Today's Hotness: All Dogs, Idiot Genes, Soft Focus

>> You are going to start hearing Columbus, OH-based indie-punkers All Dogs' name quite often. The young, female-led trio is signed to Salinas Records, a label the music cognoscenti have come to know well for releasing the crucial indie rock platters from Swearin', Waxahatchee and Radiator Hospital over the last two years. Indeed, All Dogs' music neatly fits into the label's aesthetic: the threesome's four-four rockers burst with energy even at the mid-tempo that characterizes the opening pair of tunes from the very enjoyable self-titled, debut 7" that Salinas released last week. The rudimentary instrumentation leaves a lot of space for fronter Maryn Jones' clear and evocative voice to take a starring role, and hers (which recalls that of Bettie Serveert fronter Carol Van Dijk at times) is particularly affecting during the doleful closing cut "Say," certainly a highlight even among this very strong four-song collection. The All Dogs 7" is available via mail order now, and easily worth double the $5 asking price, so click this link to get yours from Salinas before the first run is gone, 'cause these are gonna go fast. All Dogs don't have any shows booked until next month, but Boston fans should take note now that further out in the future the band will be at Great Scott Jan. 21 supporting their very, very hotly tipped labelmates Waxahatchee, who just finished a triumphant strand of UK dates. We expect that will be a show everyone will talk about all through the late winter and into the spring, and we advise you to get tickets ASAP because the buzz is only going to get louder. And that may or may not be your tinnitus talking. What? I can't hear you, the phone keeps ringing. What? Stream the exquisite All Dogs single via the Bandcamp embed below. All Dogs are already at work on songs for a full-length, and previously issued a very fine split tape with Slouch.



>> You thrilled the sandpaper-across-the-face vibes of its self-titled EP at the beginning of the year, which included the bouncy shouter "The Charles Mansion," and now Allston Rock City fuzz-pop standouts Idiot Genes are back with another eight-pack of beery, big-muff anthems. Idiot Genes come by all of their bashing and feedback and sludge honestly: the new collection, titled Lousey, was recorded in the quartet's practice space earlier this fall. The set is thronged with throaty belters including the breakneck bomp of opener "Regular" and the more moderately paced "Soaked Pillow." The latter's lyrics evoke an easy smile, particularly the closing chant "WHEN I DREAM I DROOL! WHEN I DREAM I DROOL!" It's tempting to employ the word "primitive" here to try to capture the essence of the foursome's collective appeal, but that word would not do justice to the way Idiot Genes' music will infiltrate your consciousness. Lousey was released via Bandcamp on Hallowe'en; stream it via the embed below and then click and paywhutchalike to acquire the digital files for your personal use. Idiot Genes are playing on a ridiculously good bill (presented by Allston Pudding) Nov. 14 top-lined by UK-based indie sensations Paws and Philadelphia nu-emo stars Little Big League, who rule. We featured Idiot Genes' "The Charles Mansion" during New Music Night 10 last spring.



>> There was little actual use of soft focus employed by Soft Focus, the scrappy, youthful Cambridge, Mass.-based indie pop group whose music we have been enjoying lately, and who, sadly, have apparently already called it a day. But perhaps the threesome's name evinces itself in other ways. Soft Focus gradually resolved over the past year with a couple of singles, and now comes the posthumous Day EP, which showcases well the band's bashing, gleeful style. Jangly, sometimes angular guitar lines announce each of the four songs here, and the ensuing performances and production suggest that the trio's music is an apt soundtrack for a swinging basement show. One can almost see (smell? -- Ed.) the beer stains, smiling faces and taped-up Christmas lights as tunes like the yearning, head-bobbing opener "POG" ply their charms. Drummer Garren Orr keeps the snare tight and fast, while lead singer Joe Holcomb delivers emotional, punk-braised vocals -- which incidentally, recall those of Shout Out Louds fronter Adam Olenius -- without clouding the carefree character of the tunes. On EP highlight "Summer Sin" the band executes perfectly. Crisp lead guitar proclaims a bright melody and presents 12-string resonance, which in sum reminds this reviewer of George Harrison's work on "Nowhere Man." While that influence is likely not front of mind for Soft Focus, their listing of Bloc Party as an inspiration frames the Day EP in an interesting light. It's evidence of a younger generation of DIY musicians taking decade-old references and reshaping them into part of their own musical identity. It is hard to know whether such influences would have continued to guide the band's music, as this EP and one other referenced at Bandcamp would seem to be the final transmissions from Soft Focus (two of its principals have apparently gone to the west coast). Even if that next EP fails to materialize, the Day EP is a fine way to go out. It was released to the wilds of the Internerds Oct. 2 and is available as a pay-what-you-choose download; stream it below and then click through to make it your very, very own. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Captain Polaroid, The Answering Machine

