Today's Hotness: Frankie Cosmos, The New Mendicants, Beach Volleyball

>> The hype surrounding NYC-based combo Frankie Cosmos belies the cloistered, personal vibe of their music -- proof positive, we suppose, that great songwriting finds its audience. The quartet, which is fronted by Greta Kline and includes among its number Aaron Maine of Porches., trades in the kind of plainly stated, lo-fi pop that lives and dies on personality. It's music that emphasizes unadorned, in-your-ear moments -- such as those that characterized Velvet Underground's third album -- as opposed to the blunt grandiosity and electronic immersion found more widely in today's underground. Frankie Cosmos' "Birthday Song" is a sweet, minute-and-a-half pop confection that recalls a certain stripe of indie pop that has not pinged the mainstream for years. The tune's biggest moments arrive at the end of each of the verses, when the drums shift into a half-time beat -- a trick borrowed from the metal and hardcore bands of our youth, perhaps, but it's very effective here, where Ms. Kline's vocals seem to get dragged down with a sadness that matches her year-closing observations and angst toward a changing world. Kline's wistfulness here is perfect and fresh for a band that hails from the Big Apple in 2014. With the success of Hospitality and now Frankie Cosmos, we're holding out hope for a full-blown indie pop renaissance emanating from New York City. "Birthday Song" is the second preview tune from the forthcoming collection Zentropy, a set of songs that is the first featuring a full-band iteration of Frankie Cosmos. Zentropy will be released as an LP by the Exploding In Sound-affiliated label Double Double Whammy March 4. The first 250 copies of the collection carried a screen-printed B-side and appear to have already sold out; another 200 pieces are pressed to white vinyl, and you can pre-order it right here. And although we do not know details and haven't yet cracked it open ourselves, fans would do well to note that Frankie Cosmos has issued what seems to be an even newer collection of recordings called Donutes, that can be snatched via Pukekos for free right here. Stream "Birthday Song" via the Soundcloud embed below. -- Edward Charlton



>> If this -- along with last year's Black Hearted Brother album -- is any indication of the way things are rolling, yesterday's indie pop and shoegaze pioneers are finding plenty of fresh inspiration in new trios that embrace collective legacies, adaptability and excitement. Here we are referring, of course, to Into The Lime, the tremendous new collection from The New Mendicants, a threesome comprising Joe Pernice (The Pernice Brothers), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), and Mike Belisky (The Sadies). The set finds all three principles fluidly rotating duties while creating vibrant, cohesive work. With each successive track, it seems the band challenges itself again and again to create classic, harmony-laden pop in the vein of British Invasion bands such as The Hollies, Peter and Gordon, The Beatles pre-Revolver, and (more recently) XTC. Songs such as "Cruel Annette," "If You Only Knew Her," "High On The Skyline," and "A Very Sorry Christmas" all balance rich vocals that the light acoustic strumming, organ, and other period touches feel like the only extra weight the compositions could handle. The balance of the record emphasizes electric guitar, echoing at times Mr. Blake's Teenage Fanclub (with "Shouting Match") while coming as close to that classic band's power-pop euphoria as any combo in recent memory. Into The Lime, like BHB's Stars Are Our Home, so impressively balances the individual strengths of each band member that one can nearly cherry-pick them from any three-second clip form any song. Even so, the enthusiasm, songcraft and performances are so tight and fluid that it is hard to overstate the pop smarts at work. Perhaps the most telling gauge of success is this one: The New Mendicants on Into The Lime work free of whatever the confines of Teenage Fanclub, The Sadies or The Pernice Brothers might be, yet the disc feels like a welcome addition to any of their discographies. Buy the set from Ashmont Records right here, and stream the now seasonally inappropriate "A Very Sorry Christmas" via the Soundcloud embed below, and watch a beautiful and spare live iteration of "Follow You Down" right here. -- Edward Charlton



