Miike Snow cleaned up their facial hair and tightened up their act in this new release off their upcoming album “Happy To You” out March, 2012.
I can’t tell if I feel more like an Animal or a Devil when I hear this.
I have a client that talks a lot about giving yourself permission to do things. She’s really smart.
I haven’t ever really been a “tweeter” or a “facebooker” who expresses innate feelings and emotion openly on status’ or whatever and I find it slightly inappropriate to do so beyond the occasionally deep and obscure quote from a foreign, cult flick or an unknown music lyric.
The point is that I am giving myself to permission here to share that I heard this song on a trailer for “Weekend”, played it a million times, and I balled my eyes out. What a shock, I’m a little human (most of my close friends wouldn’t be surprised).
Give yourself permission to go to your safe place, turn this song and the rest of the album following, and as the album title instructs, just Burst Apart. I don’t even keep a goddam diary and it feels like The Antlers read it. So there’s a little piece of the raw me.
That’s all you’ll see for awhile.
Swim Club - The Cave Singers
I was with my complicated partner at ACL two weeks ago and her friend from Portland happened to be there too. We met up with him and he told us about this band he wanted to catch called The Cave Singers. We asked where they were playing and he pointed to a tent I had never noticed before. So we all agreed to meet under the tent after we made a dash for taco/cookies/beer (which was naturally more our focus than some band in a tent..I mean they didn’t even land a stage right?)
Well lo and behold after making sweet sweet cookie & beer porn, we sidled up under the tent for a little deserving music ed. First, the tent is the place to be…even if you’re the shittiest band at the festival, when it’s 107 in Austin, people want shade, and if you’re underneath it, they’ll pretty much listen to cats mating. But this is not the point!!! The point is that The Cave Singers were far from mating cats…in fact, I’d say they were one of my surprise highlights of Austin City Limits 2011. With just three dudes, they managed to create a total stir that had me dancing and clapping like a seasoned fan AND caused me to make mental notes over and over to google/spotify/listen non-stop when I returned to reality. When it comes to The Cave Singers, who needs a big stage? If you’ve got the talent, you can captivate from a park bench!
These three dudes hail from Seattle and they kinda look like it because I wanted to make them my friends…all you need to qualify is a beard with either a party tank, an awesome hat, or flannel (in the winter). They have probably heard this a million times before, but these guys make music that sounds more than three and also redefined the term “to the power of 3.”
Either way, I meandered into ACL’s metaphorical cave and came out with The Cave Singers. Best decision yet since those melty cookies and a crisp Heineken.
Itchin on a Photograph - GROUPLOVE
Although this is a band I waxed musical on like months ago, there’s something about frontman Christian Zucconi’s vocals that scratch my itch the right way and keeps me coming back for more. Plus hats off to them, they’re practically an extinct species being a band that’s coming out of LA…I literally thought that city was a city of angels to musicians. Good for you guys.
Let’s give a nod to Hannah Hooper, keyboardist and wicked harmony hottie, for exercising the Summer of See-Through dress code appropriately & landing Christian as her BF. I give her a 5 out of 5 for the outfit and for making me jealous.
Also, props to Grouplove as a whole for adding clapping to the song. I was told as a young child, when you add clapping to any song, it becomes better …see Jack and Diane by The Coug.
They’re at the Masquerade in the Dirty ATL October 13…get it while it’s hot.
Seaing Lions
Joey Patino (left) and Jason Travis (right)
From my initial encounter, Jason Travis and Joey Patino seemed to be very different people, so different, in fact, that you might question their compatibility as band mates, founding members, and co-writers of the year plus old band, Sealions, which includes Keith Edmiston and John Craig. Patino shared that at a young age he wasn’t really into his parents’ music while Travis said that he thought his parents had cool taste. Travis said that most of the time he can find something to like in every album he hears, while Patino tends to lean the other way. Regardless of first impressions, there’s no doubt that the duo’s vision for their music is one that took some time to find, and through that search they’ve developed a soundthey can say is “the best stuff they’ve ever done.”
“I think with Sealions, the turning point was when I started using drum machines and synthesizers and learning everything I could about electronic music. Jason sort of fed off of that and all of a sudden, we had a new voice. I think it matches his songwriting more than anything else before. I think that’s where Sealions came from,” Joey says.
Of course, finding voice is an essential step to developing, but beyond that, the guys really spoke about their music, their writing, and their appreciation to Atlanta’s music and art scene with a strict professionalism that would tell any listener that these guys aren’t interested in making this a hobby. Joey continues,
“I think our attitude was music was a part-time job whereas now it’s a full time job. You have to at some point realize you have to spend just as much time on this as anything else you want to do. You can immediately see who isn’t committed to this thing.”
Yes, Patino and Travis were a good sell as is their album Strange Veins, but the true test of words is action, am I right? Anyone can say they’re serious, but nothing proves more than a good old fashioned live show.
So off I went to see Sealions at The Earl, and for good measure I brought a two of my friends and Sealions virgins to get some solid, objective feedback based on the show itself. What I saw solidified that Travis and Patino were not all talk and very honed in on what Travis said of their sound,
“We have a vintage, retro feel, but we try to stay really modern with our pop sensibilities and our music. We are a guitar band. We love keyboards as much as we love guitars.”
