Putting Harrisonburg, VA on the map is the dark synthpop duo Mirror Kisses who’s latest LP Bad Dreams (also available on cassette) blows whatever you’ve claimed to be the anthem of summer away. This here is New Order and Less Than Zero dripping in sex on the dance floor. Pull those delorean doors down and get ready to go back to the 80’s inspired future of new wave as MK’s George Clanton and Doug Sexton lead the way.

Enter "Proud", a track that’s kicked off with the ultimate lo-fi teaser before the whoa moment whooshes in. Full of booming bass beats, synths and claps are layered on as powerful vocals shout out "I couldn’t be prouder without you tonight." Should this have been the song to close out the film Drive? Yes.

"She’s Gone" gets an electro boost with swirls of keys, clap echoes, and a tinge of gloom in the lyrics "I waited til she’s gone, forever and ever." Before you know it, you’ll forget what decade this really is, and that’s a good thing. "Call Me Now" dare I say enters the epic arena (epic is a word I try to keep to a minimum, but I can’t escape it’s use in this description.) A slight dose of sci-fi-ish keys and layers of droned out backing vocals come together in a galactic hum.

And that’s just the first three tracks. Basically, these are the 80’s cool kids that Bret Easton Ellis should meet up with. –Dawn

Catch Mirror Kisses live at the Galaxy Hut in Arlington 8/19, and at DC’s Axum Lounge on 8/25.

Baltimore’s avant-awesome Dan Deacon is set to release his next album America later this month on 8/28, and for now you can check out the fun collective visualization of one of the tracks "True Thrush" below. Deacon made his co-directorial debut alongside Ben O’Brien and features some familiar scene faces from Wham City, Dan Deacon Ensemble, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Future Islands, Red Room Collective, Copycat Theater, Effervescent Dance Collective, Showbeast, Annex Theater, Nuclear Power Pants, FlucT, BXDC, Bloody Panda, Foot Talk, Important Comics, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and various icons of the legendary Baltimore Arts Community.

Via Force Field PR- "Deacon’s concept for the video is loosely related to the lyrics, and mirrors his use of asymmetrical repetition and evolving patterns. For the video, Dan and Ben filmed a simple 13-second scene. That scene was then shown to the next team. After seeing the video that team had 1 hour to recreate it — characters, props, set, costumes, and actions — as close to exactly as possible from only their memory. With each new team the scene evolves. The energy begins to amplify and the chaos increases due to the distorting tendency of memory. The beauty of the video is in the completed arc, an arc that only exists because each team was blind to it.

Baltimore’s psych-folk rockers Secret Mountains have announced that their first LP Rainer will be coming out early this winter. Having already invested 2 years of envisioning and creating the release, they are now reaching out to fans via Kickstarter for pre-orders that’ll garner more studio time. For a taste of things to come, check out a stellar live recording of "Make Love Stay" below and you’ll know Baltimore has once again produced a rising band. –Dawn (photo: Suzanna Zak)

Catch Secret Mountains live Friday 8/31 at Scapescape in Baltimore.

Rockville MD based dreampop band the Sea Life have a growing discography of EPs (check out their S/T below) with an LP due out in less than two months. With all that on their plate and steady gigs around our hood, the fans have spoken up and voted them our next Band of the Month! So we wanted to find out more about these indie poppers. We got a hold of one the group members Jon Weiss who tells us about how the scene could be better, their first first length album, and opening for Oberhofer. Now onto the interview...

Catch The Sea Life at the Black Cat on Aug. 6!

DC/NYC’s post-rock shoegazers Drop Electric recently released 4 new songs on their Summer 2012 demo, 2 of which ("Empire Trashed" and "Fighting at the Mall") feature vocals in what had otherwise been a dreamy instrumental wall of noise rock band. But those vocals only add another beautiful and unique layer to the mix, so bring on more! The stunning score-makers also just released a video for "Empire Trashed" showcasing their skills in pairing gargantuan sound to the stellar visuals created by Patrick Ryan Morris, Drop Electric’s Visual Artist. –Dawn

Some truly decadent dark synths have been emerging from Harrisonburg VA with Mirror Kisses being the bearer of the sounds that have already gone global. The duo of George Clanton and Doug Sexton have been named Best New Band in America 2012 (repping VA) by the Boston Phoenix, so it’s truly not a shock that they were ultimately chosen by you as our Band of the Month, and they will definitely continue to rise. And because of all the fan love, they are giving away their first two albums "Soaking Wet" and "Dance Decree" as free downloads this month! We got a hold of George to find out more about Mirror Kisses. Here he tells us about China Crisis, Mustache Bash, and the power of 500 multicolor LEDs. Now onto the interview…

Catch Mirror Kisses in Richmond on 7/12 at a location TBA. No strangers to impromptu performances, so stay up to date with them here. Check out their latest release Bad Dreams below.

