Today's Hotness: Fleeting Joys, Mona Elliot

>> Northern California-based shoegaze heros Fleeting Joys work slowly, methodically and largely out of sight. It can be frustrating for fans; indeed, social media appearances are almost as infrequent as new music is released. However, our near-vigil waiting for new sounds from the now-trio has finally been rewarded, as yesterday Fleeting Joys announced the release of a digital single titled "Kiss A Girl In Black," which the band promises is taken from a long-awaited third full-length record. The act -- which according to its Facebook page now includes presumed drummer Matt McCord alongside the founding duo of John and Rorika Loring -- released the transcendent Occult Radiance in 2009 [review]. We deemed the record to be "a masterpiece of sculpted guitar and angelic vocals," and it made Clicky Clicky's 2009 year-end albums list, and Fleeting Joys followed it up in 2010 with a third reissue (this one Japanese) of the band's amazing debut Despondent Transponder. So it's been nearly four years since we've heard anything new from the band, but "Kiss A Girl In Black" is certainly worth the wait the single boasts massive, bending guitars and dreamy vocals, Fleeting Joys' stock-in-trade. The slowly spiraling buzz-saw six-strings are a delight on the ears, and if the rest of the planned third full-length is even half as good as this, it will certainly be one of the best of the year. And yes we know it is only the fifth day of the year. Stream "Kiss A Girl In Black" via the embed below, then click through and get the track in exchange for a cool 100 cents American. Highly recommended.



>> Indie rock lifer Mona Elliot is probably best known for her time in the acts Victory At Sea and, more recently, Travels. But over the last year Ms. Elliot has been slowly trickling out solo songs via Bandcamp, and the most recent two have particularly set fire to our imagination. Last July she released the tune "Heart And Mouth," and the accompanying image at Bandcamp immediately caught our eye because it is a map of Block Island, and more likely than not we were on Block Island when she released the song, right above the letter "o" in the word "Rodman's" on the map. Weird, huh? Earlier this week Elliot made available a new track, "Invisible Ties," a beautifully spare, characteristically haunting ballad about connection and loss accented with dynamic backing vocals and mournfully shaded by ambient noise. We don't have any idea whether "Invisible Ties" or any of the other recent solo tunes are leading up to a lengthier collection of songs, either under her own name or with Travels, but we are certainly eager to hear more from Elliot. Travels' Bandcamp page refers to the band in the past tense, we just noticed, although a Facebook status from last May states the act was writing a concept record and looking forward to recording. The duo's most recent release was a limited edition 7" single featuring a cover of Daniel Johnston's "The Sun Shines Down on Me" on the A-side issued in December 2011; Travels third long-player Robber On The Run was released in 2010. Victory At Sea, incidentally, played a one-off reunion show as part of a benefit Nov. 7. Catch the stream of Elliot's "Invisible Ties" below, and click through to get the tune as a free download: it's most definitely one to cherish.

Today's Hotness: Travels, Projekt A-ko, The Jonbarr Hinge

>> Fans of hazy, dreamy minimalist indie rock rejoice! Boston duo Travels will release Dec. 1 a limited edition, 7" vinyl single and download package. The A-side of the single, "The Sun Shines Down On Me," is a Daniel Johnston cover, and the flip is a gently bouncing strummer titled "Stencil." The single comes with a download code to get digital versions of those songs as well as three more, turning the whole shebang into a digital EP, no? But wait, there's more: the physical package also includes a 7" x 7" colored still from an animated video that will be released concurrently with the single. Physical copies are limited to 150 pieces, and fans who pre-order now will get the disc, video still and downloads for $8 or 8 Euros, depending on which currency you rock in your locale. And it appears you can opt for just the digital version for $6, based on the pricing at this Bandcamp page. "The Sun Shines Down On Me" was first released by Johnston on his 1982 collection Don't Be Scared. Travels, you may recall, is comprised of Mona Elliot and Anar Badalov, who previously played with Victory At Sea and Metal Hearts respectively. We reviewed Travels' third full-length Robber On The Run right here in May 2010; the duo released a sophomore long-player The Hot Summer in 2009. Stream both songs from the forthcoming physical single via the embed below.



>> There's some news about -- well, tangentially related to -- the mighty Projekt A-ko. As we reported here in July, the Glaswegian indie trio earlier this year scotched efforts at completing a sophomore full-length, but fronter Fergus Lawrie (formerly of Urusei Yatsura), has been quite busy with other things. For starters, he and two partners have completed a documentary titled "Send/Receive" that chronicles experimental music in Scotland; the entire thing is available to watch at this tumblr. Additionally, Mr. Lawrie has a new band called Angel Of Everyone Murder, which is slated to soon release an album of "lo-fi drone shoegaze noise rock" via the label Kovorox Sound. In an email Lawrie told Clicky Clicky "the new band is entirely improvised," and its music is "mainly long (20 mins) single chord drones, no drums, just bass and [two guitars], but very textural, using specially modified 'halo' guitars I've built." All of the new music is recorded live in a rehearsal room, and Lawrie states its "quite different" from the brilliant indie rock on Projekt A-ko's immaculate 2009 full-length Yoyodyne. We've heard one of the new songs, "Child Of Nameless Time," and can report the fourteen-minute track is mid-tempo and boils like piles of charred snowflakes in hell. Read Lawrie's track-by-track dissection of Yoyodyne right here and watch the Projekt A-ko Facebook page for more information about how you can hear new music from Angel Of Everyone Murder.

>> It has been a year-and-a-half since we've mentioned The Jonbarr Hinge, the relatively new, full-band project that counts among its number Ben Parker, who is likely (hopefully?) better known for his hand in fronting Superman Revenge Squad and the legendary Nosferatu D2. When the last batch of The Jonbarr Hinge songs were released on a relatively unsuspecting world in early 2011, we were too tied up toiling away at an undisclosed location to make mention of it. But several days ago the Hinge unveiled three new songs on its Soundcloud page, "Limp Heart," "Spinning Rocks" and "Body vs. Brain." Each presents an exciting new face for the fledgling act, which despite our prior speculation remains unsigned (to our knowledge). Perhaps the strongest of the new tracks is the Parker-sung "Body vs. Brain," which boasts wonderful, shimmering guitar melodies in the verse that remind us of John Squire's guitar work in "Waterfall," among other Stone Roses tunes. The newer Hinge material introduces a bit more of a swinging feel to the proceedings, helped along by some able bass playing by Parker. The verse of "Limp Heart" rocks a bit of a Zombies groove. If you never heard the first three tracks The Jonbarr Hinge posted, you are missing out. Fortunately, all of the tunes are at Soundcloud, and we highly recommend you check out the nervous rocker "Looks Like A Nail." The songs features some of Parker's patented vitriol ("fed up with this city, get out of this city"), but tempers it with some sweet, melodic, mid-tempo passages. And, of course, some "oohs," "ohs" and "la la la la las." We're eager to hear more from these guys. Fans in the UK can catch them tomorrow (or today, if you are actually in the UK) at Oxjam Shepherd's Bush Takeover, which benefits Oxfam. Takeover details right here.

"Body vs. Brain by The Jonbarr Hinge