‘If You Want Some True Lovin’, Make Sure Her Eyes Are Brown’

Even if you’ve never heard it, there’s something instantly familiar about the Swingin’ Neckbreakers’ “Brown-Eyed Girl.” Maybe it’s the sludgy riffing, maybe it’s the heavy garage sound, maybe it’s just that it kicks so much ass it sounds like something you must have heard before.

Actually, if you’re tuned in to your rock history, you’ll know the Neckbreakers’ “Brown-Eyed Girl” is a cover of the closest thing to a hit John Fogerty’s pre-CCR band, the Golliwogs, ever had. (On a side note, and aptly enough, the Golliwogs’ song charted highest here in Miami.)

As far as the Swingin’ Neckbreakers’ version, I had no idea until recently it had been around since their second album, 1995’s Shake Break. When the Neckbreakers originally released that disk, they were just coming off a tour behind their debut, Live for Buzz. Returning home after the European leg, they went straight into the studio. Still riding the momentum from the successful tour, they blasted out an album showing how far the band had come in two years. All Music Guide described Shake Break as “a straightforward brand of rock ‘n’ raunch that critics hate but nonetheless resonates perfectly with the average Joe who just wants to shake it down.”

This version of “Brown-Eyed Girl” is a perfect example of the Swingin’ Neckbreakers taking in their classic heritage, cranking the volume until the speakers crack, then spitting it back at you.

Brown-Eyed Girl.mp3

Labels: covers, garage rock

posted by aikin @ 7:00 AM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

This seriously has to be one of the largest mailbox dumps I’ve ever done. Sixteen songs – and that’s after I deleted a good number I didn’t want to post. What’s funny is I started off thinking this was going to be an unusually small post because I had to go through about 20 e-mails before I ran across something I liked and wanted to post.

Like always, I was happy see big names like the Dead Weather and MIA reaching out to bloggers to help promote their respective albums. I’ve seen both of these tracks posted on other blogs the last few days, so I apologize I’m a little slow getting them to you.

Besides the Dead Weather, of course, some other tracks you should pay particular attention to: The Ex-Girlfriend’s Club and Best Coast both fit loosely into the garage / psycho-fuzz genres I like and can recommend.

A lot of bands sending out music seem to be shooting for summertime pop-hit type of stuff. Sometimes that can come across like they’re trying too hard, but the couple I picked here – The Like and Sonny and the Sunsets – are bearable, if not downright decent. The Like also went for a purposefully lo-fi sound, recording their album direct to analogue tape.

Finally, I usually shy away from remixes, but I went with this remixed cover of Ice T’s “Colors,” from the movie of the same name. I was just talking with someone the other day about the 1988 flick, a classic directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Robert Duvall and Sean Penn. If I still have the soundtrack, I may get that up as an OST OCD post soon.

Like always, follow the links for more info.

The Dead Weather
Rock / Blues / Gothic
From: Nashville, Tenn.
Band MySpace
Die By the Drop.mp3

Sonny and the Sunsets
Indie / Beach-Pop
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band MySpace
Too Young To Burn.mp3

Pearly Gate Music
Tropical / Concrete
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Big Escape.mp3

MIA
Other
From: London & Southeast U.K.
Band MySpace
XXXO.mp3

Ganglians
Showtunes / Celtic / Roots Music
From: Sacramento, Calif.
Band MySpace
My House.mp3

Pete Covington
Alternative / Psychedelic / Pop
From: New South Wales, Australia
Band MySpace
Balloons.mp3

The Like
Pop / Garage
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Fair Game.mp3

Sleigh Bells
Electronic / Rock
From: Brooklyn, N.Y. & Florida
Band MySpace
Infinity Guitars.mp3

The Ex-Girlfriends Club
Garage / Rock / Glam
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
Your Prescription.mp3

Lana Del Ray
Glam / Surf / Hawaiian
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Diet Mtn. Dew (demo).mp3

Yelawolf
Hip Hop / Ghettotech / Southern Rock
From: Gadsden, Ala.
Band MySpace
Good to Go (ft. Bun B).mp3

DJ Troublemaker / King Fantastic
Punk / Funk / Crunk
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Colors (Ice T cover).mp3

Best Coast
Surf / Pop / Gospel
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Far Away.mp3

Katelyn Dawn
Indie / Pop / Acoustic
From: Toronto, Canada
Band MySpace
Puzzle Pieces.mp3