>> Devotees of lo-fi stalwart Captain Polaroid likely weren't expecting a shimmering shoegaze ballad with a convincingly Death Cab-esque vocal layered over it when they downloaded the Birmingham, England artist's recently issued Beat Nostalgia EP4. But that's what they got with a newly recorded version of "Jigsaw Of Planet Earth." Add in a spoken vocal track a la Michael Stipe in R.E.M.'s "Belong," and Captain Polaroid has turned out one of his most stirring tracks to date. All the more surprising because Mssr. Polaroid's brand of scrappy, home-recorded guitar pop tends to be more direct and dynamic. On "Jigsaw Of Planet Earth" a simple melody and punchy drum groove lay back and let the gorgeous guitar tone and tremelo effect breathe out and in and out and in, buoying the vocals on a dense curtain of guitars. We've embedded "Jigsaw Of Planet Earth" below; the original version -- a devastatingly sweet, whispery acoustic ballad -- appeared on Captain Polaroid's Pro Action Replay EP released in 2007 [stream it here]. You can stream the entire Beat Nostalgia EP4 here or download it here; it was released October 1. Captain Polaroid is now taking pre-orders for the Beat Nostalgia Surival Kit, a physical release that gathers two tracks from each of the five Beat Nostalgia EPs (there is as yet one more forthcoming) together with demos, a lyric book, badge, t-shirt transfer and various oddities, all for 10 pounds. Full details here.

Jigsaw of Planet Earth by Captain Polaroid

>> We've been waiting and waiting to finally have the time to tell you about the new single from Manchester, England-based indie rockers The Answering Machine. The tune is called "Animals" and it is available for free download from a Bandcamp page the quartet has erected here; a Soundcloud stream lurks below. A far cry from the scritchy, Strokes-channeling guitar pop of The Answering Machine's early days, "Animals" sounds as if it could have been lifted from the catalog of Swedish indie pop sensations Shout Out Louds. Although there is precedent for the soulful synth-pop in The Answering Machine's catalog: the closing track from the band's debut full-length Another City, Another Sorry [review here], "You Should Have Called," was more reserved than the rest of that album and drew heavily on '80s roller rink pop sounds. "Animals" will apparently be issued as part of a planned EP that will include a song rescued from the dustbin of the Another City, Another Sorry sessions called "A Courtyard;" the EP will likely be available through ITunes, according to this blog post from the band. As we reported here in August, The Answering Machine intends to issue its sophomore set Lifeline worldwide in early 2011. The band launches a short strand of tour dates across the U.K. tomorrow, and takes to the road in Europe next month. View all the tour dates here.

The Answering Machine - Animals

Reader Rewards: Beach House, Ted Leo, Los Campesinos!, Shout Out Louds

We haven't forgotten about you, you who love the indie rock as much as life itself. Time was we were giving away a lot of tickets for Boston area fans. Good times, right? Well the good times are back, beginning later this week, when we will be giving away the first of several hot pairs of tickets to soak in the now sounds at Paradise Rock Club. The first pair on offer will be to see Baltimore dream pop duo Beach House's sold-out show this coming Sunday (March 28). We also have a pair of tickets for each of Ted Leo with Obits (April 10), Los Campesinos! (April 24) and Shout Out Louds (May 6). So much good rock that it somewhat boggles the mind. So how do you get a chance at these? You need to follow us on the Twitterz, where our handle is @clickyclicky, and where we will a couple days before each show 1) give fair warning that we are about to give the tickets away to one lucky winner, 2) give the tickets away to the first person who replies or DMs us and 3) announce the winner. It's fun, it happens fast, and it is efficient. So start following us, already! Look for the Beach House tickets to get given and gotten sometime Thursday.

