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.

Now Sound: Varsity Drag's "White Cat In A Snowstorm"

Fans of Boston-based indie punk pace-setters Varsity Drag have been tantalized for months with the prospect of the release of the trio's take on "White Cat In A Snowstorm." The song was originally released by defunct U.K.-based Drag labelmates Ipanema, whose fronter Darren "Wiz" Brown died suddenly in late 2006. The song made its way into Varsity Drag's live sets as far back as April, when we saw the band deliver a thrilling headline set at P.A.'s Lounge in which the song was an electrifying highlight [review here]. Varsity Drag finally released the track today to its Bandcamp domicile and you can download "White Cat In A Snowstorm" right here for free or a fee, depending on how altruistic you're feeling at the mo'. We've embedded a stream below.

We won't say the song is surprisingly heavy, because really, the band's live shows have been bringing more and more energy every time we've seen them over the last year or so. But it is, in fact, heavy (and we suppose it is a bit surprising, since the song was tracked in fronter Ben Deily's home studio). Mr. Deily's guitar tone has a crunchy metal edge that he doesn't often indulge, and certain sections with precise dynamics (particularly drummer Josh Pickering's cymbal grabs at 1:20 or so) complement well the aggressive edge. Varsity Drag's "White Cat In A Snowstorm" is slated to be released on a long-planned compilation being put together by the threesome's U.K. label Boss Tunage, and Varsity Drag has toyed with the idea of releasing the tune later as part of an EP that would also include outtakes from the sessions for its most recent full-length Night Owls, which was released in late 2009 [review here]. The band's only current live commitment is a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ, Aug. 26.

That Was The Show That Was: Varsity Drag, Soccermom | PA's Lounge

[UPDATED with Varsity Drag set list below] Varsity Drag's fiery Friday night headlining set at PA's Lounge was notable for a number of reasons. First, the Cambridge, Mass.-based indie punk stalwarts have maintained the edge to their live show that they brought back from their fall UK tour. Second, the band has apparently fully integrated charming cellist Aliah Rosenthal into its stage show, adding a surprising new dimension to songs we'd never heard him play on. And for fans afraid that the addition of electric cello can only portend ill, un-rocking things for Varsity Drag: fear not. Mr. Rosenthal most certainly rocks.

It was also notable that The Drag played not one of fronter Ben Deily's classic Lemonheads cuts. We suspect that says more about the depth and quality of the Varsity Drag catalog at this point than it does about Mr. Deily's affinity -- and the collective affinity of fans -- for the older tracks. And while our calls for "Ever" at the close of last night's set went unheeded, we were more than pleased with the final selection, Varsity Drag's infrequently aired, wholly gripping cover of The Cure's annihilating "Push" from 1985's The Head On The Door record. As part of its UK label's 20th anniversary Varsity Drag has also been working up and recording a cover of Ipanema's "White Cat In A Snowstorm." The Drag's live performance of the tune was searing, and we look forward to hearing the recording of the track. According to this recent interview Deily gave, Varsity Drag is planning an EP that will contain the Ipanema cover as well as four bonus tracks from the sessions for the band's superlative 2009 long-player Night Owls [review here].

Soccermom, who we profiled here earlier this month, were a revelation. The quartet's quietly determined stage presence belies its dense, visceral guitar attack. Indeed, the recordings we've heard that will grace Soccermom's forthcoming debut single only approximate the squawl and punch of the live renderings of Soccermom's compositions. The tracks on the single, "High On Dad" and "Bill Cosby In Glamorous Chains," bring to mind the relatively more controlled and architected sounds of Polvo. But Soccermom on stage through brute guitar force earn comparisons to the music of the earliest incarnation of Lilys (1991-1992) and even Rodan, although perhaps with less of the melodic sense of the former or the dynamic rhythms of the latter. We look forward to seeing these guys a lot more in the future. Soccermom is slated to play O'Brien's May 5 as part of the E.R. residency.

Varsity Drag: Internerds | Bandcamp | YouTube | Flickr
Soccermom: Internerds | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr