Rules Don’t Stop Me

UPDATE: Probably should have posted their more recent video.  View the shreddage here.

It bugs me that We Are Scientists have found more of a home in the hearts and minds of the Brits than with us good ol’ Yanks (you should be writing ridiculous soccer anthems for us, not them!).  Their music is seriously some of the more catchy stuff I’ve encountered in my entire life, and it has only gotten better with each go-around.  The boys have come a long way since the minimalist days of With Love and Squalor and have built a lot upon their infectious brand of pop-rock with Brain Thrust Mastery and their latest release, Barbara.  I’ve only given the album a couple listens through and the entire thing’s already stuck in my head.  So do me a favor and get hooked if you haven’t already (it also helps that they’re two of the more hilarious people in the business).  Check out “Rules Don’t Stop” below and its video after the jump.

MP3: We Are Scientists – “Rules Don’t Stop”

Love,
Adrian

You and I Both Are Nothing but Thieves

There are few albums I’m looking forward to more this summer than Steel Train’s third, self-titled release.  Not much has been revealed about it so far, but the guys over at MonkeyWhale filmed a stripped-down, intimate performance of one of the record’s songs, “Bullet.”  As I’ve said before, Steel Train’s headed in a whole new direction and they’ll definitely be turning heads once the album drops on June 29th.

If you haven’t yet listened to Steel Train‘s already-released tracks, grab “You And I Undercover” below and check out our previous post on “Turnpike Ghost.”

MP3: Steel Train – “You and I Undercover”

Watch the video for “Bullet” after the jump.

Love,
Adrian

Disguised In All Your Alibis

For many bands I’ve come to love and cherish, moving up into the majors has signaled the beginning of the end.  So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case for Circa Survive.  Their latest album and first release for Atlantic, Blue Sky Noise, albeit polished is perhaps their strongest work yet.  It definitely shows in the album’s latest single, “Imaginary Enemy.”  The video’s got a crisp feel but it still manages to capture their ethereal prog-tinged brand of rock (is post-post-hardcore a thing?).  And as always, Anthony Green is the man.  No song for you this time kids, but I encourage you to check out one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

Love,
Adrian

Turn Off the Lights and Touch Me In the Dark

Minus the Bear can do no wrong. Although their latest album, Omni, may not be my favorite, it’s got plenty of jams to make it not worth passing up.  One of these is “My Time,” the album’s first single and by far the most synth-drenched song the band has ever written.  I was beyond surprised to hear the album open with this groovy number of a track, but they pull it off and very well at that.  Man, I want an omnichord.

MP3: Minus the Bear – “My Time”

Love,
Adrian

Thank You For Absolutely Nothing

I wrote about Look Mexico way back in the olden days. If you remember, I was all about the band’s The Crucial EP, a mathematical throwback to when bands like American Football uncringingly flew the emo banner.  Three years later, the band’s come out with To Bed To Battle, an album that guitarist Ryan Slate says is less about crazy guitar parts than it is “a nice hug that brings you in.”  That works for me.  Watch the boys go hunting and grab the song below.

MP3: Look Mexico – “You Stay. I Go. No Following.”

Love,
Adrian

Herd off the Sheep Before They Throw You to the Wolves

I was a bit put off at first by the dirtier side of Person L’s debut full-length, The Positives.  Although I had touted their ability to dance between radically different styles, the louder half of the album got a bit too close to a garage rock-like sound for my tastes (I had had enough of that stuff even back when it was “in”).  At the time I think I had my own ideas for where I hoped the band would go.  Anyways, after continued listening I started to warm up to these grittier tracks.  Good timing on my part.  Person L decided to release “Goodness Gracious” as the album’s first single.  Imagine the energetic, lo-fi feel of Devin Davis after he’s done a bit of drinking.  With that in mind, the above video is only appropriate.

