(Photo: Andrew Waits)
Self-dubbed "campfire punk" duo The Dutchess And The Duke roll into Union Park on Saturday for a set at the seemingly inappropriate hour of 1:45. We say "inappropriate" because that's a little early to be pulling flasks from pockets and cooking marshmallows on sticks until they are dangerous, flaming torches of sugar. But hey, maybe it isn't. UP TO YOU. Regardless, you will probably hear "Reservoir Park"–taken from She's The Dutchess, He's The Duke, their Hardly Art debut–its Stones-in-a-flatbed-truck thing instantly making your afternoon more wild.
Sounds like: Deer Tick, The Dodos
The Dutchess and The Duke - Reservoir Park
The Dutchess and The Duke's RCRD LBL Page
Japandroids played a battery of shows last week in New York, one of which triggered major flashbacks. Every morning while getting dressed for school I used to get my headbang on in my bedroom. Nirvana. Pearl Jam. Superchunk? Didn't matter. The tiny Sony boombox rattled, brain cells vanished and Dad cursed my name. Japandroids' opened their Pianos show this past Saturday with this out of print flamethrower. They got their headbang on.
Japandroids - Darkness on the Edge of Gastown
Previously:
Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire
Japandroids - Heart Sweats
Japandroids' RCRD LBL Page
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It's hard to put a finger on what makes Ponytail so fucking good. And that's okay. "Celebrate The Body Electric (It Came From An Angel)" was one of the best tracks of 2008, a throbbing, hypercolor, Who-destroying-your-sweaty-basement guitar epic that would slay even if Molly Siegel didn't channel gnarly vocal energies from Middle Earth. There's no question this will be one of many highlights in Chicago this coming weekend.
Ponytail - Celebrate The Body Electric (It Came From An Angel)
Ponytail's RCRD LBL Page
This far-out version of “Final Path” has all the percussive rumble and mushroom twang we’ve come to know and love from Yeasayer, but more, it hints at what it’s like to witness them live. Which is to say, guttural, crop circle emanations that border on religious. Not midnight mass religious. Exorcising a Baptist at the edge of the river to the crack of burning chicory buds, religious. If you’re lucky enough to catch these guys Saturday, I salute you.
Yeasayer - Final Path
Yeasayer's RCRD LBL Page
(Photo: Lin Stensrud)
This, believe it or not, is what Lindstrom regards as an offcut; "The Magnificent" one side of the new, old and rather unflatteringly-titled Leftovers 12", out now through the combined efforts of Smalltown Supersound and the producer's own Feedelity label. A voiceless, southern European-house mission of twinkling synths, four-four stomp and timid acoustic guitar, one can only assume that such magic falls from Hans-Peter's face when he takes a blade to that beard in the mornings, so easily is he able to conjure clubland ambrosia.
Sounds Like: Jan Hammer, Stardust, Desire
Lindstrom - The Magnificent
Previously:
Lindstrom - The Long Way Home (Prins Thomas Edit)
Lindstrom's RCRD LBL Page
Have you heard of this guy M83? Oh, right, he’s huge. Essential listening if you’re going on a cross-country road trip and scrolling through your phone to dial up ex-loves.“We Own The Sky” has got me fantasizing. That staccato blink, that planetarium spring, that slip and slide chorus—man I hope Pitchfork sets up an enormous dome where he’ll shoegaze on Sunday under the cover of celestial explosions, star belts and chocolate milk fountains.
Support the set and purchase more here.
M83 - We Own the Sky (Maps Mix)
M83's RCRD LBL Page
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People can't help but get excited about punk rock. In modern music it's the most sacred of all cows and thou, thouest inferior being of a later, less radical era, shalt not harm its leathery hide. Fuck that. Vivian Girls know exactly how to treat punk rock - like a doddery auld fud fresh for a tease, long legs and celestial harmonies resparking something desperate and latent in punk's gut and groin. "When I'm Gone" is an incredible flirt; it flirts with everything, with punk, with lo-fi and with surf and rockabilly but the truth, brutal and wonderful - for you at least - is that Vivian Girls exist today and so they're stuck with you: new album Everything Goes Wrong out through In The Red in September, this the barrelling, fantastic first cut to emerge.
Sounds Like: Black Tambourine, Descendents, Crystal Stilts
Vivian Girls - When I'm Gone
Previously:
Vivian Girls - Tell The World
Vivian Girls - Where Do You Run To
Vivian Girls - Blind Spot (Daisy Chain cover)
Vivian Girls' RCRD LBL Page
This weekend at Union Park in Chicago, the endowed brains over at Pitchfork will present the fourth edition of their very own music festival, with artists like The Flaming Lips, Matt & Kim, Beirut, Grizzly Bear, Built To Spill and a lot more set to appear. This week, we'll be posting music from some of the performing artists, so in the event that you're headed out, this is the stuff we think is worth checking out, and if you're not, simply enjoy the free jams as usual. Any further info you need on the fest can be found at their website.
