Brooklyn’s Fall On Your Sword create bizarre but catchy electronic music often using video and audio samples of old movies and TV shows. The video element here is so thoroughlly integrated in the creation of their tunes (and often sabotaged, like in this re-elaboration of the famous scene from the movie "When Harry Met Sally") that the visual and aural components of these song couldn’t exist without each other. On August 08.25 they will be releasing a new CD at Cameo, promising "an extravaganza of FOYS originals, early techno and 70s cinema. Some surprises await". The venue has a new giant screen which will surely be taken advantage of.

Psych-rock specialists The Purrs will be headlining the Sunset Tavern on September 15th.  The Purrs, fronted by bassist Jima and celebrating their tenth year as a band, model their sound fairly closely to everything Dean Wareham’s been a part of, specifically Luna- which means high register vocals constantly threatening to be off key, cozy oohs and aahhs, and astral guitar riffs that seem to, in almost everyone composition, ascend into ethereal realms of reverb.  Basically, I think they’re awesome.  Sharing the bill with the Purrs will be Useless Keys and Hypatia Lake.  

The Purrs – Because I Want To by Jason Milne

Your average record reviewer would ideally always (and only) write about incredibly original, mind blowing bands whose music will change the course of rock history. Until a group like Widowspeak comes along to remind him a few things. The Brooklyn based trio isn’t putting on our musical table particularly mind blowing or esoteric ingredients: Mazzy Star’s dreamy folk, Cowboy Junkies’ spare, blue atmospheres, some good old Paysley Underground psychedelia, and the unmissable pop element. But they do it so darn well that we can’t help to remind ourselves (for the thousandth time) how uniqueness isn’t all that important when you have a bunch of great songs, spot on arrangements, and a voice that somehow hits you. Speaking of which… Molly Hamilton’s cheerless and child-like  soprano is adorable and engrossing at once, and her simple but always interesting melodies are a crucial element in what’s noteworthy about this band. Robert Thomas and Michael Stasiak – on guitar and drums – create the perfect balance of intriguing but not over-powering parts to support her talent.

Brooklyn’s Psychobuildings latest self-titled EP sounds like a sonically lush and somewhat bizarre reinterpretation of the sound of the 80s. While listening to this record our ear kept detecting a myriad of elements reminiscent of many of our favorite electronic bands from that decade, in particular Japan, Duran Duran, and early Simple Minds – vocalist Peter LaBier could be the new Jim-Kerry-before-he-went-mainstream (revisit the Scottish band’s first 4 albums if you don’t know what I’m talking about). Even though the band’s choice of sounds has strong ties with the "decade of the mullet", the final result is actually extremely original, their songs coming across like a weirdly "re-processed" version of something you are already very familiar with, but that’s not quite the same.

Mp3: Psychobuildings – No Man’s Land