Krust Toons: "God Save the Meme" by Teddy Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.
Chicago
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Crow Moses Rooftop Session
Rooftop Session recently released their session with Crow Moses (formerly Musikanto). The performance was recorded at Navy Pier Terrace on rainy day. The band released their latest album, “Horse Heaven Hills”, back in September 2014.
Philadelphia
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New Track: “It’s a Drag” – Purples
The weekend’s conclusion can be a bummer. However, Purples’s latest release “It’s a Drag” with a blend of rumbling bass, snappy percussion and spirited vocals helps to break loose from the doldrums. By the time that gnarly guitar inferno of a solo is ablaze, the tides have turned. You can catch the band on a bill with Matthew Friedberger on Thursday, October 8 at Boot & Saddle.
NYC
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New York rock trio Apeman’s abrasively touching new album, “Mutantala”
‘Mutantala’ by New York trio Apeman is a beautifully mucky piece of rock. Like The Strokes’ ‘Is This It?’, the Greenpoint-recorded album is full of guitar-streaked songs that roughly yet movingly detail the potential solitude and fear of early adulthood. The over-eight-minute-long, trumpet-fused title track (streaming below), for instance, seems to use the titular wrathful beast as a symbol of coming-of-age angst, the chorus “Oh, Mutantala” serving as recognition not just of a supernatural force but of an all-too-human one. Apeman performed last night at Bar Matchless.- Zach Weg
San Francisco
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Ezra Furman Releases New Music Video – Lousy Connection
The Oakland based songwriter, Ezra Furman has released a new music video for the band’s new single, Lousy Connection. Ezra’s new song is their commentary on the human connection and how complicated it has become to communicate clearly with others. The video gives its starring role to a number of raw eggs, making the video a bit odd, but that’s to be expected from such an out-of-the-box artist like Furman! The artist’s latest album, Perpetual Motion People is now out on Bella Union.
Perpetual Motion People, Ezra Furman’s first album for Bella Union delivers a cascade of memorably bristling hooks driven by a unique splicing of timeless influences, delivered with a restless urgency and combative spirit that shines through the American’s vocals and lyrics. Having taken his time to work his way into the public consciousness, Furman’s time is unquestionably now, as he finally faces an expectant audience hungry for the next stage of his thrilling approach, on record and on stage.
Enjoy the new music video and head out to Bender’s in San Francisco to see Ezra Furman share a line up with Buzzmutt and Midgetmen on August 29th. By the way, if you’re super boring or very politically correct, this may not be the show for you, but if you’re looking for a unique line up and live music experience this is definitely a show to check out!
Philadelphia
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New Music Video: “The Girl, The Gold Watch, And Everything” – Literature
Indie popsters Literature always give us a good feeling inside, and that rings true with their latest music video for "The Girl, The Gold Watch, And Everything." The track can be found on last year’s full-length release Chorus (Slumberland), and the video was directed by Jack Wagner. Look out for a new split 7" coming soon with Baltimore’s Expert Alterations via Square Of Opposition Records.
