I couldn’t be more excited to share a brand new song from Great Elk’s next level new record, Autogeography.  The Brooklyn indie-folk band have stepped up their game considerably after a pair of excellent early EPs – the cleverly titled new one boasts cleaner production and, on a few tracks, power chords and huge, anthemic choruses that are more in line with vintage indie rock than the band’s Americana roots (“The Weight of the Sea” is one such banger and a must-hear).  Lead single “I’m Going to Bend” is just achingly pretty and worthy of whatever Wilco comparisons you want to throw at it (I’m hearing some “Jesus Etc.” in there).  The record release party is next week (Wednesday, 5/23) at Mercury Lounge.  I think you oughtta hear this record ASAP.

MP3  ::  I’m Going to Bend

(from Autogeography.  Buy here)

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Hallelujah the Hills are gearing up for the release of No One Knows What Happens Next, their third full length LP, on May 22.  At their best the MA band recall The Ghost of Fashion-era Clem Snide, or, on album highlights “The Game Changes Me” and “Get Me In A Room”, even a more earnest, soulful, horn-aided Pavement.  At least that’s what I’m hearing.  Also what I’m hearing is the band’s best work yet – “Get Me In A Room” is a killer indie-rock anthem.  The video was on both Captains Dead and Oceans Never Listen recently.

MP3  ::  Get Me In A Room

(from No One Knows What Happens Next. Info here)

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Slow Country is one of my favorite finds of the year, and their debut The Late Great Slow Country (via Wonderland Archives) just keeps getting better with repeat listens.  The country-rock/noir Queens, NY band recently recorded a 6-song live set of material that they are releasing one song at a time every Friday over the next few weeks.  I shared one of my favorites from the LP, “Land I Love”, back in my original post, but here’s a live version along with another album track, “One of the Few”.

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The idea that The Walkmen are “maturing” or “have matured” is one that rears its ugly head every time they release something new.  It’s an idea I’ve always had a problem with for a few seemingly obvious reasons – the toy pianos that populated so many of their early songs, the horn sections that’ve graced the past few records, and the perpetually close ratio of ballads/rockers all point to a band that has been “mature” for years.  “The Rat”, a song from their second album, was, at least partially, about how the narrator was past going out to the old familiar haunts in favor of either flying solo or staying home altogether.  The band has always mixed a distinctly urban brashness with a sage-like presence that few of their peers can match.  Regardless, there always seem to be a large number of bloggers/writers who seem to either forget these facts or disregard them entirely.   With the much-anticipated Heaven dropping in a few weeks those voices are surfacing yet again.  Yes, the family-oriented promo shots might suggest some sort of surfacing contentedness or domesticity in the tunes, but I see The Walkmen as a band that has been getting better and better at integrating those earlier mentioned attributes for a long time now.  They’ve been producing habitually great records for so long now that they just have to be in the conversation of the best bands of the past decade.  The soaring title track, the latest in a long-line of drop-dead killer first singles, is their most streamlined indie-rock song yet.  Never at a loss for anthems, “Heaven” is the type of song that could easily catapult The Walkmen to the (very much deserved) next level occupied by bands like Arcade Fire and The Black Keys.  “Our crooked dreams will always glow”, indeed.

I’m a little late on this one, as there’s now another sneak peak here.

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Today the world lost one of the great musical talents in Levon Helm.  I have no reservations saying that The Band, along with The Stones, Dylan, & Springsteen, is on a very short list of my favorite “classic rock” artists of all time, and Helm’s inimitable vocals are a huge reason for this.  He has now joined Rick Danko and Richard Manuel in the great beyond, and I’d like to think that the first thing they did when reunited was sing “The Weight” or “Ophelia” or “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” together again.  Rest in Peace Levon.

