If you came to Waynestock, my and TwentyFourBit’s first ever SXSW party yesterday, thank you. It was a blast. (Though, a tip for next year: if you’re writing “+2″ on the Facebook wall after the party has started, you’re doing it wrong.) I’ll have a full recap with photos and more videos next week, but for now, here’s headliner Sondre Lerche playing “Domino,” the lead single from his upcoming self-titled album.
Oh, yes. Sondre Lerche at 6 p.m., ARMS at 5 p.m. and so on. Get to the Liberty at noon and we’ll have free beer, free snack bars from our sponsor thinkThin, free shirts from our sponsor Etnies, and free good vibes from our final sponsor, Origami Vinyl. See ya there, and be sure to use #Waynestock on the Twitters.
Like High Highs’ “Open Season,” “Horses” focuses on the burgeoning band’s acoustic side, adding the group’s trademark luminous vocals to the rough clatter of acoustic guitar chords. It’s music that’s hard to pinpoint: the gothic undertones of Okkervil River are here, as is the youthful psychedelic drift of Elephant 6, but mostly it sounds like High Highs, a band that’s probably already indie rock’s rookie of the year. They’re playing SXSW all week; maybe we’ll learn if they have more than three songs.
Beyond Waynestock (Thursday at the Liberty! Free beer/snacks/shirts! Come!), I’m going to SXSW for my day job this year, which means mostly coverage over on Brand X and a pretty L.A.-centric trip to Austin for yrs truly. With that in mind, here’s my guide to the Austin madness. Read the rest of this entry »
The video for Manwomanchild’s killer “Reasons” is more on that Decemberists/Flaming Lips tip narrative-wise than it is indebted to the song’s straightforward glam-rock influences. But any indie rock clip with a golden telescope and a sea monster is fine by me.
Wow, the ’90s are really back, huh? The Pains of Being Pure At Heart’s sophomore effort Belong announces itself with an abruptly heavy title track, the second indie song in a year to quote the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Today” (see also: Tokyo Police Club) with Huffington Post-level generosity. “Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now” maintains the guitar heaviness but backtracks toward the Sarah Records twee template that baked the band’s cookie-cutter debut. The rest is somewhere in between, a bolder, arena-ready sound that lands closest to the band’s inferior shoegaze-y pre-project, the Depreciation Guild (the Crystal Skulls to Pains’ Fleet Foxes).
It’s certainly more the album of Kurt Feldman, the Guild frontman and Pains drummer. By letting him cut loose a bit, Belong resolves the debut’s main issue — an unchanging tempo that made the second half blander than shredded wheat — but winds up with a host of new problems. Belong, simply, is too chunky to be charming. The alternative era, in case you missed the part where Kurt Cobain killed himself, was about being miserable; former C86ers Pains’ suddenly updated nostalgia seems misplaced, especially when colleagues such as MINKS and Wild Nothing have so successfully revitalized the ’80s. There are warm enough moments here, particularly the eye-of-the-storm tenderness of “Anne With An E” or the Cure homage “My Terrible Friend,” but from a band so promising just a year ago, Belong is a wrong turn. Stream it in full after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Little Scream’s Laurel Sprengelmeyer was kind enough to pose for some photos before (and during, of course) her recent performance at the Canadian Consulate’s pre-Grammy party. You’ll have the chance to catch her, Sondre Lerche, Pepper Rabbit and more up close at Waynestock, Rawkblog and TwentyFourBit‘s free, unofficial day party at the Liberty bar in Austin, Texas on March 17, sponsored by our pals at Etnies, thinkThin and Origami — details here and on Facebook. More photos of the lovely Laurel after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Like High Highs’ “Open Season,” “Horses” focuses on the burgeoning band’s acoustic side, adding the group’s trademark luminous vocals to the rough clatter of acoustic guitar chords. It’s music that’s hard to pinpoint: the gothic undertones of Okkervil River are here, as is the youthful psychedelic drift of Elephant 6, but mostly it sounds like High Highs, a band that’s probably already indie rock’s rookie of the year. They’re playing SXSW all week; maybe we’ll learn if they have more than three songs.
Wow, the ’90s are really back, huh? The Pains of Being Pure At Heart’s sophomore effort Belong announces itself with an abruptly heavy title track, the second indie song in a year to quote the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Today” (see also: Tokyo Police Club) with Huffington Post-level generosity. “Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now” maintains the guitar heaviness but backtracks toward the Sarah Records twee template that baked the band’s cookie-cutter debut. The rest is somewhere in between, a bolder, arena-ready sound that lands closest to the band’s inferior shoegaze-y pre-project, the Depreciation Guild (the Crystal Skulls to Pains’ Fleet Foxes).
