Review: Eros And The Eschaton | Home Address For Civil War

Here's a thing that is true: a lot of dream pop is not dream-like; as beautiful and as subdued as certain of it may be, the descriptor often acknowledges an aspiration, not an actuality. There are, however, bands that can jack right into a dream-state from the first note and navigate an entire set with admirable agency, building emerald cities of sound and then tearing them down like Leonardo DiCaprio in "Inception." Which brings us to the rising North Carolina dream-pop concern Eros And The Eschaton, whose debut full-length Home Address For Civil War is due Tuesday from Bar/None. The music on the collection grafts sweet, somnolent melodies to compositions that thrive on a balance of coarse shoegaze textures, palpable ambience and engaging pop intentions. Gently shot through the dreaminess and noise is a unifying pop sensibility that makes the record a satisfying and especially remarkable debut.

Eros And The Eschaton, as we wrote here in June, is Adam Hawkins and Kate Perdoni, although the band is augmented with additional players for shows. The principals met performing in Omaha, cemented their coupledom at some point thereafter, had a child, formed the band in 2012, and then settled in Greensboro. Perhaps the dreaminess of Home Address For Civil War is a result of the pair trying to do a band and raise a small kid at the same time (the record commences with a baby's cry before launching into the endlessly ascending "20 Different Days"). Or perhaps we are just projecting our own exhaustion. But within and throughout their patient, brilliant (and brilliantly mixed) set, Mr. Hawkins and Ms. Perdoni layer wavering organ, guitars, heavily reverbed percussion and murmured vocals to create tracks that are paradoxically as loud as they are intimate. The fixating charmer "You Know I Do" is as much a pastiche of feedback and ambient noise as it is a simple, crushingly poignant affirmation of love. At the beginning of "Over And Over," the pair's chanting of the title sounds like a confession, like an exchange of secrets. Closer "Trust Me I Know" opens with a gently pulse of organ and reverbed, looped guitar,  then slowly decays into a soft, swirling mist that dissipates gently over the span of more than five minutes.

Just releasing this latter song would constitute a triumph, but the record offers a lot more. There's Yo La Tengo-flavored pop candy like "Lately (I've Been Wondering)" and percussive cacophony to be found in "Terence McKenna," a song that recalls the noisier moments in the catalog of dreamy contemporaries Big Deal. Indie rock fans will find there's a lot of Yo La Tengo flavor to Home Address, facilitated in part by the similar approach to vocals taken by Hawkins and Ira Kaplan. That assessment is not meant to limit listeners' ideas of what Eros And The Eschaton is, but rather a signifier of the vast potential Hawkins and Perdoni are sitting on, potential that could enable Eros And The Eschaton to become as smart, incredibly nimble and widely varied act as the legendary New Jersey trio. Home Address For Civil War, we hope, is only a beginning. After playing a hometown festival date late this month, the band leaves home for most of September, when it will perform a series of mid-Atlantic and midwest dates to support the release of the record. Fans can also expect to see a music video soon, as details of a shoot were posted to the band's blog here. Two pre-release singles are available to stream below; pre-order Home Address For Civil War right here.

Eros And The Eschaton: Interwebs | Bandcamp | Facebook | Soundcloud | Tumblr





08/23 -- Greensboro, NC -- The Greenbean
09/05 -- Raleigh, NC -- Slim's
09/10 -- Washington, DC -- The Sunshine District
09/11 -- Baltimore, MD -- Club K
09/12 -- Philadelphia, PA -- PhilaMOCA
09/13 -- New York, NY -- Piano's
09/16 -- Beloit, WI -- The Music House
09/17 -- Chicago, IL -- Big Forever
09/20 -- Minneapolis, MN -- Sound Gallery
09/21 -- Omaha, NE -- Slowdown
09/22 -- Omaha, NE -- DP Muller Studio
09/23 -- Omaha, NE -- Phenom Blues House
09/24 -- Kansas City, MO -- Record Bar
09/25 -- Lincoln, NE -- Vega
09/26 -- Ames, IA -- Maximum

YouTube Rodeo: Big Deal's Color-Drenched "Dream Machines"

