May 31, 2013

Metz with Wasted

Get ready for some loud, noisy music. The band is Metz, they're from Toronto and they sound exactly like this.


Their eponymous début album is out now.

May 30, 2013

High energy tunes from Fitz and the Tantrums

Here's a great pop song, with a gigantic chorus, by Fitz and the Tantrums. It's called "Out of My League".


And this one's called "The Walker".


Their album More than Just a Dream is out now.

May 29, 2013

Classic tunes from Phoenix

You've probably heard of Phoenix. You've probably heard their music from recent, wildly popular albums like Bankrupt! and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. They're a great pop band.

What you may not have heard is their older stuff. Like this great disco romp, "If I Ever Feel Better", from their début album, 2000's Untitled.


Or the amazingly catchy "Everything is Everything" from their 2004 album Alphabetical.

May 28, 2013

Telekinesis and Deep Sea Diver rock The Horseshoe

What are Telekinesis? I would say they're a power pop band. But they probably need an "indie" in there somewhere. Indie power pop? Power indie pop? Indie rock? Whatever you want to categorize it as, it's good.

Maybe it was the Leafs play-off game 6 that took the crowd away from The Horseshoe on this unseasonably cold Sunday night, but those in attendance got a great and intimate show.
As one might expect, the drum kit was front and centre for the Telekinesis show. Michael Lerner is the creative force of Telekinesis and as the live drummer/singer, he should be up front. Although at first it's strange to see a drum kit at the front edge of the stage, it felt perfectly natural once things got going.

Telekinesis were a power trio when they played Fallon. Indeed it was a different band, since I recognize Jason Narducy who plays bass for Bob Mould playing with Telekinesis on Fallon. 

The addition of the keyboard player helped flesh out the sound with added texture, backing vocals and Charlie Brown dance moves. Their bassist tried some comedy on us too, which strikes me as bold, for a bassist.
Question and answer period preceded an acoustic portion of the show including "Symphony" from their most recent release Dormarion.

They were open to requests, even asking us to "put our YouTubes away" to do a tune they hadn't rehearsed much. They needn't have worried as they did a great rendition of "50 Ways".

Check out some tunes from the amazing Telekinesis, all of which were highlights of the Toronto show. I would recommend cheking out all their releases: 2009's Telekinesis!, 2010's Parallel Seismic Conspiracies, 2011's 12 Desperate Straight Lines and their most recent, Dormarion.

"Power Lines" from Dormarion

I was surprised that they were hitting up "Please Ask For Help" from 12 Desperate Straight Lines early as the second song of the set.

"Empathetic People", their latest single from Dormarion, rocked hard

"Lean on Me" from Dormarion

"Dirty Thing" from 12 Desperate Straight Lines and Parallel Seismic Conspiracies

"Country Lane" from 12 Desperate Straight Lines

They did an amazing cover of one of my favourite songs ever: "Don't Change" by INXS.

Then they closed with "Tokyo" from their début. Just so you know for next time, they don't do encores.

Deep Sea Diver from Seattle, Washington opened the show to a small but enthusiastic crowd. It was Jessica Dobson's birthday and I hope that as an audience we were a good enough present. We didn't get cake.
Jessica has had a successful career, playing in the bands of  Beck, Conor Oberst, Spoon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and most recently The Shins. With Deep Sea Diver, she's stepping out front and putting her own music first. I  hope that she and the band will be enormously successful. There are some amazing tunes here.

Set closer "You Go Running" and other tunes from History Speaks got us all bobbing our heads and soaking up their dynamic delivery.

May 27, 2013

Sigur Rós on Leno

I've just realized quite an oversight. Even though I've been moved by their music since I first heard 2002's ( ) and the brilliant and disturbing videos for songs like "Glósóli" and "Hoppipolla" from 2005's Takk, and I've reached all the way back in their discography, I've never posted about Sigur Rós.

Their new album Kveikur comes out June 17-18 and here they are performing the title track on Leno.

May 26, 2013

Beautiful music by Haerts

Haerts, who I must admit I missed before, have released a new song called "All The Days". Their début album is expected later in 2013.

"All The Days"


"Wings"


Both songs are anthemic pop ballads that harken back to the 80s and remind me of Stars in a few ways.

May 25, 2013

New Prince

Would I be completely off base to hear the influence of 80s hair metal, mixed in with the usual Prince funk on this new 3rdeyegirl track "Fixurlifeup"? Check it out.

Love the noisy and unconventional solo by home town guitar goddess Donna Grantis.

May 24, 2013

Local Natives

Local Natives are indie rockers from LA. Gorilla Manor came out in 2010 and Hummingbird came out this year. The latter album was produced by Aaron Dessner of The National.

