Today's Hotness: DTCV, Thin Lips, Spectres

>> We suppose it's possible another song as enchanting as DTCV's "L'Accord Parfait" will be released this year, but we can't imagine one more enchanting. The romantic swooner is a bit of a deep cut on the Hollywood-spawned duo's forthcoming fourth full-length Confusion Moderne, which is due next week on Xemu Records. DTCV is comprised of songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Lola G. and Jim Greer. If you're sitting there saying to yourself "*That* Jim Greer?" the answer to your question is "yes." For those not in the know, Mr. Greer is -- among other things -- a former member of Guided By Voices and author of the excellent book "Guided By Voices -- A Brief History," which book we highly recommend. If memory serves, Greer also once took us to task on Twitter for using the genre descriptor shoegaze in a non-pejorative way, something we felt oddly honored about. Anyway, the aforementioned "L'Accord Parfait" is a highlight of the very strong album, and achieves an emotional peak in its final choruses as layered vocals beginning a delirious swirl of words. The song and indeed most of the album features lyrics sung in Lola G.'s native French, and these are apparently concerned with "her anti-capitalist, neo-anarchist, radical feminist, and pro-environmental concerns," according to press materials. While it's hard to hear "L'Accord Parfait" in the context of that heavy subject matter, the substantially more gritty "Conformiste" -- whose riffing verses call to mind The Dead Boys' classic punk anthem "Sonic Reducer" -- certainly channels a serious vibe. New York-based Xemu releases Confusion Moderne as a digital download April 8; a very limited edition clear blue vinyl version released in France is already sold out. DTCV plays a hotly anticipated Boston show at O'Brien's Rock Club in Allston Rock City April 17, an evening that also features GBV-ophiles Halfsour, scene heroes Reports and The Dazies. DTCV formed in 2012 and was initially known as Detective, a name borrowed from the title of a Jean-Luc Godard film. The act's previous releases include the cassette However Strange on Burger Records, a label that readers will recall co-released last year The Pre-Fab Messiahs' delightful 10" Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive. Stream DTCV's "Captain Ennui" and "Bourgeois Pop" via the Soundcloud embeds below, and click here to purchase the set as handy MP3 files.





>> Philadelphia indie-punk unit Thin Lips's Divorce Year EP was one of the best releases of 2015, so we've been eagerly anticipating a full-length from the band. Our proverbial prayers will be answered May 20 when Philly's Lame-O Records releases the quartet's debut long-player Riff Hard. The 10-song set is heralded by the stupendous preview track (and video) "Never Again," a hook-spangled ripper that foregrounds fronter Chrissy Tashjian's potent, emotive vocals. The tune is a 155-second blast of uptempo awesomeness with a shout-along chorus and zippy lead guitar licks. Ms. Tashjian powers the tune with a voice that can do jubilant just as convincingly as bummed. Long-time readers will recall that Thin Lips sprang from the equally tremendous but sadly defunct guitar-pop unit Dangerous Ponies -- other members of DP went on to form emo heroes The Superweaks (which features Chrissy's brother and sometimes bandmate Mikey Tashjian). Sadly, second guitarist Chris Diehm's father is gravely ill with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and treatment costs are mounting; two test pressings of Riff Hard were to have been auctioned off recently to help defray those costs, although we're not sure if the auction has happened yet or not. Either way, donations can still be made via Paypal; check out the details here. Thin Lips recently wrapped a short tour with the Max Levine Ensemble; they next play Boston June 23 on an extraordinarily hot bill that also features emo titans Modern Baseball and Joyce Manor. That June show is near the tail-end of a massive strand of tour dates that stretches from late May through early July, making 2016 truly a summer of rock for the act. Lame-O is already taking pre-orders for Riff Hard. The set is available in a limited edition of 750 black vinyl LPs (pre-order here) or as a digital download (pre-order here). Stream "Never Again" via the Bandcamp embed below.