Way back in May we were figuratively spinning Big Deal's terrific new record June Gloom a lot, and one of the tunes we exalted as an album highlight was the sparkling, big-beat anthem "Dream Machines." Not long after, the tune was designated the second single from the London-based quartet's sophomore set, and now, months later, it finally has a video clip to go along with it. As best as we can tell (who knows who really donned the monster suits in the first promo video from June Gloom, for the prior single "In Your Car"), the clip is the first to feature all four members of Big Deal as it is presently configured; the band began its run as simply the duo of Kasey Underwood and Alice Costelloe way back in 2010. Indeed, the opening pastiche of images captured in the still supra prominently features Huw Webb's bass guitar at the top of the frame, which may be as much a signal of Big Deal's relatively recent conversion to "band-ness" as it is of "Dream Machines"'s reliance on a foundation of fuzz-bass to drive home the tune's titanic choruses. Most of the video -- directed by a chap named Errol Rainey of the Bonzo Collective -- is pulled straight from the playbook of classic MTV visual style circa 1985, including bits of the band goofing on CCTV, shooting hoops, pulling peace signs and lip-synching the tune, all drenched in over-saturated color and rendered beautifully grainy. Mute released June Gloom June 4, and we reviewed the set for Vanyaland right here. Does this album have another single in it? Only time will tell, but, if so, we would not be surprised to see opener "Golden Light" or the closing power ballad "Close Your Eyes" get the honors. The video for "Dream Machines" embedded above premiered at Vice's Noisey yesterday.

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Hex Map



>> We hear singles. Like Gary Coleman's character in the 1981 comedy "On The Right Track" could see winning racehorses. So we weren't too surprised when, just hours after we filed our copy with Vanyaland for our review of the new Big Deal record, which review pegged "Dream Machines" as an album highlight, it was announced that the song would be the second single from the new set. As we said here in our review of the London-based duo's June Gloom, which streets June 4 on Mute, the "[b]ig-beat album highlight 'Dream Machines' somewhat surprisingly pushes a message of cultural disengagement with the Leary-esque lyric 'what you wanted and what you chose, you can't have both... I've been dreaming of dropping out...'" The pair's words are set in a beautiful firmament of short tremeloed guitar snips refracting in a hazy reverb, but when the chorus kicks in thick chords buttress principals Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe's gentle voices and push the song straight into anthem territory. The composition wins with a simple, clattering rhythm track almost begs for a remix -- and we hate remixes. Anyway, it is a brilliant choice for a single, although perhaps a less conventional pick than the hook-ridden pop of "In Your Car," which got the nod as the first single from June Gloom. The record is available for pre-order now on vinyl, CD and digitally via this link, this link, or that link, respectively. There is also a limited edition of signed vinyl and CDs that ship with a t-shirt iron-on, which is pretty cool. Big Deal perform at this Saturday's The Great Escape festival in Brighton, England, plays three dates in France at the end of the month, and then spends the first half of June touring about the UK. No U.S. dates have been announced yet, but we're hopeful the band will plot a jaunt on our side of the ocean. In the meantime, stream the terrific second single "Dream Machines" via the Soundcloud embed below.



>> Boston-based post-rock concern Hex Map have been dormant for some time, but the band is poised for a big return with a live date Friday and a new, sophomore colection coming next month. The duo of Mike Gintz and Nick Burgess (a lineup that enlarges to a quartet for live shows) are preparing to release in June the moody and measured long-player Ruin Value. Hex Map packs the new collection with tense, industrial (and almost post-apocalyptic) assemblages of guitar and percussion. Opener "The Black River" boasts a bludgeoning attack and restrained but reverbed vocal as evocative as an early Black Sabbath number, despite the modern, architectural vibration. But that song's weight and force -- elements that return later in the record on the uneasy arcade game console rocker "Rat King" are just two of the ways Hex Map fabricates the rock. Elsewhere electronic flourishes spangle the stereo field, or a vocal is pushed hard toward Layne Staley-esque degrees of desperation. Album highlight "November 17" strikes a juxtaposition against "The Black River," as it touts a gentle vocal, a reliable 5/4 groove and a more fluidly articulated melody, resulting in a track that echoes Radiohead circa Amnesiac. The band was cool enough to allow us to post "November 17" via the embed below. Ruin Value is available for pre-order right now via Hex Map's Bandcamp wigwam right here; the eight-song collection is on offer as a vinyl LP (in a limited edition of 150 copies pressed to translucent media) or digital download. Hex Map is playing its first show in almost a year Friday at O'Brien's Pub in Allston Rock City with Leagues, Rozamov and Mooncusser; check out the deets via the Facebook event page right here. Ruin Value will be self-released by the band June 14.