Luna is Honey
Pop / Rock / R&B
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Who Wouldn’t.mp3

Lisa Jaeggi
Soul / Folk / Freestyle
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Oh Lady You Shot Me!.mp3
~~~~~

(pictures, top-to-bottom: Dead Weather, MIA, The Like, Lana Del Ray, Best Coast)

Labels: "alternative", acousticness, blues, covers, electronic, folk, funk, garage rock, glam, hip-hop, indie, Jack White, pop muzik, RnB, rock

posted by aikin @ 6:02 PM 1 Comments

Do the Living Deadbeat

When you think of a band called the Living Deadbeats, you might expect howling psychobilly. What you get, though, is distorted guitars and cranked up garage rock.

Pete Fiend, the Living Deadbeats drummer, dropped me a note a while ago, inviting me to check out their music. I liked it a lot and told him so, and he was kind enough to send me a copy of the band’s self-titled EP. The four-track disk simply oozes classic influence: a sort of violent collision between Detroit and late 70’s era L.A. punk. Singer Lindsay Kasting has a little of that Exene Cervenka thing going on; the rest of the band picks up somewhere between the Stooges and the Detroit Cobras. These comparisons are especially apt when you listen to the live tracks posted on the band’s MySpace page.

There’s scant biographical info on the Living Deadbeats. And other than a show tonight at Chateau Noir in Vancouver, I can’t give you any other dates. All I can suggest is that you check out their music and keep your ears open for much more from this band.

The Living Deadbeats (theme).mp3

Labels: garage rock, punk

posted by aikin @ 11:37 AM 1 Comments

‘This Song Makes The Car Look That Much More Badass’

I may have mentioned once or twice my distaste for bands who sell their music for television commercials and/or theme songs. I’ve long held the belief that those songs are sacred and should be treated as such. But in a perverse twist of logic, I like when I hear something new and appealing, no matter the source.

Such is the case with the song “Light of the Morning,” which is currently in play on advertisements for the 2011 Ford Mustang. The first time I heard “I wanna see you in the morning...” and the power chord-filled, start-stop, classic rock crunch, I no longer cared about the Mustang (which I’ve always found uncomfortable to drive anyway) but I had to know where the music was coming from.

With some crafty googling, I soon found out the band is Band of Skulls, a fairly new quartet from London. “Light of the Morning” comes from their debut Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, which they released in March last year. Although it got generally positive reviews, the album didn’t exactly fly off the shelves, not even making the British charts until this past February.

“Light of the Morning” hasn’t been officially released as a single, but in an era where government radio doesn’t play unproven artists, this commercial may be the break Band of Skulls needs.

In light of my past comments, “Light of the Morning” has also caused me to rethink my whole hatin’-on-songs-in-commercials thing. There’s always the possibility that a 13-year-old somewhere is turning on an episode of CSI, hearing the theme music and thinking, This band is fucking amazing; who is it?

Light of the Morning.mp3

~~~~~
(note: the title quote is from a comment on the Mustang commerical’s YouTube page.)

Labels: garage rock, rock, TV

posted by aikin @ 9:00 PM 2 Comments

‘Hustle and Cuss’

I think the Dead Weather’s Horehound was one of last year’s underrated releases. As far as Jack White projects go, anyway. He put himself out of the spotlight and managed to put together a band that turned in a great gothic blues project. At the right time of night and in the right frame of mind, the album remains one of my go-to disks.

There hasn’t been much news lately about the Dead Weather, so I was surprised to hear that they have a new disk, Sea of Cowards, due out later this month (May 11, here in the U.S.). And I was happily surprised that the news of this upcoming album was accompanied by an early release.

“Hustle and Cuss” stays true to the ethic of the Dead Weather with Alison Mosshart’s more grittied-up vocals backed by Jack Lawrence’s jazzed up bass line. This is the second release from Sea of Cowards (“Die by the Drop” was released in late March). Both songs show the group growing in maybe the direction the White Stripes would have taken as a four- rather than two-piece, giving Jack White room to expand the garage blues that are his hallmark.

It might be time to stop thinking of the Dead Weather as Jack White’s other, other band and start thinking of them as the band he has grown into.

