Cassie Ramone (Vivian Girls) and Kevin Morby (Woods) join forces with Nathanael Stark and Justin Sullivan in The Babies, a new garage-pop duo based in Brooklyn, New York. The band released a couple of 7″ singles last year and are about to drop their debut album. ‘Wild I’ is the latest single to flood the airwaves with Cassie’s voice sounding gritty and pure, like raw sugar melting on a hot iron. The guitar playing sits somewhere between Sonic Youth and the laid back vibes of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. Much like moments of Best Coast’s critically acclaimed debut Crazy For You, there’s the pain and the longing but it’s more smooth than fractured.
Who:Sleigh Bells
Location: Brooklyn, NY
elbo.ws Ranking: #39
Thoughts: ‘Tis almost the season for holiday merriment, but back in October Sleigh Bells were getting their wish with music fans and critics alike fawning over their every move during the annual CMJ Music Marathon. Sites like Stereogum, Pitchfork, and more were quick to anoint them the breakout stars of the Marathon without ever hearing anything more then a few shoddy recorded mp3’s beyond the live show. We still can’t attest to the power of their live performance but we can attest to the novelty of the songs that have found their way to their MySpace and the Hype Machine. The songs seem to mix elements of the lo-fi, scuzz wave that has been assaulting our ears all year long and the bounce and beat of some sort of British hip hop act.
I’m feeling rather inspired tonight so I thought I’d write a post on one of my favourite bands of all time you’ve probably never heard of. I’m not trying to come off as a “massive hipster” when I say that, and you probably know frontman Aaron Scott’s latter bands and projects if you’re in to decent punk rock anyway, but what you may not know is the existence of De La Hoya: a straight-up punk band from Brooklyn, NY who burst on to the scene in 1997 all the way through to 2002. To quote the bio on their MySpace; “Oscar Rodriguez asked singer Aaron Scott to start a band just 10 minutes after meeting, neither of them had any idea they were initiating what would become of the most respected bands in the Northeastern DIY hardcore/punk scene. They joined up with bassist Carly Guarino (owner of Crap Records) and drummer Jaime Villamarin (ex-I Farm) to form De La Hoya in the heart of New York City.”
And they’re incredibly rad. Seriously.
Randy Randall and Dean Spunt took a totally different approach to this song when they recorded it back in 2008. Bjork’s original version of ‘It’s Oh So Quite’ was backed by a full orchestra, but the LA duo took an axe to that idea, instead smashing it to pieces with their minimal guitar and drums set-up. No Age’s version appeared on a Stereogum compilation paying tribute to the Icelandic queen. The original version was responsible for breaking Bjork into the American pop market, largely thanks to the Spike Jonze-directed video that accompanied it. Strangely the song itself is actually a cover, Bjork renamed Betty Hutton’s ‘Blow A Fuse’ from 1946(?).
The Vivos
Genre: R&B / Rock / Indie
From: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Daphne and Martin formed the Vivos (Latin for living I believe) in 2006 after being drawn together by their shared love of The Beatles, The Clash and The Buzzcocks. Their new EP ‘Post Cataclysm Rock’ is out early next week on Filthy Little Angels with five tracks that hop genres with all the dexterity of a skilled surgeon at a vasectomy clinic.
This dexterity is personified by the EPs tongue in cheek title track ‘Post Cataclysm Rock’ which manages to cram in at least three different genres and possibly more I’ve missed. There’s Status Quoesque bar blue boogie guitars, 50s doo wop, nu wave vocals and I could swear I heard a lick of country guitar somewhere in the mix and amazingly it works.
Last week The L Magazine named these guys one of NYC’s 8 Bands You Need to Hear, and they were probably the only band that I didn’t know too much about. I had heard a song or two here or there but nothing really latched onto my brain. Well that all changed when I went digging around and started listening to the tunes on their MySpace. The songs there are simply amazing, perfect little bits of pop shrouded in the idea of being pop-punk stompers.
The word "twee" gets thrown around a lot when talking about The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. They are cute, with tendencies towards la-la choruses and cardigans ("we have three extras just in case"). But what you don’t hear a lot, at least not yet, is how much they rock. Not the way, say, Cheeseburger rocks, but singer Kip keeps his guitar in buzzsaw mode and the amps set to Tinitus. (Another thing you don’t hear people talk about too much is how dirty the lyrics are. All innuendo, but…filthy!) I’ve seen TPOBPAH a bunch of times over the last year and while they’ve always been good, they are genuinely really good now — tight, rocking, and both Kip and Peggy have become more confident singers. This was their album release show, tour kickoff, and first performance since being bestowed (deservedly) with Pitchfork’s coveted Best New Music status. The room was packed — packed! — with friends and fans, all of whom were very vocal and enthused and bobbing and swaying. The only thing that could have made it a more perfect evening would have been if it had fallen a week later on Valentine’s Day.
Photos from a recent FOE gig - a friend of our friends Hold Your Horse Is - she’s gonna be big!!! Read the gig review after the jump.
Shots of North Carolina’s folk-rocking Avett Brothers’ stop in Glasgow - 22.08.11
Read the review of the gig here.
Take a look at the acts and art on offer at this year’s Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Included are the likes of Fight Like Apes, Lykke Li, Sea of Bees and Seasick Steve. Photos from our own...
Good time with Bad Guys. Photos from the May 29th gig at the Old Blue Last. Read the review by the Bad Guy himself, Stuart London after the jump.
Artrocker.com exclusive: for fans of White Lies and Crocodiles we’ve got some fresh pictures from their UK show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire earlier this month, courtesy of Alessandro...
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