Kid Mountain is an up and coming Boston indie band. Though hard to classify the exact genre of what they play, they like to call it Shoe-Pop. It has the ambience and reverby guitar and vocals of shoe gaze yet much more up beat with an acoustic guitar that fills everything out and gives everything a unique sound. They have an EP that came out in January called, Visitor’s Center and they are currently making their debut album due at the end of the summer. Though just a baby band this quartet has already played with the likes of Reptar, The Wandas, and many more bands that are currently big on the indie scene, so keep your eye on them! – (as posted in The Deli New England’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here).

Photo Source: Haunted Horses

Haunted Horses are getting to ready to play Capitol Hill Block Party on Sunday, July 22nd. For those who cannot wait until then, drive north to Vancouver, BC where they are playing the Zoo Zhop this Friday, July 13th. 

The band, composed of members Colin Dawson and Myke Pelly, forge an unholy alliance between rhythm and noise. Dark noise is a more apt descriptor; the mood that pervades their music is one of sinister intensity and confusion. The possible comparisons to noise rock duo Lightning Bolt do not hold much weight because Haunted Horses trajectory appears fundamentally different: one of raising, praising and agitating spirits from the next realm with a calmness in their chaos, rather than all-out dance shreddage and ceaseless throttling of the drums.

Chanting moreso than shouting plays a role in the songs – such as in "The Veil," the closing track of their January release EP They Set Us Fevered Water. It is on the track "Pariah" that their signature concoction of tom-heavy rhythms melt together with wave upon wave of distorted guitar and shouts. 

The bandmates cite their influence as "a woman who died in 1976 after unsucessful attempts to perform an exorcism upon her with psychotropic drugs." Perhaps a fitting image for listeners to plant in their mind as they navigate the band’s challenging and curious material.

Haunted Horses play at 5:45pm on the 22nd of July on the Cha Cha Stage. Stream "Pariah" below for an idea of the aural explosion to come. You can listen to They Set Us Fevered Water on their bandcamp page; it is available for digital download or cassette purchase. It is the last in a series of three cassettes that band released.

– Cameron LaFlam

Cuddle Magic, a 10 piece avant-pop orchestra split between Philly and Brooklyn, is about to celebrate the release of their third album "Info Nympho", which is available for streaming here. The band offers an array of soothing instruments (including glockenspiels, toy piano, and various strings and winds) along with the more standard guitar, bass, and drums. At once playful and haunting, the record thrives on the dual male and female vocals spinning intricate counter-melodies. The rhythm section provides a steady but never banal backdrop, while the less conventional instruments are allowed to take the forefront and guide the listener through truly stellar compositions. The variety of sounds, textures, and arrangement ideas, and the quality of the material showcase a band in its full maturity, mastering an impressive musical vocabulary, ranging from classical counterpoint to math rock influences, without disdaining occasional jazz chords and electronic elements. From opener "Disgrace Note"’s semi-robotic mallets in six fourths, to "Jason" (streaming below) and "Hadwrit", with their beautiful melody and organic arrangements featuring almost any instrument you can imagine, this is a record that manages to be original, moving and memorable – what else can you ask? Catch Cuddle Magic in Bushwick on July 13th, at a new venue named Muchmore. – Bob Raymonda

Eric Gilstrap (vocals), Steve Spinella (guitar), Matt Revie (guitar), Max Goransson (bass), and Jim Wood (drums) unite under the name Clouder. The band has been quite prolific, releasing their EP, "Serious Business," last September and full-length record, "Freakin’ Out the Squares" in February. The Brooklyn-based quintet rustles up the sounds, auras and cover art inspirations of music’s decades past, saturating the already-spacey musical atmosphere with even more psychedelic effects, and injecting them with elements of surf and garage rock. Live, they are a force to be reckoned with – see them at The Grand Victory on July 14. – Read Meijin Bruttomesso’s interview with the band here.