Today's Hotness: Mincer Ray, Tyrannosaurus Dead

>> With an appreciable Teutonic precision (which is sort of funny since none of its members is actually German), Berlin-based Mincer Ray return this month with a new EP titled A Magnate's Reach. We first turned onto the clearly GBV-influenced trio in March 2012, when it issued via Bandcamp the shifty long-player Ray Mincer, featuring the blistering anthem "A Burning Plane." A Magnate's Reach is a more concise five-song slate of tunes evidencing Mincer Ray's continued embrace of punchy, scritchy indie rock. Opener "Franki Jo" is a determined, melodic strummer indebted as much to The Kinks and the Davies brothers’ hip-shaking sounds as it is to the aforementioned Guided By Voices. Ballad "(Ever) The Optimistic Architect II" operates under an appropriately Pollardian title and gradually builds steam across syncopated quarter notes before hitting a wall after 125 seconds. Assuredly, fans of Dayton's finest will find a lot to like on this EP, and if we have a gripe at all it is that the Berliners don't expectorate music at anything approaching the ludicrous pace that Bob Pollard somehow magically maintains. A Magnate's Reach carries an official release date of May 31, although you needn't wait what amounts to months to hear it: it is available at Bandcamp as a name-your-price download right now, and you can hit the stream via our handy embed below. There will be a proper release show May 31, according to Mincer Ray's web dojo, and lucky fans able to make the gig will apparently be able to buy the EP on 180 gram vinyl. Until now, use your ears to process the ones and zeroes below.



>> London's Odd Box Records this week sent over word of some new releases in its pipeline, and we find ourselves streaming over and over two tunes from recent signing Tyrannosaurus Dead. The Brighton, England-based five-piece's "Soft" and "Sadie," from the forthcoming Pure // Apart EP, each present breakneck tempos and guitar-forward arrangements that show the act incorporating into its melodic, fuzz-filled sound the raw power of Boyracer and affecting sentiment -- as evidenced by certain of singers Billy Lowe and Eleanor Rudge's phrasing that forlornly dangles into space at times -- of Belle And Sebastian. Pure // Apart was recorded in London in late 2012 with Rory Attwell, whose name we’ve mentioned previously as the man behind the boards for acts including Big Deal, Veronica Falls and Yuck. Odd Box releases Pure // Apart May 6, but you can already stream the aforementioned noise-pop gems via Bandcamp. The six-song EP is being pressed in a limited edition of 250 vinyl 12" records, and pre-orders are already being taken, also at Bandcamp. Tyrannosaurus Dead previously released two excellent EPs (one eponymous, the other titled Lemonade) and a song on a split cassette, all of which are available via the quintet’s very own Bandcamp right here. But for starters we recommend to your attention "Soft" and "Sadie," which we've embedded below.

Today's Hotness: Barry Marino, Big Deal, Business Models

>> While Managing Editor Michael P. continues to manage SXSW, the everyday business of the blog goes on... This Today's Hotness is brought to you by the letter "B," in alphabetical order, sorta...

>> For the second year running, multi-instrumentalist and video director extraordinaire Barry Marino (who is perhaps best known to Clicky Clicky readers as drummer for Boston indie rock heroes The Hush Now) wrote and recorded an entire album during the month of February. This year's effort culminated with the release last week of the sparkling and curious eight-song collection February 2.0. Apparently the exercise is a bit more formalized than we had realized previously, as Mr. Marino's impressive feat is part of something called RPM Challenge, an event that encourages participants to record in a mere 28 days either 10 songs or 35 minutes of original material. Like his solid 2012 collection I Made These Gems In A Month, the new set strikes a balance between serene folk, hazy contemplation and upbeat electronic experimentalism, suggesting influences like Mazzy Star and U2 along the way. Up-tempo highlights "Level Planes" and the not entirely reassuring "We're Not Going To Guam" employ dance-ready rhythm tracks to anchor surreal, at-times-unsettling sentiments (the latter tune includes the brilliant line "half the stuff he says goes way over my head, the other half goes way, way over"). "The Subway Ninjas," a song apparently about being stuck on the subway with a jerk, a song that Google Translate improbably indicates is sung in Esperanto, uses bright guitar leads and a female guest vocal to conjure a breezy, South American vibe. Closer "White Knuckle" quietly echoes the verse of the aforementioned Irish quartet's "Ultra Violet." February 2.0, as well as the rest of Brooklyn-based Marino's work within and without The Hush Now, routinely finds ways to impress without being flashy or pedantic. Instead, there is a patience and ease to the music that somewhat downplays the cleverness and lucid imagery that are Marino's true hallmarks, all of which makes February 2.0 well worth your time and attention. We most recently heard from Marino in late 2012, when he sang the lead vocal for The Hush Now's annual holiday single (Marino also shot and starred in this video for the tune). In related news, The Hush Now is preparing the release of "Arkansas" as a digital single in the UK, to be followed by a digital UK release of the quintet's superlative 2011 long-player Memos. Incidentally, Marino is not the only member of the quintet releasing solo music these days: lead guitarist Adam Quane issued Tuesday a new collection of vibrant, textured psychedelia called O Orpheus Singing under his long-running No Evil Star moniker. You can check that out here; in the meantime tuck into Marino's February 2.0 via the Bandcamp embed below.