Today's Hotness: Projekt A-ko, Pants Yell!, Shout Out Louds, She Sir

>> We were rapping with our tweeps last week on the Interzizzles about the wonderful Glaswegian indie rock trio Projeckt A-ko, who released the superlative full-length Yoyodyne this past spring. The discussion reminded us that when we had communicated with band fronter Fergus Lawrie last he had mentioned that writing and recording for a new Projekt A-ko was already in the works. We checked back in with Mr. Lawrie last weekend, who provided us with an update on all things A-ko. Recording started a year ago at The Diving Bell studio in Glasgow, at which time drum tracks for five cuts (including the oft-discussed cover of the amazing Drop Nineteens classic "Winona") were recorded. In August Projekt A-ko returned to work and committed to tape bass and rhythm guitar tracks for the aforementioned five cuts, and the band hopes to finish eight songs by Christmas. The plan is to record some additional songs in 2010 and aim for a June release. Lawrie reports that the new songs are "heavier and deeper" than the material on Yoyodyne, and offers My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins as reference points for the sound. Touring is still not in the cards for Projekt A-ko, sadly, as the band members have other commitments, although Lawrie notes he has felt conflicted when turning down gig and tour offers. While we wait for new Projekt A-ko music, here's an awesome non-album track called "Our Teenagers Need Healthy Touch."

Projekt A-ko -- "Our Teenagers Need Healthy Touch"
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[buy Yoyodyne from the band right here]

>> Cambridge, Mass.'s own twee pop stars Pants Yell! will release their fourth album (and Slumberland Records debut) Received Pronunciation Nov. 10, and the trio is promoting the release with the MP3 "Cold Hands." Our quick and first impression of the track is that it's not immediately hooky, but the production is spectacular and tight and the guitars are heavier and generally sound amazing. Pants Yell! hit the road the day after release day for a nine-day tour of the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States. We're posting the tour dates below.

Pants Yell! -- "Cold Hands" -- Received Pronunciation
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[buy Pants Yell! records from Newbury Comics right here]

11/11 -- Bronxville, NY -- Sarah Lawrence College
11/12 -- Philadelphia, PA -- University of Pennsylvania
11/13 -- Washington, DC -- Black Cat (SLR 20th Anniversary show)
11/14 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Bell House (SLR 20th Anniversary show)
11/15 -- Bethlehem, PA -- Secret Art Space
11/16 -- Cambridge, MA -- Zuzu
11/20 -- Portland, ME -- Space Gallery
12/05 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Bruar Falls

>> Swedish indie pop phenoms Shout Out Louds return with its third full length Work, which will be issued by Merge on Feb. 23 in the U.S. The set was recorded with Phil Ek, whose work you know from classic albums by Built To Spill, Modest Mouse and Unwound. You can watch a short preview promo of Work right here. Shout Out Louds' sophomore set Our Ill Wills was released in 2007 and the record closed with the amazing brooder "Hard Rain," and we are hoping as hard as we can hope that the new record will pick up where "Hard Rain" left off, because that track is amazing.

>> We ran this out our Twitter feed the other night, but it is worth repeating here that Austin, Texas-based shoegaze luminaries She Sir have pushed the release of their sophomore set Go Guitars to next summer. But in the near-term the band intends to issue the four-song, digital and vinyl Yen EP, and you can hear two of the tracks "Ginger" (sadly not a Lilys cover, but still exceptional) and "Lemongrass" at the band's Internet Home Page right here.

Today's Hotness: Look See Proof, J. Mascis, Lilys

>> AngryApe posts information here about a forthcoming fifth single from dynamite Hertfordshire, England foursome Look See Proof, whose music we gulped down from various blogs in recent months and thoroughly enjoyed. We're surprised we haven't mentioned them previously, frankly, but our archives have little incentive to lie. The quartet's spiky, upbeat indie rock recalls the best Bloc Party singles, so we have been keeping an eye out for a full-length. Look See Proof's new single "Do You Think It's Right?" b/w "Don't Say A Word" will have to do for now. The CD version of the single contains a third cut, "Casualty (Os Darkroom Remix)," that we're eager to hear as the original version of the single (released last August) is a peppy rocker with great harmonies. North London's year-and-a-half old Weekender Records releases "Do You Think It's Right?" March 24 in the UK, and it can be pre-ordered from 7Digital right here. It is interesting to note that Weekender will issue Shout Out Louds' "Tonight I Have To Leave It" single and Our Ill Wills album in the UK. Anyhoo, here's what we believe to be Look See Proof's first single for your enjoyment. You should hit the link to EMusic below and get all four of the singles they have there, particularly 2007's "Casualty."

