I’ve been looking forward to this day all year. It’s 8.9.10 damnit and we only get 12 years to enjoy this perfect symmetry. Today is extra special because we go double-digits….so I thought long and hard about an appropriate BOD. Someone who represents the symmetry…so here comes Yuck. I’ve listened to approximately four tracks and I quite honestly think they nail what XX/XY duos stand for….I love you, you dumped me, I hate you, I forgive you, etc. Their voices sound perfect together, they beam with emotion, almost as if they’re lying in bed singing to each other. Surprisingly, Yuck is a big band — Daniel Blumberg (guitar), Max Bloom (guitar), Jonny Rogoff (drums), Mariko Doi (bass) and Ilana Blumberg (vocals) make the complexity of music, sound so damn simple and perfect. “Automatic” is so pure I can almost hear the dust fly off the piano wires after each plunk. But when you dig deeper you realize that this simplicity is much bigger, tracks like “Georgia” introduce you to their Dinosaur Jresque roots. I love ’em and I think you will too. The two tracks posted below are my faves.
Yuck hail from Northern London, a few members have been seen on the scene, Max and Danny were in Cajun Dance Party (CDP) back in 2007. A classic hyped, British fave back in the 2007.
Wow, this was an amazing year for music. Too many bands, too many songs and not enough minutes in the day. I hope you’ve enjoyed our Hummingbird Awards and now we present our best of lists. The final cherry on top of 2013. The Arizona Turk and I want thank each and every one of our readers. We love music, because it’s takes talent that we don’t have. Keep playing, keep making COMPLETE albums and let us help you find more fans. Don’t forget to favorite, follow, like and listen to our favorite best new artists! They need your support to keep making great music.
Best New Bands of 2013 HUMMINGBIRD AWARD #12: Swim Deep
Ahhh more lovely boys from Birmingham. Swim Deep is what Oasis wish they captured, FUN. They enjoy themselves, they have a Stone Rose’s wound up and bottled for perfect 2013 perfect. The open clean guitars, the boppy beats and the vocals are dead on. The keyboards are a nice touch. The band went through their wave of drummers and it forced them to be a three piece and it paid off. Their sounds is captivating and if we could build a better bridge for these lovely bands of London, America would have much better music. Thank you Swim Deep and congrats.
Founded: 2011
Hometown: West Midlands, Birmingham, England
Members: Cavan McCarthy, Tom Higgins, Zachary Robinson, Austin Williams
Sonic Soulmates™: Stone Roses, Vaccines, Wavves, Lighter version of Yuck
Trackables™:
The entire album Where the Heaven Are We
Some very good music hitting the streets this fourth quarter. Not that there hasn’t been great music all year long, but with the anticipation of Arcade Fires Afterlife, more music is hitting our InBox then we’ve seen all year long.
Here are some nuggets for your ears:
UNCORKINGS: The Paper Kites – Folky and nice on the ears for a late fall evening. These Melbournistos are marvelous and with only two EPs and a solid LP, they are poised for greatness. From WIKI -> The band was formed in 2009 by Sam Bentley and Christina Lacy and consists of Bentley, Lacy, Dave Powys, Josh Bentley and Sam Rasmussen
High Highs – More greatness from down under. Love this record. Acoustic wonderment with a touch of love. Listen to “Open Season” High Highs is an indie pop rock band hailing from Sydney, Australia, founded in 2013. From WIKI -> It was co-founded by vocalist Jack Milas and Oli Chang, with Zach Lipkins playing drums. Their song “Open Season” was featured in a commercial for Pacifico beer.
Our Record of the Year so Far:
Yuck – Glow and Behold ::: The record reminds me of everything great in 1993. They’ve captured the edge of Dinosaur Jr, the melodic dual guitars of the Pumpkins, the innocence of Teenage Fanclub and even an edge of Temple of the Dog. I don’t know how they’ve done it, but they captured it all in one record. Can’t tell you how happy I am when I listen to this record.
Listen to Middle Sea, then buy the vinyl. We’ve loved this band since 2010!! Read this
We're like the AAA for Coachella, they might be in small print, but they're great bands none the less.
