They Black Keys just released their video for “Gold On The Ceiling.” Not quite as many laughs as previous videos, but it’ll do the trick.

Some guy* named Joe Pug has a new album coming out on April 24th. He seems to be somewhat talented* with a bright future. He’s going to be touring all over God’s green earth* in the coming months, including a stop at SxSW.

He’s got all sort of shit on his website. Free song 7 sampler. Joe Pug Live at Lincoln Hall for $5, and the aforementioned tour dates. Go check it out, give him your email and let Joe send you sweet nothings* via the internet.

Update: *=sarcasm

2012 is shaping up to be all about the women of indie music. We covered incredible albums from First Aid Kit and Sharon van Etten already and Heartless Bastards are equally deserving of praise. Erika Wennerstrom is the heart and soul of Heartless Bastards and she’s at her best on Arrow.

Arrow is the fourth album released from Heartless Bastards since 2005 and the first on Partisan Records. The album opens with “Marathon,” a down-temp song for those that have gotten off track and found themselves lost in life. It’s mostly just Erika and electric guitar and her voice is on full display.

We all want to belong
to something more than ourselves
because you can’t always do it alone
sometimes you just need
need a little help
on this long way home
on this long way home

And oh I, I ran so far
that I’ve forgotten
what I was running from
And time it takes you so far
And I am longing to be back home
On this long way home.

“Parted Ways” follows up and it has fueled several dance parties in my home – events attended only by myself, my 3 year old daughter and 1.5 year old son. This song is an addiction and I’m eager to find out if a better song will be released this year.

While “Parted Ways” is hard to move beyond, pay attention to the soulful “Only for You.” It’s a marvelous song that shows the full range of Erika’s voice which is nearly overshadowed by an amazing lead guitar throughout. “Gotta Have Rock and Roll” is a hard driving song powered by a simple guitar riff – it’s a song that would make Joan Jett proud. And “Skin and Bone” opens with an rootsy acoustic guitar that had me double checking my iPod for Blitzen Trapper on accidental shuffle.

“Low Low Low” gets even twangier with a change in production. I’m not sure if it’s a different room or a change in technique, but it’s more organic and Wennerstrom’s vocals are more distant – as if we’re hearing her in a barn or by campfire light. It’s a brilliant change of pace.

We’ve been Heartless Bastards fans forever. After their live session with us, I had a chance encounter with them. It was years ago after a full day of drinking that I found myself standing next to Erika at a late night Playboy party at SxSW, waiting for Janes Addiction to take the stage. There she was, randomly right next to me. I think I opened the conversation about us both being from Ohio and how much I love that state – or something equally stupid. Maybe a bunny walked by and I said “fancy meeting you here…” I can’t quite recall. I do recall her being one of the sweetest musicians I’ve ever met and it’s always an experience to see the band live. They will be touring now through May, so check their site for dates. Arrow will be released on Valentine’s Day.

Heartless Bastards – Parted Ways

I first came across Sharon Van Etten when she popped up on Megafaun’s take away show. Being a Megafaun fanatic, my interest was immediately piqued. Combine that with one of our favorite sites, Muzzle of Bees, showing her a steady stream of love; I knew I had to be missing something. So I got my hands on Epic and was enamored. As I spun Epic countless times, my anticipation for the follow-up grew exponentially.

From the first note of the lead single “Serpents,” I knew my wait was well worth it. Sharon has a unique and powerful voice and it can fit any setting – solo with an acoustic, rocking with a band or singing in front of some hipster orchestra like that Portland Cello Project. Her voice carries and resonates, piercing right into your soul.

Tramp was produced by Aaron Desner and features a who’s who of indie heroes – Bryce Dessner, Jenn Wasner, Zach Condon and Matt Barrick. Much like Epic, Van Etten is wearing her heart on her sleeve. For those who don’t know her backstory the New York Times did an excellent piece on Sharon, complete with a performance in a florist/speakeasy.

Much like Epic, Van Etten’s songs come from that rich and varied history. She pours herself into every note as if she is worried that we won’t empathize or understand if she didn’t squeeze every ounce of her being into the music. Confessional, rehabilitative, healing – call it what you will. Tramp packs a wallop and I almost feel guilty enjoying this album as much as I do with the tough times she had to endure.

I could sit here and break down songs individually, but we’d be here all day. Let me just say this – Tramp is genius at work. Van Etten has placed herself amongst the top female performers today. Whereas after Epic I was looking forward to the next album, a release like this makes me look forward to the next 10 years of her career.

Sharon Von Etten – Serpents

Bowerbirds are getting ready to get up in your grill and harmonize the shit out of you with The Clearing. The Clearing is coming out on March 6th via Dead Oceans. I have to say I have never been a massive fan of these guys but I am loving both of these tracks. So that means that they have suddenly become much better or that I was a dope and completely overlooked their previous efforts. Your opinion is welcomed below.