"Washington DC art-rockers Deleted Scenes has premiered the first single "English as a Second Language" from their genre-tweaking, sophomore full-length, Young People’s Church of the Air, due out July 10th on Park The Van Records. Downloadable here, the single’s "lyrics are dark, even profound…the song’s looping melodies are addictive.""- Big Hassle Media

DC’s indie folk rockers Ugly Purple Sweater lead the poll last month and clearly took the cake as Band of the Month. If you haven’t yet, check out their truly excellent album Conventions (now available here) and you’ll hear why the fans pushed for that UPS domination. We got a hold of Sam McCormally (vocals/guitar/keys) who spoke on behalf of the bunch including Rachel Lord (banjo/keys/guitar/vocals,) Will McKindley-Ward (guitar/vocals,) Mike Tasevoli (drums,) and Rishi Chakrabarty (bass.) Here he tells us about goodwill sweaters, growing up in the "CD Era", and scoring films. Now onto the interview...

(PR) Future Islands are pleased to announce they’ll be hitting the road with Passion Pit and headlining a tour on the West Coast this summer! Renowned for their heartfelt and energetic live show, the band has catapulted from the warehouse to the big stage, selling out shows far and wide. With the release of 2011’s On the Water, their enthralling reputation and critical reception continues to grow. The last year has seen the band tour the length and breadth of the US, Europe twice, and play crowd favorite sets at both Hopscotch and FYF Fest. –Thrill Jockey Records (Photo by Abram Sanders)

Catch them live: 6/21 – Baltimore, MD @ Floristree 07/20 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva 07/21 – Richmond, VA @ The Camel

Monday night is clearly for dubstepping down on H Street as dubstep duo At Dawn We Rage will be joined by our own dnb locals Hyx and Houston, and Grime Syndicate at the Rock and Roll Hotel.

(via FB) Hyx & Houston (pic above) are Washington, DC’s original bass cadets specializing in dubstep, drumstep and dnb. Previously known for their work with DC’s Telemetrik (Alvin Risk) and releases on Black Sun Empire Recordings, Rob Hicks and Christopher Houston decided to collaborate on music together in early 2010.

(via FB) Grime Syndicate is a bass heavy tag team crew hailing from Washington, DC. This audio gangbang is made up of DJ Myst, DJ Atticus, and Them Granny Slappaz. GS’s diverse mix of musical backgrounds shows in their genre bending sets which boasts a healthy dose of Dubstep, Drumstep, Drum and Bass, Electro, and House just to name a few.

June 18th @Rock and Roll Hotel, Doors @9 PM.

Sitting comfortably in that noisy space lying between Modest Mouse, Flaming Lips and Pavement, post-punk trio Ravenous takes the hard knocks of life head on in delightfully named tracks like ‘We’re All Fucked.’ After getting through this undeniably catchy number, I’ve no doubt you’ll agree: this kind of grimy, slacker alt-rock vibe is pretty much the only way to sing a song like this properly.

Like their peers before them, the band excels at remaking life’s suckiness into something infinitely more enjoyable. Though they reside in DC now, the band must miss their lonely hearts days in Bushwick, as this seems to come up quite a bit in their fantastic new Irony Gymnasium EP.

But don’t expect to find any love songs here. The band makes that abundantly clear in the bottom-heavy album opener ‘Irony Gymnasium:’ "I don’t write any love songs, cuz love don’t rhyme with me." So be it. Lucky for us, the band has plenty of crap to make fun of to keep the anthems rocking for a long time to come. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

“Well, that was not what I expected to hear.” That was my first thought as the brand new, self-titled LP from Fire and the Wheel started playing in my headphones. You are immediately pulled into layers upon layers of a wall of sound that marries an electronic rock groove with a bold trumpet declaration reminiscent somehow of an American western; an aura of Clint Eastwood, if you will.

And then, out of nowhere, the beat takes a groovy turn that makes you want to get up and dance and you’ve moved into the second track of the album without even noticing the change. This pattern continues, each song blending seamlessly into the next. To me, it’s very refreshing to hear an album written for listeners to digest as complete body of work in today’s world of iTunes singles.

The album is relentless and is meant to be listened to over and over, beginning to end. There’s a lot to appreciate in the musicianship and care that went into each of these songs. The influences on this record are many and I could try to list them all, but the truth is that as the record plays, instead of a particular artist, what you will hear is a homage soundtrack to many of the fundamental creations that have made rock music great for the last several decades. (With no shortage of epic drama, to be sure.)

To me, that’s exactly the spirit I would hope for from a band whose name reflects those fundamental inventions that first put humanity in place to take over the world with greatness. –Jarrett

Catch Fire and the Wheel live on Thursday 6/14 at the 18th Street Lounge @8 PM for DC Flag Day!