Today's Hotness: Chambermaids, White Laces, The Weaks

>> Based on the full-length it just dropped, seemingly out of the sky, long-running Minneapolis-based dream-pop quartet The Chambermaids know exactly what they're doing. Cataloged with the too-clever "post-shoegaze" badge on Bandcamp, and sporting influences like Yo La Tengo and New Zealand indie label powerhouse-turned-all-encompassing-genre-tag Flying Nun, the band's got a firm grip on that dreamy, dreamy sound Clicky Clicky adores, as evidenced by a terrific sophomore full-length issued just last week. The collection, titled Whatever Happened Tomorrow and released by Guilt Ridden Pop Sept. 25, abounds with wonderfully realized dream pop tunes highlighted by its centerpiece, "China Blue." The tune is pushed by a bouncing rhythm built on strident strumming and crash cymbal bashes, over which The Chambermaids layer distorted and reverbed guitar leads. The confection is iced by fronter and co-founder Neil Weir's murmured vocals, with bassist Martha Weir's voice providing a gentle, ethereal foil, playing the Butcher to Mr. Weir's Shields, if you will. There's something to be said for channeling influences as well as The Chambermaids do, but it detracts from the richness of the band's songwriting, and the compelling blend of gloss and rough edges to the sparkling production work here, to belabor the point. The foursome's painstakingly created and strongly presented material (just listen to the sunshiney fun of the catchy cut "Electric Sky") certainly stands up on its own. Whatever Happened Tomorrow is available on limited edition vinyl, CD and as a digital download, all of which can be procured via the act's Bandcamp yert right here. The Chambermaids, now a 10-year-old concern, previously issued a self-titled LP in 2006 and an EP titled Down In The Berries in 2009. -- Dillon Riley



>> Richmond-based minimalist space-pop juggernaut White Laces are poised to release a cassette single via Philadelphia's Treetop Sorbet next week. The hunk of plastic and magnetic tape contains the stellar tunes "Ascend" b/w "Deep Moves," two dynamite tracks that speak to the foursome's admirable focus and composition chops. Guitar lines intertwine around fronter Landis Wine's dreamy, echoing vocals, his lyrics like incantations falling through the characteristically crystalline ambient atmosphere conjured by the band. White Laces, as we previously reported over at Facebook, will begin recording an as-yet-untitled sophomore full-length LP in December in Philadelphia with Jeff Zeigler of Uniform Recording. Mr. Zeigler's production work on records from The War On Drugs and others is well-known, and the pairing of this engineer and the band is something we're unreservedly excited about. If you don't habitually read our Facebook page, then you may have missed our posting last week of a fresh video clip for White Laces' "Incantation," which we certainly continue to recommend to your attention. The cassette single of "Ascend" b/w "Deep Moves" will be released in a limited edition of 100 clear purple chrome tapes by Treetop Sorbet Oct. 7 and you can purchase one for $4.50 right here; it is the final installment in a cassingle series put out by the label that also included released from The Young Sinclairs and Alpine Roses. Stream the whole jawn via the Bandcamp embed below.



>> Speaking of Philadelphia, exciting things are afoot with The Weaks, the long-running and prolific collective helmed by all around cool guy Evan Bernard. One of these exciting things, and perhaps the most exciting of these things, is that The Weaks, heretofore a studio concern only, announced today that it will play a debut live show in its hometown Nov. 7 at the new venue Boot And Saddle. The act is also preparing the release of an EP titled The World Is A Terrible Place & I Hate Myself And Want To Die, and the first track from the 7" collection is already available for streaming. The tune is called "Nietzsche's Harvest Song," and it is filled with all of the elements that make The Weaks great: punk-pop energy, some cock-rock lead guitars, massive emo vocals (the bellowed opening line is "lately I've been having a lot of bad ideas...") and hooks galore. There are some particularly clever, more delicate touches, too, like the classic bridge, and the tinkling, tremeloed guitar in the chorus. The Weaks have felt a bit like a secret for the past year or so that we've known about them, but that should change in a big way once people can turn on to these cats live. The World Is A Terrible Place & I Hate Myself And Want To Die will be self-released by the band Dec. 22, just in time for you to purchase it and throw it in a Christmas stocking. However, it doesn't appear you can buy the 7" just yet, but in the meantime the band is selling rad t-shirts with the art for the single emblazoned on the front. Get into it! And stream "Nietzsche's Harvest Song" via the embed below.