Well yes, yes they do, and clearly, they love to satisfy their crowd with a show that connects. Between me and my two comrades, we worked up enough sweat dancing to come to the conclusion that it’s not just their music; it’s their energy and compatibility on stage. No wonder they opened for Metric and Miami Horror. Phew, and I was worried those two dudes lied. Trust issues, leave me alone.
They say opposites attract and never judge a book by it’s cover (guilty), but regardless of first impressions, Jason Travis and Joey Patino clearly have something right that goes a lot deeper than what they listened to as kids or who they chose to listen to now. If you don’t believe me, just ask them yourself. Plus, I’ve never heard two guys more adamantly exclaim, “We’re not lo-fi.”
Upcoming Sealions shows:
Jack of Hearts Album Release at The Basement, Aug 26 - $5
Headlining with Machines are People Too and WIC at The Star Bar, Sept 9 - $7
Photo by Dan Depew
tnaf:
Our new music video for ‘The Sun’. Directed by Joel Kefali and Campbell Hooper for Special Problems. Taken from the album ‘Passive Me, Aggressive You’.
Already banned off YouTube. Amazing job Special Problems, blown away once again.
TNAF come to Atlanta Oct 23. I refuse to argue the reason why everyone who likes good things invading your ears should go. If you don’t, all rights to listen should be revoked.
Coming to Atlanta and some other points Southeast along with Carbon Leaf this Sunday…
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Fireflies - Mother Falcon
I’ve had a tumultuous week filled with stress, confusion, and sweat. In times when things feel mixed up, I make a mixtape. It tends to, at least, represent a musical snapshot in my life that I can look back on and go, I remember that…even if sometimes, I’d rather remember the peaks rather than the valleys.
Mother Falcon was one of the key ingredients to my mixtape of mixed emotions and for good reason. Listening to not only “Fireflies”, but also “Alligator Teeth” is an experience that leaves you wondering what happened and where can you get more. Because it’s nothing I’ve ever heard, I tend to bounce from tugged heart strings to agressive passion to melancholic confusion. This is all thanks to the ever changing group of classically trained musicians on strings, brass, and drums led by Nick Gregg on vocals. Let’s face it, you add strings into any song and The Emotion Advisory System threat level will go from yellow to orange.
So whatever you’re searching for in new music (even if it’s not emotive), I think a good bet would be a long hard listen to Mother Falcon. Where indie music tends to draw the line at either synth-drone-beach-wave or Americana-folk-rock… Mother Falcon truly spreads their wings into a completely new musical direction.
This speaks for itself…Happy Humpin’
Kiss of Life - Friendly Fires
I guess I need this “old news tune” posted because I got REALLY excited the British were coming to town. Not too mention this video is so totally the epitome of world music style drumming made accessible and sexy (not that that last part even needed to be stated).
Their album Pala was released in May of this year and it’s all I wanted and more. It’s one of those albums that could be found on a marathon running playlist to a dancing your face off playlist to a mix late night for getting it on with some anonymous stranger while you met doing the latter. I guess what those three things have in common is they are the most primal of motives.
I may be partial due to the fact that the album title, Pala, came from Huxley’s novel Island, which features a shipwrecked journalist on a utopian island and I’m a sucker for literary references.
Regardless, I find it absolutely essential that this is a song to sweat to…I guess Friendly Fires lives up to their name. Hot hot hot.
My mother has always told me that I fall in love too quickly or that I give to much credit too soon to a person that might just be subpar, at best. She says I see the potential, but not the person, in fact, sometimes I can be naive.
Well, I do love Mom, and she’s seen those highs and lows, and however much I may deny the above transgressions in life, I will wholeheartedly admit I do them in music. But in music, I’m almost always right about the potential partner.
Intro the latest band in my love affair that is indie music. We were introduced by a mutual friend who told me to give it a shot because beyond their own distinct sound, there’s a hint of Depeche Mode-ishness in there too, which he knew was my type. I’m not much of a dater, but I said hey, maybe I’ll just have a drink with The Futura Bold and see where it goes.
Well, clearly it went and now I’m committed to see them tonight at The Star Bar. The Futura Bold came together in 2005 and is comprised of James Hall, long time music veteran and Katrina transplant, Chris Piskun and Bruce Butkovich and they released an album back in 2010. After having sat and listened track by track to their stuff, I can only say that I’m pretty sure that between the hazy Star Bar atmosphere and the depth of their musical talent, I’ll probably fall even more head over heels.
They play tonight @ 9:30 with notable Atlanta band Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun and I Was Totally Destroying It from Chapel Hill.
I may have a spotty dating history, but I’m pretty sure when it comes to The Futura Bold, our future is very bright.
Days Are Years - Blue Sky Black Death
I needed something a little smoother shall we say considering my unplanned hangover this morning. This to me was perfect.
Plus, today really did feel like a year and considering I wo-manned up pretty hard today, I leave you with very little insight but this…Dirty Martini’s are still good, even when your head feels like it got kicked in with a steel toed boot, that being said, Blue Sky Black Death is the perfect way to lull that head back to sleep.
With that I bid you ado.