MP3: Person L – “Goodness Gracious”

Love,
Adrian

Despierta, Despierta, No Hay Mas Tiempo

It ain’t no secret that I have quite the fancy for the Rx Bandits.  I’ll spare you my praise for them since I use every opportunity I can here to let you know that they just happen to be the greatest band in the world.  But seeing as I never gave a proper review for their latest album, Mandala (A+, 10/10, smiley face), I figured I would share this little video of them performing “Mientras La Veo Soñar” at one of their recent California shows.  This clip is pretty exemplary of the performance I saw when I caught them earlier this summer during their stop in Baltimore, although I wasn’t fortunate enough to see frontman Matt Embree jam out with Chris Tsagakis on the drums as he does here.  Enjoy, and don’t forget to grab the track below.

MP3: Rx Bandits – “Mientras La Veo Soñar”

Love,
Adrian

They Tied Her Up and Laid Her on the Train Tracks

During my time away a few much-anticipated albums came out, one of those being Brand New‘s Daisy.  It’s pretty apparent that many people were shocked and turned off by the band’s continued walk down a dark (and I stress dark) path, but others let the album settle in and soon grew to like the guys’ latest approach to songwriting.  Regardless of what you thought of Daisy, the band has been releasing studio renditions of a couple of the album’s songs that I think all fans will enjoy.  They’re a bit toned down and stray structurally from their original forms.  If you’re looking for a fresh, new take on Daisy, then I highly encourage you to give these videos a look.  I’ve included the latest one for “Bought A Bride,” although there’s another video for “At the Bottom.”  My favorite one by far is a folksy rendition of “Jesus Christ,” one of the few singles off of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me, featuring the one and only Kevin Devine.

Love,
Adrian

I’m Tired of Fooling Around

My favorite band of 2008 has released another video for a song off of their immaculate debut release, Only Way to Be Alone.  Good Old War have proven themselves to be masters of the acoustic guitar, churning out catchy, feel-good tracks that can fall anywhere between indie pop and bluesy folk rock.  Their latest single, “Maybe Mine,” is a deceptively cute little ditty about being sick of being strung along.  The video’s as short and sweet as the song, and for some reason the boy that looks like he was crafted using early 90’s claymation technology feels very apropos.  Listen to it, love it.

MP3: “Good Old War – Maybe Mine”

Love,
Adrian

No Need to Ask My Name to Figure Out How Cool I Am

“In every suburb of the world, in every city, there’s always a nightclub called El Divino… clubs where you have to wear like a white shirt to get in.” – Xavier de Rosnay

After multiple listens, I still had no idea what “DVNO” meant, but it didn’t matter, because the song is enjoyable regardless. My curiousity eventually got the best of me, and I did some scouring of the internets to find the real meaning, which comes straight from the horse’s mouth above. Those of you that haven’t heard of DVNO, or of Justice, have to have been living under a rock for the past few months, as the talented French duo of de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé have effectively taken the world by storm, first with “D.A.N.C.E.” and then, most recently, with “DVNO”.

Recently, the group released the single for “DVNO”, which features a plethora of remixes; some from more well known acts as LA Riots and Surkin, and even a remix by the Justice boys themselves. One remix, however, stands out as completely unique and infectious, and that is the Sunshine Brothers remix. Pitchfork nails the description perfectly, saying the Australia-based band do well by “trading fist-pumping aggression for smooved-out r&b synths, a more conventional house bounce, and what sounds like a Junior Boys- or Hot Chip-like attention to sonic detail after Justice’s brain-squashing compression/distortion.” Basically all that is kept from the original are the lines “no need to ask my name/DVNO” and “does anyone real/anyone feel”. The result is one of the most interesting and danceable remixes in recent memory.

MP3: Justice – “DVNO”
MP3: Justice – “DVNO (Sunshine Brothers Remix)”

If that wasn’t enough, check out the incredible video done by (surprise) So-Me. Fuck it, download it in high resolution if you want.

MP4: Justice – “DVNO” [Directed by So-Me]

No need to ask my name to figure out how cool I am,
Zack