Listen to a gaggle of great tunes:

From Hummingbird:
"Heavy Feet"


"Breakers"


From Gorilla Manor:
"Who Knows Who Cares"

"Wide Eyes"

"World News"

"Airplanes"

"Camera Talk"

May 23, 2013

The intersection of Stereophonics and The Tragically Hip

So there I was, on the Toronto subway, listening to my iPod, when a song came on. It was "Violins and Tambourines" from the latest Stereophonics album Graffiti On The Train. And when I heard the lyric, I immediately thought of "Last of the Unplucked Gems" by The Tragically Hip from their 1991 album Road Apples.


"Violins and tambourines
This is what I think they mean
It's hard to say, it's sad but true
I'm kinda dumb and so are you

When the mystique varies thus
You can send a man to bury us
It's hard to say, it's sad but true
I'm kinda dumb and so are you

The last of the unplucked gems
The last of the unplucked gems
The last of the unplucked gems"




And here's the title track from Graffiti On The Train.

May 20, 2013

New Deftones clip for Swerve City

Here's something a little more intense for your ears. It's a new tune by Deftones called "Swerve City" from their latest, Koi No Yokan. Crank it up!


And here's my favourite classic Deftones tune. "Change (In The House Of Flies)" from their 2000 album White Pony.

May 19, 2013

Pretty & Nice and the SXSW experience


Here's a fun clip by Pretty & Nice's tune "Q_Q". It apes their SXSW experience. Fun tune, too.

Their latest album is Golden Rules for Golden People.

May 18, 2013

New Smith Westerns

I didn't quite get into Smith Westerns' previous release, Dye It Blonde, but this song is pleasing to my ears. It's a brand new one called "Varsity". It's from their forthcoming album Soft Will, which is out June 25.

May 17, 2013

Frank Turner - clip for The Way I Tend To Be

Frank Turner has released a video for "The Way I Tend To Be" from his latest album Tape Deck Heart. Another great tune from Frank Turner. He's playing in Toronto at TURF on July 6.

May 16, 2013

New Still Life Still

Way back in time, in 2009, I featured a tune by Still Life Still called "Pastel" from their album Girls Come Too. They've recently released a new tune called "Burial Suit" which you can grab for free over at Rolling Stone and check out below.

Looking forward to a new album from these guys.



And here's that first clip I posted from Still Life Still, "Pastel", because the one I linked to back then is now gone.



And here's "Neon Blue" which was on Girls Come Too and in the movie The Vow.

May 15, 2013

Hooded Fang with Graves

When I first started listening to this song, it sounded all heavy and chaotic. As it played, the "bop bop bop" refrain and chord changes softened it's impact. What does that mean? Who knows! Listen to "Graves" by Hooded Fang below. If you like it, get their new album Gravez when it comes out May 27-28.



And then there's "Ode To Subterrania", which sounds a bit like the type of recording you'd erase in the morning. Who's kidding who, it'll probably become one of my favourite tunes.

May 14, 2013

Little Green Cars

I've had a note to check out Little Green Cars that dates back to at least October of 2012. I tell you, it's not a lack of music to listen to or good music to write about that limits me to one post a day, it's time. Time to check out all the stuff that sounds like it would be cool to listen to, and time to write it all up.

But whether I'm late to the party (quite often) or ahead of the curve (very rarely), I do get around to listening to a lot of cool music.

Little Green Cars are from Dublin and their debut full-length Absolute Zero came out at the end of March, so I guess I'm not that late. They perform high-energy, indie pop music with lots of heart and huge harmonies.

Take a listen to "The John Wayne",

their latest single "Big Red Dragon", and

"Harper Lee".

May 13, 2013

New clip from Team Spirit - Mrdr is Ok

Team Spirit, who impressed me with their intensity when they opened for The Joy Formidable at The Phoenix, have a new video out for the song "Mrdr It's Ok". Get their EP.

May 12, 2013

Deep Sea Diver

Deep Sea Diver are an indie pop band who are opening for Telekinesis tonight at The Horseshoe in Toronto. Their début album History Speaks is available at their Bandcamp. They sound pretty cool. Looking forward to checking out their live show.

"NWO"

"You Go Running"

Portland Session

May 11, 2013

New Telekinesis video

I'm off to see Telekinesis tomorrow night at The Horseshoe here in chilly Toronto. Just in time for the gig, they've released a new video. This one's for "Empathetic People" from Dormarion.


I'll bet you're all looking forward to one of my gripping post-show posts, aren't you?

