston's Adam character explains to Swinton's character Eve that Jack was his mother's seventh son ("Ball & Biscuit" reference?) and then Eve imagines Jack White as a boy, "Little Jack White" she exclaims. I sort of knew that Jarmusch was a big Jack White fan but I still find it funny that he would feature a scene in his movie about a 300 year old vampire worshipping the rock star.

Anyhow, some of Jack White's popularity might be due to some of the odd and different things he has done over the years. Appearing on reality TV shows, recording with The Insane Clown Posse, or doing a Bond song with Alicia Keyes are just some examples. More recently, White attempted and succeeded in releasing the world's fastest record at his Third Man studio in Nashville. Even though that was a hokey thing to do, the song he made is pretty good. The studio version of the "Lazaretto" came out a couple of days after his stunt and you can hear it below. It features some of White's fiercest guitar work since his days in The White Stripes and there is even a fiddle solo (could that be White's cousin Ashley MacIsaac making an appearance???) near the end of the song.

"Lazaretto" is the title track of the new album and it will be out June 6th via Third Man.

New Music: Alvvays- Archie, Marry Me

It has been a while since we've heard from Toronto indie band Alvvays and their particular brand of reverb friendly sunshine pop. Their first single "Adult Diversion" was released way back in the fall of 2013, and since then the track has gotten them a lot of attention including heavy rotation on a local Toronto radio station. That success led the band to a new record deal with Polyvinyl, and that means that we are finally going to get their debut album. The new record will be out in the summer but for now the band have shared "Archie, Marry Me", a love song featuring a dreamy chorus that is also the title of the song. Who would ever turn down a marriage invitation from someone who's voice is as beautiful as Molly Rankin's? Check out the song below:

New Music: Gold-Bears- For You

With a name like Gold-Bears you think these guys would hail from California when in actual fact the band makes their home in Atlanta Georgia. They are set to release their forthcoming new album titled Dalliance and have shared "For You", the first single from the LP. The track starts off like any great indie rock song with a wall of guitars and yelp-y lyrics, but about half way through the band goes into overdrive, and the song turns into something quite brilliant. The quick tempo change seems simple, but the change of melody, driving bass and drums, plus added chimes turns this from a really good tune into one of the best indie rock songs I have heard all year. Check it out below:

Dalliance is out June 3rd via Slumberland.

New Music: Peter Murphy- Hang Up

Last week, Bauhaus bassist David J released a new album that featured a bonus track, a cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic". That song is a jazzy take on the pop princess' hit and features a music video starring goth porn star Sasha Grey. This week J's bandmate, Bauhaus lead singer Peter Murphy, has come out with the first single from his forthcoming new album Lion. "Hang Up" sticks to a more conventional goth sound thanks, in part' to the production from Killing Joke bassist Youth. Killing Joke's industrial punch is also apparent, but this is unmistakably classic Peter Murphy, with his crooning shining darkly throughout the track. Check out the video for the song below:

Lion is out June 3rd via Nettwerk.

New Music: Ummagma- The Road To Lees

Canadian/Ukrainian dream pop duo Ummagma are back with a brand new music video for their song "The Road to Lees". We already know from previous posts that this band has an eclectic sound with splashes of shoegaze, post rock, psychedelica and electronica heard throughout their body of songs. "The Road To Lees" is no exception and is a song that showcases the electronic side of their talent-the mesmerizing track might even be considered trip hop.

The music video for the song is a shimmering kaleidoscope of colours interwoven with scenes of mid  20th century American life. Shauna from the band sees this video as somewhat of a juxtaposition: “unfortunately, apart from that which was familial or community-based, what we knew as the good old days did indeed seem ‘real’, but it was based on a faulty foundation, which we’re only hearing about now. Just the same, this is still a happy place for many”.

Ummagma are also releasing a remix LP on May 16th with several reworkings of their excellent single "Lama". You can preview that LP right now on Soundcloud.

New Music: Wolf Alice- Moaning Lisa Smile + Storms

Wolf Alice are a UK based noise pop band out of London who are getting plenty of buzz from their home country, and deservedly so. These guys are fairly new but they did release an EP back in 2012 and at the same time garnered some attention from NME's Radar.  Now they are back with couple of songs that will shatter your ear drums and knock you against the wall if you are not careful with the volume button. Unfortunately, they haven't got the same attention in North America, but with a little help from this blog, that all might change.

Both "Moaning Lisa Smile" and "Storms" are tracks from the band's new EP Creature Songs which is out on May 26th in the UK. Check them out below:

New Music: Ablebody- After Hours

Ablebody is a new band from Los Angeles that is led by twin brothers Christoph and Anton Hochheim who already have a pretty good resume from working with bands like The Depreciation Guild and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. You already know that "After Hours" is going to sound fantastic from their previous work history: shimmering guitars, bombastic drums, twee lyrics. You get the picture. Check it out below:

Ablebody will be on tour with Fear of Men and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart in the coming weeks and "After Hours" will be available May 20th on 7 inch. You can preorder the single via Bandcamp.

