The solo project of Deerhunter second fiddle Lockett Pundt, Lotus Plaza’s Spooky Action at a Distance is perhaps 2012’s biggest surprise thus far.  Where Pundt’s 2009 The Floodlight Collective sounded overly hazy and unsure of itself, Spooky Action is the sound of an artist discovering his strengths and playing to them for 45 straight minutes.  And that strength is crafting swirling, melodic, guitar-based indie-rock songs.  Kranky just released the towering “Monoliths”, a prime example of just such a track.  Going on record here, Spooky Action at a Distance is every bit as excellent  as anything Deerhunter compadre Bradford Cox has released as Atlas Sound.

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Gentleman Jesse is back after a few years in hiding and, for pure bash & pop, you can’t do much better than his new LP Leaving Atlanta.  The long awaited follow up to 2008’s smashing Introducing Gentleman Jesse, Leaving Atlanta dropped a few weeks back and is filled, once again, with endlessly catchy and energetic sing-a-longs.  Dude basically writes one song, but does it so well that you hardly care.  The 13 new tracks breeze by with barely a ballad or stylistic left-turn to be found.  No matter.  The writing here is sharp, if not as consistent as the debut, and, as the title suggests, conveys feelings of escape and moving on.  I’ll be damned though if a song title like “Eat Me Alive” on an album called Leaving Atlanta doesn’t make me think of The Walking Dead.  That’s more likely an unintended connection, but imagining Jesse running (with an armful of records) down the street being stalked by a couple of walkers only adds to the urgency.  Anyway, similar records by The Tough Shits and Hunx have really caught my ear this year, and Leaving Atlanta is another of the type –brash, spirited, fun, catchy as hell.  I know, it’s only rock & roll…..

MP3  ::  Eat Me Alive

(from Leaving Atlanta. Buy here)

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Expwy’s Matt LeGroulx works fast – his recent Bag of Waters is the third free full length he’s released in the past 9 months.  The rapid succession of new songs doesn’t seem to be trading anything off in quality though.  If anything, Bag of Waters is his most consistent and rewarding collection yet, continuing to explore the sounds of the early days of rock radio.  Instead of drawing on the same dusty 70’s AM dial as Total Gold or Dance Maul, Bag of Waters looks back to the primitive era of 60’s garage bands.  His fluid guitar playing continues to be a huge plus, providing these songs with worlds more gravity than a lesser musician would be able to conjure.  It’s all shot through with a lo-fi, DIY attitude and big bag of strong hooks.  As long as they continue to be this good, Expwy should just keep them coming.

MP3  ::  Deep and Frozen Mother Nude

MP3  ::  Foppish Gallant and Scarecrow Thin

MP3  ::  Smoked and Crossed Up Into Fists

(from Bag of Waters. Download here)

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Check out the hypnotic title track from Chromatics’ long awaited new LP –  I love the simple grandeur this electro-pop torch song conjures.  Between this, Japandroids, Sigur Ros, and Segall/White Fence, the last seven days have seen a truly diverse batch of great new tunes.

MP3  ::  Kill for Love

(from Kill for Love. Buy here)

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Garage/psyche dream team Ty Segall and White Fence have a collaborative LP called Hair coming next month via Drag City.  This is in addition to an assortment of solo records from each project this year.  “I Am Not A Game” is the totally badass first single, a truly mind-blowing jam that really sets the bar high for this record.

MP3  ::  I Am Not A Game

(from Hair. Info here)

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Looks like the long awaited follow up to Dirty Projectors’ brilliant 2009 record Bitte Orca will drop sometime this spring.  Nothing more than that at the moment as far as news goes, though Longstreth described the new songs to Spin as being “stripped down” and “centered on horror and fear”.  Have a go at the rather subdued first single, “Gun With No Trigger” below (via) :

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Directed by Alix Lambert, Pinkghettoproductions

MP3  ::  You As You Were

(from Animal Joy. Buy here)

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Back in 2010 New Jersey experimental folk ensemble Out Like Lambs released a sprawling LP called Not So Winter Waltz that sounded like some sort of free-jazz take on Americana music.  The songs stretched out in a wide array of directions and often with long running times, usually seeming to be more like improvisational pieces than rehearsed songs – which was likely a result of the fact that there were 16 credited musicians in the liner notes.  On their latest EP, the self-titled Out Like Lambs, the band scales things back considerably.  These 5 songs retain the previous album’s slow, spacious arrangements and knack for haunting female vocals, but everything seems tighter and more focused.  A prime example is album opener “Older Whispers”, a rickety folk song that manages to sound lush and mysterious and maybe a little haunted all in under 4 minutes.

The band was kind enough to send along an extra copy of the EP to me.  So, have a listen to “Older Whispers” below, email me (with “Out Like Lambs” as the subject) what you like about the song and one lucky responder will get a free vinyl copy of the EP sent to them.  Deal?

MP3  ::  Older Whispers

(from Out Like Lambs. Email OLL for ordering info)

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The new track from the just announced forthcoming Sigur Rós album Voltari is just as immensely beautiful as what we’ve come to expect from the Icelandic ambient/post-rock legends.  Can’t wait to hear more.  Voltari drops May 28.

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The bigger, bolder “The House That Heaven Built” is from Japandroids upcoming sophomore LP Celebration Rock.  Post Nothing meets Girls and Boys in America?

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