Today's Hotness: Look See Proof, J. Mascis, Lilys

>> AngryApe posts information here about a forthcoming fifth single from dynamite Hertfordshire, England foursome Look See Proof, whose music we gulped down from various blogs in recent months and thoroughly enjoyed. We're surprised we haven't mentioned them previously, frankly, but our archives have little incentive to lie. The quartet's spiky, upbeat indie rock recalls the best Bloc Party singles, so we have been keeping an eye out for a full-length. Look See Proof's new single "Do You Think It's Right?" b/w "Don't Say A Word" will have to do for now. The CD version of the single contains a third cut, "Casualty (Os Darkroom Remix)," that we're eager to hear as the original version of the single (released last August) is a peppy rocker with great harmonies. North London's year-and-a-half old Weekender Records releases "Do You Think It's Right?" March 24 in the UK, and it can be pre-ordered from 7Digital right here. It is interesting to note that Weekender will issue Shout Out Louds' "Tonight I Have To Leave It" single and Our Ill Wills album in the UK. Anyhoo, here's what we believe to be Look See Proof's first single for your enjoyment. You should hit the link to EMusic below and get all four of the singles they have there, particularly 2007's "Casualty."

Look See Proof -- "Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me" -- "Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me" b/w "Start Again"
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[buy Look See Proof singles from EMusic here]

>> We found a used import of a 2003 J. Mascis set The John Peel Sessions at Newbury Comics Sunday that we had never heard of before, and we enjoyed listening to it. The piece of Pavement's "Range Life" tucked in the medley that opens the set performed with The Fog (a/k/a Mike Watt and George Berz) was what grabbed our attention when we picked up the disc, but that is actually pretty forgettable. Although when Watt takes the vocal for the piece that is "In A Rut," that rocks pretty hard. The first five tracks were mixed by Kevin Shields, which is interesting, and we love the warbly treatment on the backing vocals of "Same Day," which is the best J. Mascis and The Fog jam hands down, in our opinion. The Peel Sessions version lacks the dense curtains of guitars that makes the More Light track so awesome, but the extra space yields Watt's bass playing more of the spotlight, which is nice. Despite the lack of guitar crunch, there is a lot of really nice soloing on these Peel tracks, particularly when Mascis deploys what we think is a whammy pedal to wondrous effect.

>> Lilys are selling t-shirts. We love the Lilys. So buy their shirts. The end.