Today's Hotness: Mobius Band, Lemonheads, Miho Hatori

>> If you've been following our writing for a goodly while, you know that we've been jocking Mobius Band for years. We declared them "one to watch" in September 2002, before they had any songs in shoe commercials or anything. Today the Brooklyn-based (via Shutesbury, what!) trio got some high-grade blog love via an exclusive download over at Stereogum. And you know what? The song, a new demo titled "A Hint Of Blood," is really great. As we quipped elsewhere, dare we say it is akin to Three-era Mobius Band: klangy, electri-fried drums, unabashed synths, and other general 21st century rock goodness. "A Hint Of Blood" features a strong vocal from bassist Peter Sax, who has really come into his own as a dual fronter with guitarist Ben Sterling over the last few years. To sum up, we're excited by this new song; you should go to Stereogum and download it here. The Mobius lads also shared a bunch of tour dates today, which we'll post sometime after Labor Day.

>> This just in: speaking of new stuff, head over here to AOL Music's indie blog to download a brand new Lemonheads track, "No Backbone," which features hot guitar lickage from guitar god J. Mascis and will appear on the Lemonheads' eponymous Vagrant release this fall. We're on our first listen right now and we are totally digging it. The song isn't as punk as the record's reported Descendents influence might suggest (it actually sounds a bit more Buffalo Tom-ish), but it is still a real thrill to hear.

>> NME reports today that there will be yet another compilation celebrating/exploiting The Clash in stores soon. This latest package will be a UK box set comprised of 19 CD singles dressed up as versions of the original vinyl releases, sleeve art and all. The collection will also include a number of bonus tracks that have not been released on CD to date. Singles Box, which according to AllMusic data will be the 28th Clash compilation, will hit racks Oct. 30. More details here.

>> PantsFork has confirmation today here that the forthcoming Modest Mouse set will be titled We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. Epic will release the record Dec. 19, likely with hopes that indie rockers are slackers who save all their holiday shopping until that relatively late date.

>> Finally, Rykodisc today issued this presser touting a forthcoming solo set from former Cibo Matto principal Miho Hatori. Ms. Hatori's Ecdysis will be released Oct. 24. Predictably, the label states the set is her "strongest and most realized work;" isn't it a bad sign when people start talking about your record like they are talking about, say, a new Heart or Styx record? Actually, we've honestly got pretty high hopes for this, overly earnest press release or not.