Hustle and Cuss.mp3

Labels: blues, garage rock, Jack White, new stuff

posted by aikin @ 8:28 PM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

There is, if I say so myself, some pretty high-power stuff in this purge of my mailbox. Big names like Julian Casablancas, MIA, and Atari Teenage Riot don’t usually go to the blogs to promote their wares. I like it.

Speaking of MIA, “Born Free” is sort of unusual territory for this blog. I liked “Paper Planes” – the mix of the Clash, gunfire, cash registers, and MIA’s original style made it interesting and new. “Born Free” continues in a similar vein with an intermingling of styles – rock, hip-hop, etc. Also, the video, if you haven’t seen that, is worth your time. I’m sure her intention is some deeper message, but it’s like a more violent version of the South Park “Gingers” episodes. You can see it on her MySpace.

Some other key tracks: Semi Precious Weapons seem to be some sort of mad mash up of Hanoi Rocks and Lady Gaga. Whether these guys can extend the act into a career remains to be seen, but “Magnetic Baby” is a glam-ish song that isn’t going to make your head hurt.

Scott Morgan is a Detroit rock legend whose band The Rationals had the MC5 open for them and almost landed a young Iggy Pop as their drummer. He also formed Sonic’s Rendezvous with Fred “Sonic” Smith and Scott Asheton. “Fallin’ For You” continues the legend with a nice slice of Motown rock ‘n’ soul.

And I gotta show a little local love – AluKarD come from here in Miami. Don’t let the “rock / hip-hop” tags fool you: There’s no Limp Bizkit going on here.

As always, follow the links for more information.

AluKarD
Rock / Alternative / Hip Hop
From: Miami, Fla.
Band MySpace
44 Kaliber Love Letter.mp3

Julian Casablancas
Rock / Alternative
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Old Hollywood (live).mp3

MIA
Other
From: London & Southeast U.K.
Band MySpace
Born Free (album version).mp3

The Pipettes
Pop / Powerpop / Glam
From: United Kingdom
Band MySpace
Stop the Music (Will Eastman remix).mp3

Semi Precious Weapons
Visual / Garage / Rock
From: Brooklyn, United States
Band MySpace
Magnetic Baby.mp3

DeVotchKa
Indie / Rock
From: United States
Band MySpace
Clockwise Witness (live).mp3

Scott Morgan
Soul / Rock
From: Ann Arbor, Mich.
Band MySpace
Fallin’ For Ya.mp3

Atari Teenage Riot
Electronica / Experimental / Hardcore
From: Berlin, London, Tokyo, New York
Band MySpace
Activate.mp3

The Joy Formidable
Other / Other / Other
From: United Kingdom
Band MySpace
Whirring.mp3

Inside the Black
Rock
From: Hollywood, Calif.
Band MySpace
Adult Movies.mp3

~~~~~
Pictures, top-to-bottom: AluKarD, Semi Precious Weapons, The Joy Formidable

Labels: "alternative", electronic, garage rock, hip-hop, indie, pop muzik, rock

posted by aikin @ 9:06 PM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

I just realized that the last time any of you heard from me I was on my way out of town to see BugGiRL. For all any of you know I never made it back. But I did. The BugGiRL show was great – they gave it their all despite the small crowd. If you get a chance, definitely you need to see them live.

I’ve really had a lack of posting inspiration lately, so I thought the best solution would be to hit up the mailbox. It turned out there were a few gems hidden there. Straight away I need to mention Long Island’s Roast Beef Curtains. The band’s name alone is hilarious if you realize what exactly a roast beef curtain is. Besides that, there are the lyrics to “5th Base Girl”: “My fifth-base girl likes Diet Coke and glory holes.” I actually laughed out loud the first time I heard that.

The Burnt Ones wear their Johnny Thunders influence proudly, with reverby, echoey vocals and the almost patented Johnny Thunders lo-fi recording style. As a matter of fact, I like these guys so much I tossed in a bonus track, a cover of Motörhead’s “Damage Case,” which was a special Record Store Day download.

A couple of other things: I saw Ke$ha on SNL last night and I wasn’t really impressed. I’m sure she’s this summer’s Kelis. The Clucks’ cover of “Tik Tok” is interesting and at least as good as the original. Also check out garage rockers Thick Shakes for more of that tasty lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll I know you love.

As always, follow the links for more information

Thick Shakes
Garage / Punk / Pop
From: Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Band MySpace
(Baby) You’re a Starfish.mp3

Midnite Theory
Alternative / Hip Hop / Other
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Angel On Sunset.mp3
** now with correct links! **

Clucks
Indie / Rock / Garage
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Tik Tok (Ke$ha cover).mp3

The Roast Beef Curtains
Reggae / Dub / Punk
From: Long Island, N.Y.
Band MySpace
5th Base Girl.mp3

The One AM Radio
New Wave
From: Los Feliz, Calif.
Band MySpace
Credible Threats.mp3

Norman
Indie / Folk / Rock
From: Willamette Valley, Ore.
Band MySpace
Hell, If I Love.mp3

Terese Taylor
Experimental / Black Metal / Folk Rock
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band MySpace
My Shine, Doesn’t Shine.mp3

The Futureheads
New Wave / Indie
From: Sunderland, UK
Band MySpace
Struck Dumb.mp3

Burnt Ones
Minimalist / Psychedelic / Rock
From: Indianapolis, Ind.
Band MySpace
Gonna Listen to T-Rex (All Night Long).mp3
Bonus: Damage Case (Motörhead cover).mp3

