From across the pond comes one of the hardest working indie bands today. Founded in 2012, Life in Film is at the halfway point of their first headlining tour of the US. They just finished opening on the Wombats tour a couple months ago, but they’re back at it again, reaching out to new audiences and sharing their artistry with us Yanks. They also put out their debut album Get Closer in April and have more stuff in the works for a sophomore release.

I watched their performance Tuesday, 8/25, at the Rock & Roll Hotel, their first-ever show in DC and I was wowed from start to finish. I spoke briefly with frontman Samuel Fry before the show, who revealed the band all works together to produce their music and that his favorite part of playing live is the unpredictability, giving new life to songs that had only been written and recorded. While at the show, I certainly found new life in songs I had only heard on Spotify. Literally everyone in the crowded space was jamming to the music, dancing and bopping heads to the rich beats. The thick bass shook my beer bottle and the lefty lead guitarist rocked his glasses right off his face. Life in Film has a sound all its own, not derivative in the slightest. Their stage presence was simple and engaging in its appeal, avoiding unnecessary flash and hitting the essentials for a good time. Catch them at their remaining US shows or miss out on a fantastic experience. -Jonathan Goodwin

Need good music for your insatiable dance fix? Look no further than Smoke Season, a Hollywood-based duo specializing in upbeat club grooves and catchy rhythms that cling to the brain like honey to a child’s fingers. Sultry vocals and well-coordinated synthesizers make up the core of their sound, but don’t expect a typical nightclub act; Smoke Season is top-notch. Catch them tonight with King Raam at The Black Cat for only $15, doors at 7:30. -Jonathan Goodwin

SIRENS aka the "ghost pop" project begun by Brooklyn artist Paris Mancini is a dream vibrated to life through disembodied vocal harmonies and churning bass loops. As her voice swirls into the air, the audience is drawn toward her as if to a flurry of crystal balls, omens, fates, furies, and fragile promises. In the new video (streaming below) for the song “LA” from her forthcoming album ‘The Perfect Door,’ SIRENS strolls through a haunting realm of desert palaces, pyramids, and caverns. You might find your own dreams if you could only look away from hers. – BrokeMC

High school buddies turned New York rock trio Foxtrax zinged an electric bolt earlier this week with “Dark Of The Night” (streaming below), a single off their forthcoming debut EP ‘The Cabin.’ With its imagistic title and theme of longing, the track may seem to be something out of a blues songbook but the Long Island-hailing guys’ synth-lined sound is actually a compelling marriage between The Killers’ epic rock and Future Islands’ dark pop. For a band that formed only this year, Foxtrax snakes through genres and plays with a tightness that’s very impressive. Foxtrax will have an EP release show this Friday (8.28) at Mercury Lounge. – Zach Weg

 

Earlier this month, New York singer/songwriter Rachel Ana Dobken released “Ability to Memory” (streaming below), a movingly raw love song. Over elegantly chimerical guitar work that would make Andrés Segovia smile, the Bard College-educated musician tells of a broken romance with a novelist’s eye, subtly revealing the remnants of a once full love. Dobken’s voice is a lover’s, though, and she only mines heartbreak in order to illuminate its ultimately wondrous transience. Rachel Ana Dobken plays 10.17 at Leftfield. – Zach Weg

It’s Tuesday. You’ve recovered from your FYF haze, and now you’re itching to get out and see some more kickass bands.

Hopefully the tinnitus has gone away, that is, if you didn’t accidentally forget your earplugs for two days straight. If not, you’re gonna want to remember to bring them to this show, because it’s a killer. And if you were disappointed in the lack of local acts this FYF (you probably didn’t wake up early enough for JUNK), don’t worry — you can compensate tonight!

Local show organizers FineTime is holding a three-course performance tonight (event link here) at Vega’s Meat Market with delicious servings of full stop rock, creamy dreamy pop, and ethereal electronic apértif.

Up first to whet your sonic appetite is mAsis, the Glendale act that floats and pulsates serenely — fans of The XX and Odesza’s chilled tones will be pleasantly surprised to hear these guys.

Then, OC’s agitatin’ rock band Media Jeweler changes the pace with full-force hits from their debut album $99 R/T Hawaii, out September 18th on Fire Talk Records. The songs are meaty, filling, and will leave you feeling bloated — everything a main course strives to be.