>> Big Deal announced last week it will release April 23 "In Your Car," the first proper single from the London-based dream-pop pair's planned sophomore set June Gloom. The captivating track maintains the act's new, noisy posture established via the early album two preview tune "Teradactol" last year. However, "In Your Car" ably harnesses the volume and attitude of "Teradactol" but successfully channels it into Big Deal's melodic and characteristically poignant pop. Indeed, the breezy, wistful chorus ("driving in your car / I wanna be wherever you are...") fits comfortably within the band's canon, particularly the music from Big Deal's brilliant full-length debut Lights Out. And perhaps it is just the title suggesting the correlation, perhaps it is the jarring opening notes, or perhaps it is the sweeping synth in the chorus, but we sense the second single also throws an affirmative nod toward Boston's own '80s pop legends The Cars and their tune "Just What I Needed." Sure, it's a fairly jarring evolution from the quiet, pretty harmonies and delicate guitar work of the band's debut single "Homework" from a few years ago, but those harmonies and Big Deal's deft ability to sound like it is constantly telling secrets persists even with the duo's contemporary "big band" sound. Mute will release "In Your Car" as well as the aforementioned full-length; June Gloom is slated for release June 4. As we reported here last month, Big Deal principals Alice Costelloe and Kacey Underwood have buttressed Big Deal's personnel with the addition of a rhythm section, which -- for the album sessions anyway -- included drummer Melissa Rigby. It's unclear who is playing bass with the band, or whether Ms. Rigby is part of Big Deal's touring unit, but we expect all of this will be revealed in time, as the presser announcing the single promises live dates will be announced soon. In the meantime, why not stream "In Your Car" over and over and over again as we have been doing?



>> Mr. Charlton was not overstating it during his assessment of the new Purling Hiss tune when he referred to a "strong wave of municipal all-stars" rising up out of Philadelphia these days. Indeed, the mental laundry list we maintain of Philly acts we need to monitor grows almost daily. At the top of the list today is Business Models, the new endeavor from ex-Algernon Cadwallader bassist and fronter Peter Helmis that also counts among its number former members of Ape Up! (Nick) and Man Without Plan (Barclay). The self-described "post-pop-punk" trio has released to Bandcamp under the title Room preliminary mixes of four songs from a "forthcoming bunch of songs." The music maintains the melodicism and energy of Algernon Cadwallader, but eschews that band's intricate guitar work in favor of chunky guitar chords. The resulting tunes recall the city's best West Philly-styled punk and brings to mind in particular Clicky Clicky faves Armalite, whose self-titled 2006 set was among this blog's favorite of that year. We strongly suggest streaming Room via the Bandcamp embed below -- it is all killer and no filler. The trio played some tour dates in Boston and Amherst earlier this month, so we expect that might be the last we see of Business Models until a record comes out, but who knows. Here's a video of them playing "The Aptitude," one of the four jams from Room.

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Youth Pictures Of Florence Henderson, The Nimbleines

>> [Photo Credit: Malia James] Internationally sourced and London-based indie rock duo Big Deal disclosed earlier this week that it will release a sophomore set, June Gloom, June 4th. Which, you know, thank God it's actually being released in June, because, duh, am I right? If the spelling-challenged preview track "Teradactol" that first appeared online in November is any indication, the new collection promises a new, noisier and louder sound for the heretofore relatively reserved pair of Kacey Underwood and Alice Costello. June Gloom was produced by Rory Attwell, whose credentials include production work for Yuck as well as the recently released triumph from London's Veronica Falls. Underwood and Costelloe are abetted in the creation of the record by drummer Melissa Rigby (according to SPIN) and an unidentified bass player, yet another indicator that the softly forlorn Big Deal that first revealed itself with the skeletal and haunting single "Homework," released by Records Records Records in 2010, is a thing of the past. Or at least not quite so softly forlorn. June Gloom will be released by Mute and touts 12 tracks in total, and you can stream and download "Teradactol" via the Soundcloud embed below. A video for the first single from June Gloom has been filmed and, according to Big Deal's Facebook page, it will be unveiled soon. The duo's enchanting first full-length Lights Out was released via Mute in the US in January 2012, and we kicked its tires for readers right here.