>> We went gaga for the doom-'gaze sounds of Spectres' stunning 2015 collection Dying, and we're not the only ones. If you follow the Bristol, England quartet on the social media, you've seen them popping up next to famouser folks like Henry Rollins or Thurston Moore (maybe we imagined the latter, as we can't find the pic now). Just last week, Spectres disclosed it has been tapped to open a number of vintage shoegaze faves Lush's reunion dates. Dying was recently followed up with a remix collection called Dead that sees songs from Dying getting the remix treatment from luminaries including Ride's Andy Bell, Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite, and Factory Floor, among others. In all, Dead contains 13 tracks, as Dying standout songs "Mirror," "Sea Of Trees" and "This Purgatory" were remixed doble vez. And yet Dying *still* has not had a proper domestic release. Perhaps that is going to change though, at least in a limited way. According to a recent email, the US LP subscription service Vinyl Me, Please is offering subscribers a limited edition of 300 Dying LPs pressed to "the blood of Phil Collins" red vinyl. The same email says non-subscribers can get the record in "regular shops" in May. It's unclear if that would be leftover stock from the Vinyl Me, Please pressing, or a larger pressing in wider release; it's also unclear if the reference to "regular shops" means US shops. So keep your fingers crossed, we suppose. Spectres is promoting the release of Dead with a strand of gigs in the UK, some of which will include appearances by certain of the remixers; if you are in the UK and fancy seeing a show, we'd suggest looking up the show dates here and buying tickets ahead, as tomorrow night's date at London's Waw Warehouse is already sold out. Stream Mr. Braithwaite's remix of "This Purgatory" via the Bandcamp embed below. Stream all of Dead via Spotify right here.

That Was The Show That Was: Modern Baseball with Somos, Foxing, Knuckle Puck, Crying | Paradise | 14 Dec.

[PHOTO: Dillon Riley] No shade to Topshelf Records -- which we continue to rep daily, and which recently announced it was moving its base if operations to San Diego -- but one thing we're thankful for this holiday season is that Run For Cover remains situated within our city limits. 2014 was a big year for the powerhouse indie rock label, and we emitted a few pages of digital ink to prove it. We were particularly jazzed to take in sets from RFC affiliates Modern Baseball and Crying a week ago on a five(!)-band bill at the Paradise. Regrettably, circumstances were such that we missed Crying's likely thrilling set, but there are still plenty of high highs to recount from the evening.

It speaks to the infectious strength of their songcraft that a band as young as Philadelphia's Modern Baseball could headline a North American tour with four acts of their choosing supporting them each night. You're Gonna Miss It All, which was released in February, was that strong of record, though. Sunday's headlining set struck a chord with the under- and overground by pairing Modern Baseball's outré genre stylings with entirely relatable lyricism evoking the kind of purely millennial social jargon its fans use themselves. Joined on stage by Cameron Boucher of Sorority Noise supplying auxiliary guitar and vocals, the tunes off You're Gonna Miss It All assumed a crunchier, more powerful guise. The added dramatic instrumental effect played smartly against the band’s jovial stage presence and well-practiced in-jokes. For its one-song encore the band unsheathed a furious cover of The Killers' radio hit "When You Were Young," a rendering that subtly shifted from half-serious irony to full-throated homage by its finish. Kinda sorta exactly like the plights of the characters that populate Modern Baseball's songs.

Too few local publications have noted Boston emo quartet Somos' exemplary rock sounds, but that lack of notice doesn't seem to have diminished the act's allure with its young fan base. Playing selections from its Tiny Engines debut LP Temple Of Plenty as part of last Sunday's show, the act connected firmly with the all-ages crowd. Clearly grateful to be back on home turf for the tail end of a lengthy tour, the band executed swift, dynamic shifts in songs like "Lives of Others." A clear highlight, "Familiar Theme," spurred the crowd to shout back to the stage nearly every one of fronter Michael Fiorentino's words. Temple Of Plenty was released in March and is already in its second pressing.

St. Louis post-hardcore troupe Foxing batted third and drew just as warm a response. During its set a first crop of crowdsurfers popped up, incited by fronter Conor Murphy's exaggerated, cathartic mannerisms. From what we gathered, Foxing as a live entity doesn't deal explicitly in traditional song structure so much as rise and fall with heaving, powerful bursts of noise and emotion. To add additional dimension, Mr. Murphy occasionally steps back only slightly from the mic to deliver trumpet blasts that do a remarkable job of mimicking his shattering vocal style. Shouty Chicago pop-punk quintet Knuckle Puck played fourth. -- Dillon Riley

