Praising our white winter, the new highway

19 Feb

New Highway Hymnal

I can’t say I’ve ever worshipped the highway, nor at one, but these are the types of hymns I can support. Introducing the Massachusetts-based garage rockers, New Highway Hymnal and their debut LP, The Reverb Room.

If the title of this album is a double entendre, I don’t know what the second meaning could be; the denotation, though, is vivid. The reverb feels turned up to the max on every instrument, including most notably the vocals. At some point, the album simply becomes a cacophony of sound, but it is organized chaos, creating many hues of harmonies and dissonance. This is unabashed and fearless garage rock, so if you’re into that, The Reverb Room deserves your attention.

The Reverb Room is out now. For more information on The New Highway Hymnal, visit their Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, and Bandcamp.

Mermaid in China more resembles siren with enchanting debut EP

17 Feb

Mermaid-In-China

Mermaid in China is four guys from Portland layering dreampop melodies with a diverse range of influences. Their self-titled debut demonstrates the breadth of their talent, from cheery pop ballads to melodramatic underwater sequences.

As a whole, the EP is extremely fun, but it does not exhaust. The opening track, the first song we hear from Mermaid in China, is “The Vast Divide,” catches you with that initial hook, and demands you dance for the following entrancing five minutes. The next song though is duller, in the sense that it is not bound by falsetto dance rhythms. Aptly, it’s titled “Gentle,” as it feels like a deep breath after having a sugar high. I cannot stress enough how catchy each song can be though; Mermaid in China can go from mellow indie rock to bubblegum pop. Then “The Average Man” once again resets any expectations you have been calculating in the back of your head. Lo-fi shoegaze electro wave… though so many words can describe this music, none do it justice. Give it a listen, form your own opinion, use your own words.

Mermaid in China’s debut self-titled EP is out now. Visit them on their website, Facebook, and Twitter.

It’s all Beecher’s Fault

16 Feb

Last week I heard the first new music from Florence + the Machine in what feels like decades. I really loved their debut, Lungs, and I think this upcoming release will echo the raw energy from tracks such as “Kiss with a Fist” and “I’m Not Calling You a Liar.” Coincidentally, or perhaps serendipitously, this week I also heard Beecher’s Fault with a track called “Matchstick Kings.” It reminds me very much of the energy and emotion that F+tM exudes, but with a nostalgic and bright twist.

“Matchstick Kings” reminds me immensely of “Dog Days are Over.” In both, the intros are slow and purposeful, building up to something but coming to a pause before launching into the full song. Beecher’s Fault offer Boyhood-like false memories of your childhood with cute xylophones and admission that “we are the kids that never get old.” Of course, this isn’t true; we do get old, and we become adults. We build our lives like they built little matchstick “things” but inevitably, this means that they must fall apart. But once they do, we just start over again.

Visit Beecher’s Fault on their website, Facebook, and Twitter.

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AWOLNATION Rocks the Hollow Moon

11 Feb

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Back in 2011, AWOLNATION – the moniker of adroit musician Aaron Bruno and the rest of his four-person band (not pictured above) – released one of the album’s of the year with Megalithic Symphony. There was no question that Bruno’s blend of heavy electronic rock with infectious rhythms broke several genre boundaries and created a multifarious alternative/rock amalgamation. So, three years later, with AWOLNATION on the precipice of a new album (RUN to be released on March 17 of this year), I, as well as other music fans, have high expectations for the new release.

Thankfully, AWOLNATION released the first single from its new album, and “Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)” is a tremendous example of AWOLNATION’s tremendous sound and variegated music. The song begins with stuttered synth that bounces like a Buddy Holly track. The verse features elegant distortion with an almost maniacal undertone. There are echoes and harmonies and crashing percussion. It is like the listener is in the mind of a crazy genius. The chorus is odd. It’s a peculiar mix of late 90s heaviness and a darker Grouplove-like jocularity with austere subtleties.

After a video game link, Bruno chants an expletive and then shouts that he will be back from the dead soon, and this is so badass that it’s difficult to put into words. And, when Bruno starts to yell at the end of the song, you just want to yell with him – a melodic catharsis!

This is an excellent song for several reasons. Simply, though, AWOLNATION kicks so much behind! Bruno and his band is ridiculously talented, and “Hollow Moon” is evidence of that blatant fact. Listen … now!

Follow your only instinct

9 Feb

The day glows warmly. It’s sunny, but the woods cause the sunlight to create dull shadows even at midday. There’s a lonely cabin near a creek. During the winter months, the chimney pumps out smoke from the fireplace, but it’s not winter yet, so all is silent. The air is cool, a breeze causes the trees to sigh. The cabin is hollow, cavernous even, without furniture or many walls. In the middle of the room are instruments and amps and sheets of music, all carelessly piled atop one another. This is the hypothetical space where Colorado Youth conceived their debut album, Only Instinct.

This is a cohesive folk album, but it often feels like more than that. One of my favorite tracks is “Fare You Well,” a soft four minute melody. Other tracks are louder, with fuller swells of guitars and brusque vocals, but still others are stripped down and acoustic. Listen closely and you may even catch a banjo.  Only Instinct’s opening track, “Tricks,” sets the tone with a slow-burning intro, a choral refrain, and eventually a taste of the true form that Colorado Youth exhibits. Powerful vocals demand to know, “is it just my mind playing tricks on me?” We’re being had, you and me both.

Only Instinct is out now. For more information, visit Colorado Youth on Facebook.

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