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With Halloween behind us it’s time to start looking forward to next food coma inducing holiday, and probably a quick trip to the dentists office. We had a good Halloween though. My boy (age 2) got to do his first Trick or Treat and came out gangbusters. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) we didn’t have many kids stop by to our house so along with my sons bounty, we also still have all of the treats that we bought. Which is all to say that I’m enjoying a nice sugar high as I write this.
Lets talk music.
Them Crooked Vultures – New Fang
How do you like your rock n roll? If you answered “awesome with a main course of guitar” then this is your haven. Already famous before ever recording their first notes together, this super group is made of Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Josh Holmme (Queens of the Stone Age) and some young wippersnapper named John Paul Jones from this new goth-indie act called Led Zeppelin. They have a self-titled debut out in a couple weeks, so expect it to be your Holiday soundtrack centerpiece.
Old Canes – Little Bird Courage
The Appleseed Cast had a lot of fans back in the 90’s, but never pulled off going mainstream much to the dismay of their underground following. That makes it all the sweeter that lead man Chris Crisci has this solo profile that’s been bubbling up throughout most of this decade. It’s a departure from The Cast, but satisfies your acoustic, jangly, indie pop crave. And it pulls in some great horns around two minutes. And I’m a sucker for horns right now. Dig it.
The Watson Twins – The U-N-Me
Clever title girls. I’m sure a legion of indie-cana boys just wet themselves. Seriously though, its great to hear the return of the Louisville born twins, but I wish the song were longer. 2:22 may leave me wanting more, but without any other singles having been posted, its just mean. Aside, this is definite evolution in the songwriting department. The LP is out in February and I cant wait to hear how it all comes together.
The Whigs – In The Dark
This new track from Athens band The Whigs didn’t grab me on the first listen, but it looks like I was the only one. It only took one day on the web to crack the top ten on Elbo.ws and has everyone, maybe even unexpectedly, looking towards the early 2010 release. Needless to say, after continued listens, the hook definitely jumps and sticks, and what’s more, you can catch them on tour with The Features and Mean Creek throughout the rest of the year.
Rubblebucket – Bikes
Go ahead, say the name a few times. Its fun. So, the band splits their time between Vermont and Massachusetts and is making music usually only accomplished by tenured artists with nice budgets. The horns at the beginning instantly put it in another world from the Blog contemporaries and could have come from nearly any decade they wanted. Its nice, it feels different, and pulls out enough turns to keep this interesting the further it explores. Two big high-fives.
Bryan Scary & The Shredding Tears – The Garden Eleanor
Did you like the record from the band Fun as much as I did? If so, follow it up with this one. Apparently Bryan has won over just about anyone he’s ever played with (including Elija Wood who put this new EP out on his record label) and judging from the six songs that make up the Mad Valentines disc, 2010 could be a very good year for The Shredding Tears. Great pop rock that holds no pretensions.
Field Music – Measure
There is something in this – the title track from their forthcoming two-disc set – that reminds me of Talking Heads, in a great way. It breezes through, without being breezy, form the opening strings right into the playful guitar line. And it might as well be David Byrne himself poking at the word “measure” before going into the chorus. Two brothers make up this outfit, and they’ve reportedly had their ups and downs with each other this decade, but if that’s what it took to get here, it may have been all worth it. Look to hear the full dealie come February.
Julian Casablancas – River of Breaklights
Our second look at the Strokes frontman’s new solo disc that was just released. Its more electronica with his trademark vocals that doesn’t have me totally excited, but it may be the best we get if his main act doesn’t find some common ground with their new disc. During one breakdown, Julians sings “getting the hang of it” and while I think “good for him,” I also don’t totally believe it. That’s a long way of saying that the jury is still out on this one. I’m hoping for there to be some onion skin layers that will turn up something great.
Pomplamoose – Single Ladies
So, lets get two things straight: This duo from Cali has some amazing original songs. They also do some amazing covers, all expertly documented and posted to YouTube every couple weeks. Sure, this Beyonce tune was one of the most covered songs of the year, but I’ve never heard it performed so… honestly as it is here. Oh, and Pomplamoose means grapefruit in French. Ya know, in case you ever need that tidbit.
Designer Drugs – Drop Down
Dance floors stuff. Lots of blips and beeps, beats, and an occasional vocal. Uninspiring for arts sake, but good to shake the get-down to. Nice break down at 1:40 though.
Ola Podrida – Roomful of Sparrows
Some really nice, pretty indie-cana from Austin, TX. And when you think about it, Austin has just about everything right now, including David Wingo (the man behind the Ola Podrida mask), so there isn’t much excuse to drop everything now and head south. Belly of the Lion houses this slow builder and see’s release on Nov. 10 th.
Electric Six – Egyptian Cowboy
Tongue-n-cheek crunch n’ metal from the Detroit fan-boys who do it best. You might remember them from the duet with Jack White (“High Voltage”) or the jaw dropping “Gay Bar,” and while they haven’t hit those highs since, this new track plays that game that they made the rules for. Go ahead, pick apart the words. Each one of them is an entire comedy show in themselves, while at the same time being as serious as a heart attack. After all, “these songs don’t write themselves.”
The Big Pink – Dominos (Switch Remix)
I love the original. You’ll not find much of any of it here except for the sporadically sampled vocal. Due yourself a favor, either wait for a better remix to surface (and it will) or go grab A Brief History of Love and get one of the best Brit albums of the year.
Damien* - Confidants
This is a nice compliment to The Whigs tune from earlier. More rock, but this time from an Italian guy with a big love for 90’s alt, without feeling too nostalgic or falling into the traps that wore the genre out. Maybe it’s the repeating title, but it’ll stick with ya. Pick up Cripped Cute now.
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The Weekly Feed is distributed by WFPK and Louisville Public Media. The executive producer is Stacy Owen. Produced and hosted by Kyle Meredith. Make sure to say hi, yeah?
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