Says the PR Machine: Throughout The Clearing, Bowerbirds’ Beth Tacular and Phil Moore share the best and most important moments of their life in the woods of North Carolina, and the wholehearted “In The Yard,” with its warmth, and acceptance, perfectly represents this. Bowerbirds previously shared album opener, “Tuck the Darkness In,” and now they give you a further peek into what lies ahead on this new album. The Clearing is a bigger record than Bowerbirds’ previous two releases, with bolder sounds, a broader scope, and more complicated songs. Never ceding to increased production demands, the guitars and strings, codas and bridges simply make their thoughts more urgent, more vital and more necessary, but not one bit less permanent.

They’ll be supporting the album with a nice tour through the good ol’ US of A including a stop at Lincoln Hall on 3/29. For more info on the dates, go here.

Bowerbirds – Tuck The Darkness In

Bowerbirds – In The Yard

I’ve never been to Athens, GA but from all accounts, it is a special place full of a rich history. Patterson Hood has enlisted the help of a number of friends in putting this song together. Here is the backstory on the song from the PR release.

Some of the greatest songs were written to give voice to anxiety, despair and unwanted change. “After it’s Gone”, a new single just released by Patterson Hood and the Downtown 13, was inspired by the threat of a Walmart in the heart of the downtown that nurtured the band’s career. Hood, singer, writer and guitarist for the band Drive-By Truckers assembled The Downtown 13, a musical collective made up of some of Athens, Georgia’s finest musicians to celebrate Athens, GA’s beauty and vibrant musical heritage and to protest a developer’s proposed building of a massive mixed use development in downtown Athens, anchored by a 94,000 sq. foot Walmart.

The small and eclectic university town of Athens is a hotbed for national musical acts and many of these local luminaries, including R.E.M.’s Mike Mills and Widespread Panic’s John Bell and Todd Nance came together on the new track to express their opposition to a proposed development by Atlanta-based Selig Enterprises. The back wall of the anchor tenant, Walmart, would be within stone’s throw of Hood’s home and it would tower over the greenway trail along the Oconee River– it is the very embodiment of inappropriate development.

“This Atlanta developer wants to clog our cultural heart and build a bunker the size of three city blocks next to the vibrant downtown scene,” says Hood. “They hit The Easy Button: a big box store in our downtown district is clearly misguided and a somewhat ridiculous notion. Downtown Athens is a dynamic network of local businesses–Athens already has a meaningful brand and we are extremely protective of it.”

Taking a very vocal turn away from the proposed lifestyle-shopping center currently under contract, Hood is the most recent performer to take the role of front man as an Athens community that has long spoken to national and international audiences.

“We have a vibrant downtown with plans for the future that involve planned development along the river and hopefully a high speed rail to Atlanta,” says Hood. “We don’t need a big box retailer, the very definition of the past, to once again bring us back through that dark episode of closed down storefronts and empty parking lots. Protect Downtown Athens– that’s what this is all about.”

You can download the song, view the video and read more about Protect Downtown Athens at the link below:

www.protectdowntownathens.com

J. Tillman left The Fleet Foxes and shortly thereafter, he convinced Aubrey Plaza to act batshit crazy for his first music video. Job well done J. as I have always found Aubrey to be pretty hot and watching her eat flowers, dance with hipsters and smack J. Tillman around has always been a fantasy of mine.

Father John Misty’s debut, Fear Fun, will be released on May 1st via Sub Pop. I think they are a new label out of Seattle. Chances are you’ll be seeing Mr. Tillman in Austin. Whether you see Ms. Plaza pop out of his van is anybody’s guess.

The problem with First Aid Kit is that their singing is so damn good that you’ll overlook their equally good songwriting.  The album opens with this verse on its title track:

Now the pale morning sings of forgotten things
She plays a tune for those who wish to overlook
the fact that they’ve been blindly deceived
By those who preach and pray and teach
But she falls short and the night explodes in laughter.

I fell in love with the debut album released by these Swedish sisters in 2010, but I was very nervous before listening to their sophomore release. In The Big Black & The Blue I could hear the commercial appeal in their look and sound, so in listening to The Lion’s Roar, I pressed play and squinted my eyes, waiting for impact. Other recent artists (not naming names) started with similar successful debuts and then followed with a change in direction that had their original fan base scratching their head. So the moment of truth – Are First Aid Kit heading into pop territory to grab the bubble gum teenie bop fans and their mothers?

