Fun show at The Living Room on Saturday December 10 with 2 NYC artists we are very familiar with (Psychobuildings and Team Genius, who recently signed with Paper Garden Records) and 2 other ones we haven’t covered as much (or at all for that matter), Cultfever and Swear & Shake.
Cultfever – in the picture – is an electro-pop duo featuring Tamara Jafar’s semi-breathy vocals and J. Peter Durniak’s multi-faceted arrangements. The band released their debut album in October and should have a video ready soon. The track streaming below, entitled "knewyouwell", is our favorite from the record and has the potential to cure – at least temporarily – your Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Swear and Shake will provide a folky break with their Americana tinged rock songs, bringing to the stage instruments foreign to the other bands on the bill, like acoustic guitars and harmonicas. Oh and if you are always on the look for a female voice to fall in love with (like us) you’ll have to give this band a listen – Kari Spieler is her name, see track streaming below.

Lots going on in December for Radical Dads, one of Brooklyn’s most buzzed about bands from the rather new pool of artists intent in instilling new life into the indie guitar sound of the 90s. The trio will open for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on December 07 at Webster Hall, and then celebrate their 2nd CD’s release party at Cake Shop on the 5th. And if that wasn’t enough, the day after they’ll be playing the Brooklyn Vegan holiday party at BK night bazaar. No tracks from the new album are available as far as we can tell, apart from the rather lo-fi Pursesnatchers remix of the song Little Tomb streaming below.

Radical Dads – Little Tomb (Pursesnatchers Remix)
 

Light-hearted power pop quartet the Hoot Hoots know how to have fun, and their newest release Appetite for Distraction proves it. On the shelves since Dec. 3, their second full-length album of the year is rife with singsong choruses, idyllic imagery and enough peppy riffing to keep listeners feeling fuzzy long after the last track has finished. The animated call and response dialogue in “Worlds” is alternately whimsical and unsettling, but never strays far from the lively spirit of the album. “All these men, I hope they get along,” sings frontman Adam Prairie, and it seems hard to picture any kind of confrontation with such a playful soundtrack. The album ends on the appropriately titled “No More Sad Songs”, an appeal for the end of others’ melancholy outlooks. With a handful of shows slated for the coming months, the Hoot Hoots will get the chance to combat those downers themselves, as they bring their party to the people.

The Hoot Hoots’ upcoming shows:

December 17 The Benbow Room in West Seattle

January 7 The High Dive in Fremont

January 28 The Skylark Cafe

-Kate Shepherd

I’m not sure if long running trip-soul NYC band Mudville is still active, but their lead singer Marilyn Carino‘s solo record "Little Genius" keeps faith to that project’s sound – it looks like the other half of Mudville (producer Ben Rubin) is also involved to some extent in this record. Marilyn’s soulful alto takes us for a mesmerizing ride through mostly downtempo, dark tunes with electronic fluorishes, whose natural listening environment is any space suitable for love making. Her show at the small but pretty East Village bar/venue DROM might present you with a great opportunity to set the "right" atmosphere with your (hopefully not too shallow) date.

On the heels of a live appearance on KEXP on Dec. 3, indie rock lightning rod Cristina Bautista will be back onstage at The Sunset Tavern tomorrow night, along with Los Angeles acts Mike Bloom and Miracle Parade. Performing songs from her Gold Parts EP, the six-song follow up to 2006’s This is the Team, Bautista’s live appearances promise an amplified version of the explosive energy found on her recordings. The Visqueen bassist performed in the band’s farewell show on Nov. 26, but the future looks promising for her solo endeavors, something Bautista’s unabashedly honest lyrics and optimistic delivery express with eloquence.

Doors: 9 p.m.

Tickets: $6 advance

-Kate Shepherd