December 1, 2008

Today's Hotness: Dinosaur Pile-Up, Matt Pond PA, Coco B's

Dinosaur Pile-Up
>> [PHOTO CREDIT: Liam Henry] Leeds-based power trio Dinosaur Pile-Up's debut single "My Rock N' Roll" will be released Dec. 8 in a limited edition of 500 by fledgling label Friends Vs. Records. Whoever wrote the promo blurb at Rough Trade is brilliantly funny -- observe: "[Dinosaur Pile-Up's] songs are proving very popular among people who like to go out to watch rock bands." The flipside of the planned single is the original demo for the percolating gem "Love Is A Boat And We're Sinking," which was floating around the Internerdzzz earlier this fall and reminds us very much of the incredibly under-rated and sadly defunct Michigan act Rain Is Wet. Anyhow, someone please tell us when a band forms and takes the name Dinosaur Pile-Up Jr., because the very idea makes us extremely happy. Pre-order "My Rock N' Roll" from Rough Trade right here. Stream it at the band's MySpace dojo right here, where you can also inspect the band's various live commitments through the end of January.

>> What with our holiday pause we're a day late and a dollar short on the Matt Pond PA news, which of course is that the revered, Philly-based chamber pop outfit has just release a free ep awesomely titled Freeep, which was apparently recorded in a cabin in Bearsville, NY, which surprisingly actually exists. The EP actually has a much longer title, according to the MPPA web site, which is The Dawn before the Dark Leaves or Water off a Black Dog’s Back or Amazing Life or Butterfly Mornings and Wildflower Afternoons or May we never go go mental, may we always stay stay gentle or The Fear of not Being Afraid or Erica Harris and her Ubiquitous Threads or The Warmth Within the Warren or Dreaming of Sleeping or Saying It to Keep It From Happening or This is not the Dark Leaves or Living for Liv Ullman or The Odds of a Sunrise or Whispering Pines or You’ll be the Rhythm and I’ll be the Beat and I’ll be the Rhythm and You’ll be the Beat or The Grass Harp or Goodbye Barcelona or Why is my copy of the Moviegoer Floating in a Puddle Beside the Car. You can download the whole shebang right here, and we're recommending that you do. Opener "Hearts And Minds" is uptempo and airy and unsurprisingly soars in places. Three beautiful numbered tracks, "#1," "#3" and "#5" also standout; "#3" in particular glistens with soft intensity, and the trio of songs remind us very much of J Mascis' untitled tracks from the Gas, Food, Lodging soundtrack. Matt Pond PA's numbered numbers are very fetching, so we're posting them below.

Matt Pond PA -- "#1" -- Freeep
Matt Pond PA -- "#3" -- Freeep
Matt Pond PA -- "#5" -- Freeep
[right click and save as]
[download the entire Freep from Matt Pond PA's web site right here]

>> Earlier this month we expended a couple minutes confirming our belief that Coco B's self-titled debut was in fact released in 2007, because the band's superlative rocker "Give Up The Money (1982)" was in the running to be one of our top songs of the year for 2008 otherwise. Unfortunately, its 2007 release disqualifies it, but that doesn't mean the song is any less great. It also seems to have a long shelf life (not unlike Say Hi To Your Mom's "Let's Talk About Spaceships," now that we think about it). The latest twinkle of attention for the track comes courtesy of lifestyle brand and apparel maker Nike (hey Nike, how did that whole sweatshop thing shake out? We'll have to Google that). Nike has used the track in a video of some guys riding BMX bikes like it was, well, "like it was 1982." You can watch the video here -- gotta say, it's pretty bad-ass.

2 comments:

JaneInMA said...

the new drummer from dinosaur pile-up is Steve from This Et Al - and the band is favorites of Sky Larkin.

Drummer Steve Wilson now plays with fellow Leeds act Dinosaur Pile-up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Et_Al

JaneInMA said...
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