You won't need a ladder to reach the top boys. You're too good. HOWLER photo by Robert Carino
Uncorked™ Howler
Holy fack, these boys sound like so many bands it’s hard to pin them to one Sonic Soulmate™. Really, I’m struggling…what? You’re begging me for one? Just one…fine The Strokes impregnated in some dark alley under a pile of trash by the Cramps. Hell, Jordan Gatesmith, the primary Howler is only 19 years old and he and his Minny pals created a record that is so damn good! The record came out yesterday. By the way these boys will be the band in every commercial, every video game, hell they may even be better than the aforementioned bands. They’re hooks are so catchy, not even a catfish could escape. I’m hooked and the entire 2012 America Give Up record is worth the vinyl purchase. Thank you Turk. I think you will agree. Enough of my yapping, just listen.
Vitals: Hometown: Minneapolis, MN Members: Jordan Gatesmith on lead guitar and vocals, Brent Mayes on drums, Ian Nygaard on guitar, Max Petrek on keyboard, and France Camp (real name Jay Simonson) on bass Sonic Soulmates™: The Vaccines, Surfer Blood, The Strokes Trackables™:
“Back of Your Neck”
Class Actress sheds light on what can be good in 2012.
Uncorked™ Class Actress
I’m a sucker for female leads. I’m also a sucker for minimalist electronic music. The stuff you can create on your kid’s toys…all said, simple beats and unlayered tracks may replace the cluttered underwater gargle we’ve been dealing with over the past two years. Class Actress is one stellar example of the mid-80’s Kate Bush led Depeche Mode tribute sound. Elizabeth Harper is the muse that leads Class Actress, having been at electronic music since 2009, she drafted the help of producers Mark Richardson and Scott Rosenthal. They created what is today one of our favorite late ’11 and early ’12 faves. Where Chairlift bores and drones, Class Actress soars. Her new record Rapprocher was released late 2011 it good and her following is growing fast. Elizabeth is Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells without the anger, she’s what makes music great these days. Here’s to a new age of female leads in 2012.
Vitals: Hometown: Brooklyn, NY via Philadelphia, PA Members: Elizabeth Harper Sonic Soulmates™: Twin Sister, Depeche Mode, Kate Bush, Chairlift Trackables™:
“Weekend”
Is this becoming the year of selfish band names? I Break Horses bring home cooked Swedish dream pop.
Uncorked™ I Break Horses
When we listen to music, we often joke here about how it made you feel. It most cases, we don’t feel anything. In some cases we tap our toes and in the rare case we get that chill up our spine and the hair on our head tingles. I’m not a scientist, so I can’t explain why that happens, but I can say that’s a good thing. I remember the first time I heard all of my favorite bands. I Break Horses isn’t your typical dream gaze XX/XY duo. Fredrik Balck, is the instrumental guy, and Maria Lindén who handles the vocals met in 2008 under unusual circumstances: both self-professed hypochondriacs, visited the same online medical sites, discovered they shared friends as well as a passion the same music. Their tracks aren’t layered in heavy shoe gaze wall of sound, rather, they take the Washed Out route and keep the instrumentals simple. Maybe two-three layered tracks with Maria’s beautiful voice adorning the sound. They use their fear of dying as inspiration for their lyrics, focusing on the fragility of life. I will say that the first time I heard Hearts that chill ran up my spine and NO I wasn’t worried that I had some rare spinal virus…Thank you again to AZ Turk for adding them to his Top Gems of 2011
Vitals: Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden Members: Fredrik Balck, Maria Lindén Sonic Soulmates™: Washed Out, Jesus and Mary Chain, Echo Lake Trackables™:
“Hearts”
The ghosts of Port O'Brien come to life with a record built for a Hummingbird Award - Ryan Stively
Uncorked™ Ryan Stively
Port O’Brien breaking up messed with my head. I loved their last record Threadbare so much, it was a combination of Built to Spill and Bowerbirds. Folky, fuzzy and good. Then they dissolved the unit, Van floated over to WATERS and Ryan Stively, the long-time member and co-conspirator has now stepped out to create some southern fried, San Francisco gems on his debut record Soft Kingdom. It was recorded over the span of 6 months on borrowed and leftover studio time with former tour-mate and Portland multi-instrumentalist Cory Gray (Carcrashlander, Desert City Soundtrack). It’s part Broken Social Scene, part National brooding and a whole lot of Wilco (Tweedy) or even Bridwell’s stylings for Band of Horses…hell even a little M. Wardy. These 8 tracks could rival any record we’ve heard in the past 6 months. Buy it here.