>> Oslo-based emo heroes Youth Pictures Of Florence Henderson this week relayed news that its 2005 debut Unnoticeable In A Tiny Town, Invisible In The City has been remastered and will be reissued in March on 180g vinyl by Doognad Records, also based in Norway. The set is available in a limited edition of 250 black LPs, and fans can get one via Doognad's Big Cartel dojo right here for the princely sum of 20 Euros, which according to the Googles Saturday afternoon equals USD $26.76. We're not saying Unnoticeable In A Tiny Town... on 180g vinyl isn't worth that kind of coin, we're just reporting here, folks. According to a Facebook post, the record was remastered by Will Killingsworth at Amherst, Mass.'s own Dead Air Studios. Older and hipper Clicky Clicky readers may recognize Mr. Killingsworth's name from his years playing guitar with screamo giants Orchid (readers may also recall Bedroom Eyes and Best Practices have both made exemplary records at Dead Air). Youth Pictures Of Florence Henderson's most recent release, the 10" EP Small Changes We Hardly Notice, was released last summer and included the stunning opener "All I Remember Is Punk Rock." The set was one of our favorite releases of the year (although, as we got it on vinyl, its aggregate ITunes playcount didn't rate the EP for inclusion in our 2012 year-end list). Small Changes We Hardly Notice was issued domestically by emo powerhouse Count Your Lucky Stars Records -- keep your fingers crossed that the label might get some stock of the reissue of Unnoticable, so you don't have to eat some pesky international shipping. Since it is one of the greatest things since sliced bread, stream the tune "All I Can Remember Is Punk Rock" via the Soundcloud embed below. If you'd like to listen to the old master of Unnoticeable In A Tiny Town, Invisible In The City, it is available for streaming right here at Bandcamp.



>> There is a slippery but quantifiable charm to the debut digital single from the new oddball electropop duo The Nimbleines, who recently revealed themselves via the 12" extended mix of the tune "Let's Play Leaving." The song traverses some varied terrain while hewing closely to some familiar touchstones, laying in gentle vocals, synths and electric rhythm tracks that at different times echo vintage DEVO or Yo La Tengo's "Year Of The Shark." Even with the synth and programmed beats there is a lo-fi aura to the tune that gives it an earthy appeal; The Nimbleines certainly are not taking a sterile approach to the production values, something that we appreciate. The band is comprised of Boston musician and music journo Jonathan Donaldson, who some may know from his work from the delightfully quirky guitar act The I Want You, and Columbus, OH-based James Goodman, a fellow heretofore unknown to Clicky Clicky. The Nimbleines characterize themselves and an electropop/psych act, and its Facebook page indicates a full-length is planned. We don't feel the psych stewing on "Let's Play Leaving," just light, hooky, '80s-referencing synth-pop, so we'll be curious to hear more from the pair. In the meantime, the delicate hooks that cycle through the verse and chorus of "Let's Play Leaving" will give your ears plenty to contend with. Stream and download the tune via the Soundcloud embed below.

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Whirr, Projekt A-ko

>> Please do not construe our silence on the release of Big Deal's full-length debut Lights Out as anything other than a lack of time on our part. We followed the band closely through the release of their early singles in 2010 and 2011, and wrote about Big Deal most recently here in October. We are pleased that the charming and hazy full-length Lights Out lives up to all that early promise. As Mr. Yang pointed out in his spot-on assessment here, yes, the London-based duo is working with a limited palette (two voices, two guitars), but through some beautiful alchemy the melodies, production and performances meld into the proverbial sum-greater-than-its-parts. Perhaps it is the performances -- earnest, hurt, lovelorn -- that make songs like "Chair" and "Cool Like Kurt" so powerful. The latter song so magically crystallizes the feelings of fragile, youthful romance: uncertainty, longing, the fleeting nature of the enterprise. Out of context this lyric is a little creepy, but we can't think of any more perfect way to sum up feelings that at this point in our lives are barely accessible via memory: "take me to your bed, don't take me home, before this is oh, before this is over." Lights Out was finally released in America on Mute Jan. 24 in the wake of an eponymous EP; the set was issued in the UK Sept. 5. Big Deal plays what we believe are its first U.S. shows next month (full dates below), despite male half of the duo Kacey Underwood being an American. The band has completed a new video for the song "Talk," which you can expect to see online soon. In the meantime, in case you've forgotten what it sounds like, you can stream below. Dig in.



