Watch the new video for School Of Seven Bells‘ song “Lafaye” below, taken from the album “Ghostory”.

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Full disclosure: I was fooled into listening to The Sugarettes. Anyone that knows me (though I think I’ve gushed about it in writing a few times too) knows that the 60′s are my favorite musical period thanks to the wonderful melodies (and harmonies, for that matter) that characterized pop music at the time. Girl groups are a particular highlight, and I’ve spent many hours singing along to The Crystals or The Ronettes. So when I stumbled into The Sugarettes in our subs box (see? we listen!) I was expecting a band very much in that vein.

As it turns out, though, I was wrong. The Sugarettes have close to nothing to do with 60′s girl groups, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I said I was fooled, yes, but I actually don’t regret it all.

All that’s available on their Bandcamp is one song, titled “Destroyers of Worlds”, which, come to think of it, seems like a bit of a harsh name for a band that has “sugar” in their name. In its just over two minutes though, as unbelievable as it may sound, the song actually manages to capture what you might think a cross between a song about people who destroy worlds and a band with “sugar” in their name would sound like.

The tune has an undeniable pop backbone, with big drums, a sunny, upbeat verse, a chorus that could actually belong in the 60′s and then a massive pile of distorted guitars in between the chorus and the following verse, a structure that’s repeated with slight modifications (such as singing over the distortion) on the second half. It seems like a formula that shouldn’t work, but I can’t imagine it having been executed in a much better way than The Sugarettes do. It’s a wonderful mix of contrasting images, as the jangly instrumentation in the chorus is met with Iskaa’s (the band’s singer) chants that “[they] are destroyers of worlds”.

As for the band themselves, in another interesting twist of events, are a four-piece from the Netherlands, comprised of Joep (guitars), Iskaa (vocals), Marnix (bass) and Marjolein (drums). The first two have actually been part of other musical projects in the past, and, after being friends for fifteen years are now happily in love (cue the “awwww’s”). Their story has served as the primary material for the eleven songs that comprise that band’s forthcoming album, which is expected later this year.

If you’re a fan of distortion and pop I would say look no further than The Sugarettes, who deliver fair doses of both. And while it sounds like something that has been done in the past, most recently by bands like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, this is something different altogether thanks to the distinct separation of the song structures. There’s equal parts straight-up pop mixed with The Jesus and Mary Chain, and I love it.

Connect with The Sugarettes - Facebook | Website | Bandcamp

The Sugarettes – “Destroyers Of Worlds”

After many hiatuses, members leaving, calling it quits several times, several triumphal albums, solo explorations (or at least for frontman Tim Kasher, a.k.a. The Good Life) and the like, it can’t be denied that Cursive has been through a harrowing journey since their first debut in 1995.

With their managing to stay intact as a band definitely deserving of a solid thumbs up, Cursive once again takes the concept album route, a familiar road which they have taken many times after winning critics over with previous releases like “The Ugly Organ” (2003) and “Happy Hollow” (2006).

The basis of  “I Am Gemini” tells the story of two twins, Cassius and Pollock. Cassius is the protagonist of this story and Pollock, the clear antagonist. Now, with the purchase of the album comes the liner notes, a narrative that may prove to be a handy and essential companion in order to follow the streamline of this album accordingly. Fans have reported on seeing the album in a whole new light with the accompaniment of the liner notes as they add more meat and weight to the whole of the album. If you, like me, don’t have the patience to follow through the accompanying notes since you have the attention span of a 6 year-old, well… you could have a problem.

Although this fact is much debated depending on where you hear it from, Kasher is well known for his writing, having recently even forayed into the art of screenwriting. This album’s problem isn’t so much its writing as its lack of maturity or any signs of progress for the band. Many of the tracks here blend together into one emo-sounding whine, a story which fails to intrigue me or catch my attention long enough to last the full 45+ minutes of the album and hear the end of Kasher’s tale.