Philadelphia
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Feel at Ease w/Legs Like Tree Trunks at Bourbon & Branch Aug. 23
A gentle gliding movement with a technically precise, powerful, musical engine, Pittsburgh transplants Legs Like Tree Trunks have that at-ease-go-with-the-flow sound. However, that casual disposition is countered by practiced and refined sonic expeditions. The loose strolling folk narratives cruise by escalating into high-end, crisp jams. Tonight at Bourbon & Branch, the band will be joined on the bill by the expansive musical excursions of quintet The Twenty Committee, allowing their sonic scrolls to roll out before your eyes. On the heels of releasing her debut EP Sirens, Australian pop songstress Nonie is currently on tour with the soulfully engaging vocals of Nashville’s Daem. Bourbon & Branch, 705 N. 2nd St., 8pm, $10, 21+ – Michael Colavita
NYC
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Infinity Girl releases “Harm” LP + plays Shea Stadium on 09/02
On August 28, Brooklyn’s Infinity Girl will release their debut full length album “Harm” on TopShelfRecords. The first single “Young” shows an incremental shifting towards pop music, that moves away from the loose jam sound previously explored on their 2012 EP “Just Like Lovers.” The track comes on at a quicker pace, but lyrical verses are clearer, allowing for snippets of vocal hooks to take a deeper hold. Nods to My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless” era can still be found in the metallic pitch-bended welded shearing sound that emerge within the mix. The poppier elements owe more to the development of a song structure with a lighter overall feel. A band like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart successfully blended romantic compositions and teen angst lyrics with harsher guitar sounds, and Infinity Girl appear to be taking a similar route. However, dense layers still emerge within this track, keeping the essential feel more dreamgaze than twee. More singles from the upcoming album can be found here. The band will play a live show next at Shea Stadium on 9/2 then head to Massachusetts for a show on 9/5. – Dave Cromwell
NYC
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Underground pop rockers New Boss open show at 9:30, 9/5, and tease new album out this October
Listening to New Boss is like sending your brain to the beach. Their lo-fi approach is well-executed and carries their sound perfectly, with the right amount of twang and dance beats provided by premium drumming. The melodies are easy to lose oneself in, but they’re hard to leave behind. If you like Yo La Tengo or Belle & Sebastian, you’ll love New Boss, Charlottesville’s premier twee pop outfit. You’ll find them presenting their excellence as the openers for Sleepwalkers and The Dough Rollers at the 9:30 on 9/5 for just $15. Look for the new album Twee Boogie Vol. 1 & 2 this October! -Jonathan Goodwin
Austin
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Wildfires’ Aguas Frescas (Part I) EP is Dreamy Deep Summer Music
‘Aguas Frescas (Part I)’ is the latest superb EP from Austin indie alt-rock band, Wildfires, The Deli’s March 2015 Band of the Month (check our EP preview from a while back right here). This newest offering takes listeners on a surreal journey of textured soundscapes and ethereal vocals summoning up memories of shoegazing bands of yesteryears such as Sonic Youth or My Bloody Valentine. The understated vocal delivery and dreamy guitar effects present on the tracks takes audiences to familiar psychedelic terrain along with melodies that are charming, yet laconic, Wildfires draw you into their breezy hippie-fueled wall of sound slowly and effortlessly leave the indelible mark of a band acutely aware of what they are. Imagine floating down the river into the fading sunset with a cold beer in one hand and one of those wacky tobacco cigarettes in the other, and you’ll get the feel for the serene and dreamy music the group creates. Check out Wildfires’ EP, ‘Aguas Frescas (Part I), below and come back for updates on upcoming music from the band.
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Tavon Perkins
Philadelphia
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Gondola Opening for Dead Heavens at JB’s Aug. 22
A tasty brew is cooking at Johnny Brenda’s this evening. Gondola’s tri-cogged synthesis of heavy haze will be in good order. The band embraces their stampeding sound, pushing the heart-jolting, foot-stomping, divide-and-conquer vibe. Emerging from a cavernous shade, the hazy possessed vocals gradually seep in. They’re given an additional prowess by the obliterating style that the instruments prescribe to. Backend thump and face-melting guitar ooze that encompassing trance-like state of medieval peril. Tonight, they help bridge the divide to Walter Schreifels’s (Gorilla Biscuits) musical vehicle, Dead Heavens, which also includes former members of White Zombie, Youth of Today, and Cults. The resulting byproduct is familiarly catchy with instrumental ferocity to etch a personal road. Hardcore fixture Don Devore (Collapsing Scenery, Sick Feeling) gets the fire started. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave, 8pm, $12, 21+ – Michael Colavita
L.A.
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Hidden Mountains mull over their “Darkest Summer”
"Darkest Summer" is the debut single by songwriting duo Hidden Mountains, a sparse, slowcore-inspired ballad that should make good company for those lazy late-summer days spent in the shade. The track by Chris Howard and Gabriel Arniella is gently performed, its piano keys and synthetic drum patterns played with ample leisure like a steady breeze rippling the surface of a serene ocean. "Kiss me and I’m yours", they both harmonize in unison, with a sluggish delivery that makes us believe they’re wading in the middle of a fever dream.
Hidden Mountains’ debut album comes out sometime in late September. – Juan Rodríguez