03.11 -- The Glasslands -- Brooklyn, NY
03.12 -- Mercury Lounge -- New York, NY
03.13-03.18 -- SXSW TBA -- Austin, TX
03.20 -- The Echo -- Los Angeles, CA

>> Pun Canoes was the first outlet we saw to report that Whirr's hotly anticipated full length Pipe Dream will be released by Tee Pee Records March 13. The venerable publication characterizes the set as Whirr's second full length, but we think that is incorrect: the act -- when it was going by its previous nomme de rock Whirl -- released its Distressor EP in 2010. So, right, this will be its first full-length. Pipe Dream contains the title track from the excellent June EP, "Junebouvier" (but not the b-side "Sundae") that we first wrote about here in September, as well as eight other numbers we are very eager to hear. Peruse the full track listing at Pun Canoes right here. Whirr will tour out to Austin in March for the obligatory strand of SXSW performances, and full dates are posted right here. "Junebouvier," in case you missed it, is a stunningly beautiful dream-pop track that we highly recommend (having included it during our October New Music Night set). Listen to it:



>> Projekt A-ko fans have reason for optimism, as an email this week from fronter Fergus Lawrie states that progress has resumed on a new album. Lawrie, as we wrote here in October, has been keeping busy with noisier, improvisational pasttimes including Angel Of Everyone Murder. A video featuring that project is included in a new DVD from Kovorox Sound titled Video Vomit Volume 1. As for Projekt A-ko, Mr. Lawrie says a new track may be posted online "in the next couple of months." The new song would be the first since the release of the fan-only cover of Drop Nineteens' "Winona." Projekt A-ko's towering, monumental, incredible, terrific, etc. full-length debut Yoyodyne! was our second favorite record of 2009. It is mammoth.

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Los Campesinos!, New War

>> Regular readers will be familiar with our coverage of London-based indie duo Big Deal. One of the more frustrating things this fall has been our inability to hear the band's new album Lights Out, which was released in the UK Sept. 5. We figured we'd be able to grab the MP3s digitally or stream it on Spotify once it came out, but no dice. Turns out we had completely forgotten that the act comprised of American guy Kacey Underwood and British gal Alice Costelloe had a North American deal in place, which is why there is at present no way to get Lights Out in North America. That will change on Jan. 24, when Mute releases the full-length to our sector of the globe. Lights Out will be preceded Oct. 25 by an eponymous EP that includes one exclusive song, "Mai Joy." The rest of the EP contains the album's main preview track "Chair," which we wrote about here last month, with the Big Star cover "13" from Big Deal's debut 2010 UK single "Homework," as well as the intense brooder "Locked Up," which was an NME-exclusive download a year ago that we wrote about here. If you need more of a Big Deal fix before Oct. 25, stream "Chair" below or watch this live in-store performance of the track, along with the album track "With The World At My Feet," filmed at Rough Trade West last month.

Big Deal - Chair by Big Deal

>> Cardiff-based indie pop titans Los Campesinos! revealed earlier this week that the lead single for its hotly anticipated new album Hello Sadness will be the record's title track; the single will be released Nov. 21. The timing is odd, because singles typically precede an album launch, not trail it, but there you go. The announcement, single art and lyrics were posted here by the band. No information about b-sides was offered, but we expect there'll be at least one, as flat things tend to have two sides. Pre-orders for Hello Sadness close Oct. 14 and the set will be released a month later on Wichita in the UK and Arts & Crafts in North America, as we reported here in August. A preview track "By Your Hand" was pushed out to the Internerds early last month and we wrote about that here.

>> The more we listen to New War's new single, the more we like it; it reminds us of Tones On Tail and Chameleons UK and other goth-tinged '80s musics that captured our attention way back when. The title track is "Ghostwalking," and the original version is wonderfully atmospheric and soporific, with a slow groove that doesn't move so much as it spreads out. Melbourne, Australia-based New War's members include Chris Pugmire and Melissa Lock, formerly of the act Shoplifting, which has released records on Kill Rock Stars. New War has inked to release music with Fast Weapons, a label commissioned by Gossip's Nathan Howdeshell. The band will release a full-length titled Calling From Inside in March 2012, but in the meantime the song "Ghostwalking" is getting the 12" treatment; it was released Sept. 27. Additional music on the platter includes one remix each by Gossip and HTRK. Better still, you can download all three songs at Bandcamp for free. Check them out at the embed below and click through for the sonic goodies. If you want the vinyl, you cany buy that right here, but there apparently aren't too many left so act fast.

