DOWNLOAD: Hunters - Acid Head
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I haven't even come close to headbanging since 1998, but, wow, Hunters are really pushing me back in that direction. This is real rock – heavy, chugging and powerful with grimy production and guidance from Nick Zinner and former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha. If anything, the main riff here reminds me of 'the good Soundgarden,' but there's a cool veneer that makes this better for warehouses with peeling walls, sweaty twenty-somethings, inappropriate love and everything else that makes me love music. Oh, and Hunters are on tour right now with The Kills and Jeff The Brotherhood, so check them out.
DOWNLOAD: Little Barrie - Twisted Little Blades
U.K. rockers Little Barrie released their first two albums in 2005 and 2007, but had largely fallen out of the spotlight until recently, when the band emerged with a new third album King Of The Waves. Produced by the band and Edwyn Collins, the songs retain Little Barrie’s signature post-punk stomp, showcasing raucous, funk-tinged tracks that just feel very British (in a good way). “Twisted Little Blades” is one of these tracks – a jumping, catchy number that gives a sense of the band’s rowdy live shows.
DOWNLOAD: Memoryhouse - Walk With Me
(Photo: Vanessa Heins)
On "Walk With Me," Memoryhouse sound like they built a studio in the prettiest cloud they could find. Airy, plodding, tastefully orchestrated and with just enough anthemic indie elements to soundtrack college evenings, the track serves as an intriguing sample for the group's full-length Sub Pop debut The Slideshow Effect. Look for more February 28.
DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Shallow
"Shallow" is unashamed to be a glistening piece of dream-pop. It's like Beach Fossils just got out of the pool before recording it. Guitars jump and ping around, bass bounces with sprightly intuition and the drums form a distinctive motor. It's the A-side to a new single that band is putting out via Captured Tracks on February 21.
DOWNLOAD: Shearwater - You As You Were
(Photo: Shawn Brackbill)
Shearwater has jumped ship! OK, more accurately, Jonathan Meiburg's project is now on Sub Pop and releasing a new album, Animal Joy, on February 14. "You As You Were" opens with a droning, repetitive piano figure that slowly chisels away at your icy heart. Emotive vocals arrive before the song explodes into polyrhythms backed by a warm fanfare. There's something about the overall attitude here that is unflinchingly direct yet also seems arena-ready.
STREAM: Fucked Up - Chinese Zodiac Singles
For how hardcore and totally fun Fucked Up can be, they also have a staunch dedication to weirdness that's endearing. Example? Well, since 2006, the band has released a 12-inch single for Chinese New Year and is gearing up to drop a new edition February 21 that features Jim Jarmusch, Austra, Annie-Claude Deschênes of Duchess Says and a whopping 15-minute run time. Let's get you caught up, though. Check out all the previous editions for years dedicated to the dog, pig, rat and ox via Matador.
DOWNLOAD: Wild Nothing - Nowhere
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(Photo: Tom Jenkinson)
Wild Nothing, the project of Virginia's very own Jack Tatum, has cleaned up its act for a sophomore push. The first taste is "Nowhere" – a twangy, accordion-filled single that shimmers away with sharp hooks that feel more at home in the Americana-tinged underground '90s than the '80s. Really, though, this is some 'smoking in your Volvo' music – a genre as timeless as any. The track forms the A-side of a new single, which comes February 21 on Captured Tracks.
DOWNLOAD: Ben Kweller - Mean To Me
(Photo: Kevin Baldes)
Ben Kweller’s fifth album, Go Fly A Kite, follows his 2009 effort Changing Horses by only a few years, but he's made some shifts during that time. His new one, out February 7, will be his first release via his own label The Noise Company, not to mention a return to electric sound. “Mean To Me" is rambunctious and impassioned – a propulsive alt-rocker that is both earnest and forceful.