Look See Proof -- "Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me" -- "Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me" b/w "Start Again"
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[buy Look See Proof singles from EMusic here]

>> We found a used import of a 2003 J. Mascis set The John Peel Sessions at Newbury Comics Sunday that we had never heard of before, and we enjoyed listening to it. The piece of Pavement's "Range Life" tucked in the medley that opens the set performed with The Fog (a/k/a Mike Watt and George Berz) was what grabbed our attention when we picked up the disc, but that is actually pretty forgettable. Although when Watt takes the vocal for the piece that is "In A Rut," that rocks pretty hard. The first five tracks were mixed by Kevin Shields, which is interesting, and we love the warbly treatment on the backing vocals of "Same Day," which is the best J. Mascis and The Fog jam hands down, in our opinion. The Peel Sessions version lacks the dense curtains of guitars that makes the More Light track so awesome, but the extra space yields Watt's bass playing more of the spotlight, which is nice. Despite the lack of guitar crunch, there is a lot of really nice soloing on these Peel tracks, particularly when Mascis deploys what we think is a whammy pedal to wondrous effect.

>> Lilys are selling t-shirts. We love the Lilys. So buy their shirts. The end.

2007 In The Rear-View: Shout Out Louds Blossom In "Hard Rain"

As far as we're concerned there is only one more record coming out in 2007. It's called Arcs Across The City, it's by a little trio from Birmingham, England called Johnny Foreigner, and you might have seen us refer to it previously, oh, once or twice. We're taking the opportunity presented by the fading 2007 release schedule to look back on deserving records that we were unable to find time for earlier in the year. Soon 2007 will be over, but we expect these records will stick with us for a long time.

One of the bigger surprises of the late summer was just how strong Shout Out Louds' Our Ill Wills is. We got the Swedish pop quintet's prior release Howl Howl Gaff Gaff after seeing them perform on a late night show two or three years ago, and we thought there were a few very strong numbers on it (including "The Comeback," "Please Please Please" and "Hurry Up Let's Go"). And while the single "Tonight I Have To Leave It" that preceded and opens Our Ill Wills is an arresting pop concoction, as is the superlative New Romantic strummer "You Are Dreaming," we'd argue those tracks are pieces of a larger story. On a related note, we'd also argue that you could reverse the running order of Our Ill Wills and have an even more compelling record, as the album closer "Hard Rain" is the real highlight and points to incredibly fertile ground for the band to explore. So wait, scratch that: Our Ill Wills must end with "Hard Rain," and here is why.

While much of Our Ill Wills deals in bright colors and panoramic views, "Hard Rain" is a remarkable step beyond the power twee upon which Shout Out Louds built its reputation and into something darker and less certain. The seven-minute track is the most epic recording we've heard from Shout Out Louds, and easily the most sonically aggressive. Guitars shimmer and build in the wings, vocal lines tangle, the rhythm section is unstoppable (later the cowbell tattoo familiar from "Tonight We Have To Leave It" makes an appropriate thematic return, neatly bookending the record). And then the song crosses the four minute mark, past the odd chirp in the right channel at 4:20, and becomes unhinged. There commences a steady noisy crescendo that is spine-tingling and one of the most exciting things we heard from *any* act in 2007. We hope Shout Out Louds' next record uses the song as a jumping off point. Check out the IMeem stream of the track below. Merge released Our Ill Wills Sept. 11.



[buy Our Ill Wills from Newbury Comics here]

Shout Out Louds: Interwebz | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Big Day Coming: Pinback, Young Marble Giants, Shout Out Louds

>> Heard that new Pinback single? It's an uptempo rocker. Here's the stream. You can also buy the single from Touch And Go's online store. The track will be included on Pinback's forthcoming full-length Autumn Of The Seraphs, which is scheduled for release Sept. 11. The duo is planning a tour to begin that month.

>> Also coming Sept. 11 is the domestic release of the reissue of post-punk notables Young Marble Giants' only proper album Collossal Youth. The reissue contains the British trio's singles as well, and as such is titled 'Colossal Youth' & Collected Works. Limited editions of the reissue contain a third CD of 1980 Peel Sessions, making the set a complete collection of the band's recordings. If you're not excited yet, check out the e-card being promoted by Domino UK here. Awesome.

>> We don't know why, but we liked this new Shout Out Louds tune a little when we got the advance of the Tonight I Have To Leave It EP, but after we watched the video we started to like it a lot. Doesn't make much sense, but there you go. Maybe its because there's something about singer Adam Olenius and the video's random nautical theme that reminds us of Jason Schwartzman's Max Fischer character in "Rushmore." Check out the video below. The Swedish quintet releases its sophomore album and Merge debut Our Ill Wills on, you guessed it, Sept. 11. The Shout Out Louds are currently in the U.S. for a short series of dates on the east and west coasts; check out the band's tour dates here. Since you read all of that, how about an MP3 of "Tonight I Have To Leave It"?

Shout Out Louds -- "Tonight I Have To Leave It" -- Tonight I Have To Leave It EP
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