In the last few weeks, CMJ shows and Stomp Box Exhibit preparations didn’t allow us to check out the digital submissions bands post for consideration here. They are piling up scarily… let’s deal with some of them, with the last bit of energy we have left this week.
Bird Prey live in the future – their album "Brighter Sky Now!", according to their Bandcamp profile – was released precisely on December 12th 2011 (2 months from now!). But they also live in the past, since their music is a weird but very interesting psychedelic "thing", that blends some seriously awesome influences: we hear Sonic Youth, Julian Cope, Clinic, Suicide, early Cure, mixed with some out there psych rock band from the UK’s late 60s "UFO" scene. These guys could become the new Christal Stilts or something… but they have to create a facebook page first – and take some press pics! All serious hypsters should take a chance on these guys show at Public Assembly on October 23.
Kidsmoke‘s guitar wall of sound in "Everthing is Gold" falls somewhere between Sonic Youth and… Kyuss maybe? It’s pretty impressive actually, but its evil essence is tamed by the fact that this is a super catchy pop song. But going through their other tracks you then realize they are not just a black dressed droney guitar band, but a bunch of guys who like to experiment with ANY sound. There’s also a song that could have been written by Simon & Garfunkel ("Sunshine"). Quite surprisingly, it also sounds great! This is a enjoyable record that challenges you with every track, which is something very rare to find. Also, recommended. P.S. Why don’t these bands have press shots??
Lost Gloves is a Queens based project that sounds a little bit as Pavement would if Stephen Malkumus was a pianist instead of a guitar player. Crooked melodies in falsetto and pervasive piano parts are this band’s signature, and Big Little Death (streaming here) is a fun song.
Brooklyn Laura Distasi looks a little bit like the Virgin Mary (in a cute wife beater), and plays very mellow singer-songwriter-y pop. She does it gently and stylishly. Tasteful arrangements and a beautiful voice complete the package. She seems to have also a parallel project a little bit more "alt" and "electro" called Measure.
Vajra was formed by composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Annamaria Pinna during her self imposed exile in India, and you can indeed hear an exotic influence in her songs, which though carry a very western tension and darkness. Overall her uptempo music could be described like an alt-rock version of Dead Can Dance. We are sure there is a numerous group of teenagers somewhere in the US suburbs who can fall in love with this lady and her tenebrous music.