March 31, 2010

Today's Hotness: The Lodger, Bettie Serveert, Superman Revenge Squad

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>> Leeds, England-based pure-play indie pop concern The Lodger are back next week with a delightful new piece of aural heaven, the single "Have A Little Faith In People." The track is culled from the quartet's forthcoming third long-player Flashbacks, which will be released at the end of April. "Have A Little Faith In People" makes us long for the early days of MTV, a time when the rising television channel was heavily attuned to the new wave of music coming out of the UK. Of course, The Lodger is likely more interested by the underground, Postcard Records sounds of that era rather than the stuff that actually made its way to American teevee screens. But even so, there is something about The Lodger's fresh, clean and unadorned (save for some tasteful, buoyant brass) guitar pop here that makes us nostalgic. "Have A Little Faith In People" will be issued in the UK 5 April on This Is Fake DIY and in the U.S. the following day digitally via Slumberland Records. The Lodger's debut Grown Ups was released in 2007, and it was followed by Life Is Sweet in 2008. Catch the stream of the forthcoming single below.



>> Dutch indie rock lifers Bettie Serveert have always been fond of presenting their songs in different styles, or at least running through them as simple acoustic versions. Heck, their last album, 2006's Bare Stripped Naked, was based in part around this notion. It recast a few songs from their past -- and future, since "What They Call Love" is remade as a rocker on their new album. So here we have this rough-and-ready take of their new Pharmacy Of Love track,"Semaphore." It may be stripped of the studio sheen and killer drums, but it still retains its urgency. Read our review of Pharmacy Of Love right here. -- Michael Piantigini

Bettie Serveert -- "Semaphore (Acoustic Version)"
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[buy Bettie Serveert records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> According to this blog post top English songwriter Ben Parker's Superman Revenge Squad is preparing the release of Dead Crow Blues EP, which will apparently include the songs "Playing God Games," "An Old Man Flicking Through A Pornographic Magazine," "The Summer We Finally Cut Our Hair" and "An Endless Bottle Of Blood-Red Wine... Whistling Into The Abyss." Superman Revenge Squad recently performed those and the older cut "I’m Gonna Go To Bed And When I Wake Up I'm Gonna Be Someone Else" for a video podcast, the details of which podcast are still being sorted. But Superman Revenge Squad's planned EP sounds very exciting, not only because it will include recent collaborator Martin on cello, but also because Mr. Parker hopes to feature his brother and former Nosferatu D2 bandmate Adam on drums on one track. Artwork for Dead Crow Blues has already been secured from Dave Broadbent, whose work you will know from the 2009 Nosferatu D2 release We're Gonna Walk Around This City With Our Headphones On To Block Out The Noise [review here]. Parker and Martin have also been asked to soundtrack a film, but there are few details available about that.

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