Saturday, November 2, 2013

Summer/Fall Roundup! Music for your ear-brain-heart mechanism to digest.



  Hey everyone, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! It's been a strange couple of weeks for me, but I've managed to have some Halloween fun, watch my beloved Red Sox win the World Series, and possibly have secured a new job. Needless to say, I've been swamped with shit to do, and really haven't been able to get around to writing about everything that has been sent my way. Unfortunately, some things slip through the cracks. Here are some albums that came out over the last couple of months that deserve a listen. It's an eclectic group of mostly friends/local artists, and there ought to be something for everyone in here somewhere.

The HBR new music research team. Our employees are our greatest asset.

In order of release date:

Dead Leaf Echo - Thought & Language

  DLE is a really rich, almost symphonic, shoegaze meets kinda pop-goth band. I don't even know what this stuff is called anymore really, but there's a lot of attention paid to detail and if you give it a deep listen, you'll be rewarded. "Memorytraces" is my favorite track on this album, give it a listen... Oh, and they are playing three shows on the East Coast this month. I highly recommend catching them if you can.




American Darlings - With Love, In Retrospect

  When I first saw these guys, at Legion, like, in the spring... I thought they were a super loud, indie guitar death, kinda overpowering huge Jazzmaster squeal tsunami wave murder squad. But I guess that's just how bands come off in loud small rooms, after everyone has had a couple. On With Love, In Retrospect you can tell that these guys really put songwriting first, and it's almost surprising how poppy they really are. American Darlings are that mix of catchiness, rawness, attitude and sweetness that really makes indie rock special. "No Clue" is the opening track on the album, and is one of the strongest tracks, right off the bat.




Crazy Pills - Restless

  Pills shows are always high energy and fun... exactly what you'd hope for out of this garage pop/rockabilly outfit. After seeing them play live for a couple of years in various incarnations, it's really nice to finally have a real studio album to complete the Crazy Pills experience. "Alright (Get the Hell out of Dodge)" is my favorite track. Watching Eddie, the bassist, sing the back up vox during the chorus is one of my favorite live experiences. Haha. Check out our interview with Amanda from last spring, and check out "Alright" below.




The Black Black - One Blunt Death Party/You're a Danger

  Put simply, if you like loud guitars and hard driving fuzz bass, The Black Black, is for you. I caught the Brooklyn based three piece towards the tail end of CMJ. I was tired, hungover, hungry... and pretty much just wanted to be on my couch, watching the 4 pm football game. These guys (with the help of a couple of strong gin and tonics) woke me the F up. So I owe a half day of fun to these guys. Isn't that enough to make you want to listen to their new 7" single?




The Planes - Echo Forever/Forever Echo

  Full disclosure, this is one of my bands. Sometimes as an artist (or whatever we are) you get so close to a work, that you can't really view it objectively. That is the case with me and this album. In a year or so, I'll have an opinion. For now here's a song we like. Enjoy.




What Model Citizens - Ohn E Amas

  WMCs are the electro/synth/pop brain child of frontman Alex Musto. We wrote a little piece on the video for "Coming For Me." It's worth checking out if you haven't seen it (or watching again if you have). Ohn E Amas is a sonic bombardment; Musto is almost a mad scientist, producing squeaks, screams, floods, and crashes, that range from subliminal to overwhelming. Listen to the album on Soundcloud. Zone in and out to it. "Carry Me With You" is my favorite track.




Paper Fleet - Paper Fleet

  These guys are one of the most pure rock bands out there. It's jus hooks, riffs, chords, beats. It's fundamentally strong pop music. This new release is for those who love "no frills" power pop. Honestly, it's kinda rare that a band who relies to heavily on vocal melodies has such clever guitar playing. We did an interview with these guys in the spring, check it out. "Settle Down" is my favorite track off the album (and is always great live). You can listen to it on Spotify.




  That's all for now folks. There's an extra hour of sleep in NYC tonight, followed by a very short and depressing day tomorrow. As far as I'm concerned, winter starts when it gets dark at 5pm, and I gotta say, it's 60 degrees outside, and I'm NOT READY FOR THIS BULLSHIT.

Whatever, we'll survive. Give the above bands some love. I think all this stuff is for sale online, so track it down and buy it if you like it. All these bands play around, so if you get the winter blues, come out for some music and shake it. We'll get a showcase together at some point. "Like" HBR on Facebook and I'll keep you up to date on stuff like that.

Bye for now. See you at a show.

1 comment:

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