Hiss Golden Messenger "Lucia"

First discovered at Grimeys on a bellyful of hot chicken and beer - Hiss Golden Messenger's last record Haw soundtracked an excellent Nashville trip a year ago. After signing to Merge, Hiss will release Lateness of Dancers, its fifth studio album, on September 9th. With a warmness and depth - the early offerings including "Lucia" show a band and songwriter reaching their stride - though, no matter what, they will always sound better when full of hot chicken.

Wild Flag Are The Shit

[mp3] Wild Flag: "Romance"

The Wild Flag women are industry vets. They know how to place records records at indie retail. It's just the way the business works people. This song is awesome. Wild Flag's excellent self-titled record drops next week on Merge. How can you not love Carrie Brownstein?

Savage Night at The Opera

[mp3] Destroyer: "Savage Night at the Opera"

Didn't really know what to think about the new Destroyer Kaputt (Merge) record when it first dropped way back in January. But, somehow it's managed to stay on my iPhone shuffle all these months, building up plays and worming its way into my subconscious. I like the album, maybe even really like the album, but I hate the smooth jazz sax lines. For whatever atmosphere they add, they distract from the songs more. This sax/trumpet fad will be short lived in indie rock and date the record. That being said, this is a quality album. This is solid songwriting, with unique execution and delivery. It will be on my top albums of the year list - just not sure where yet... Here's Destroyer's great new video for "Savage Night at the Opera."

New Telekinesis

[mp3] Telekinesis: "Car Crash"

After a rocky start which found him with no band and at the end of a long-distance romantic relationship Telekinesis' Michael Benjamin Lerner rebounded strongly, banging out the 12 new tunes found within the aptly titled 12 Desperate Straight Lines, which drops Feb 15 on Merge. We're pretty sure there's something wrong with you if you didn't love the songs contained on Telekinesis' self-titled debut, and while we can't speak for the entire new album, the first track, Car Crash seems to pick up right where the S/T left off. It's charming compelling power-pop that's at once compelling, deep, and lasting.

The Love Language Ready New Release - Libraries

Snowed in with The Love Language from Jason Arthurs on Vimeo.

[MP3] Love Language - "Heart to Tell"

North Carolina-natives, The Love Language, are gearing up to offer their Merge Records, debut album titled Libraries, on July 13. Leading up to release date, LL will be joining Camera Obscure for a select set of tour dates in June (see after the jump.) In the meantime, enjoy an MP3 from their new record above as well as an entertaining video of the band snowed-in the studio. Nice slap shot! These guys have been on our radar for a bit and we are excited to see things happening for them! Poppier Rural Alberta anyone? Works for us!

The Love Language on tour:

6.03 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel^
6.04 Cincinnati, OH Fountain Square – Outdoors – FREE ^
6.05 Richmond, VA The National ^
6.07 New York, NY The Grand at Manhattan Center ^
6.20 Chicago, IL Taste Of Randolph Street Festival w/ Superchunk, Califone & Headlights
9.11 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Festival w/ Public Enemy
^ = w/ Camera Obscura

Caibou: New Video, MP3

[mp3] Caribou: "Odessa"

The blog world has rightfully been in a frenzy on the back of the announcement of a new record from the excellent Canadian artists Caribou. Swim comes out April 20th on Merge. Caribou's previous effort, Polaris Prize winning Andorra, took us all by surprise with its winning mix of psych, rock, pop, and electronica. All signs are pointing to the fact that another gem is heading down the line with Swim; certainly one of the most anticipated indie rock records of 2010 (and a lock for best new music status). P4k debuted the video for the standout single "Odessa" this morning. Someone should start an official gambling site handicapping Pitchfork reviews. Anyone? Cover art and tracklist after the jump.




Swim:

01 Odessa
02 Sun
03 Kaili
04 Found Out
05 Bowls
06 Leave House
07 Hannibal
08 Lalibela
09 Jamelia

New Wye Oak Record - The Knot

[mp3]
Wye Oak: "Take It In"

Wye Oak's In Children got a lot of love around here last year, and we were lucky enough to catch them at the Brooklyn Vegan party earlier this year at CMJ. The duo are able to effortlessly move from subtle country/folk melodies to periods of tasty rock. Today, Wye Oak offer up a track from their upcoming Merge record The Knot. We gotta say, we're straight suckers for the pedal steel, so the new song "Take It In" certainly satisfies that urge. The sound here is fuller and more textured than the last record, and the melodies even seem a little more mature. A nice first taste indeed. The cover art is above. The Knot is scheduled for a July 21st release. They hit the Mercury Lounge on May 13th. Check out the rest of their huge tour after the jump. VIA



04/16 Newport, KY @ Southgate House
04/17 Chicago, IL @The Hideout
04/18 Northfield, MN @ Carleton College - The Cave
04/19 Minneapolis, MN @7th St. Entry
04/20 Iowa City, IA @PS1
04/21 Omaha, NE @The Waiting Room
04/22 Denver, CO @Lion's Lair
04/23 Salt Lake City, UT @Kilby Court
04/24 Boise, ID @Neurolux
04/25 Kennewick, WA @The Red Room
04/26 Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
04/27 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
04/29 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
04/30 Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge
05/01 Phoenix, AZ @ Stinkweeds Record Store
05/04 Norman, OK @ Opolis
05/05 Ft. Worth, TX @ Lola's Stockyards
05/06 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
05/09 Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
05/10 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
05/11 Washington, DC @ Black Cat Backstage
05/12 Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
05/13 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
05/14 Cambridge, MA @ TT the Bear's
05/15 New Haven, CT @ Cafe Nine
05/16 Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery

Gold Soundz: Superchunk

Contributor Mike Bailey enjoys talking about records from yesteryear -- the 70's, 80's and 90's -- that influenced what's happening today. Thus, Gold Soundz was born. (Props to Pavement for the perfect name.) In this piece, Bailey takes a different seminal indie record every week and examines its significance and impact on the present. 

