YouTube Rodeo: Little Gold's "Mike Swan"

Little Gold knows how you feel. You smoked a little grass, got in a bike accident, some dudes dressed as birds with a van kidnapped you, forced you to party way too much and watch "Howard The Duck" and go to a carnival and eat fried human. Like, they get it, right? Reading your mind, right? But the Brooklyn-based trio fronted by erstwhile Meneguar guitarist Christian DeRoeck has gone a step further: they made a ridiculous video for their awesome song, which is from their terrific sophomore set Weird Freedom, which was released on Little Gold's own Loud Baby Sounds label last week. The 10-song collection is available in a limited edition of 500 sky blue LPs, or as a CD or digital download. Stream the whole thing via the Bandcamp embed below It's the right thing to do. Weird Freedom will be released in Europe at some point (maybe now! or.... now!) by the Berlin-based label Adagio 830.

Today's Hotness: Little Gold, The Hush Now, Hold Your Horse Is

>> There are a number of bands right now forcing us to confront the fact that we do in fact like (some) rock music with horns. But we have to say most surprising of the lot is Little Gold's "Mike Swan." We've written previously about being overjoyed that one former member of Meneguar was doing something that excited us, that member being Brooklyn-based Little Gold's fronter Christian DeRoeck. Mr. DeRoeck's current rootsier rock act hews most closely to whatever we can refer to as a Meneguar legacy, although Meneguar certainly didn't have room for horns in its tense, two-guitars-and-no-bullshit indie punk plan. Hence the aforementioned surprise. Last August we wrote about Little Gold's "Completely Fucked!" single here. The act returns next month with a rollicking single on the scrappy Sophomore Lounge label, which you may recall is responsible for quality releases from State Champion. The new single -- limited to 300 vinyl copies on black vinyl (we eagerly await the shellac revival) -- touts the foot-stomper "Mike Swan" on the A and a cover of a James Jackson Toth composition, "Oh Dad," on the flip-flop. Said tunes were recorded by Mark Ospovat at Emandee Studioes in Bushwick, or so we just read here (where we also saw mentioned a split single we had no idea existed). A second LP titled Weird Freedom is planned, so keep your eyes peeled because we expect that will be a key beer-drinking record. Pre-order "Mike Swan" b/w "Oh Dad" from Sophomore Lounge right here.

Little Gold's "Mike Swan"

>> Social media stalkers may have already caught on, but those who don't shadow every move of Boston-based dream-pop goliaths The Hush Now may be interested to know that the quintet just tracked 13 new songs at Allston's Mad Oak Studios. Not certain of when we might see or hear the new recordings, but we've chatted with the band about some other interesting stuff they have going on that you'll read about here eventually.

>> UK-based indie rock aggressors Hold Your Horse Is are offering a pay-what-you-like live set titled Like, Live And Stuff. The sound is a touch boxy, but fans of Therapy? and Helmet will appreciate the band's forceful delivery of its punishing yet melodic tunes; grab Like, Live And Stuff at Bandcamp right here. The six-song collection was recorded Feb. 15 at London's Camden Purple Turtle and includes one previously unreleased jam, "Absurd." Hold Your Horse Is intends to use the proceeds from the sale of Like, Live And Stuff to fund the recording of a proposed full-length debut; "Absurd" is slated for the new record, so get your teaser now. The trio's EP Rammin' It Home -- released last August on Big Scary Monsters -- sold out last month. While some recent shows had to be scrapped for various reasons, the threesome will tour with Alcopop!'s Ute in June and has a number of festival dates booked -- see full dates here.

Today's Hotness: Little Gold, Philistines Jr.

>> One of the more recent Sound Opinions podcasts discussed bands or artists that had "gone off the rails," which is to say the band or artists changed styles or suddenly produced such terrible work that critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis felt betrayed them. We have a similar disappointment with erstwhile, Brooklyn-based indie punk gargantuans Meneguar. As far as we can tell, the quartet never formally broke up, it just dissolved into other acts. The most notable of these is the new-wave-of-American-psych outfit Woods, whose music simply doesn't connect with us. Meneguar's final record The In Hour was a sprawling lo-fi effort that hinted change was coming, but we can't help hoping that eventually Meneguar will reconstitute itself and deliver a lacerating set of angular, guitar-heavy indie rock akin to the contents of Strangers In Our House -- our favorite record of 2007 -- and I Was Born At Night (the band's stunning debut, so nice it was released twice).