I got a comment from someone that said all the music we feature sounds like “Underwater Radiohead Drivel” I wrote him back and had him listen to the 132 bands that we featured, that weren’t of that ilk. I do agree that most of today’s band can be categorized into three camps “URD”, “Spectorian Female dream sounds” and “Folk Americana”. Seriously, rock has been long buried because most of America has accepted that Nickelback is rock music. So we’re stuck in this weird moment in music….it doesn’t upset us, it just drives us to find something special. We really did pour through the bands of 2011 to find the bands that will make a difference. If the Coachella line-up is any indication, we weren’t the only ones to notice how great they were. Here is the list of our best of 2011 bands playing in Indio this year:
Other Lives – #1 2011 Hummingbird Award Winners EMA – #4 2011 Hummingbird Award Winners The Vaccines – #3 2011 Hummingbird Award Winners Girls – 2011 Best of Tracks and Album Winners and one of our favorites in 2010. Yuck – 2011 Best of Tracks and Album Winners and one of our favorites in 2010. Keep Shelly in Athens – BOD in 2010 Real Estate – 2010 mid-year Best of and BOD 2.5.10
Gardens & Villas – Featured BOD 11.11.11 We Were Promised Jetpacks – Featured back BOD 4.27.10 The Big Pink – They played last year and we featured back in early 2010
Personal Loves but not necessarily featured on NBD for various reasons:
Pulp
Destroyer
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Laura Marling
Editors Picks Top 10 Gems Albums and Tracks of 2011
So that’s it. One more year down the drain. Good, I love moving forward. This has been one of those odd years where the new bands were good, the sophomore albums were unusually FANTASTIC. Really, I had a hard time clearing our albums from Girls, Toro Y Moi, Cults, White Denim, etc. These albums are so great that I truly believe we are at a water shed moment in the music industry. Where the social connected world has created ARTIST, who can create and share. We listen, we judge, they create more and boom, we have great records. I hope the Apple created .99 cent song world is over and that we’re headed back to an age of records. Oh well. We’re not there yet, so I’ll share my final lists for 2011. It was a great year for the Muse, Turk and me. We have new little Hummingbirds fluttering around our homes, even more inspiration to weed out the Top 40 drivel and put on some quality music for our little ones to dance to.
EDITORS PICKS Top 10 Albums of 2011
10. Cults – Cults
9. White Denim – D
8. Young Galaxy – Shapeshifting
7. The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
6. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
5. Yuck – Yuck
4. James Vincent McMorrow – Early In The Morning
3. Donkeys – Born With Stripes
2. Other Lives – Tamer Animals
1. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
If want to grab these and our Hummingbird winners on vinyl just grab them here
PLEASE SUPPORT THESE BANDS. I read a post from the lead singer of Pepper Rabbit last night and he stated “It’s very hard to be an “indie band” these days. You spend 100% of your time trying to get the band to another level, 75% of the time on tour losing money, and the rest of your time in either complete elation, or complete doubt.” So support them, love them, show them how much you care. Share them in this new socially connected world and claim them as yours. Claim them like a lover because they work their asses off to do it for you. I love new bands and I will spend every hour of my life finding something new for you.
2011 is shaping up to be the year of second records. Or at least the “Next” record for many of our NBD favorites. Seriously, I think this new age of releasing EPs has helped turn these bands into better album makers. These records are great! Seriously better than we expected. Just download the new Girls record and you’ll hear for yourself. That’s right, albums from our favorite “Already Profiled” bands. Below find the links to these artists and the link to their new records. And yes they are in order of our favorite. Support the bands and their plans! If you click through to a Facebook link, it’s only because we featured those artists on our FB page before we launched the blog.
1. Widowspeak – The new album is here and it’s VERY VERY good. The two tracks on their profile are included on their self-titled record.
“Puritan” – If haven’t been listening then are you okay? Because everyone’s talking about Widowspeak. Buy Now
2. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost is so good, I think I’ve listened to it about 1000 times. The bad is maturing and you can hear it in their sound.
“Vomit” – Heard this once and I’ve been listening to it on repeat for months. I hate repeat, but I don’t hate this track. Buy now
3. Yuck – Yuck S/TEverybody has them on their list now. It’s cool. At least we can say we profiled them over 18 months ago. Love these guys because they bring back what I loved so much about The Smashing Pumpkins, dual overlayed guitars and the Sonic Youth obsession. These Canadians may be the lone leftovers of last year’s obsession with the maple leaf. Great band!