>> When we last tracked the arc of London shoegaze luminaries Beach Volleyball here last fall, we made sure to remark on the irony of their name, given the windswept, downcast vibe of the act's music. Now we are confronted with a second realization -- namely, that Beach Volleyball does classic, American-style shoegaze better than most American acts in the game. We're not the only ones taking a second look at the combo, as Oakland, Calif. and Berlin-based label Spiralchords announced late last month that it will reissue Beach Volleyball's full-length debut Broadcast later in February. The first teaser track from the collection this time around is "Contack," and it is a stunner. The short piece (short in shoegaze terms, anyway) is knotted and tense, and confidently arrays a driving group of chords. These bristle with texture, between the deep bass and droning, bending high notes, and the rhythm guitar's serrated tone applies an element of knife-fighting menace to the proceedings. Alex Smith's saddened drawl slips amid the textures, adding just the right pathos, contrasting against the noise rock danger and rolling drum beats. Closing with an ambient outro, the tune turns more contemplative as it slowly fades into greyscale. "Power Cuts," another pre-released tune (although, technically, all of them were "pre-released" last August), is similarly strong, and showcases again the driving snare and undulating bass of the rhythm section. These songs suggest a darker take on the early '90s, Isn't Anything-inspired rock of Americans all Lilys, She, Sir, Lorelei and The Swirlies -- bands unafraid to revel in mystery while staying true to their indie roots. Broadcast will be re-released digitally Feb. 28. Stream "Contack" below; it's not presently clear whether there will be a pre-order for the set, but keep watch at the Spiralchords Facebook page for additional release information. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Future Carnivores, Manors, Scud Mountain Boys



>> A number of things conspired against us providing timely coverage of Future Carnivores' recently issued sophomore set, but none are as remotely interesting as the record itself. Titled Come Inside, the set features 10 generous cuts of the Cambridge, Mass.-based collective's singular tribal space-pop. The songs are largely spun from the same silk as the tunes gracing Future Carnivores' 2012 self-titled debut, which we reviewed here. Come Inside continues the band's love affair with re-imagined New Romantic pop: dreamy vocals swirl over basic, hypnotic grooves fashioned from electro beats and staccato guitar loops, a foundation regularly and significantly embellished by imaginative instrumentation and production. If there is a defining characteristic to Come Inside versus the band's debut, it is that the music has drifted further from verse/chorus constructs to focus pointedly on the aforementioned hypnotic grooves. If you'll permit the aside, it calls to mind Dave Sitek's (TVOTR) interview with Pitchfork in 2006, in which he discusses the importance of repetition ("Through the trauma of birth we're thrown into these repetitions, everything from our heartbeat to our routines, and I think it's identifiable") and hi-hat ("This guy named Fegun who played with Fela Kuti for a while was telling me about the hypnotic effect of music. He's like, 'The most important drum in Afrobeat is not a drum, it's the hi-hat. Because it hypnotizes. And that's what people identify with. It syncs with their heartbeat.'"). It speaks to the confidence of Future Carnivores that Come Inside opens with a six-minute mid-tempo jam whose second-half blossoms into a blissful, psychedelic sound-chakra. "Blame Time" ups the ante on the six-piece's groove fixation via a foregrounded syncopated cymbal cadence. Not that there aren't some uptempo and single-worthy numbers on Come Inside; the quasi-title track "Twice" is a modern dance-floor killer that provides the record's boldest moments, and the slightly more subdued preview track "The Drugs She Fed You Last Night" goes intergalactic when the beat drops out and returns at the close of the final chorus. Come Inside was self-released by the band June 3, and is available for sale as a digital download via Bandcamp. Stream the whole dealy via the embed below.



>> We aren't head over heels over the entire collection, but the recent lo-fi LP from Philadelphia's Manors does feature one song we can't stop listening to, the sweet, spare and spooky ballad "Teeth Dreams." Tangentially, we'll remark here for those who don't know that teeth dreams is a thing, we used to have bad dreams with some regularity that our teeth broke. Ironically, we finally broke one 10 years ago and then the dreams went away. Magic! Anyway, Manors is the nom de rock of Dayna Evans, and "Teeth Dreams" rests in the midst of her record called Fit In. The set features drumming by all-around awesome dood Evan Bernard, whose name should be familiar to Clicky Clicky readers, but "Teeth Dreams" is comprised of just three elements: a Kim Deal-esque vocal track, electric guitar and what we'd guess is melodica. It's the simple vocal and its sad, self-aware narrative that draws us in again and again ("...I thought you'd be the one, but I don't know anymore..."). The tune is filled with beauty and resignation and regret and doubt and is terribly human and affecting. It's perfect for the hot summer days upon us, just the thing to help you pass still hours under a piece of shade and within a wisp of breeze. Fit In was released to the wilds of the Internerds via Bandcamp May 14; stream "Teeth Dreams" via the Bandcamp embed below.



