DOWNLOAD: Get Back Guinozzi - Where Are You
Let this song from London-via-France duo Get Back Guinozzi be a lesson to budding popsmiths the world over–less is more, guys; less is more. For the majority of these maddeningly ingratiating three minutes, there's nothing but Fred Landini's guitar and Eglantine Gouzy's coy, I'm-singing-in-a-dollhouse voice. It's like twee Billy Bragg, or something. It's also the lead song from Carpet Madness, their debut album for Fat Cat, which drops on October 20th.
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Múm - Sing Along (Radio Edit)
Tweetronica Fact #3,971: there's no band more creepy than Múm. Like most truly unsettling things, they're almost completely lovely, both to look at - smiles, tasteful haircuts, nice, clean faces - and to listen to - winsome, adoring Scandi-pop. Like all truly unsettling things, though, there's something not quite right, both to look at - those trousers - and to listen to - jarring, off-key bleeps, guitar strings scratched with copper, the lyrics "you are so beautiful to us, we want to lock you in our house... we want to eat you with our spoons/keep you as our pets". Your head thinks it's got things sussed one minute, the next it's being corrected. It's like losing an argument very, very quickly.
Sounds Like: Serge Gainsbourg, Envelopes, Deerhoof
DOWNLOAD: MARIA DUE - Better Soon
When I spent a week in Norway last February (see tour diary), I was expecting to find frozen tundra and Santa's workshop. Downloading this sunny track from Oslo's Maria Due should help to clear up all those misconceptions, with its bossanova beat and layered harmonies that sound more Southern California than Northern Europe. Just like my iTunes, it will fit nicely in your collection right in between The Mamas & The Papas and Joni Mitchell.
VIDEO THRWBCK: Talulah Gosh - Talulah Gosh (1987)
And now, the twee-est of the twee. Warning: Talulah Gosh, the mis-matched band of bowl cut-adorned indie popsters who barely survived 1987 aren't for the weak at heart. We're talking serious butterflies and blueberry scones here. But somehow "Talulah Gosh" remains fun and catchy, and is only slightly grating because, well, that's the whole point. Once again, BOWL CUTS.
VIDEO THRWBCK: The Wedding Present - Kennedy (1989)
So. We just came back from seeing The Pains of Being Pure at Heart play the L Magazine "New Music" party at the Music Hall of Williamsburg... and it was amazing. Twee all the way, very reminiscent of the Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine of course, but a lot of their new songs sounded much like C86 all-stars The Wedding Present. We hadn't listened to TWP in a good while, but we just put in their debut album George Best and it is KICKIN'. Enjoy "Kennedy" above!
VIDEO THRWBCK: Nirvana and Eugene Kelly - Molly's Lips (Live at Reading Festival 1991)
You know when you have a dream about something and you wake up and you have no idea if the subject at hand was real or if you just dreamed it? We just had a terrifying 10 minutes where we thought the Vaselines reunion was nothing but an astral please from our subconscious, but luckily, it's on. Unless we've developed cosmic powers a la Scarlet Witch and can retroactively influence reality with nothing but the will of our psyche. Which would be pretty rad.
VIDEO - Los Campesinos! - My Year In Lists
Can we talk about the ker-azy vocal overdubs in this song? Kudos to Los Campesions! for using all of their members wisely. Like most Camps songs, "My Year In Lists" is about professing your love for someone through letters/mixtapes/poetry (how reassuringly twee), and it's a slice of pure indie pop gold.
FEATURED: The Boy Least Likely To
YESSS! British twee-pop duo The Boy Least Likely To are finally back with new material. We played their 2005 album, The Best Party Ever, to death, and saw them live so many times we knew their set list pretty much by heart. We can barely wait to hear these tunes, but for now Hypeful has the lowdown on the new album.
DOWNLOAD: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - A Teenager in Love
We haven’t felt like this about a band in a while. Indie pop has always been a big part of our musical landscape—from the distorted, piercing minor chords first introduced by bands like Primal Srceam and early My Bloody Valentine, to the more sing-along, euphoric aspects of the Darling Buds and the Popguns. Our newest RCRD SELECTOR signing, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, bridge those gaps with a contemporary take on the art of twee pop. They’ve already garnered something of a cult audience in NYC, and their first RCRD LBL single “A Teenager In Love” might be their best work yet. It sounds as if Joe Jackson were hanging out on a yacht with The Strokes, playing a laid-back version of “Someday”—basically the stuff that dreams are made of.
Download: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - A Teenager in Love
We’ll be releasing more Pains tracks as the band record their debut record, so stay tuned for more tidbits from your new favorite band…
VIDEO: Los Campesinos! - Death To Los Campesinos!
We’re big fans of the old twee at RCRD LBL, and it’s fair to say that Los Campesinos! are one of the best indie pop bands around at the moment. Their video for their new single “Death to Los Campesinos!” sees them suffer death by cuteness. Awesome.
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