New Music: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart- Eurydice

The Pains Of Being At Heart just released a second track titled "Eurydice" from their forthcoming new album Days of Abandon, and just like the first single,"Simple and Sure" the sound is a much cleaner brand of indie pop than anything we have heard from this band in the past. It sounds good, but I am sure going to miss the fuzzy tweegaze of the band's past. Check it out below:

Days of Abandon will be released May 13th via Yebo.

New Music: Xeno & Oaklander- Interface

Check out the latest single from Xeno & Oaklander titled "Interface". The track has a sound that moves them further away from their cold wave beginnings and into more of a fresh synth pop direction. Kinda sounds like Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark.

The song is taken from their new album Par Avion, out June 24th via Ghostly.





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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: Ramona Lisa: Arcadia + Backwards And Upwards

Chairlift's Caroline Polachek has been slogging away making crazy good synth pop with her band for approximately ten years now, plus she has been collaborating on songs with everyone from Washed Out to Flosstradamus, so perhaps, maybe, it is time she goes out her own. Polachek has done exactly just that with her new solo project Ramona Lisa. She has released a new album titled Arcadia that she made in Italy last year, a record that was recorded on just her laptop.  Two of the songs from the new album, the creepy video for the title track and "Backward and Upwards", are featured below. Check them out:

Arcadia is out today (April 15th) via Terrible.

New Music: Fear Of Men- Outrun Me + Descent

Great new English band Fear Of Men will be dropping their debut album Loom next week, but before that they have shared a couple of more tracks from the LP. " We first heard their wonderful "Alta/Waterfall" and "Luna" songs back in February and now they have come out with two more fantastic tracks in "Outrun Me" and "Descent". I am looking forward to both buying the album next Tuesday and, seeing them live, opening for The Pains of Being Pure At Heart in a couple of weeks.

Loom is out April 22nd via Kanine.

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: Klaxons- Atom to Atom

Back in February English dance band Klaxons premiered their first new music in a couple of years with the rave-tastic songs "There Is No Other Time and "Children of the Sun". The band keep the party going on "Atom to Atom", the third track to be previewed from their forthcoming new album Love Frequency. Listen below:

The album is out June 9th via Akashic Rekords/Sony Red.

New Music: Haunted Hearts- Johnny Jupiter

Had a chance to catch the wonderful Dum Dum Girls when they were in town a couple of weeks ago and as usual they put on a pretty good show. Dee Dee Penny might be in the middle of an extensive tour with her band right now, but that hasn't stopped her from hooking up with her husband Brendan Welchez (Crocodiles), forming Haunted Hearts and making their debut collaboration album called Initiation.  The first single from the LP is the dreamy psych pop "Johnny Jupiter". Check out the video for the song below:

Initiation will be out May 27th via the couple's own imprint Zoo Music.

New Music: Warpaint- Disco /Very + Keep it Healthy

The lovely ladies of Warpaint have never looked so lovely as they do in this new double music video. The clip is for two tracks off their critically acclaimed new self titled LP and features a day and night scene for each song. "Disco/Very" has the ladies singing while walking down a road on a bright sunny day while "Keep it Healthy" sees them at night hanging out with L.A. skater boys.  Watch below:

New Music: Circa Waves- 100 Strangers

Maybe guitar indie rock is starting to come back in the UK. Liverpool band Circa Waves seem to think so. With music that harkens back to early Arctic Monkeys, Libertines, and The Fratellis, these guys want to go back 10 years when every artist in Britain wanted to be in The Strokes. Listen before:

New Music: Lykke Li- No Rest For The Wicked + Love Me Like I'm Not Made Of Stone

When I was offline with computer issues for a couple of weeks in March the wonderful Swedish songstress Lykke Li released a couple of new songs from her upcoming new album I Never Learn. The tracks "No Rest For The Wicked" and "Love Me Like I'm Not Made of Stone" find Li at her hauntingly beautiful best. Looking forward to the new LP.

I Never Learn is out May 6th via Atlantic.

New Music: Allie X- Catch

Allie Hughes was a piano playing singer-songwriter who had a bit of notoriety a few years ago in Toronto with a wacky wedding themed concert and an appearance on a reality TV show that had contestants auditioning for The Sound of Music. Now, Allie is back as Allie X and she has transformed herself into an electro pop star. For her debut song in her new persona,  Allie plays a jilted lover who seemingly wants to seek revenge and has a warning in the chorus "Just Wait Until I Catch My Breath". "Catch" is the kind of addictive saccharine pop song that gave Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches a household name, and it seems Allie X is about to follow in her footsteps. Download below:

Five Star Songs: Shout Out Louds- Hard Rain

Another iPod discovery, "Hard Rain" came on my shuffle last week and totally surprised me. The song is the last track from the 2007 Shout Out Louds' Our Ill Wills LP, and features singer Adam Olenius' whisper voice, punctuated with the heart breaking sweetness of Bebban Stenborg's singing that all melds into a raucous guitar smeared ending. One of those songs from an unappreciated album that I totally rediscovered this weekend. Check it out below:




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New Music: Craft Spells- Breaking the Angle Against The Tide

Craft Spells, the indie pop project of Justin Paul Vallesteros, is back with his first new music since the 2012 EP Galley. The single "Breaking the Angle Against The Tide" is taken from the project's new LP Nausea and the track fits the jangle rock template of the band's label to a tee. Listen below:

The LP will be available June 10th via Captured Tracks.

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: