Today's Hotness: The Fuzz, Gold Muse, Lubec

>> While media reports decry the slow-down of the Chinese economy, the vast nation's production of top-tier indie rock seems to continue unabated. Or at least that's the impression we get based on the output of de facto flagship label Maybe Mars, which has a dynamite 2016 planned. Among the label's first releases of the year is the long-player The Root Of Innocence from indie rock quartet The Fuzz (a/k/a Chinese Fuzz or Fazi). The 11-track set was released Tuesday, and the lead preview track was the dreamy, synth-led treat "0909 II." The song's icy keys and sparkling guitars communicate a love of '80s UK darkwave, perhaps even an affinity for A Flock Of Seagulls. We admittedly know little else about The Fuzz, but comparing two versions of the band's "Control" -- one from a 2014 compilation and the other from the new record -- gives some indication of the band's artistic development. The compilation version (from Maybe Mars' collection The XP Sound Vol. 1) is a big, guitar-driven rocker. But this version that opens The Root Of Innocence is more atmospheric, reverberant and mysterious. The English language Internet tells us The Fuzz hails from Xi'an, capital of the northwestern Chinese province of Shaanxi (thanks Wikipedia!). The Fuzz will tour China in March and April to support the release of The Root Of Innocence, according to Maybe Mars, and the tour aims to visit about 40 cities. The band also intends to record its next record during the tour. If you happen to have the good fortune to be in China this spring, keep an eye out for the band. For the rest of us, streaming The Root Of Innocence will have to tide us over for the time being.

>> Relatively new 'gaze-pop four Gold Muse this week released a second digital single, which is not only notable for its great songs, but also because it shows a promising level of productivity for the Boston supergroup. Considering the easy pace at which certain of Gold Muse's members' other bands have released music, fans have reason to be pleased. As we've reported elsewhere, Gold Muse formed only last year, and is comprised of current or former members of Swirlies, Soccer Mom and Earthquake Party!; it took Soccer Mom about five years to release its only LP, and in about the same amount of time the still-quite-active Earthquake Party! has released but six songs. Gold Muse's rate of output appears Pollardian by comparison! The act's terrific "Kiss The Sun" b/w "Your Floral Crown" digital 1-2 presents a decidedly moodier side of the band, in contrast to its terrific first single. Deb Warfield's vocals and the exercised bass in the verses of "Kiss The Sun" deliciously echo classic Unrest, although the frantic jangle and explosive distortion of Dan Parlin's guitar propel the song somewhere altogether more dynamic. Darker still is the Parlin-sung "Your Floral Crown," which is led by an ominous, ascending synth melody buoyed by parallel bass work from Will Scales. Reverbed guitar sparkles faintly in the mix of the chorus, while a characteristically desperate vocal from Parlin is foregrounded, and the song soars to a dramatic conclusion across the back of some droning guitars and Justin Lally's bashing of the drum kit. It's a very strong single, and Gold Muse thankfully already has plans for a third, which it will begin work on this very weekend at Norwood, Mass.'s storied Hanging Horse studio. Which is not the only thing in Gold Muse's date book for the next 48 hours: indeed, Sunday the band plays night #4 of Magic Magic's current residency at Boston's Great Scott rock club (also on the bill are Boston treasures Hallelujah The Hills and Twin Foxes). Coincidentally, at Hanging Horse Gold Muse will work with hitmaker/engineer Bradford Krieger, who is presently playing in Magic Magic (in addition to his own project). It's all very serendipitous. Get that feeling by streaming "Kiss The Sun" b/w "Your Floral Crown" via the embed below, and click through to purchase the tunes.



>> It's been a while since we've heard from dream-pop heroes Lubec, but the brilliant Portland, Ore.-based trio return at long last next week with an EP it has been teasing since last summer. Dubbed Concentration and featuring pop hits "Late Bloomer" and "Many Worlds" ahead of the title track, the initial plan was for a vinyl and cassette release (as we wrote here in July), but plans on the former fell through. The music, of course, was very much worth the wait: the three songs on Concentration continue Lubec's winning ways, all sparkling guitars and massive melodies and the dueling vocals of guitarist Eddie Charlton and keyboardist Caroline Jackson. "Late Bloomer" in particular feels like a milestone for the band, with Ms. Jackson's vocals in particular literally and figuratively echoing the classic Slumberland sound, and Mr. Charlton's splashes of guitar and expansive, reverbed picking leading the songs through effervescent verses and arresting choruses to a deliciously jammy final minute marked by deftly arranged dynamics where big strums and explosive drums from kit-minder Matt Dressen trade off. Touchy Feely releases Concentration in a limited edition of 100 cassettes on Feb. 5. Lubec plays a release show for the cassette that very evening at Portland hot-spot The Know with support from Post Moves and Seattle's Versing, and full deets for that show are right here. Lubec plans a return to the studio in March to begin recording an LP with producer Dylan Wall that will be the follow-up to the band's titanic album The Thrall [review], which was among our favorite albums of 2014. We're hopeful Lubec will get out for another east coast jaunt this summer; keep hope alive by streaming the terrific "Late Bloomer" and "Many Worlds" via the embed below, and click here to grab your copy of the tape before copies are gone.

Today's Hotness: Coaches, Du Vide, Big Nice

>> It's been some time since we last heard from shoegaze luminaries Coaches, but that's little surprise. In our interview a year ago with band mastermind Brady Custis, he said Coaches works slowly and methodically. Add to the mix that the band in the past year relocated to Brooklyn and changed up the lineup (for example, drumming duties are now executed by Infinity Girl cannoneer Seb Modak), and one gets a sense of how the quintet has filled its days. But at long last it has announced it is releasing Shush, a dynamic, dynamite and highly textured EP of big-guitar post-punk, later this month. The four-song set explodes out of the gate with back-to-back thrillers. First comes the feedback-spangled, fuzz-bass fueled rocker "That Not This;" the tune starts smart and gets smarter, injecting hard rhythmic changes that culminate in a muscular groove. This is followed by the first preview track from the short set, "Elizabeth Warren," which is refreshingly what one hopes it will be: a raging rocker detailing an infatuation with the wonderful and wise U.S. Senator from the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It's safe to say this is the only song you will hear that says longingly of Warren, "Elizabeth, the trouble is you're for the people but I'm just one person." The more subdued but no less engaging "Blond Cop," which alternates between slinky and roaring, and the relatively ambient gloomer "Death Etiquette," round out the EP, and these tunes are similarly strong. And so while Shush is a late entrant in 2015, it surely counts among the best EPs of the year. The increasingly crucial Disposable America label releases the set in a limited edition of 100 pink or yellow cassettes Dec. 11, and you can pe-order a copy right here. Coaches fêtes the release of the EP at the recently announced Noise For Toys II, a Toys For Tots benefit house show in Allston Rock City Dec. 12. The bill also features Western Mass. 'gaze heavyweights Kindling, Boston's rising demigods Elizabeth Colour Wheel, and Gold Muse, the new project featuring members of Soccer Mom, Earthquake Party! and Swirlies. For venue details, ask a punk; in the meantime, go buy a new, unwrapped present for a kid, as that is the preferred entry fee to the big, big rock show. Stream the aforementioned "That Not This" and "Elizabeth Warren" via the Bandcamp embed below. We last wrote about Coaches a year ago here, when we got a look around the band's rehearsal space for our Show Us Yours feature.



>> We're very taken with the gentlemanly pop sound of Boston trio Du Vide. Indeed, not since the heyday of local legends Pants Yell! have we been so hopeful about the state of the city's indie pop. The threesome's recently released sophomore EP Clutter features three accomplished compositions that exhibit terrific playing and songcraft. Opener "The Hell It Is" blends elements of slowcore and coctail jazz drumming and guitar work with introverted, downcast vocals whose vibe suggests Chet Baker and Sam Prekop, while being more sonically akin to those of Conor Oberst. The song hits a firm crescendo and is carried off by one big guitar chord. The succeeding tune "A Sharp Inhale" ups the rock quotient at first, but then vacillates between explosive and delicate moments, highlighted by big emotive singing at one extreme and velvet soft drumming at the other. The pretty, acoustic ballad "Word Vomit" provides the EP's final word, where somewhat morose lyrics share space with thoughtfully layered guitars. The lyrics are particularly strong, grabbing the listener with elongated vowels and presenting some small truth writ large: "it's been a long weekend, a long night so far..." According to this recent Facebook post, Du Vide is nearly finished recording a debut long-player, which we're very keen to hear. The band's next live appearance will be Jan. 6 at Arlene's Grocery in Manhattan, but we've got it on pretty good authority that you'll be able to see the band live not long after that back in Boston, so stay tuned. Clutter was released to the wilds of the Interpants as a digital download Nov. 2; stream the entire thing via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to download it for any price. Du Vide's prior EP In Hiding was issued as a digital download in May, and the band has also released two digital singles, all of which we'd rate as crucial.



>> Bradford Krieger is a number of things: one-time talent booker at River Gods, operator of Hanging Horse Studios in Norwood, Mass. (where he has recorded hitmakers of the day including Dirty Dishes, IAN and Horse Jumper of Love), and now those of you keeping score at home can also mark Mr. Krieger down as the man behind Big Nice. That a studio guy would also make music is little surprise; that his apparent first outing so deftly packs great detail (such as the vocal harmonies in the Flaming Lips-echoing tune "Upwards," or the backwards stick strikes of "Vino") into relatively spare arrangements is quite noteworthy. The aforementioned tunes feature on a recently released short stack simply titled EP1, which was released to the wilds of the Internerds as a digital download Nov. 4. Krieger coaxes some very nifty sounds, but tastefully downplays them: the second minute of the jaunty instrumental "Vino" builds upwwards from a sturdy 12-string melody line, then throws octave pedal into a knot of particularly slippery guitars. The gently swinging "Ta Dum" underscores the EPs fresh, snappy vibe, bashing and popping its way toward a series of chords played on an organ that meander away like one affected by dementia. Closer "Moss" is not only the most conventional tune of the set, but also its highlight: not bad for a casual strummer that clocks a mere 87 seconds. Stream the entire kebab via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to download for any price. And keep your fingers crossed that Big Nice eventually manifests itself as a live entity. We'll be waiting.