~~~~~
(pictures, top-to-bottom: Thick Shakes, The Roast Beef Curtains, Terese Taylor)

Labels: acousticness, covers, folk, garage rock, indie, new wave, pop muzik, rock

posted by aikin @ 1:29 PM 2 Comments

Fighting Piranhas on Easter

Easter sort of snuck up on me this year, although I suppose it came the first Sunday in April just like every other year. Not that there are many traditions in Apt. 104, but at least I could have bought groceries last week in case my local market is closed today.

As far as today’s post, I went back and forth on what I could do. A couple of years ago I found some old, old blues songs that were somewhat religious in nature and thought those might make good Easter fare. I also thought about going tongue-in-cheek with the Cramps’ Songs the Lord Taught Us.

In the end, I went with this White Stripes song because of two lines: “It’s Easter morning, and there’s no one around / So I unroll the cement and walk into the town.” Like a lot of Jack White’s lyrics, it’s ambiguous, possibly meaning everything or nothing or a little of both. Either way, it’s an apt description of Easter morning around these parts.

This particular recording comes from the White Stripes’ July 14, 2007, show at the Savoy Theater in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.

I Fought Piranhas (live).mp3

Labels: Detroit, garage rock, holiday, White Stripes

posted by aikin @ 12:33 PM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

Happy SXSW week to you and yours. Once again I will not be attending, although I recently wondered if I could have gotten a record label or PR firm to cover my airfare and bar tabs while I whore myself for whatever bands they have in attendance. On the other hand, I harbor a dislike for much “indie” music and can see where it may have ended up as a “Fear & Loathing on 6th Street” type of occasion. “We were somewhere over Louisiana when the drugs began to take hold...”

Anyway, as you might guess, my inbox was full of notices about appearances at SXSW. Probably the majority of the bands in today’s post will be there, but I can’t be arsed to dig up schedules for you. If you like the band and you’re going to be in Austin this week, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.

This is a pretty small inbox purge because a lot of the stuff I received was electronica or whiney, self-indulgent indie/emo stuff or some mash-up/remix of the two genres, and I’m really not in the mood to hear that.

The top stuff today is easily The Choke and The Ex-Girlfriend’s Club. Both bands bring the garage rock sound that I so enjoy. Also, if you think back to my last mailbox post, you’ll recollect Pack A.D. Well, as the fates would have it, The Choke are on tour with Pack A.D. You’ll definitely want to check out that bill if they come to a town near you. The Koot Hoomi track comes from a Hall and Oates tribute album the group did. It’s called The Dark Side of Hall and Oates and is bizarre enough that it warranted inclusion here.

As always, follow the links for more information.

The Choke
Garage / Punk / Soul
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Tuff Kids.mp3

Shaka Ponk
Rock / Electro / Experimental
From: Berlin, Germany
Band MySpace
Do.mp3

Cary Ann Hearst
Folk Rock / Southern Rock / Roots Music
From: Charlotte, S.C.
Band MySpace
Are You Ready to Die.mp3

April Smith
Melodramatic Popular Song / Pop / Folk Rock
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Movie Loves a Screen.mp3

Koot Hoomi
Experimental / Indie / Acoustic
From: Tempe, Ariz.
Band MySpace
Maneater (Hall and Oates cover).mp3