YouTube Rodeo: Big Deal's Transcendent "Chair"

[via TLOBF exclusive] Cracking track from new-ish London duo Big Deal's debut full length Lights Out, which will be released by Mute Monday in the UK. The tension between Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe in this performance video -- the furtive glances between lines through skewed bangs -- is almost too delicious to actually be real, but either way it perfectly complements the song's confusion and hurt ("only want me for my lungs / only want me for the songs I write about you, about how I like you..."), or a hybrid of the two that in hindsight seems to be a hallmark of young love. As we reported here in June, the album was initially intended for release Oct. 11, but for some reason it was moved up more than a month to Sept. 5, and we can't say as we aren't pleased to get at the collection early. Underwood and Costelloe arrived on the scene last fall with the desperately beautiful and delicate acoustic single "Homework," released by Records Records Records, which we wrote about right here. The new, 12-song long-player was co-produced by Mr. Underwood and a fellow named Dean Reid. You can stream "Chair" via the Soundcloud embed below.

Big Deal - Chair by Big Deal

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Swirlies, 11:59, Cannons

>> Hotly tipped London indie duo Big Deal have disclosed at long last that its debut full-length, Lights Out, will be issued by Mute Oct. 11. The release will be preceded by a single for the song "Chair" Aug. 30. The barely year-old pairing of Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe arrived on the scene last fall with the desperately beautiful and delicate acoustic single "Homework," released by Records Records Records. The new, 12-song long-player was co-produced by Mr. Underwood and a fellow named Dean Reid, which is interesting to note because we reported here last October that the band was working with former Strokes producer Gordon Raphael. Perhaps Mr. Raphael engineered? Who knows. A quick search of Soundcloud turns up a Big Deal track we had not yet heard which appears on the track listing for Lights Out (although we can't say for certain this version will be on the album, of course). The tune is called "Talk;" check it out below. Big Deal spends seemingly the rest of the summer playing UK festivals, so if you are inclined to go to a festival, perhaps check the complete list of engagements right here to make sure you get to see what Big Deal is all about.

Talk by Big Deal

>> The Swirlies mini-tour we first mentioned here last month has announced all of the currently confirmed dates. Sadly, as of yet, there is no Boston performance slated, although there is a faint rumble from Allston about pigs being greased or some such, so perhaps all is not yet lost. But for now, here are all of the dates that are fully pig-greased. In case you've forgotten how awesome Swirlies are, check out the awesome video for "Bell." Every time we watch, we are transported to the back bedroom of a bungalow in Central Pennsylvania, Fall 1993. Magic!

07.21 -- Baltimore, MD -- Talking Head
07.22 -- Washington, DC -- Rock & Roll Hotel
07.23 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Johnny Brenda's (2PM)
07.24 -- New York, NY -- Beekman's Beer Garden (3PM)

>> Billing your band as an amalgamation of three styles is a daring proposition, and it is downright fool-hardy, these days anyway, to state one of those styles is ska. So we were very pleasantly surprised when we listened to two new tracks from 11:59. Firstly, because neither of the upstart trio from Sydney, Australia's songs were ska numbers. But mostly because the threesome plays angular guitar pop in the vein of all the youthful UK greats of the last decade. 11:59 has issued a series of singles and EPs during the last four years, and its most recent is a digital single entitled Ou Est Le Tissier. Released in May and comprised of two tunes, it is the latter number, "Girls Girls Girls," that captured our ear, with its vocal harmonies, guitar attack and uptempo rhythm. You can stream the tune via the Soundcloud embed below, and we highly recommend that you do. We were so moved we included it in our New Music Night DJ set last month. It's a spikey guitar-pop anthem, a perfect anthem for summer nights and beer drinking with the mates.