May 10, 2013

I'll Take You There by David Bowie

I've been letting the new David Bowie album The Next Day filter through my random smart playlists. The tune "I'll Take You There" came up the other day and I love the hard rockin' energy of this tune. I love when David rocks out, like he did with Tin Machine and at various other points in his long career.

So what if it's more than a week late?



And while this post has been sitting in queue, David released the newest video from The Next Day. It's for the title track, it stars Gary Oldman and it's got a controversial video. Ever heard that saying, "sacred cows make the best hamburger"?


Good tune, too.

May 9, 2013

New music by The National - Sea of Love

It's getting ridiculous how much I'm looking forward to the new album by The National. Trouble Will Find Me comes out May 21. The video for "Sea of Love" came out yesterday.

May 8, 2013

New Yeah Yeah Yeahs - clip for Mosquito

Summertime is almost here in Toronto and with it will come mosquitoes.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs recently released album is called Mosquito and they've just released a video for the title track. Check it out!

May 7, 2013

New song by Editors

I really, really like, maybe even love, the first two albums - 2005's The Back Room and 2007's An End Has A Start - by Birmingham alternative band Editors. Their change in emphasis from guitars to synths for 2009's In This Light And On This Evening left me cold.

Their just-released song "A Ton of Love" from their forthcoming album The Weight of Your Love is what I'd term a return to form. There are guitars back in the mix and the impassioned, energetic, anthemic song writing and production are back.

Give it a listen.


The new album's due out July 1. No word on whether the North American release will follow on July 2.

And just cuz, here are some great tunes from Editors albums past.

"Lights",

"Munich", and

"Blood" from The Back Room, and

"Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors",

"An End Has A Start",

"The Racing Rats", and

"Escape the Nest" from An End Has A Start.

May 6, 2013

New Little Boots song from Nocturnes

Nocturnes, the new album from Little Boots, is out this week. Check out the latest video. It's for the first single, "Broken Record". It's a pop gem.



You can stream the album in full at Pitchfork.

May 5, 2013

Chvrches video for Lies

If you're going to start a band, make sure you trickle out songs, EPs and albums. Release songs on Soundcloud, then a lyric video, then an official video. It benefits you as a band and bloggers like me. You get a news story every time you release something and I get more posts to put up with minimal effort. Everyone wins!

Here's the latest from Chvrches. The track is called "Lies" and I featured the audio in my very first post on Chvrches. I love this band.


If you can't tell if I'm being facetious or not, that makes two of us.

May 4, 2013

The Hold Steady provide a song for Game of Thrones

This is kinda cool. The Hold Steady doing a tune called "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" for Game of Thrones. Check it out below.

I love this quote from The Hold Steady's web site: “It was a great fit,” says The Hold Steady’s guitarist Tad Kubler. “An episode of Game of Thrones is not unlike many of the early Hold Steady tours: almost everyone was drunk and there was always a strong possibility for bloodshed at any moment."

And we can look forward to a new album later this year, apparently.

May 3, 2013

Veruca Salt rock!

Veruca Salt is an alternative rock band that was formed in 1993. Named after the bratty girl from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, their début, American Thighs, came out in 1994 and I'm sure you know songs like "Seether" and "Number One Blind". Their second album, Eight Arms to Hold You, came out in 1997 and was absolutely incredible. It was produced by Bob Rock, who gave it his signature huge sound, and it was good. Songs like "Volcano Girls", "Awesome", "The Morning Sad", "With David Bowie", and "Stoneface" were, and still are, in my not-so-humble opinion, amazing.

Nina Gordon left soon after, there were reunions and stuff that I don't know much about, and apparently they just announced in March that they've reunited again. I'd catch this band live in the right venue, for sure.

Here's "Seether",

And "Number One Blind" from American Thighs.

"Volcano Girls",

"Awesome",

And "With David Bowie" from Eight Arms To Hold You.


May 2, 2013

Great tunes from Surfer Blood

Surfer Blood put out Astro Coast in 2010 and Tarot Classics in 2011. Both have some cool songs on them that are well worth checking out if you like guitar driven rock with catchy melodies. Their new album Pythons is out June 11.

Here's "Demon Dance" from Pythons,

"Swim" from Astro Coast,

And "I'm Not Ready" from Tarot Classics.

May 1, 2013

Would Santa love Wolf Gang?

The first word I thought of when I heard Wolf Gang's "Lions in Cages" from 2011's Suego Faults was "Jolly" and that Santa Claus would love the song. That he'd crank it while riding that sleigh across the sky; rocking out while surfing up and down chimneys and across rooftops.

Your mileage may vary.