>> We'd be derelict in our duties if we did not inform you that details about the new record from reunited alt.country legends Scud Mountain Boys are now available. The new, fourth set -- the band's first in 17 years, since the release of the harrowing classic Massachusetts -- is titled Do You Love The Sun, and it streets July 9 via Ashmont Records. You can look at the album art and stream three songs (the title track, "Double Bed" and "Crown Of Thorns") at the quartet's brand-new web site right here. Fans who pre-order by July 4 will also receive a numbered, limited edition bonus disc titled Drowned, featuring three Joe Pernice-penned tunes recorded just before the Scuds signed to Sub Pop. Legal drama that surrounded the signing, among other things maybe, kept the songs -- which were recorded with Michael Deming at Studio .45 in Hartford, Conn. -- from ever being released previously. Drowned goes out of print immediately after the expiration of the pre-order period, so that's a pretty good inducement, right? You know, besides this awesome band reforming and recording a record for you? Incidentally, we once gave a Warners A&R rep the very bad advice to skip a Scud Mountain Boys show in Northampton, Mass. in 1995 or so, instead directing her to see the goofballs in The Unband. Live and learn... Anyway, if you know what's good for you, you will pre-order Do You Love The Sun directly from Ashmont and the band right here. The Scuds first reunited in 2011 at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge; the foursome's next local appearance will be at Brighton Music Hall in Boston Sept. 20.

Rock Over Boston: Joe Pernice | Lizard Lounge | 7.19.2012

[Joe Pernice, Bob Pernice, and Tom Shea; with Frank Padellaro of King Radio at the Lizard Lounge, Cambridge, MA., 7/19/2012. Photos by Michael Piantigini].

Great new info on busy Joe Pernice's current activities, including new recordings with the Pernice Brothers, Scud Mountain Boys, and with Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake(!) as New Mendicants over here. In the meantime, I'll never get tired of this one:



King Radio have also been working (for, uh, awhile now. Like, almost as long as The Wrens, even) on a follow-up to 2004's (see?) soulful chamber pop Are You The Sick Passenger? epic. Hopefully there will be some news on that one soon too. Internet presence is scarce, but they're on Spotify too:

Rock Over Boston: Scud Mountain Boys | 1.14.2012

[Scud Mountain Boys at Brighton Music Hall, January 14, 2012. Photo by Michael Piantigini.]

Joe Pernice: Internets | Management's Twitter

Reissued early Scud Mountain Boys albums available here.

Review: Pernice Brothers | Goodbye, Killer

If you’re keeping score at home, I still haven’t caught up enough to have read last year's Joe Pernice novel, It Feels So Good When I Stop, but I have already read his most recent book, which he reluctantly (unwillingly, perhaps) co-wrote with his manager, Joyce Linehan. Pernice To Me is, as Pernice describes it, a “libelous” chronicle (via a compilation of Linehan’s @Ashmont Twitter updates) of the period of time between the release of the novel and its corresponding soundtrack and the making of the Pernice Brothers’ newest long-player Goodbye, Killer in Linehan’s Dorchester attic (both are out today on Ashmont).

If you believe everything you read – and it is important to note again that Pernice strenuously warns against this – the recording of this album seems unlikely to have been so successful. It is indeed the loosest, least self-conscious, and most varied Pernice Brothers album yet. I mean this in the best possible way: this casual style loosens up Pernice’s song craft in a way that puts across a personal vibe that hasn’t always come across on the earlier records.