Unlike the cathartic release of “The Ugly Organ” which boasted the stellar single, “The Recluse”, there are no obvious standouts or winners here. “The Recluse” told a story in a hushed yet critically revealing tone that excused a number of potentially embarrassingly corny lines (eg. ‘my ego’s like my stomach / keeps shitting what I feed it’). “The Ugly Organ” really did sound that good, especially through the ears of as a hormonal adolescent then. However, with “I Am Gemini”, the presence of real emotion you can really empathize with is difficult to follow. Since, in essence, Cursive is an emo band after all, the lack of ability to really connect with the emotions involved in their music is quite a flaw.

Ultimately this album is really a hit or miss; if you like it that’s swell, but if not you’ll probably find you really don’t like it. That split is even visible among Cursive fans, with many thinking that “I Am Gemini” is Cursive at their best and many being greatly underwhelmed by it. Hopefully you find yourself in that first group, but regrettably I belong squarely in the latter.

Connect With Cursive – Website | Facebook | Last.fm

Listen to “Hey Jane” a new song by Spiritualized, taken from their upcoming album “Sweet Heart Sweet Light”, out April 17th on Double Six/Fat Possum.

I’m not going to pretend I know anything about Spiritualized, because I don’t. But the head-honcho said to put this up and I’m dutifully doing so. What I can tell you about Spiritualized is that they’re from England, have been around since 1990 in various shapes, forms and sizes (thanks Wikipedia!) and that their new album, “Sweet Heart Sweet Light” is their first one in four years and has a terrible album cover (see above).

“Hey Jane” is an almost 9-minute epic, that sounds like something straight out of the 70′s, and actually reminds me of something The Velvet Underground might have put on “Loaded”. After a fully formed 3:40 song, it suddenly stops, only to go into a frenetic (and fantastic) build of classic psychedelic rock right up until the end.

Listen to the new song below, and let me know what I’m missing out in the comments, please.

Connect with Spiritualized - Facebook | Website

Listen to a new track by Michael Kiwanuka and Dan Auerbach (lead singer of The Black Keys) titled “Lasan”, the B-side to his new single “I’m Getting Ready”.

2012 is going to be a hell of a year for Michael Kiwanuka. After being ranked #1 in BBC’s Sound of 2012 the singer has gathered a bit of a following as we all wait in anticipation for his debut album, “Home Again”, due out March 26th.

Now the singer has teamed up with The Black Keys’ lead singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach to a record a one-off track at Ray Davies’ (The Kinks‘ ex-frontman) studio, as TwentyFourBit points out.

The track is what we’ve come to expect from the British singer: a down-tempo ballad that would have fit wonderfully a few decades ago. There’s no trace of Auerbach’s vocals, so I’m guessing he was responsible for the guitar and/or production.

In any case, listen to the collaboration below, and let us know what you think and how excited you are for “Home Again”.

Connect with Michael Kiwanuka - Facebook | Twitter | Website | Soundcloud

Watch the new video for Bleeding Knees Club‘s song “Nothing To Do” below, taken from the album “Nothing To Do”.

Connect with Bleeding Knees Club – Facebook / Twitter / Last.fm

Sometimes I am straight-up amazed by the sort of nonsense that PR copywriters actually churn out. I swear the day I read about a band who are described as “quite good” and “not all that original, but fresh enough” I’ll know I’m sitting on the next Beatles. Fortunately for Kodacrome I listened to their music before I read their press-pack, and the music pretty much speaks for itself.

I’ll distill the actually useful parts of the literature out for you. There are three of them: singer, synther and erstwhile-classical pianist Elissa Pociask, drummer-and-producer Ryan Casey, and guitarest Phil DaRosa. Basically, Curve’s setup but with a guitarist – and at times there are some definite echoes of their “Chinese Burn” era. Particularly on “All The Ama”, with those distorted vocals and the dissonant bass synth. I love a bit of Curve, so no complaints there.