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Just the other day I threw in my two cents regarding Family Perfume Vol. 1 & 2, the sprawling new psyche/folk set from Tim Presley’s White Fence project.  As consistently thrilling as those albums are, I’ve been having a hard time giving it my full attention over the past few days.  Perhaps ironically, this is all Presley’s fault.  His other upcoming record, a collaborative LP with garage/punk Ty Segall called Hair, is one of the most ass-kickin’ records I’ve heard all year.  You’ve likely heard “I Am Not A Game” already, but here’s a live video wherein the band kicks out some serious jams on the record’s lead single.  Then check out another live video for “Scissor People” with some equally blistering guitar work here.  Recorded by Rm. 205.  Can I get a hallelujah?

MP3  ::  I Am Not A Game

(from Hair. Info here)

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Sydney, Australia’s Royal Headache have already shared two killer tracks from the U.S. release of their self-titled debut (May 8 on What’s Your Rupture?).  Today The Fader shared a stream of a third – the rip-roaring “Psychotic Episode”.  I can only tell you so many times how awesome this record is; if you still haven’t given this band any attention yet I don’t know what yr waiting for…

“Psychotic Episode”:

MP3  ::  Down the Lane

MP3  ::  Girls

(from Royal Headache. Info here)

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Between the 29-song Family Perfume Vol. 1 & 2 and the collaborative LP Hair with Ty Segall dropping in about 2 weeks, the market will soon be positively flooded with new tracks from Tim Presley’s White Fence project.  That might be an issue if he was a lesser songwriter, but the consistently rewarding Family Perfume proves that too much White Fence isn’t necessarily enough.  The album, split in half and being released within weeks of each other, offers a constant stream of Presley’s distorted take on the lo-fi/psychedelic/garage genres – this is a charmingly ramshackle set that sounds every bit as drugged-out as you want it to.  You’ll hear echoes of all your Summer of Love heroes, but Presley’s prolificacy suggests he might be a West Coast answer to Robert Pollard.    

MP3  ::  It Will Always Be (edit)

MP3  ::  Swagger Vets and Double Moon

(from Family Perfume Vol. 1. Buy here)

MP3  ::  King of the Decade

(from Family Perfume Vol. 2. Pre-order here)

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I’m very excited to announce that NYC singer/songwriter, truly nice guy, and long time PHW fave Matt Singer has a new album called The Build coming out May1 through Family Records.  The video for first single “All Your Joy” captures Singer’s clever and optimistic folk/pop perfectly – plenty of puppetry, fiber shapes, and even the lost art of paper hat ships.  Dig the twist ending.  The clip was directed by Jesse Garrison, and made its premier on Philly’s WXPN.  There’s a record release show April 26 at Littlefield in Brooklyn. 

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From deep down in the Philadelphia underground comes Lantern, a skuzzy, scrappy, garage/rock band led by Montreal-transplant Zachary Fairbrother.  Fairbrother has spoken in interviews about his love for The Rolling Stones, and Burned Youth, their new collection of outtakes and unused songs from 2009-2011, certainly shows a deep love for the world’s greatest rock & roll band, especially the big hits and fazed cookies of the band’s early days.  In fact some of these tracks sound like dead ringers to early Stones’ classics – I half expect him to start singing “love is love, and not fade away” during “I Don’t Know” or bust into the chorus of “The Last Time” during opener “Bleed Me Dry”.  Burned Youth also features a couple of extended, droning jams that draw from mid-period VU and a handful of proto-punk workouts that recall early Stooges.  So yeah, they get some cred points for the influences, but Burned Youth is much more than just an exercise in rehashing the classics.  With a degree in music composition, Fairbrother has no problem mixing melodies that stick in your head with dirty, minimalist rock & roll arrangements.  This is some real good shit.  Lantern has released a series of cassettes and 7” singles over the past year or two, much of which is available on their Bandcamp page for cheap.  Highly recommended, and big time props.

MP3  ::  I Don’t Know

MP3  ::  Bleed Me Dry

(from Burned Youth. Buy here)

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