The Ex-Girlfriend’s Club
Garage / Rock / Glam
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
Devil Eyes.mp3

~~~~~
(Pictures, top-to-bottom: The Choke, April Smith)

Labels: acousticness, covers, electronic, folk, garage rock, glam, indie, pop muzik, rock

posted by aikin @ 12:40 PM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

I figure the last day of the month is as good a time as any to dump out the mailbox. Start fresh next month and all that.

A lot of stuff from bands that are going to be at SXSW next month. I’ll be not attending again this year, so who plays or doesn’t play isn’t going to much affect me. Just send me good music if you want me to post it. Kthx.

I’m gonna jump right in with my pick of the litter. The Pack A.D., from the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics, are a duet – guitar and drums a la Jack and Meg – and take a similar, garage/blues approach to their music. Singer Becky Black has garnered more than a few comparisons to a certain legendary 60's whiskey-throated blues shouter. I really liked this band and look forward to hearing more of their music.

A couple of other things that are interesting: Patrick Bower’s “The Dark Lord (of Love)” has a weird, dark sound to it and made me want to hear it more than once. Moneybrother’s “Born Under a Bad Sign” is another of those tracks I almost passed on, but, after a couple of listens, decided to include. It’s a sort of poppy, dancey, type of thing. Maybe like something from the first Killers album or something. Just know that it’s not a cover of the Albert King classic.

The very last song on today’s list, “Sleepwalking,” I decided to include sight unseen. That is to say, I didn’t even care if the music was up to my usual rigorous standards. Everything Is Made In China, or EIMIC as their friends call them, come from Russia. When was the last time you heard a Russian pop band? Exactly. So they get a mention just for that.

As always, follow the links for more information.

Blunt Mechanic
Indie / Folk / Punk
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Less Beat.mp3

Becca
Rock / Pop / Acoustic
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
Kickin’ & Screamin’.mp3

Nick Jaina
Folk / Pop / Indie
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
Sleep Child.mp3

Cast Spells
Acoustic / Country / Folk
From: Chicago, Ill.
Band MySpace
Pioneer Scalps.mp3

Patrick Bower
Indie / Folk / Pop
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
The Dark Lord (of Love).mp3

The Pack A.D.
Garage / Rock / Punk
From: Vancouver, Canada
Band MySpace
Crazy.mp3

Resonant Soul
Alternative / Rock / Indie
From: Toledo, Ohio
Band MySpace
House of the Rising Sun (Animals cover).mp3

Velvet Davenport
Psychedelic / Pop
From: Minneapolis, Minn.
Band MySpace
Get Out.mp3

The Dig
Rock / Indie / Pop
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
You’re Already Gone.mp3

Shellshag
Punk / Rock
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Resilient Bastard.mp3

Friday Mile
Indie / Rock / Pop
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
FYI.mp3

Moneybrother
Rock / Pop
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Band MySpace
Born Under a Bad Sign.mp3

EIMIC
Rock / Other
From: Moscow, Russian Federation
Band MySpace
Sleepwalking.mp3

~~~~~
(Pictures, top-to-bottom: Becca, The Pack A.D., Shellshag)

Labels: "alternative", covers, folk, garage rock, indie, pop muzik, pop-punk

posted by aikin @ 12:02 PM 1 Comments

Music From My Mailbox

Cleaning out the mailbox for the first time this month. Once again I let it get full enough that I could skip over most of the really wretched “indie” stuff and the various remixes of songs I’ve never heard of. Something I saw for the first time is an email from a band’s promo person directing me to another blog to download the music. I can’t tell if that’s lazy promotional work or outstanding blog work.

A pretty fair amount of rock comes up with this purge: Burn the Evidence, Throwing Seven, and Gangcharger all crank up the electric guitars and pay homage to some combination of Metallica and Jesus and Mary Chain. Karnivool was kind enough to send me an actual CD. Their music is reminiscent of Tool – very much prog-metal. If you’re into that, you’ll definitely want to check Karnivool.

One song I almost passed on, but ended up liking after a couple of listens, is Paper Tongue’s “Ride to California.” It’s almost-but-not-quite rap-rock, which isn’t yet far enough in our past to make us nostalgic. The singer screams like a rocker, but the music, which emphasizes electronics over guitars, keeps this track from lapsing into Limp Bizkit territory.

As always, follow the links for more information.