I shouldn’t have second guessed First Aid Kit. Sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg delivered an album that trumps its triumphant debut and opens with two songs, the title track and Emmylou, that will be two of the best songs released on any album this year. My guilt really set in when first hearing “Emmylou,” a song that name drops American Country heroes:

I’ll be your Emmylou and I’ll be your June
If you’ll be my Gram and my Johnny too
No, I’m not asking much of you
Just sing, lit tle darling, sing with me

If more women in their teens and early twenties listened to Gram Parsons and Johnny Cash, the word “Snooki” may never have been uttered outside of Jersey and our vernacular and world would be better off.

Other favorites of mine are the heartbreaking “This Old Routine,” “To A Poet” and “Dance To Another Tune” all sung with perfection and infused with heavy emotions and a dash of darkness. But “I Found a Way” and “King of the World” lighten up the mood, the latter of which includes The Felice Brothers and Connor Oberst. In fact, The Lion’s Roar was recorded with producer Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes and Monster Of Folk; producer of Cursive, Lightspeed Champion, Pete Yorn, and many others) in Omaha, NE and included a cast of Omaha-based musicians.

It’s the collaboration with these musicians – a full band – that takes The Lion’s Roar leaps ahead of it’s debut. It’s the songs and the ladies behind them that will make this one of the finest albums in 2012. With talent like this, I think First Aid Kit will manage to stay true to the music they love while also finding masses of adoring fans. You’ll find two videos below and if you like what you hear, jump over to download tracks from our live session with First Aid Kit.

Little Hurricane had quite a year in 2011. While many bands struggle for years to fight for the attention of fans, labels and the media, Little Hurricane found the buzz almost immediately.

The two-piece band formed after lead singer/guitarist Anthony Catalano posted an ad on Craigslist for a drummer. I’ve used Craigslist to sell a couch, area rug, and old dog dishes and I’ve encountered my fair share of characters. I can only imagine what type of humans emerge when you post and ad for a drummer in San Diego. Catching a drummer like Celeste Spina is like winning the lottery. She’s beautiful and loves grimy blues music. 90% of our readers just fell in love with her, including the females.

After forming and walking away with San Diego’s Best New Artist award in 2010, the band released their debut album Homewrecker (one of our favorites) last year, went on to perform at Lollapalooza and even had the song “Get By” featured on the ABC show Revenge. It was during their visit to Chicago for Lolla that we caught up with them for a session at Shirk Music + Sound.

The session features three songs from Homewrecker and one cover of “Grounds for Divorce” by English band Elbow. If you haven’t heard the original, go download it and thank Little Hurricane later for making the introduction. I hadn’t heard the original before and it’s already an addiction. It is also a special treat to hear these live takes of “Crocodile Tears” and “Trouble Ahead,” two of my favorite tracks on the album. Just wait for the little interlude at 2:40 on “Trouble Ahead.” It begs for an answer to a complex question, much like similar conundrums throughout our existence: Does a bear shit in the woods? Does a one legged duck swim in circles? Does a shark have a waterproof asshole? Would you like some slide guitar accompanied with cowbell? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Little Hurricane are touring around the NW in February before making stops in other cities on their way to Austin for SXSW in March. Visit their site for specifics on tour dates.

Little Hurricane Band Intro

Exclusive: Little Hurricane – Haunted Heart [Video: YouTube | Vimeo]

Exclusive: Little Hurricane – Grounds For Divorce (Elbow Cover) [Video: YouTube | Vimeo]

Exclusive: Little Hurricane – Crocodile Tears

Exclusive: Little Hurricane – Trouble Ahead

Download the Little Hurricane Live Session as a zip file.

Video: Little Hurricane – Grounds for Divorce (Elbow Cover)

Video: Little Hurricane – Haunted Heart

Remember the Seinfield episode when Elaine was dating a guy who she thought was African-American and in turn, he thought she was Latino? Sometimes it is just so easy to make a snap conclusion. At the end of the day, they both figured out they were both white and headed off to The Gap.

Well upon listening to Pickwick’s brand of neo-soul, it would be easy to conjure up images of an African-American fronting some white hipsters as they tear through their EP. But nope, they are just some boring white dudes like me. However, unlike me, they deliver a mean brand of soul/funk that is something to behold.

Originally a folky Americana outfit, Pickwick completely turned things around after recording a couple of Dead covers in R&B fashion. From that point on, they transitioned into the band they are today with lead singer Galen Disston delivering the punch to the jamming band behind him.

Pickwick has an EP out called Myths and will be taking their live act down to SxSW this year. Their live act ranges anywhere from 6-13 people on stage. As you can see by this video on KEXP, there is a better than average chance that you can hop on stage without being noticed. Pickwick has moved to the top of my must-see acts down in Austin, so hopefully I will see you there; possibly from the stage.