Song of the Day

Posts Tagged ‘alternative’

Just by the look of it, The Kickback is just getting started as evidenced by their advanced songwriting, addictive rhythmic syncopation, and killer vocals. Because a band this good, has these types of humble beginnings for only so long. There’s a time limit on this thing folks, so get in there and get your autographs and front row live show spots while you still can.

These guys, out of South Dakota living in Chicago just released their 2nd EP last year “Great Self Love”, which was preceeded only by their 1st EP “Alliteration, Etc…”. You’ll find their new songs worth setting to repeat via their Official MySpace playlist. I wouldn’t so much classify them as an indie rock band because of their style, which has more of a lazy salsa bar kind ring, spicy and well timed. Although they do classify themselves as Indie, so I’m not that far off, but then they list “Showtunes”, which I’m a little confused about. Maybe the band can email me and expand my mind on that genre. Maybe it means, “The ease with which each song can be inserted into the soundtrack of most films.”, I do not know sir.

Maybe if you like The Kickback on Facebook and comment on their page they’ll tell you all about it.

This playful tune comes from a band that got its humble start in the form of a mix tape for a girl. The band, Throw Me A Statue grew from 2005-2007 on a local Seattle DIY record label Baskerville Hill with a friendly local following of friends attending shows which grew and started getting press. In 2007 the group got picked up by another record label out of Indiana Secretly Canadian and re-released their album in February of 2008 which has led to good reviews and an international tour.

I’ll just copy the rest of their story directly from the space age font on their Official Throw Me The Statue bio page.

In the beginning of 2009 the band began work on the follow-up LP and headed into the studio for the first time. With Phil Ek (The Shins, Built to Spill, Band of Horses) on board as co-producer, the group consisting of Reitherman, Aaron Goldman, Charlie Smith and Jarred Grimes sought to enlarge the scope of TMTS’ lo-fi bedroom pop. The resulting full length record entitled Creaturesque will be released in the US and Europe by Secretly Canadian on August 4th, and soon thereafter in Aus/NZ by PopFrenzy and in Japan by MerryGate Records.

After reading the lyrics for this song and watching the music video a few times I feel like I just had a fruit wonderful smoothie rich in love-sick adolescent hormones and high-school memories, it’s healthy for the body but the sugar high leaves my thoughts a little fuzzy. I can’t quite put my finger on a proper clinical analysis of the whole affair but I found a line here in my notes that seems to sum it all up, “I love this song, stop thinking, just enjoy it”. I guess when you’ve got a Lolita on your brain there’s not much thinking required.

Maybe I should just call them Quinn. A Band Called Quinn is from Glasgow Scotland and probably uses the moniker “A Band Called Quinn” instead of just going by “Quinn” so that people don’t mistake them for something else. They’ve already made huge waves in the UK and have had their music featured in several shows and have already amassed some encouraging accolades.

Be sure to also listen to their songs DIY and The Glimmer Song, more of their songs can be found on the A Band Called Quinn MySpace Page and on Facebook.

I enjoy this song and really appreciate the beginning and end of it, but somewhere in the middle I just get distracted by the confusing cuts between the nurse standing over an injured guy on a bed and the drunken vampwolf stumbling through the woods. I appreciate the musical-like interludes in the song and the bohemian feel it all has to me. Watching this video is a little like watching a scene from the TV series True Blood in which the supernatural is just a normal everyday part of the lives of the characters and having to give up your own body parts. Sacrificing yourself literally to the stomach of your partner in a melancholy and tragic way brings me chills, it’s kind of sweet and super morbid, but that’s why I love it.

Photographs by Hotter LAter

This alternative indie band has been around since at least 2009, and has just released a new EP. You can hear all their tracks on their SoundCloud page. Hotter Later (or Hotter LAter) appears to be the brainchild of Sturgis Adams from Los Angeles, California. Their sound is a casual mix of synth, well harmonized vocals, and steady drum guitar rhythms. The tone reminds me of the honest humility of Guster but with bigger rocks falling from the sky.

I believe I came found Hotter LAter on Twitter and after listening to this track decided to share the love on Song of the Day here. Although there isn’t much information about these guys online yet. Last.fm and BandCamp would be my next recommendations for them.

Pop rocks, sweet & satisfying but spicy and mean enough to make you say ouch. Cults are genuine. Rock’n popp’n and tastalicious! Ok, I realize what I’m writing gives you basically no information about the band. And since they’re hard to google and even Last.fm has two different bands listed under the name Cults, why don’t I add some more links with info on them.

Pitchfork’s Review of Cults

The Cults +++ Official Website ++++ LOL

Listen to Cults Music on BandCamp

Oh yeah!!!!!

This is what I’m talking about! Rich, deep, subtle but strong, creates memories as it moves through you, and makes you shutter as it leaps. And if that’s just how I feel about my coffee in the mornings, imagine how I feel about this song! Kudos to Freelance Whales for their excellent new single and for all their hard work playing in subways, or at least posing for photos with all their stuff in subways. Also, much love for any band that openly gives away some of their best songs for free, like Freelance Whales are!

So I encourage you to go take advantage and go to their page at Green Label Sound. I believe they’re giving away this track and another one for free! BONKERS!!!! What more can I say? They’re from Queens, New York… you can sample more of their stuff on their Last.fm page…. I’d love to see them live. Yep, that’s it for now.

OH that folky indie heart-felt sound!

Not much info on this band, but they are touring right now! Listen to more of their music, check tour dates, see their videos, and buy their albums at The Cave Singers official website.

Alexander Ebert, lead singer of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, released his solo artist work under the band name “Alexander”. His first single was title “Truth“. The music video for this track “A Million Years” is a creative blend of imaginative settings in which the timeless monuments of our world narrate the song of love found. And although it may feel like the sadness we’ve seen has existed for millions of years, the strength and beauty of love can blow it all away. The words of the song tell us how valuable and precious love is and the power it has to make all of existence and all its sadness worth enduring just for this one love.

I can’t believe these guys are from my home city of Vegas and I haven’t seen them before. This indie rock group mixes smooth synth rock elements with upbeat pop to create a unique but easily familiar sound. Catch the rest of their tracks on their official Imagine Dragons website.

Other songs of theirs I recommend are America and Hear Me.

Let’s say you just broke up with your girlfriend.  Or your girlfriend broke up with you.  But she didn’t tell you that you guys were broken up, just moved to Denver instead.  And now you’re writing emails everyday that you never send and running 5 miles a day because you gotta shed those 10 pounds you gained while dating her plus another 5   just so she knows what she’s missing when she comes back to pick up the knee high boots she left in your apartment.  This song is your soundtrack. It’s a wall of sound made from haunting, complimentary male and female vocal lines, the classic loud/soft/loud structure, an epic build up for the bridge, and solid simplicity wrapped in extensive layers of fuzz.  Less is so much more.

This track kicks off Broken Water’s appropriately titled debut album, Whet, that came out last year on Night People Records.  Although if you didn’t know any better you’d swear this came out in ’93 and was possibly the last thing Kurt Cobain heard before he blew his brains out.  You’ll probably be able to recognize some of their influences; Pavement, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Olympia’s own Unwound, even traces of Hum can be heard.  Perfect blend of early nineties Pacific Northwest nostalgia and lo-fi indie rock sensibilities.  This is what getting in on the ground floor sounds like.