London quartet Dead Models have just three demos streaming on their Myspace. And after listening to them, you'll wish they had more. The group is channeling that lo-fi garage pop vibe that's made Best Coast so successful—just on the other side of the planet, nowhere near sunny California.
Repost from August 13, 2009 (because this band is great and you need to hear them):
Baltimore's Lands & Peoples have offered up a free download from their upcoming full-length. Caleb Moore—who I interviewed here last year—and bandmates Amanda Willis, Beau Cole and Brian Goldstein certainly know how to sew together interesting textures. And with "In Living Colour" they do just that, creating perhaps the group's richest collage of sound to date. 
Free Energy channel some serious Ramones pep on their new single "Come On Let's Dance." Shiny, catchy as hell pop music with a twist of arena guitar rock flare, the track is another keeper that follows the Philadelphia group's excellent debut Stuck On Nothing.
George McCrae's "I Get Lifted" is one of the funkiest songs in existence. Don't believe me? Play the song in a real stereo and wait for that fat bass line to start humming. The "chk chk ahhh" background vocals aren't bad either. Furthermore, that is an amazing handlebar mustache he rocked. Amazing.
I don't much like remixes, but in the era of Pro Tools and Garageband they are unavoidable and usually pretty bad. Fortunately, RAC—along with their booty-shake-inducing neighbors the Twelves—can make twisting knobs and dropping beats over your favorite tunes a surprisingly fun and artistic experience. RAC, which stands for the Remix Artist Collective, recently released two especially great overhauls: a dreamy and beautiful take on "Home" and the irresistibly dancey conversion of "Too Fake." 
Twin Sister's new Color Your Life EP is fantastic, and if you like what you hear you should make a habit of checking out the band's blog where a multitude of unreleased live mp3s and projects lay waiting for you to right click and save as. And FYI, the song "Ginger"—off the band's previous Vampires With Dreaming Kids EP—is not about the soulless freckled "gingerkids" South Park has so mercilessly made fun of, but rather the ginger root plant.
Throughout Josh Ritter's brief but impressive career he's always been a few things: a proficient songwriter, an impeccably detailed storyteller, and a restrained but gifted guitarist and singer. But never before have his songs been fitted with a sonic landscape as lush and complex as those on So Runs The World Away.
Nothing about the Horse Feathers' music is light, but they're songs nevertheless have a way of floating and fluttering around every sorrowful moment, never allowing that gloom to outstay its welcome. On Thistled Spring—their new record out today—the Portland band continues that trend with a heavy dose of strings and ornamentation, delivering another chapter of their own remarkably lush and beautiful version of folk music.
One of the items I picked up on Record Store Day was the Bon Iver and Peter Gabriel split 7-inch. While Gabriel's cover of "Flume" is admirable, it's Justin Vernon—with banjo and otherworldly vocals in tow—that turns "Come Talk To Me" into an epic and essential piece of pop music. It's silly how good he can be.
How to describe Portland's Explode Into Colors? Spooky and dark rhythmic guitar licks, big rollicking drums that act more as a lead instrument than anchor, and heavily atmospheric and far out vocals. They're different and sure as hell something special. Get to know the band and watch them perform at a small cabin in Rhododendron, Oregon via their great Into The Woods documentary. Then, once your sold, go buy the trio's recent Quilts EP online or at your local record shop (perhaps tomorrow during Record Store Day?).
Hey Portlanders: Everybody Taste favorites Deer Tick will be in town on April 20th for a show at the Crystal Ballroom and the band just announced today that immediately following the concert they'll be throwing an afterparty at the nearby Berbati's Pan (about ten blocks East). Who knows what the special occasion is or what shenanigans will be going down, but you should probably get a ticket.
North Carolina's Love Language have released the first single from their July 13th Merge debut—the bouncing pop ditty "Heart to Tell." It's no "Lalita," but if this is the quality we can expect from Libraries then you better make sure to tune in. You can catch another preview of the LP on Record Store Day when the band releases a split 7-inch with a demo version of the Libraries' track "Brittany's Back." For now, dig in to this:
Jónsi - Do
MGMT - Congratulations
The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt
To quote my dear friend Clay Davis from HBO's The Wire: "Sheeeeeeee-it." That, along with an ear-to-ear smile, is really the only appropriate reaction to Club 8's new single "Western Hospitality." The Swedish duo—who've been around since the mid-90s—shake things up for their May 12th release The People's Choice, channeling everything from disco to tribal music, all connected by an insanely giddy guitar riff. And it works, extraordinarily well.
Daytrotter has been on quite the roll recently with must-download sessions from Sharon Van Etten, Jeff The Brotherhood, and The Dutchess & The Duke. Today, the Rock Island-based studio released a set from uber-talented storyteller Josh Ritter. Ritter's new LP So Runs The World Away will have a vinyl release in independent record stores on Record Store Day, April 17th. You can now get a taste of the album with two songs from the session—"The Curse" and "Another New World." But you should really just grab the whole set.
Those disappointed by the silly call and response of "Drunk Girls" will find sweet relief in the latest leak from LCD Soundsystem's forthcoming This Is Happening. The upbeat "I Can Change" takes a few instrumental cues from Gary Numan circa "Cars" and features some of James Murphey's finest singing to date. (via We All Want Someone To Shout For)