Karnivool
Rock
From: Perth, Australia
Band MySpace
Set Fire to the Hive.mp3

Visqueen
Rock
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Beautiful Amnesia.mp3

Borrowed Eyes
Folk Rock / Indie
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Slaves.mp3

The Soft Province
Indie
From: Canada
Band MySpace
One Was a Lie.mp3

Twin Tigers
Rock / Shoegaze / Tropical
From: Athens, Ga.
Band MySpace
Passive Idol.mp3

City Light
Indie / Alternative / Rock
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band MySpace
Someday Maybe.mp3

Paper Tongues
Rock / Electronic / Hip Hop
From: Charlotte, N.C.
Band MySpace
Ride to California.mp3

Dana Falconberry
Visual / Tropical / Melodramatic Popular Song
From: Austin, Texas
Band MySpace
Singing Lullabies.mp3

Throwing Seven
Alternative / Post punk / Experimental
From: Los Angeles / Inland Empire, Calif.
Band MySpace
Let it Bleed.mp3

Gangcharger
Visual / Experimental / Rock
From: Denver, Colo.
Band MySpace
Apparition.mp3

King Khan and the Shrines
Psychedelic / R&B / Hardcore
From: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Band MySpace
Land of the Freak.mp3

Burn The Evidence
Alternative / Rock / Metal
From: Worthing/Brighton Area, U. K.
Band MySpace
New Disease.mp3

~~~~~
pictures, top-to-bottom: Visqueen, Twin Tigers, Dana Falconberry, King Khan

Labels: "alternative", electronic, folk, garage rock, hip-hop, indie, rock

posted by aikin @ 3:52 PM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

I suppose one advantage in taking so long to clear out my inbox is the large selection to pick from. I’m able to weed through all the “indie” stuff and skim the cream off the top.

A couple of items of note from this purge session: Kandi Coded keeps the Seattle grunge tradition alive on their debut Fell for the Gift, which is out next month. Check out their amped-up take on Johnny Cash’s tribute to a lost Viet Nam vet, which is just as meaningful now.

In case you weren’t aware, there is a Spinal Tap tribute album floating around (I think you can download it here for free or voluntary contributions or something.) Lapdance Academy Records founder and Dogs of Winter front man Brian Grosz contributed “Gimme Some Money” to the release.

And of course there’s the almost-obligatory Wolfmother remix track. There were actually three versions in the package I received – this was, in my opinion, the best of the lot.

As always, follow the links for more information.

Wolfmother
Rock / Psychedelic / Metal
From: Australia
Band MySpace
White Feather (Burns remix).mp3

Doug Keith
Rock / Acoustic / Alternative
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
The Lucky Ones.mp3

We Be The Echo
Progressive / Experimental / Metal
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band MySpace
Droid Poem.mp3

Phantogram
Concrete / Other / Big Beat
From: Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Band MySpace
When I’m Small.mp3

Kandi Coded
Rock / Alternative / Grunge
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Drive On (Johnny Cash cover).mp3

Pierced Arrows
Rock / Garage / Punk
From: Portland / Clackamas, Ore.
Band MySpace
Paranoia.mp3

LANTERNS.
Punk / Punk / Pop Punk
From: San Diego, Calif.
Band MySpace
Midnight Psalms.mp3

Year Long Disaster
Rock / Rock / Rock
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Show Me Your Teeth (radio edit).mp3

Brian Grosz
Indie / Acoustic / Ghettotech
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Gimme Some Money (Spinal Tap cover).mp3

~~~~~
pictures, top-to-bottom: Doug Keith, Kandi Coded, Year Long Disaster

Labels: "alternative", acousticness, electronic, garage rock, grunge, indie, pop-punk, rock

posted by aikin @ 12:41 PM 0 Comments

Music From My Mailbox

Say you’ve got four lanes of traffic, all going the same direction. The far outside lane exits, the next one over has the option to exit or go straight. What the hell is that causes Miami drivers in the two inside lanes to come to a complete stop? During my commute I go through these traffic jams daily and I cannot, for the life of me, understand why it happens. Please, if you can explain this mystery, drop me a note.

In other more relevant news, there turned out to be some pretty decent things in my mailbox. Particularly, I want to mention Acrassicauda. These guys were featured in the 2007 film Heavy Metal in Baghdad. Acrassicauda formed in Iraq, fled that country because of the war, first going to Syria then to Turkey. Earlier this year they were resettled in the U.S. with assistance from a relief agency. The song here, “Garden of Stones” will be on their debut EP, Only the Dead See the End of the War, which is scheduled for release in March.