Today's Hotness: Happy You, Nothing, Crying

>> Far be it from us to invade the purview of the artist, and tell her or him what to do. All the same, and as much as we absolutely love it, wouldn't the terrific new record Giggle from New York dream-pop septet Happy You be even more terrific if it were sequenced in reverse? Turn the record on its head, and it leads off with the angular, It Hugs Back-esque stunner "Chummy," with its wonderfully melodic and relatively mellow chorus, and then slides into the set's cracking title track right in the crucial number two slot. And how could you not want "Giggle" in at number two? With another undeniable melody mainlined via breathy vocals, ample fuzz and ethereal feedback gently leads the song up to a near dead-stop. There a curious and quiet bridge -- reminiscent of early Mercury Rev -- introduces an ecstatic, but all-too-brief sax solo that foreshadows (if you are going by the Clicky Clicky-approved alternate sequence) the totally bananas sax playing that sets off the buzz-sawed strummer "Blood Blood Blood." Alas, as Giggle was already issued digitally Tuesday, and vinyl pre-orders are already being taken for a planned Dec. 5 LP release date, our proposed running order will remain unofficial. But you could also do a lot worse than starting your record off as Happy You does, with the optimistic and giddy blaster "La La La Summer," which casts a spell with charming and innocent lyrics "summer's coming and we're hoping that its good" and "spitting in the wishing well is better than goodbye." Frontwards or backwards, Giggle is a very rewarding listen, and we're hopeful the act makes a trip to Boston before too long. There appears to be a local connection, too, as Coaches' Brady Custis is listed as an additional performer at the Happy You Bandcamp, which we highly recommend you visit forthwith to grab the download and pre-order the 12" vinyl. The first edition of the LP is 300 pieces pressed to random-colored vinyl. Happy You's next show, according to the banner at its Facebook dojo, is tomorrow night at a house in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, so, uhhhh, ask a punk? While you sort that out, stream all of Giggle via the embed below.



>> Earlier this month Philly's resident existential noise-thugs Nothing unleashed to the wilds of the Internets their first new original material since their crushing debut LP Guilty of Everything. The song, a dense, chugging number entitled "July The Fourth," arrives as half of the band's contribution to a split 12" due from Run For Cover Nov. 18. The other side of the platter features tunes from the self-described bad boys of nu-gaze, Whirr. "July The Fourth" is the short set's final cut, and it sheds the hazier gloom found elsewhere in favor of a more charged and chaotic, twin-guitar attack. We still fondly recall with precise detail seeing these acts at Boston's Great Scott last year. Nothing's Domenic Palermo wildly stage dove into a crowd of, errr, no one, and Whirr played so loudly the walls and ceiling ominously shook all around us. And so we are collectively psyched for this split 12", which will be released in an edition of 5,000 pieces with an etched B-side available in myriad color options (black appears have already sold out, but pink, baby blue, cream/green, and green/baby blue/yellow starburst apparenty remain). The media in question comes packaged with a special behind-the-scenes DVD titled In The Studio that we presume captures aspects of the recording sessions, which will surely prove entertaining and/or illuminating. Stream "July The Fourth" via the embed, and pre-order the record right here directly from Run For Cover. -- Dillon Riley



>> In other Run For Cover news: Crying, the chiptune-oriented trio that includes LVL UP's Nick Corbo and Whatever, Dad's Elaiza Santos along with a (figurative) cat named Ryan, disclosed that it will release a first set for RFC imminently, a double EP titled Get Olde/Second Wind. The release combines the first physical manifestation of the Purchase, New York-based threesome's 2013 debut on the A-side with with a brand new six-song companion EP on the flip of a single LP. The band is already streaming one of the new songs from Second Wind entitled "Batang Killjoy." The briskly paced and fresh-faced tune proffers a sharper, crunchier edge than the balance of the material on the relatively light Get Olde, replacing the former's dream-pop sheen with slicker alt-rock riffage. The tune also has one of the most romantic lyrics we've heard in a while: "yr girl is in the pew / I feel insane sitting next to you." You can pre-order Get Olde/Second Wind from Run For Cover right here. The set is available in an edition of 1,000 pieces pressed to blue, pink, white and blue/pink starburst media. Crying will go out on tour Nov. 11 with Modern Baseball, Knuckle Puck and Somos, a tour that last more than a month. The road show rolls into Boston Dec. 14 for what will surely be a hot evening at the olde town's fabled Paradise Rock Club; the show is all ages and doors are at 6PM. Grab tickets for the show here, and stream "Batang Killjoy" via the embed below. -- Dillon Riley

YouTube Rodeo: Johnny Foreigner's Endlessly Haunted "Stop Talking About Ghosts"