And ending the night is BALMS, the dreampop trio from San Francisco on the tail end of their summer tour through the Southwest coast. These guys made a recent appearance at Los Angeles’ DreamGaze Fest, showering attendees with their billowy lo-fi pop jangle — a great way to end the evening, unlike that molten chocolate lava cake I had at Chili’s.

Tickets are still available online via Ticketfly, but this isn’t a bougie event; there will be door sales, too! Show starts at 7:30 pm, so mind the horrendous LA traffic. – Ryan Mo

“Mike Comite is your Old Best Friend. He lives in Brooklyn. Come over and he’ll cook you a mediocre dinner sometime.” True words from the bandcamp page where the Brooklyn-based one-man band Old Best Friend’s music resides. Having released his first full-length album ‘Living Alone’ this past June, Old Best Friend seems to still be figuring out his style. His album is a tumultuous mix of loud-ringing punk rock splattered with some more delicate indie-folk. Like an old best friend, the album leaves us wanting one more second and then has us turning it down the next. Old Best Friend will be playing at Cake Shop Thursday, August 27th. Based on the exciting unpredictability of his music, it should be a show you won’t want to miss! Listen to one our favorite songs, “The Truth,” from his new album below.

There’s a certain light-heartedness to the experimental music of Brooklyn based indie-rockers The Roofer’s Union whose debut full-length album, ‘By Degrees,’ was released just last year. On the record, the group blends elements of psych-rock, surf rock, and, occasionally, hip-hop ("Godzilla Does Dallas") into 40 minutes of infectious indie rock that’s rife with sparkling synths, bright guitars, and eccentric lyrics. Their willingness to experiment with a variety of genre and instrumental combinations results in a unique sound and a solid debut that really sets them apart. "Man Kills God, Man Creates Dinosaur (streaming below)" is one of the stand-out tracks from the album, complete with catchy vocal and guitar melodies, synth hooks that fit just right, and a beat that’ll have you tapping your foot the whole way through. You can catch The Roofer’s Union on September 14 when they’ll be playing at Knitting Factory. Don’t miss out! – Patrick Wolff

Back in May, Brooklyn dream rock quartet Whitewash played several shows around the release of its latest album, ‘Shibboleth.’ Now, the NYU-formed band shares the deliriously amusing music video (streaming below) for the song “Member” off the release (their first studio LP). Playing like a buddy stoner comedy, the clip shows group members Evan Glazman and Aram Demirdjian being chased by security guards (played by bandmates Sam Thornton and Jonathan Ben-Menachem) around the city, photo-bombing a tourist’s picture, and then sitting down robot-like to a meal with their pursuers. Whitewash has several shows coming up: tomorrow (8.26) at Silent Barn with What Moon Things, Turnip King, The Due Diligence; Monday 8.31 at Trans Pecos via Summer’s End Fest with Friend Roulette, Altopalo, Human People, Old English System; Saturday 9.5 at Elvis Guesthouse via No Smoking Media with Raccoon Fighter, Shana Falana; and Tuesday 9.15 at Baby’s All Right via Popgun Presents with Diane Coffee and the Lemon Twigs. Whitewash will also play The Deli’s CMJ showcase on Thursday 10.15 at Muchmore’s. – Zach Weg

The newly formed Brooklyn band, Plain Dog, is getting in touch with garage rock’s surf-pop side. They just released their first EP at the beginning of August and opened for the LA garage punk band No Parents this past Friday night at Elvis Guesthouse. The EP (available online and on cassette) opens with the track "Really Wanna Dance" (streaming below),and that seems to be the attitude of the whole album. All five songs are so catchy and upbeat that you’ll really wanna dance to Plain Dog, too. – Sam O’Hara

NYC dream pop quartet ohnomoon’s video for “Low” (streaming below) is a trippy, visually playful yet somewhat foreboding voyage through psychedelic space. The track (off their ‘VVV’ EP) opens with haunting guitar dancing around a desert fire while a constant pop drumbeat thumps the ground underneath. Frontlady Kat Lee’s hushed vocals introduce an uncertain calm into the scene, offset by the ambiguous nature of her lyrics. The video itself, shot by the band and edited by Bill Shouldis and Grayson Earle, contrasts neon lettering and floral designs against a spacy black backdrop (although it was shot against the backdrop of a white wall in a basement—quite the editing job). Lee’s ghostly image flutters in and out of the dark scenery, instilling supernatural themes that transcend to the music. Ohnomoon plays Pianos on 9.05. –JP Basileo

‘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