But before we get to that: it generally takes a back seat to Pernice’s songwriting, but it must be mentioned that there’s some really cool guitar moments on Goodbye, Killer courtesy James Walbourne (also of the Pretenders) and/or Actual Pernice Brother, Bob (there’s no specific credit breakdown, and I don’t want to guess): the lusty solo on “Jacqueline Suzanne,” the searing leads on “Something For You” that could have been on Bandwagonesque, the perfectly wrapped solo on lead-off track “Bechamel” that would have had George Martin himself beaming down from the Abbey Road control room, and the perfect slide solo that again recalls George Harrison - but this time his 70’s-era – on “Not The Loving Kind.” These are just the beginning of the way the sum of this collection makes these individual moments stand out.

Naturally, there’s some great harmony-laden pop - “Something For You” could be that long-lost Teenage Fanclub outtake – but even these are shaken up a bit here; “The Great Depression” is all arpeggiated jangle pop chords in the verse, but goes to a theatrical falsetto call-and-response chorus that’s weird but works. The perfect and stellar closer “The End of Faith” is classic twelve-string acoustic jangle, but with a Big Star’s Third sort of melancholy that is hard to do right. Pernice does.

These tracks stand out even more than they might have on previous Pernice Brothers albums since they’re surrounded by tracks like the strummy, can’t-be-broken-down-in-a-family-newspaper leadoff track “Bechamel,” which contrasts its sweet-harmonied chorus with an oddly aggressive vocal in the verses that makes its suggestiveness a bit unsettling; and the relating of the pursuit of a well-read object of desire with a blazing and appropriately lascivious guitar solo that makes the dynamite “Jacqueline Suzanne” a sort of New Wave-meets-ZZ Top affair; and the old-timey “We Love The Stage,” (which we can only take as sarcasm since it has been declared that there are no current plans for a tour), and the Faces (think Ronnie Lane, and not so much Rod Stewart)-Jayhawks flavored title track.

The common thread to it all, of course, is Pernice’s particular melodic style and literary wordplay. It is the rare lust song indeed that has the narrator longing to be a “book in her hand.” A sign of maturity, or are we all just getting old?

-Michael Piantigini

Pernice Brothers: Intertubes | MySpace | Facebook
Follow the latest adventures of Pernice To Me on Twitter: @Ashmont

Agenda: Varsity Drag "Night Owls" Release Show, Et Cetera

Perhaps there is a subset of rock 'n' roll fans who either like being told what to do or recognize that they benefit from such firm direction. If this sounds like you, listen up: the editorial team at Clicky Clicky has quietly conferred and has set the agenda for the coming weekend in Boston, a weekend as chock-a-block with high-grade indie rock as we have seen for some time. Our approved itinerary goes like this: you will see Joe Pernice at Lizard Lounge Thursday at 8PM _sharp_ (this is an early show and we've read that tickets are moving); on Friday night you will go to Church and see Varsity Drag's record release show for the late '09 pop punk gem Night Owls; and on Saturday you will go see Mission of Burma. Sure, there are some alternate plans. We know certain among you would rather sever a minor appendage than miss the Wrens show at Middle East. That's fine. After some soul searching the team has agreed that at this point you can probably skip a Burma show without fearing that they will take another 18-year hiatus. Maybe.

Varsity Drag, as you may have read in these digital pages, released a sophomore set (if you don't count live albums, perhaps you do, so be it) in the UK late last year called Night Owls (is the graphic starting to make sense now?). It was even named one of 2009's best by our own Michael Piantigini [full review here]. The Cambridge, Mass.-based trio is giving the collection a proper "how do you do" for the Americans Friday night. We think as far as physical media goes, the U.K. release is it, sadly, but Varsity Drag has made Night Owls available for download via its Bandcamp page here, so you still have an opportunity to express your appreciation for a job well done. For some time the band was also offering for free download a crackerjack live radio set via Bandcamp, too, but we think the offer has expired on that. Which is all the more reason for you to grab the MP3 below from same. See you Friday, at Church.

Varsity Drag -- "Night Owls (Live)" -- Live Owls: Varsity Drag Live On WMFO
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[buy all manner of Varsity Drag records here]