We said it on Twitter, and we'll say it again: this is seriously one of the best music videos we've ever seen. And, yeah, sure, of course we're going to say that about a Johnny Foreigner video, but truly, this is head and shoulders above anything else we can think of off the top of our heads. The clip for "Stop Talking About Ghosts," a song that was previously issued as a digital single in March with a ridiculous awesome cover of The Wannadies' "Hit" as a b-side, is a slowburner that piles on the drama for three introductory minutes and perfectly translates the theme of the song into a visual story. It helps that directors Matt Diegan & Francis Newall of Moral Hangover get a hair-raising performance from Jeremy Irons-doppelganger Elliot Chidwick and can edit like motherfuckers. Fans may have a vague memory of that name, Moral Hangover -- turns out they are the same lot that produced the video for the radio edit of "You vs. Everything," the titanic single from Johnny Foreigner's devastating third LP, which we wrote about here in 2011. So anyway, watch the video for "Stop Talking About Ghosts," embedded above. It is tremendous.

In other super-important Johnny Foreigner news that hadn't broken before we published our most recent piece about them last week, the band's new U.S. label Lame-O has announced it will issue in American its amazing 2014 LP You Can Do Better. You may recall we reviewed the record here in the spring. Lame-O's domestic release is available immediately in a limited edition of 500 pressed to either red or clear vinyl, and you can buy it right here, and that is a thing you should do, assuming you did not already buy the Alcopop! version earlier this year. Johnny Foreigner is presently looking ahead to a strand of live dates in South Africa in late October, which can be hungrily gazed upon right here. And that, for now, is the news.

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Bent Shapes, It Looks Sad., Frontier(s)

>> We couldn't let this bit of news completely slip by without trumpeting it once more here, given our self-proclaimed status as the publication of record for all things Johnny Foreigner. So, in case you missed it in the mad run-up to our vacation last month, the Birmingham, England-based noise-pop titans have signed with Philadelphia's Lame-O Records to release its music in the U.S. The first fruits of this relationship is a weird virtual "mix tape" released a few weeks back called Worse Things Happen At Sea; it collects an unusual assortment of mostly previously released material, probably as many deep cuts as greatest hits, we'd say. Highlights include a session version of the opener to Johnny Foreigner's incredible 2014 LP You Can Do Better, "Shipping," as well the lead cuts from its titanic third LP Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything and devastating 2010 EP You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And The Sea So Calm. The real deep cut is "Candles," a track that originally appeared on demos collections that pre-date any of the quartet's official album releases, and perhaps the most welcome return is the twinkling ballad "199x," whose only prior release to date was on the compact 2011 odds and sods set There When You Need It. Not that anyone's counting besides Clicky Clicky Music Blog, but the deal with Lame-O -- which is home to Johnny Foreigner BFFs The Weaks and has also put out music by Modern Baseball -- is the Brummie's third North American deal in its decade of existence. A 2008 deal with Nettwerk can most charitably be described as a non-starter (or even non-existent); Johnny Foreigner then signed with Chicago's Swerp in 2012 to release the excellent Names EP. It's unclear what will come next after the release of Worse Things Happen At Sea; the aforementioned You Can Do Better, which was released earlier in 2014, has not been released in the U.S., so we would hope that Lame-O might be able to make that happen (for that matter, besides Names, basically none of Johnny Foreigner's roundly excellent catalog has been properly issued on this side of the Atlantic, so, uh, you know, someone get on that). In related news, it would seem to be an unofficial off-season for Johnny Foreigner, as fronter Alexei Berrow recently disclosed he is working on new material for his solo guise Yr Friends, and drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley has similarly disclosed he has turned his attention to new recordings by his electropop project Fridge Poetry; the two projects even merged under the name Yr Poetry for a live date earlier this summer. Laidley, incidentally, has also signed on to drum for a new, full-band version of Birmingham's Mutes, which will make its live debut Aug. 15. Further bulletins as events warrant! For now, bask in the weird glory of Worse Things Happen At Sea via the embed below.