1159 - Girls Girls Girls by oneonefivenine

>> Philly-based post-hardcore concern Cannons have returned with a new EP that expands the quartet's palate to include not only satisfying, brawny punk but now also quirky Stylophone instrumentals. The collection is called Cuddled By Giants, and it's a bit odd, but it fits with Cannons' personality (Cuddled By Giants opens with a track called "You Might Be Scum," for example), first made evident on the band's crackling 2010 debut Friendly Muscles, which we wrote about here. In the interim between the two releases Cannons downsized from four to three members and released the free teaser The Japam Demos to the Interzizzles via Bandcamp [download]. One of the highlights of the new EP is the hooky hard rocker "All The Glue You Can Huff!," which amusingly alternates la-la-la backing vocals with scritchy, Pond-esque guitars. You remember Pond, right (we hope so, as the Internet can barely remember)? Cannons released Cuddled By Giants May 26, and you can grab the whole shebang at Bandcamp right here for three paltry American dollars. You should do that. By way of appetite-whetting, stream "All The Glue You Can Huff!" below.

YouTube Rodeo: Big Deal's "Homework"

This autumn, millions of teens will fall in love. Let's say 5% of those kids are indie rockers. And let's say 1% are plugged into the newest sounds coming out of London. "Homework" -- which the gorgeous video above was released to the Internerds to hype Monday -- will be their song. Decades from now, they'll hear it, the debut single from rising indie duo Big Deal, and think back on that lost love. "Homework" is a beautiful, yearning, delicate composition that will transport you to the most vulnerable points of your various adolescent love affairs for two minutes and thirty-eight seconds. "Homework" b/w "Thirteen" (yes, the ubiquitously covered Big Star jam) was released yesterday on Records Records Records Records in a hand-titled, hand-numbered edition; buy the single right here. A second single featuring tracks unknown will be released by an as-yet-undecided label early next year, and we imagine a full-length must be coming at some point before 2011 has worn itself out. As we wrote here last month, Big Deal are apparently recording new material with Gordon Raphael, who aging hipsters may recollect was the producer of the early Strokes material. We can't wait to hear it. In the meantime, stream all the currently known Big Deal tracks below.

Big Deal preview by Tim Chester NME

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Varsity Drag, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

>> We ignore about as many pitches in a day as breaths we inhale, but there are certain folks whose recommendations are lead-pipe cinches, and we got one of those cinchy pitches a few weeks ago about the fast-rising, London-based indie rock duo Big Deal. The pair, whose MySpace URL is charmingingly MySpace.com/WeAreABigDeal, flew onto the radar of the British rock press after only its second show, and Big Deal's debut single "Homework" b/w a cover of Big Star's "13" doesn't even street until 18 Nov. and is not yet available for pre-order. The single, incidentally, will be issued by London's Records Records Records, who you may recall recently issued the completely terrific Superman Revenge Squad EP Dead Crow Blues. Anyway, Big Deal is songwriters and guitarists Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe, and the pair's music sounds a fair amount like another hotly tipped London act, that being Yuck, which means Big Deal sounds like Yo La Tengo, in the best way possible.

"Homework" b/w "13" will be released in a limited vinyl edition with "hand finished" artwork (we don't know what that means, but yeah, awesome?), and both tracks are already streaming at the aforementioned MySpace along with three others. NME recently posted the smouldering strummer "Locked Up" as its track of the day, and we're taking the liberty of re-posting the track below because it is brilliant. Big Deal are apparently recording new material with Gordon Raphael, who aging hipsters may recollect was the producer of the early Strokes material; according to Wikipedia Mr. Raphael now works out of Urchin Studios in London.

Big Deal's "Homework," "13" and "Locked Up"

>> An update on the goings-on of hometown indie punk superheroes Varsity Drag is overdue. Sadly, drummer extraordinaire Josh Pickering has parted with the band. Word is -- well, actually we read it here -- that Mr. Pickering has been succeeded on the stool by a cat named Jonas Meyer, who is currently rehearsing with founding member Ben Deily and trusty bassist Lisa Marie Deily. And from the WTF file: Varsity Drag has been tapped to provide music for a forthcoming production of "Hamlet" being staged by an area theater company in 2011. No word what that music will sound like or whether it will be available for general consumption by non-theater goers. Varsity Drag's most recent release was the digital single "White Cat In A Snowstorm," a song originally written and released by UK punkers Ipanema. The song is slated to appear on a comp being concatenated by the Drag's UK label Boss Tunage, but no release date on the comp has been disclosed. Grab the track here or stream it below.




>> Dream pop phenoms The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart will release a sophomore full-length recording on Slumberland Records in March 2011. The album as yet has no title, but a first single, "Heart In Your Heartbreak," will be issued in November with an exclusive b-side. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's self-titled debut was released last year, as was the band's Higher Than The Stars EP. The New York-based quartet is on tour through the end of November and you can review all tour dates at the band's Myspace hacienda right here.