Vitals: Hometown: Portland, OR, San Francisco, CA (Right in our own backyard) Members: Ryan Stively (Port O’Brien), Cambria Goodwin (Port O’Brien), Graham LeBron (Rogue Wave, Album Leaf) and Joey Ficken (Sea Wolf) appear. Sonic Soulmates™: Bowerbirds, Wilco, Broken Social Scene, Rogue Wave, M. Ward Trackables™:
“We Forget Everything”
Arizona Turk loved them, so should you. I Heart Sharks.
If you’re not familiar, this is our key feature, we’ve called it Band of the Day, BUT starting today for 2012, we’re going to rename Band of the Day to Uncorked…these are what we consider the BEST NEW BANDS of 2012, the ones you should put on a playlist and listen to religiously. We love them so we share.
So if you read our blog religiously you know Arizona Turk. He’s our primary music excavator, digging for new bands and truly a maverick of music. His 2011 Year End Gems was shocking, bands that we’ve barely heard a whisper of and HIS FAVORITE NEW BAND is I Heart Sharks. We questioned him but he responded with “Just listen.” So we did and we pledged after that first listen to UNCORK them first in 2012. The first band to be Uncorked on NBD. Kind of a big, deal. I Heart Sharks, it’s German synth rock with an added Brit rock clean guitar flare and the vocal stylings of Friendly Fires. Their love of 80’s First Wave is clearly evident and I think it might be the first time A Brit, A German and a Parisian (we think) have created music together…well maybe not the first time, but definitely unique. They met sometime in 2007 in one of Berlin’s many clubs, toured a little bit through Germany, played Festivals and late last year we got their first full-length. Think of them as Scandinavian electro-pop with Berlin’s house music and the perfect dash of British flare.
Vitals:
Hometown: Berlin, Germany DE, Paris, FR, London
Members:
Pierre Bee
Simon Wangemann
Georg Steinmaier
Sonic Soulmates™: Friendly Fires, Passion Pit, Foals
Trackables™:
“Summer” –
Jeremy Charles thank you for this perfect photo of our #1 Best New Band of 2011. The Hummingbird Award is well deserved.
Best New Band of 2011
#1 Hummingbird Award – Other Lives
I like what we originally said back in May:
The band is really seven years old, forming under the name Kunek, they created an EP and made Stillwater, OK proudly scream for their hometown heroes. An album a name change and now a new record and Other Lives thrills America with a beautiful record. Think Wolf Parade, sprinkle the bells of Sigur Ros and a tad bit of National brooding without the guttoral leads. It’s a DNA favorite of Southern fried folk. Tamer Animals is a great record and one that I think you’ll be raving about all year. Buy the record here –> on LP
To add to that:
The band is so good, they deserve to be opening for Radiohead. They were the most viewed artist at NewBandDay in 2011, and the album never left our playlist. We’re not from Oklahoma, but I’ve been to Stillwater. I wish we saw them in 2009 when their first unnoticed record hit the streets. Stillwater, is a college town, but seriously something interesting is happening in the middle of the US. Even Radiohead noticed. We do tend to bend our own rules here…Other Lives’ first record was released in 2009, but to little fanfare. The blogs loved it, but it was mildly picked up. It took two records for the band to perfect The Red Dirt sound. Tamer Animals might be considered the water shed moment of the sound. It’s The National’s tear jerking vocals and songwriting, but the sounds are more layered and a little more airy. It doesn’t slip into the dream state, but it’s edges on it. Tabish’s vocals are so alluring, you can’t help but sing along, or hum along and you’re begging for the next track. The album is amazing and it’s worth a listen over and over and over and over…If you’re about to say “Other Lives isn’t a new band.” We say “We don’t care and you’re a lame music snob who needs to find another blog to read.” So take that and enjoy the best new band of 2011.