“Georgia” – Wow. 90’s rock. Sonic Youth meets The Pumpkins meets Screaming Trees meets flannels and boots. Buy now
4. Balam Acab – Wander/Wonder – Alec Koone has been our obsession for some time and this full length is so worth the vinyl.
“Oh Why” – Haunting for your October chill. Just a great track. Buy now
5. Cults – Cults S/T – These tracks ended up in our inbox about 16 months ago. They were sly and anonymous, but everyone seemed to get the same mail. We called around and everyone said the same thing “Did you hear that track” we were all in shock, and we wanted more. Well we got a record and it is just as good. So good.
6. Washed Out – Within and Without – Chill summer music, perfect for the beach or a romp under the sheets. So shows the album cover. We loved him back in 2010 and 2011 has been a break-out year for him.
“Amor Fati” – Spacey dreamy track from one of our favorite digs. Buy now
7. Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine – I’ve spent the better part of 35 years focusing on music and what I like. My tastes are my tastes, but I’ve never been more moved when I heard TYM for the first time. Now he’s three LPs and a few EPs in and his maturity is showing.
8. Nurses – New album Dracula is so friggin good. The Muse and I saw this Portland trio open live at the haunted Brookdale lodge in Santa Cruz for last years NBD #1 artist Tallest Man on Earth. The track is below and it’s good!
“Fever Dreams” – Hard to describe this track. Just listen Buy now
9. Real Estate – Days Really one of our favorite finds from 2009 that carried over to 2010 and has stayed with us. The album comes out next week, but we know it will be great.
“Green Aisles” – Can you see the excitement. Well you can at least listen to it. Buy now
Gypsy Death and You XX/XY duo from Philly bring big nose for two folks.
Band of the Day (1.14.11) Gypsy Death and You
Wow I was having a tough time picking the Band of the Day today. So many bands in 2011 and so little space, but I’m drawn to the female singers…AGAIN. Ha, well Gypsy Death and You is the XX/XY indie shoegazers from Philly. Oh Philly, when was the last time we saw a band from the City of Brotherly Love…Free Energy? Dead Milkmen? Well Gypsy Death and You are brilliantly good. I mentioned earlier this week that this is shaping up to be the year of the female lead, Gypsy Death and You take Puro Instinct from yesterday and add My Bloody Valentine’s wall of wailing layered guitars. Not sure if you guys are familiar with My Vitriol from 2003ish, well Gypsy Death and You have that guitar sound nailed. The vocals are pure and while taking you up to the shoegaze cloud, Emily Cahill comes crashing down with Alex Wilson’s screeching Skinny Puppy guitars for the landing heard by the masses. They rock and Emily’s vocals are so alluring, I just can’t get enough. The Arizona Turk is doing his work.
Vitals:
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Members: Emily Cahill, Alex Wilson
Sonic Soulmates: Skinny Puppy, My Vitriol, My Bloody Valentine, Yuck
Must Hear Tracks:
“Crocus” – A little Pumpkins guitar in there…love the clean guitar and her vocals…great retro 80’s track
“Something I Can’t Have” – Wall of guitars and Emily’s female vocals
So this is it. The final post of 2010 and it’s MY list of albums. Yeah that’s right, an entire ALBUM. That’s what bands and artists do, they go into the studio and create a record for us to enjoy. The art of crafting a story and telling it to us through poems, notes and melodies. I love a record because it’s what makes a band. Nobody would read a chapter of a book and say that an author is great, you need the whole art form. An album tells you the story of a band, not a track. These are the albums that changed MY world in 2010. Albums ONLY from the bands that debuted in 2010. Some of our favorite bands only released EPs…boohoo, hopefully 2011 will give us records from these bands. Damn it’s been a great year musically. If you said this year in music sucked, then you weren’t listening or reading. If you have a friend and you’re a friend then pass along NewBandDay.com to them. It’ll be their New Years Resolution, or yours if you’re looking to be a better friend. The albums are here. So go download them…NOW! See you next year.
Other things we loved and Who we’re scoping in 2011…new LPs:
We loved Karkwa and their passionate fans
We loved Canada
We loved Sweden
We loved XX/XY duos
We loved the Pet Sound but we’re over it now.
We loved The Walkmen Lisbon
NewBandDay 