Today's Hotness: Calories, William, Lali Puna, A Weather

>> Readers will recall that earlier this month we expressed excitement at the prospect of a forthcoming Tough Love Records split single featuring Calories and William. Well, DrownedInSound got the hook-up from the label and is hosting streams and downloads of two of the four tracks on the single, namely Calories' "The Mortal Boys" and William's "Lustreless." Unsurprisingly, these tracks are awesome. "The Mortal Boys" is a typically anthemic shout-along with Birmingham, England-based Calories, and while the band has yet to alter its formula too much we can't see ourselves tiring of it soon. William, as we stated in the earlier post, is new to us, and while we don't necessarily find the referential equation (D. Boon + straightedge + Stinsons) completely accurate, we still like very much what William is doing here (clattering drums, splayed out guitar squawl, desperate vocals). Due once again to the magic of SoundCloud, we are posting the streams below. And in case you are not familiar with the SoundCloud interface, you are able to download the tracks as MP3s if you click on the downward-pointing arrow icon at right. The split single will be released Feb. 15 (and ship two weeks prior) in a hand-numbered, limited edition of 500 in white vinyl packaged with a 'zine and download codes. You want this. It wants you. Buy Buy Buy.

Calories -- "The Mortal Boys"

William -- "Lustreless"

>> Another follow-up to an earlier item: after anticipating it for more than a year, perhaps more than two years, we were thrilled to see the news of Lali Puna's next record. Our Inventions is out April 6 on Morr Music, and we've been digesting the record for a couple weeks already. The set is something of a return to the band's minimal and electronic roots, as the foregrounded guitars of Faking The Books are largely whack-a-moled back into the mix for the new collection. The first promo track from Our Inventions evidences this, and now that we think about it most of the guitar therein is actually bass. The midtempo toe-tapper pairs fronter Valerie Trebeljahr's voice with partner Micha Acher's, but it is largely electronics in the fore that drive the track. Fans will find that Lali Puna's skill at crafting pretty and affecting electropop has not diminished during the band's five year absence. Dig the MP3.

Lali Puna -- "Remember" -- Our Inventions
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[buy Lali Puna records from Morr Music right here]

>> Word from Portland, Ore.-based slow-core standouts A Weather is that Magnet Magazine will debut an MP3 from the band's forthcoming sophomore set tomorrow Tuesday. The quintet is slated to released Everyday Balloons March 2 on Team Love, as we reported here in December. A Weather's debut Cove has been lauded in this publication a number of times; most recently we named it one of the best albums of the last decade here.