Vitals:
Hometown: Stillwater, OK
Members:
Jesse Tabish (piano, guitar, lead vocals)
Josh Onstott (bass, organ, Backing vocals)
Jenny Hsu (cello, piano, Backing Vocals)
Colby Owens (drums)
Jonathon Mooney (piano,violin, guitar)
Sonic Soulmates™: Mercury Rev, The National, Wolf Parade
Trackables™:
“For 12 (Demo)” – The song that made Thom Yorke stop for a listen.
A Hummingbird is the most prestigious award a new band can receive. Hands down, if you win one, your life will never be the same.
First of all let me thank you, again! This is the Second Annual Hummingbird Awards and we owe it to you. This has been an amazing year for us here at NBD. We profiled another 200 bands, bands have thanked us and you fans have been supported us. So to close out this year, we’re going to count ’em down STARTING NOW. It’s time, we’ve taken the last week to study our picks. We’ve found a few things..
1. The Rock Band rose from the ashes and then died again…
2. This may be the year of the AMAZING female and XY/XX duo. Screw that lilith crap.
3. Telling stories are so much better when you’re 60+
4. It doesn’t take much these days to become a star…slinger
5. The singer songwriter will never die
6. Elvis isn’t dead he may have just been reborn in an opium den
7. Arizona Turk has a lot to say about the list…though he’s very quiet these days
8. The Ark is now full
9. Our favorite band of the year is another shocker
10. Hummingbirds are amazing birds…Your Band Wants To Win a Hummingbird!
When it comes to XX/XY duos, the year has been dry as the Thanksgiving turkey from your negligent alcoholic mother. I’m sad about it. We were crazed in 2010, something like 30 of them. The Bowerbirds are a 2006ish Raliegh, NC creation. Many members, many iterations and three quality records. Love the new one that released back in March. Just now, Dead Oceans is servicing the new single to college radio and Sirius/XMU. Hear it below. They’re folky, but The Clearing, the new record, tackles the upbeat ebb and flow of a duo. I like ’em a lot and I think you’ll see them in early December on our Hummingbird lists.
Vitals:
Hometown: Raliegh, NC
Members: Phil Moore + Beth Tacular + Yan Westerlund + Mark Paulson + Leah Gibson
Sonic Soulmates™: Arcade Fire, The Dodos, Megafaun, Devendra Banhart
Trackables™:
“Tuck The Darkness In”
Gardens & Villa open your eyes your about to break!
BOD 11.11.11 Gardens & Villa
It’s been awhile and I apologize. Today we’ve found a band that may just be the Hummingbird winner of 2011. Can’t believe these guys have flown under the radar for this long. I’m assuming they will pop up on some irrelevant TV show soon, but in the meantime steal their fame and be the first to follow.
Gardens & Villa are a combination of GOOD Vampire Weekend a splash of MGMT and a great reason to pull out The Shins ancient relics and give them a spin. The boys hail from our favorite turkey time villa of Santa Barbara, CA. Their synth pop indie rock is right in line with the shiat today. This band won’t be under the radar, they’ll be in every commercial right around February. The band formed in 2008, joined Secretly Canadian and befriended our good friend Richard Swift. He influenced this self-titled beauty and you really really really need to get yourself a copy. Buy it on vinyl here
Vitals:
Hometown: Santa f’n Barbara, CA….the album was recorded in Oregon Members: Chris Lynch, keyboardist Adam Rasmussen, bassist Shane McKillop, and drummer Levi Hayden Sonic Soulmates™: The Shins, MGMT, Vampire Weekend (the good not lame version), The Police, Richard Swift Trackables™:
“Black Hills”
Port O'Brien flooded with WATERS and the sound is magnificent
BOD (10.26.11) WATERS
It’s easy to say that bands these days are derivative. I hear so many people refer to bands as “Sounding like…” or “These guys are so derivative of…” that too easy. Making music isn’t easy and if you’re a talented artist and you do the work, then you shouldn’t have to suffer from comparisons. It’s hard not to, we even showcase our “Sonic Soulmates” because it makes it more palatable for the listener, but I have to admit that it bias the listening experience. You instantly think of the artist referred then the artist playing. The reason for this diatribe is that our BOD WATERS just doesn’t conjure up that easy comparison. Making our job so much easier today. Van Pierszalowski formerly of Port O’Brien, which is no more (so sad), traversed the coasts from Alaska to Oslo back to SF and he’s created more aqually awesome music. You could say that his reverb heavy garage rock sounds are college radio friendly, but I tend lean towards his softer approach that still cranks out troubling guitar riffs and distorted ear piercing sounds. He’s getting all the play and his vocals hover around Yo La Tengo. Grab the new record Out In The Night and make your day with new music.
