Today's Hotness: Her Parents, Scott & Charlene's Wedding



>> Our executive editor last August described U.K. spazz-pop band Her Parents' music as "hypercaffeinated," and we can't turn our back on that apt summation. It simply nails the band and its sound too well to ignore it, and it applies as firmly to the early tune "Justin Vernon" as it does to the latest album from the quartet. Her Parents, hailing from London, released May 20 the breathlessly brief long-player Happy Birthday on the beloved Alcopop! label. As we wrote here in March, the new set is so brief that it is pressed to one side of a vinyl 12" with the band's debut LP Physical Product pressed to the flip. Consider the new collection a State of the Union address for a band that has cut its teeth on strong digital singles (the aforementioned "Justin Vernon" and the ludicrously genius "Why Don't You Just Fuck Off?") and blinding passion; it also evidences the evolution of a chaotic-yet-tuneful blend of punk rock that makes this band so vital and worthy of attention. Like caffeine, Her Parents push and prod both body and mind, while reminding listeners just what a punk-influenced tune can be capable of. Lead album single "Lithuanian Mercedes" is a great case study. The tune clocks in at just over a minute and a quarter, yet is crammed with a full arsenal of snotty pub jeers, jarring halts, post-hardcore guitar lines, dramatic ambient backing vocals and a grinding chorus that is over before one can regain her senses. The sarcastic sense of play, the upbeat melodies and caterwauling tempos are delivered with a curious aggression that the band seems to revel in. Happy Birthday is all delightfully disorienting, to be sure, but it also showcases a group of musical minds that can take the high road by bludgeoning its audience with crafty intelligence as surely as it does with adolescent, brute force. Simply put, Her Parents is the kind of band the world needs. Stream "Lithuanian Mercedes" via the Soundcloud embed below, stream all of Happy Birthday at Bandcamp here, and buy Happy Birthday from Alcopop! right here. -- Edward Charlton



>> Australia is totally killing it right now in the indie rock department, in case you haven't noticed. The immense success of Tame Impala makes it the latest act to illuminate the land down under in the minds of indie fans the world over. But that's not to say Tame Impala is the only antipodean outfit making waves right at the now. Indie pop concern Scott & Charlene's Wedding, spawned in Oz but now operating out of New York, recently upped its profile with the cracking single "Fakin NYC." The tune arrives in advance of the act's sophomore LP Any Port In A Storm, which is slated for release July 22nd via Fire Records on CD, vinyl and digital. Scott & Charlene's Wedding, fronted by Craig Dermody, clearly mines a well-traveled indie rock lineage. The biting, distorted guitars and arch lyricism of "Fakin NYC" pleasantly echo prodigal slacker kings Pavement or the lo-fi pop stylings of fellow countrymen Twerps. "Fakin NYC" was inspired in part by Dermody's awkward experiences upon moving to New York City. Channeling real-life tales of security guard jobs and grating interactions with snobby New York types, the song presents a moodier attitude than the usual slacker-pop fare, but not so moody that it soaks the pop thrills propounded by scritchy guitars and shouty vocals. The band will be supporting Any Port In A Storm with a lengthy tour in Europe for much of the summer (peruse the tour dates here); there's no word yet on North American dates. Pre-order Any Port In A Storm right here. Clicky Clicky previously wrote about Scott & Charlene's Wedding's Two Weeks 10" here in March. -- Dillon Riley

Today's Hotness: Her Parents, Johnny Foreigner

>> Oxford, England-based little-label-that-can Alcopop! Records -- home to Clicky Clicky favorites Johnny Foreigner and Screaming Maldini, among others -- triumphantly announced Wednesday the signing of outstanding London-based punk unit Her Parents. The quartet, which we first wrote about here last August upon the release of its debut Physical Product, is comprised of former members of the late, great Dananananaykroyd, Internet Forever and Stairs To Korea. Her Parents' chosen medium is deliriously irreverent and raw punk, which is rather unsurprising considering the band's pedigree. As part of the Alcopop! deal, the label will issue May 13 Her Parents' sophomore set Happy Birthday. The collection is so short that a planned 12" vinyl release only fills a single side, so the flip side will contain the whole of the foursome's thrilling Physical Product. Each album was recorded in a single session with zero instrumental overdubs. To tease the release, Her Parents and Alcopop! have issued the 85-second gem "Why Don't You Just Fuck Off?" as a free download as well as a spray-painted, handmade, two-track single in a limited edition of 50 pieces priced at 1 pence each that sold out pretty much immediately, because duh. There is also a delightful and life-affirming a video in which a lot of things suddenly turn into sandwiches and a guy wears a t-shirt with a bear on it, which you can enjoy right here. The song is built off a crunching, three-chord frame that echoes the chorus of perhaps one of the greatest songs ever written, McLusky's sublime "Light Sabre Cock Sucking Blues," so needless to say if you like that jam, you will certainly like this one. That's called a RIYL, in industry parlance, kids. Her Parents -- whose motto is "good guys putting in the fucking hours" -- are plotting a tour in May to further promote Happy Birthday, a tour that will include what will in all likelihood be anarchic performances at the festivals The Great Escape and Carefully Planned Festival. Full dates have yet to be announced, and pre-orders for Happy Birthday are not yet being taken, but all in due time. For now, stream or download "Why Don't You Just Fuck Off?" via the Soundcloud embed below.



>> Speaking of the aforementioned Johnny Foreigner, the foursome late Wednesday revealed additional details about its upcoming, self-released mini-album along with a newly reworked version of its song "(Don't) Show Us Your Fangs" cheekily titled "(Don't) Throw Us Your Slang." As the newly posted song suggests, the mini-album the Birmingham, England-based noise-pop titans first tipped last week (see this) will feature "a bunch of weird re-recordings of songs and a new old song and half a new new song," according to the text posted with the refurbished tune at this Soundcloud page. There is as yet no title or release date given for the short set, but it seems as if it could appear at the band's Big Cartel site at any moment, particularly now that the mixes have been finalized (again, according to the Soundcloud page). As for "(Don't) Throw Us Your Slang," this version of the highlight from Johnny Foreigner's titanic third full-length Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything is slowed down and lighter; it relies more heavily on acoustic guitar and is both more spare and more heartbroken than the original. If anything the kicker lyric "here's to giving in" is even more powerful in this setting. "(Don't) Throw Us Your Slang" was available as a downloadable .WAV file for about 40 minutes Wednesday night, which was the amount of time it took for the file to reach its maximum of 100 free downloads. But you can stream the tune and the original via the embeds below, and of course we highly recommend that you do.