Last month brought word that Meneguar guitarist Christian DeRoeck's more recent project Little Gold was releasing a new single and planning to record later this year a sophomore album (Little Gold's debut On The Knife, released in 2009, slipped completely under our radar). And the very good news is that Mr. DeRoeck's music is short sharp bursts of melodic, guitar-centric indie rock. It's not Meneguar, but it has a shambling charm and an edge that is incredibly appealing. Little Gold's "Completely Fucked!" is available now in a limited run of 300 singles pressed onto orange vinyl (!) by Heartbreak Beat. You can download the A-side below; the B side is available for streaming at the Little Gold MySpace cabin right here. We are happy to know that if we can no longer see DeRoeck doing this, at least we have his wonderful Little Gold project to help fill the Meneguar-shaped hole in our heart. Little Gold embarks on a U.S. tour this week, and we've posted the band's full itinerary below (which includes a Louisville date with the wonderful State Champion).

Little Gold -- "Completely Fucked!" -- "Completely Fucked!" b/w "Chainsaw"
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[buy the Little Gold 7" right here]

08.11 -- Cakeshop -- New York, NY
08.13 -- Garfield Artworks -- Pittsburgh, PA
08.14 -- The Hideout -- Chicago, IL
08.16 -- The Medusa -- Minneapolis, MN
08.17 -- Vaudeville Mews -- Des Moines, IA
08.18 -- Replay Lounge -- Lawrence, KS
08.19 -- The Dairy -- Memphis, TN
08.20 -- Discoteca -- Chattanooga, TN
08.21 -- Skull Alley w/ State Champion -- Louisville, KY
08.22 -- Al's Bar -- Lexington, KY
08.23 -- Kingbee Ground Sound -- Kingbee, KY
08.26 -- Allways Lounge -- New Orleans, LA
08.27 -- Argentum -- Houston, TX
08.28 -- 2908 Cole St -- Austin, TX
08.31 -- YOBS -- Tempe, AZ
09.01 -- Tin Can Alehouse -- San Diego, CA
09.02 -- The Smell -- Los Angeles, CA
09.04 -- Hemlock Tavern -- San Francisco, CA
09.05 -- Mudai Lounge -- Portland, OR
09.07 -- Sunset Tavern -- Seattle, WA
09.08 -- S.S. Josephine -- Seattle, WA
09.11 -- Yellow Feather -- Denver, CO
09.11 -- Rockaway Tavern -- Denver, CO
09.16 -- The Happy Dog -- Cleveland, OH

>> Back when we were music director of the radio station of our small liberal arts college in the mid-'90s, we got our share of free stuff, often just duplicate copies of CDs or records (hello The Bends on vinyl). Most of these extras were jettisoned forthwith because -- even 15 years ago -- there was a lot of crap being serviced to radio, yes, even in the pre-Pro Tools era. Like today we'd take a flyer on certain things, and one that worked out marvelously was The First Bubble Core Records Sampler [Amazon], which featured a bunch of acts that we think were sort of centered around the scene at Yale? Maybe? Anyway, the comp had some amazing cuts, including the explosive and transcendent "Adam's Living Room" by an act called Me + Dave and a few standout cuts by a quirky combo going by the name Philistines Jr. Years later we would learn that the latter act featured now-prominent-recording-guy Peter Katis, whose name you probably recall is attached to records by Interpol, Mobius Band and The National. Anyway, imagine our surprise last week when we learned that Philistines Jr. never actually broke up, and that the act has finally gotten a new record in the can. If A Band Plays In The Woods...? will be released Oct. 5 on the band's own Tarquin Records. The set apparently took 10 years to record (Mr. Katis is quite busy), and you can stream the entire thing on SoundCloud right now, and it is well worth hearing, as strong as any of the early material. Have a listen. If you try just one track, make it "If I Did Nothing But Train For Two Years." No buy link for the set yet, but we expect it will eventually be listed here.