Vitals:
Hometown: Oslo, Norway; San Francisco, CA; Brooklyn, NY
Members: Van Pierszalowski
Sonic Soulmates™: Yo La Tengo?
Trackables™:
“For the One”
Really there are days, weeks when I just get bored listening to the same old drivel. I try not to remind myself how great it used to be…when one band from one new area from say Toronto, led to a slew of fantastic artists. Wow, that was just last year. Sometimes, I just have to remember that great music isn’t easy to find. I feel like our excavators have exhausted The Swedes, The Canadians, Chicago, San Francisco, the well seemed dried up. But then, I found a this lonely ‘ol lost track from Apparat, dream pop artist who had two records on Shitkatapult now on Mute. His new record The Devil’s Walk is great commute music. Calming dream-pop that conjures up 80’s revivalists like Cocteau or Roxy and then layered in a little James Blake. I feel good about today’s selection and I think you’ll find love in Apparat.
Vitals:
Hometown: Berlin, Germany
Members: Sacha Ring
Sonic Soulmates: Four Tet, Cocteau Twins, Sigur Ros
Trackables:
“Black Water”
Don't Be Alarmed, People Still Go to the LIbrary and They Still Whisper
Band of the Day (10.11.11) Library Voices
I still have the urge to post more information about our “Already Profiled” bands that have new records. There are so many, it’s hard to keep up. We can’t forget about the new ones, we really can’t. Today’s band is a Canadian delight. Now that we’re finally over the maple leaf obsession, we get a band from Regina, Saskatchewan, CA dead center of Winnipeg and Calgary. Some of the most beautiful country in the world, but it’s damn cold. The band Bon Iver’d up in a small town of Kronau (population: 209) to record their sophomore record and it’s quite good. The band has not been on the golden road to Oz, their trailers have been robbed, their instruments and studio destroyed in a flood, but the seven piece Reginates are aiming for their own US rocket ship. The record hits next Tuesday and we have a track or two below. Think of the bell clanging female backed Los Campesinos combined with 80’s horn driven favorites like Bruce Hornsby and then sprinkle in some good ‘ol home cooked Canadian bacon like Stars and The Dears and you have Library Voices. Love ’em and you will be hearing them all over soon.
Vitals:
Hometown: Regina, Saskatchewan, CA
Members:
Amanda Scandrett – keyboards /vocals
Paul Gutheil – saxophone / vocals
Michael Thievin – drums
Brennan Ross – Guitar /vocals
Carl Johnson – lead vocals
Michael Dawson – keyboards / vocals
Eoin Hickey-Cameron – bass guitar
Sonic Soulmates: Los Campesinos, The Dears, Stars, The Range with Bruce Hornsby
Trackables:
“Generation Handclap”
Beards were grown, hearts were broken and Megafaun went on Tour
Band of the Day (9.30.11) Megafaun
What do you want me to say, “I’m sorry” or make up some horrible excuse. I’ve been busy and the music just kind of sucks. I have a post coming later today that will explain it all. I truly found a band that you’ll love, trust is key here. Megafaun is 70’s smoke rock, from the open fields of Durham, NC. When I hear the clean slide guitar riffs, I think of The Byrds and possibly even Fleet Foxes but with an electronic edge. There is an association with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver here. He too was from Durham, but moved to Wisconsin to live in a cabin and write a sad successful record. The rest of the boys stayed in Durham, grew beards, hearts were broken, lyrics were written and vans were filled with chips, beer and guitars. I love Southern harmonies, but these brothers are inventive with their sound. Love em and I know you will too.
Vitals:
Hometown: Durham, NC
Members: Phil Cook, Brad Cook, and Joe Westerlund
Sonic Soulmates: The Byrds, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Whiskeytown, Wilco
Trackables:
“Real Slow”
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