A couple other things worth mentioning: The Getdown! offers up the oft-covered “Leave My Kitten Alone,” a tasty slice of garage rock from their forthcoming EP. I also sorta liked the tracks from The Stone Foxes and I’m Not A Band. There’s also some other pretty decent things here. Have a listen and see what you think.

As always, follow the links for more information.

Acrassicauda
Metal / Rock / Death Metal
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Garden Of Stones.mp3

Bear Ceuse
Rock
From: St. Louis, Mo.
Band MySpace
American Wit.mp3

iChoRa
Alternative / Rock
From: Western Australia, Australia
Band MySpace
Lunafire.mp3

Codeine Velvet Club
Alternative
From: United Kingdom
Band MySpace
I Am the Resurrection (Stone Roses cover).mp3

Le Corps Mince de Françoise (LCMDF)
Pop / Pop / Pop
From: Helsinki, Finland
Band MySpace
Something Golden (Zebra and Snake remix).mp3

Zambri
Rock / Soul / Other
From: New York, New York
Band MySpace
From the Starts.mp3

The New Fidelity
Powerpop / Soul
From: Long Beach, Calif.
Band MySpace
2nd Once in a Lifetime Girl.mp3

Blackmarket
Rock / Indie
From: Lake Havasu, Ariz.
Band MySpace
Tongue Twister Typo.mp3

The Stone Foxes
Rock / Blues / Soul
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band MySpace
Sweep a Road.mp3

Gooding
Rock
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Make the Devil Cry.mp3

Church
Indie
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
Opposite People.mp3

The Getdown!
Rock / Rock / Rock
From: Denver, Colo.
Band MySpace
Leave My Kitten Alone (Little Willie John cover).mp3

I’m Not A Band
Electro / Indie
From: Berlin / Leipzig, Germany
Band MySpace
Crazy.mp3

~~~~~
pictures, top-to-bottom: Acrassicauda, LCMDF, The Stone Foxes, I’m Not A Band

Labels: "alternative", electronic, garage rock, indie, metal, pop muzik, rock, soul

posted by aikin @ 6:17 PM 1 Comments

Outta Their Minds

While I was enjoying my Thanksgiving feast yesterday, I happened to hear a song so gritty and dirty it almost made me choke on my mashed potatoes. I immediately ran over to see what was playing and I’ll damned if it wasn’t the King Khan and BBQ Show.

I have one King Khan album and I had to let my dinner sit there cooling while I dug it up to see if that otherworldly slice of rock ‘n’ roll could by chance be on it. And yes it was. The song was “Outta My Mind” from the King Khan and BBQ Show’s 2004 eponymous debut release.

I immediately put the disk on and enjoyed myself some 45 minutes of psycho / blues / garage / punk / whatever you wanna call it, it’s great music and made the rest of dinner oh, so much more enjoyable.

In case you’re not familiar with the King Khan and BBQ Show, The band is composed of former Spaceshits band mates Mark Sultan and Blacksnake, aka King Khan. They both left the Spaceshits in 1999. Sultan went on to form Les Sexareenos, before reconnecting with Blacksnake in 2002 and putting together the band that would eventually become the King Khan and BBQ Show. The band released their third LP, Invisible Girl last month.

Outta My Mind.mp3

Labels: blues, garage rock, punk

posted by aikin @ 7:00 AM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

My first post of October – five days in – and my first mailbox purge. The inbox filled up insanely quick over the last couple of weeks. I was already trying to decide whether I should dump everything at once or split it into a couple of posts. But after I culled through everything, deleting the invites to things I can’t attend and the music you don’t want to hear, I was left with this single, decent-sized post.

A lot of this music veers toward the “indie” side of things. I’ve mentioned before that, as a general rule, I don’t care much for that genre. Using that admittedly flexible guideline, I’ve done my best to not subject you to a lot of things I wouldn’t listen to myself.

A couple of recommendations – for those who don’t want to sample a little of each: I like Red Cortez. “Fell on the Floor” has a sorta-U2 feel, for part of the song, then other parts go in another direction altogether. The Electric Tickle Machine, in addition to having a cool name, is a decent sounding psychedelic-cum-garage band from New York’s East Village. I also dig “Bare Hands, Bare Feet” from The Bright Hour Social Hour. It’s an up tempo rocker with a groovy riff.

But really, you may as well check out all the music; it won’t cost you anything extra and you’re likely to find something else you like even more.

As always, follow the links for more information.

City Light
Indie / Alternative / Rock
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band Myspace
Apologies.mp3

The Bright Light Social Hour
Rock
From: Austin, Texas
Band Myspace
Bare Hands, Bare Feet.mp3

Chris Kirby
Blues / Pop / Soul
From: St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Band Myspace
Don’t Forget About Me.mp3

My Tiger My Timing
Pop / Idol / Visual
From: London, U.K.
Band Myspace
I am the Sound (Hook And The Twin Remix).mp3

Real Ones
Indie / Folk / Rock
From: Bergen, Norway
Band Myspace
Every Dog Has His Day.mp3

Electric Tickle Machine
Psychedelic / Garage / Pop
From: e. vill, N.Y.
Band Myspace
Gimme Money.mp3

Loch Lomond
Folk / Experimental / Pop
From: Portland, Ore.
Band Myspace
Wax and Wire.mp3

Mau
Electro / Alternative / New Wave
From: Lisbon, Portugal
Band Myspace
Toboggan.mp3

Lackthereof
Emotronic / Folk / Healing & Easy Listening
From: Portland, Ore.
Band Myspace
Safely in Jail.mp3

Red Cortez
Other
From: California
Band Myspace
Fell on the Floor.mp3

Flood of Red
Rock
From: Glasgow, Scotland U.K.
Band Myspace
Paper Lungs.mp3