The three came together in Phil’s studio on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, to put their various backgrounds to good use. The result is an EP, “Perla”, that’s actually quite hard to pin down. At times it leans heavily on danceable electronics; at others it’s rough-and-ready rock; at others still it has a light and acoustic feel. What’s impressive is that the blend still manages to make sense.

A real highlight in this regard is “Modern Man”, which seems to move comfortably between all of the above. It also brings into focus the almost uncanny similarity of Elissa’s singing and that of Metric‘s Emily Haines. Given the blend of aesthetics, that’s a comparison that runs quite deep. Metric have always been a bit of a hit-and-miss affair for me: at times, they really nail it; at others they leave me almost completely flat. The good news is that Kodacrome sound like the good bits.

Genre-juggling is never an easy task, but the threesome do a confident job. Of course, compared to the press promises of Circular Motive Object Reinvention, they don’t necessarily meet expectations. Did they find “mercy in mechanics”, or “triumph in destruction”? No. But did they pick out the common threads in various disparate musical styles, and weave them together into an engaging aural tapestry? Absolutely. You can stream and download “The Bug” and “Modern Man” below.

Connect with Kodacrome - Facebook | Twitter | Website | Soundcloud

Listen to Real Estate‘s new song “In My Car” below.

On April 21st as part of Record Store Day 2012, Domino Records will release a new zine called Smuggler’s Way that will be limited and one-of-a-kind, featuring original words, music, and art from a host of artists on the label’s roster.

It’ll feature content from members of the likes of The Kills, Wild Beasts, Twin Sister, Real Estate, Cass McCombs, Owen Pallet, Laura Marling, Dirty Projectors, and more. Today they dropped “In My Car”, the first cut from the zine and recently outed new song by Real Estate, played live for NPR back in January but here now in its studio form.

Connect with Real Estate – Facebook | Last.fm | Blog

Watch the new video for Islands‘ song “Hallways” below, taken from the album “A Sleep And A Forgetting”.

Connect with Islands – Facebook | Twitter | Last.fm

Shearwater’s new album “Animal Joy” is a hard album to listen to. Not because it’s too experimental or anything like that, but because it is extremely cringe worthy. A lot of the band’s songs have always boarded on being a little corny but never took it too far and that’s what I loved about their musical style. “The Golden Archipelago” is a hard record to follow; it is a minimal heartbreaking gem and received critical acclaim from a lot of critics and rightly so. Here, the band seems to have taken a rather dramatic turn for the worse.

Animal Joy is lacking what made “The Golden Archipelago” and “Rook” so fascinating. The playfulness and gentleness are substituted for 80s power ballad cheese. When the album kicks in, starting with “You As You Were”, the cheese doesn’t end until the album finale and Jonathon Meiburg’s intoxicating melodramatic voice has been kicked up several notches, which comes of sounding dismal, so much so that a Bon Jovi fan would appreciate this much more than any Okkervil River fan.

New listeners will think of Shearwater as a throwback to Antony And The Johnsons, which has always been the case with each album, but here it sounds less of a fortunate similarity and more like a mimicking of Antony Hegarty with songs like “Run The Banner Down”.

The band sounds like they are trying too hard, too hard to be powerful. The music on “Animal Joy” reminds me of the Robot Unicorn Attack tune, which would have been a good thing if this were the 80s. In places though, the album does succeed in creating a heart sinking power ballad, and it feels so damn good when they are playing the right chords and Jonathon Meiburg is being as expressive in his lyricism as ever.

The immaculate and riveting opening, “Animal Life” created a false hope for me as I thought I had opened the door to the perfect Shearwater album, instead I got something insanely embarrassing. Some songs rely on a single bog standard guitar riff for three boring minutes (“Open Your Houses”) and go absolutely nowhere while others obtain 5-6 minutes of half-assed rock compositions (“Star Of The Age”) that feel endlessly and needlessly dragged on. “Animal Joy” is a surprising step out of place from a band I thought could do no wrong.

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