Today's Hotness: What Moon Things, Little Big League, Fridge Poetry

>> At least The Bradys had their popcorn trail... With the half-attention/limited attention span we employ on a regular basis given the various demands on our time, sometimes we paste a link in a text file to revisit later, only to completely forget any and all context for it. So we send out heartfelt thanks to whomever it was that pointed us to the Bandcamp page of What Moon Things recently, because the quintet-or-trio-we-can't-tell's new tune "Squirrel Girl" -- posted to Bandcamp late last month and embedded for your enjoyment below -- is a stunner. The groop appears to be based out of New Paltz, NY, as best we can tell, and formed just last year. But it has made good use of that short time, as between "Squirrel Girl" and "Astronaut..." the band has already written two tunes that we've returned to again and again this weekend. "Squirrel Girl" melds psych, shoegaze and post-punk styles into something dense, noisy and beautiful, creating an arresting sound that hints at influences like classic Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse. What Moon Things recently added bassist Chris Kehoe to a lineup that as best we can tell also includes guitarist Jake Harms, John (with no surname) on drums, Kyle James on synth and some person or thing called Metamorphic manning synth, bass and percussion. The presumed five-piece (it appears only three band members are present in the video linked supra for "Astronaut...") are preparing a full-length, and previously issued a digital single, "White Indian Ghost" b/w "Storm Moon," in August 2012 (available for download here). We're excited by the possibilities before this young band, and recommend them to your attention posthaste. Stream the swerving anti-anthem "Squirrel Girl" via the embed below.



>> Just when you thought we couldn't find more bands to like coming out of Phiadelphia right now, here comes Little Big League. The rising guitar-pop quartet, fronted by Michelle Zauner and including former Titus Andronicus drummer Ian Dykstra, will release via Tiny Engines next month a debut full-length called These Are Good People. The set touts dynamic indie punk tunes highlighted by neatly arranged guitars that leave plenty of room for Ms. Zauner's affecting, high alto (which works in that range that always reminds us of Kiss Me Deadly's Emily Elizabeth). These Are Good People is at its best at its most ambitious, and you can hear the band pushing itself in the record's thoughtfully constructed and produced centerpiece "Sportswriting." Its composition is patient, there is noticeably more reverb applied to the guitars, and Zauner offers her most emotional vocal of the record. These Are Good People is out Aug. 6, and it will be available on a vinyl 12" or as a digital download. Pre-orders are being taken now right here and include t-shirt or poster bundles, cheap downloads and a 20% off checkout code, according to Little Big Leagues tumblr. Stream the first three cuts from the nine-song collecton via the Bandcamp embed below. Little Big League previously issued a 7" single, "Tokyo Drift" b/w "St. John," in April 2012. Little Big League is presently on tour and will play a show in Boston at Church on July 21 before making their way back to Philly for a record release show at The Fire on the 25th.



>> Junior Elvis Washington Laidley, the chief architect of the Birmingham, England-based electropop project Fridge Poetry and drummer in noise-pop titans Johnny Foreigner, would seem to have stumbled on something of a vocal muse for the former concern in Philly punk fixture Evan Bernard. The pair met when Mr. Bernard signed on to drive Johnny Foreigner around North America last fall. The pair first collaborated on the epic, yearning ballad "I'll See" from Fridge Poetry's April Soweto Slo Mo EP that we wrote about here, and now Bernard's heart-felt singing now graces a second Fridge Poetry jam, "Like Poetry," a remix of which was recently posted for auditory consumption at Bandcamp. The "Froback Remix" of "Like Poetry" situates Bernard's characteristically nostalgic and soaring vocals within a sparkling array of tinkling piano and a crashing, crash cymbal-heavy jungle beat. It's unclear whether it will be this remix or a different version that will be included on a planned forthcoming EP from Fridge Poetry. But according to the project's Bandcamp the EP will be called Leen van Pelt and will feature additional collaborations with JoFo tour mates Playlounge, Mutes (the project of Johnny Foreigner guitar tech James Brown), and a fellow named Paul Rafferty (who is not this guy). We will, of course, bring you further bulletins as events warrant, but in the interim get set to bliss out to Fridge Poetry's latest and greatest via the embed below.