Superchunk: No Pocky For Kitty

(Matador, 1991)

No Pocky For Kitty can be looked at as much more than a record; it was a turning point.  Not only did it put Superchunk on the map (making them the Death Cab For Cutie of the early 90's), it also shifted the focus of the independent music scene from Athens, GA to Chapel Hill, NC.  Chapel Hill was home base for Superchunk and ground zero for the label they started, Merge Records.  Today Merge is know as one of the elite indie labels (Arcade Fire, Spoon, M. Ward, etc.), but in the early 90's it was a struggling operation releasing Superchunk 7" singles and small run releases from minor artists like Butterglory and Versus.  The label was so small in fact that Superchunk released their first 3 full length albums, including No Pocky For Kitty, on Matador Records before making the shift to Merge.  This was pre-blog hype, a D.I.Y. aesthetic that would become the template for most indie labels.  Similar to what Fugazi did with the Dischord label, exactly what Conor Oberst & company have done with Saddle Creek.

On top of all the attention the band received, lead singer Mac McCaughan and bassist Laura Ballance were a couple, and that just seemed to give magazine writers one more thing to focus on.  Mac and Laura were indie rock royalty with the likes of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon (i.e. Ben Gibbard and Zooey Deschanel). 

Okay, what about the music? No Pocky For Kitty comes at you in three-minute bursts, energized by hyper guitar riffs and fuzzed-out bass.  The album opener, "Skip Steps 1 & 3", makes a definite impression.  Not as punk as Jawbreaker or Fugazi, not as angular as Pavement or Sebadoh.  But like Pavement's Slanted & Enchanted (released less than a year later), you knew from this first track you were in for something special.  Overall it's a fairly pop approach with short, hooky songs.  Tunes like "Seed Toss" and "Throwing Things" were melodic gems.  Producer Steve Albini's raw style added weight to the songs without losing them in distortion and noise. 

Mac McCaughan's vocal delivery is very pointed, but his lyrical content is less precise.  He's able to emote with very blunt statements; I'd call it short jabs of clever vagueness.  A fine example is the opening verse from "Seed Toss";

I put a stake in your spokes 
And you'd better laugh at my jokes 
You better memorize this face 
You better stay in my good graces

No Pocky is very cohesive - short and compact.  "Cast Iron", "Punch Me Harder", "Tie a Rope to the Back of the Bus", all memorable tunes that remain a staple of their live shows.  It's a record that is very much of it's time.  Again, Sebadoh, Pavement, Jawbreaker - bands doing their own things but very aware of what each other are doing.  In fact, Superchunk would release The Freed Seed 7" within a few short months of No Pocky For Kitty, which contained 3 Sebadoh covers.

Looking back now, it's impossible for me to believe that this record, or at least Superchunk's recorded output, hasn't influenced guys like Rivers Cuomo and Craig Finn.  You can also hear the influence of this time period in records by Modest Mouse, Deerhunter, Cursive and others.  I'm not going say that this is one of the 20 best "indie" records of all time, but I would argue that it had a huge effect on what came after it. 

- Mike Bailey, Contributing Writer

Wye Oak - If Children

Review by Vince Amoroso

Even though it was released in April, we just got our hands on this record, but it has not disappointed.

Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack struggled with a band name, eventually settling on Wye Oak. The duo, hailing from Baltimore, Maryland found poetic justice in naming their band after the state's honorary tree. Wasner and Stack also struggled with producing a debut album, which they achieved with If Children, only after a blitzkrieg of recordings in various basements and apartments. There is no sign of immaturity or pensiveness on this, their first album. Wye Oak produce soundscapes and layered musical complexity like that of seasoned professionals.

If Children wanders, ebbing and flowing between delicate vocal lines and effect-driven guitar vamps. The album is seamless, providing balance in a way that begets a cover-to-cover listen. On songs such as " Keeping Company," George Winston-like piano balladry accents Wasner's whispering yet powerful vocals, creating time and space. Choral harmonies add to the build-up of emotional suspension, while tambourine and drum-rim-backed percussion provides the necessary release. The song's cyclical nature leaves listeners with a tender balance of musical highs and lows. While songs such as "Keeping Company" and "Please Concrete" highlight the vocal abilities of Wasner, tunes like "Orchard Fair" change gears, employing a common theme of the album.

The latter songs profile the guitar playing and songwriting abilities of Stack. While he does sing (rather nicely) on tunes such as opener "Archaic Smile" and "A Lawn To Mow," Stack's multi-elemental guitar sounds are his draw. "Orchard Fair" encompasses Radiohead-like guitar structures and feedback effects with Stack joining Wasner on vocals - the vocal combination only makes the tune that much more powerful.

If Children makes you want to get lost. Wasner and Stack do their best to lead you into oblivion, then bring you back, song-to-song throughout the entire album.

Wye Oak - Myspace

Merge

(Special thanks to Christina at Merge)