~~~~~
(pictures, top-to-bottom: The Bright Light Social Hour, Electric Tickle Machine, Red Cortez

Labels: "alternative", electronic, garage rock, indie, pop muzik, rock

posted by aikin @ 9:26 PM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

Oops – looks like it’s been a couple of weeks since I purged the mailbox. There was a lot of stuff in there, but probably half of it was either random PR things or music you probably don’t want to hear.

From the surviving half I managed to pull several decent items. Of particular note is Spider Problem, a rock band out of El Lay. They are without a doubt my pick of this post, with a sound that kinda sorta reminds me of X.

Another interesting band is The Bad Dogs. The Bad Dogs are fronted by two teenage girls (one is 16 years old and the other is 18 years old), who, rather than going the power pop route a la Avril Lavigne, they’ve instead turned out a tasty little garage rock number, “Power to My Amp.”

A couple of bands are making encore appearances in my mailbox: Amanda Zelina just released her version of “Try a Little Tenderness,” the oft-recorded track made big in 1966 by Otis Redding. Also returning with another track from their soon-to-be-released debut is garage super group The Almighty Defenders.

As always, follow the links for more information.

The Bad Dogs
Rock / Soul / Indie
From: Brunoy, Ile-de-France, France
Band MySpace
Power to My Amp.mp3

The Wooden Birds
Indie
From: Austin, Texas
Band MySpace
Hometown Fantasy.mp3

Sean Bones
Indie / Pop
From: Cobble Hill, U.S.
Band MySpace
Dance Hall (Bodega Girls remix).mp3

Electric Tickle Machine
Psychedelic / Garage / Pop
From: e. vill, NY
Band MySpace
Part of Me.mp3

The Antlers
Indie / Ambient
From: Brooklyn, NY
Band MySpace
Two.mp3

Tiny Vipers
Gothic / Acoustic / Ambient
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Development.mp3

Spider Problem
Rock / Rock / Rock
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Bullet.mp3

The Radiant
Rock / Indie
From: New York, NY
Band MySpace
I Don’t Need a Reason.mp3

The Almighty Defenders
Rock / Garage
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Band MySpace
Cone of Light.mp3

Amanda Zelina
Pop / Soul / Alternative
From: swamp water, Canada
Band MySpace
Try a Little Tenderness.mp3

Boat
Indie / Pop / Soul
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Prince of Tacoma.mp3

Logan Lynn
Indie / Pop / Emotronic
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
Feed Me to the Wolves.mp3

~~~~~
(Pictures, top-to-bottom: The Bad Dogs, Electric Tickle Machine, Spider Problem, Amanda Zelina)

Labels: "alternative", garage rock, indie, pop muzik, remix, rock, soul

posted by aikin @ 12:14 PM 0 Comments