>> Another piece of news that fell in the gap during our vacation: Boston indie-pop heroes Bent Shapes issued recently its first new material since downsizing its official personnel to a two-piece. The release came in the form of a 7" plexi-disc put out by Olympia, Wash.-based "micro-indie" (redundant?) label People In A Position To Know. The disc itself is a legit piece of art, a flat, two-sided, lathe-cut plexiglass circle that carries the band's logo and the song titles on its front side; the disc comes in three colors in a hyper-limited edition of 25 pieces per color scheme (yellow/brown; black/teal; blue/brown). "It's thick and heavy and pretty pointy at the edges," fronter Ben Potrykus told Improper Bostonian recently. Fortunately for fans, the odd media is still not as snappy as the music. The A-side touts the tune "86'd in '03," which Bent Shapes has been performing live since at least its release show for Feels Weird a year ago. The flip-side carries a cover of a The 2x4's lost-classic Boston punk tune "Bridgeport Lathe" (whose title, incidentally, would be incredibly meta if it turns out these lathe-cut discs were actually fabricated in, say, Bridgeport, CT, or better still, Bridgeport, PA). "86'd" in particular is a stunner, compressing all the jagged changes and vocal hooks of the standout 2013 long-player Feels Weird [review] into a two-minute blast that proves the recent line-up shuffle has done nothing to squelch the band's fizz. One can acquire her or his own copy of "86'd In '03" b/w "Bridgeport Lathe" from People In A Position To Know right here, or at Bent Shapes' upcoming show later this month at TT The Bear's Place in Cambridge, Mass. But one, of course, should act expeditiously, even decisively, given the extremely limited quantities involved here. Stream both cuts below, then stream them again. -- Dillon Riley



>> In what we can only hope is a viable trend in indie band branding, one of the latest acts from the indefatigable Tiny Engines stable is the relatively new It Looks Sad. To dispel any confusion, yes, that is a full stop tagged to the end of the Charlotte-based quartet's name [counterpoint: special punctuation, symbols or use of capitalization in band names has been a deplorable scourge since at least NSync, whose name we will not grace with the once-requested-by-publicists giant asterisk. See me after class, Riley. -- Ed.]. The post-#emorevival self-parody via name is not the band's most distinguishing trait, however -- which is saying something, as the band initially traded under the signicantly more unwieldy moniker It Looks Sad, That's Why I Said It's You. No, more importantly, the native Carolinians favor an atmospheric approach to its music, injecting palpable elements of dream pop into an expansive sound. It's a key distinction that interestingly situates It Looks Sad. stylistically closer to bands on Captured Tracks than the foursome's hometown label peers. It Looks Sad.'s music is no less emotional, though. Fronter Jimmy Turner's reedy vocals do plenty to convey that, buffeted by airy guitar playing that ranges from mopey to soaring, in a manner not terribly dissimilar to the impressive contemporary work by New Yorkers Cymbals Eat Guitars. It Looks Sad.'s debut release for Tiny Engines is a four-song EP titled Self-Titled. During its sub-twenty-minute runtime, the quartet packs in nearly as many ear-catching hooks. The act's playing comes tightly into focus when it slows the tempo, consolidating into a loose groove on the standout track "Fingers" [video]. Here the band falls in around a high, trebly, circular riff that persists throughout the song, outlasting even a forceful, crash-cymbal aided chorus. Despite having just four songs out, It Looks Sad. exhibits an admirable mastery of its chosen musical argot at a time in its career trajectory when other young bands are struggling to break out of the bedroom. We're eager to hear where the band heads next. Self-Titled is slated for release later this summer, and it can be pre-ordered from Tiny Engines on 7" vinyl (in a limited edition of 500 pieces available in salmon, seafoam or cream) and/or download right here. Stream the entire short stack via the Soundcloud embed below. -- Dillon Riley



>> From the other side of the Tiny Engines spectrum comes another fairly new act, Frontier(s), which is helmed by Chris Higdon of '90s emo luminaries Elliot. The Louisville-based quartet dropped its second release, an EP titled White Lights, via the aforementioned label Tuesday. Drawing influence from the D.C.-styled post-hardcore sound that birthed first-wave emo acts such as Embrace and Rites Of Spring (and, honestly, maybe even a bit from '80s hair metal), White Lights feels a lot like the logical sonic mean of Higdon's prior acts, the early '90s hardcore collective Falling Forward and the aforementioned Elliot, despite the long passage of time since either of those groups have been active. More importantly, though, the EP feels vital and fresh, not a throwback to another time, much in the same way as the tremendous and recently released reunion album from Braid, No Coast. White Lights certainly carries in its five songs a certain amount of world-weariness, but doesn't feel bogged down with comeback emotions. Frontier(s) is at its best on set closer "Bare Hands," where the foursome sounds as if it has a lot to prove, despite its notable pedigree. You can grab White Lights from Tiny Engines on 12" vinyl and/or digital download right here, and stream the entire EP via the Soundcloud embed below. -- Dillon Riley