Today's Hotness: The Hush Now, Sir Yes Sir, Shores

>> We saw The Hush Now's final show of the year Wednesday night and the quintet continues to be among the most formidable of Boston bands. We've been holding onto the fivesome's latest holiday jam "On Holiday" because, well, we're trying to hold the line against holiday creep. But now that Thanksgiving is over and done, it is time to confront the sounds of the season. The Hush Now's aforementioned, bossa nova romp approaches irresistible, and we've had the one-song CD-R on repeat in the car for days. "On Holiday" is an uptempo confection that eschews the band's now characteristic wall of guitars in favor of a horn-driven, jingle bell-appointed chorus. We've got to hand it to the boys: anybody can write a holiday jam, but few acts write ones you want to hear over and over. Catch the stream below (and cheers to the RSL Blog for the initial upload). The Hush Now is off for the rest of the year, but we've heard whispers about new music for the new year. So be good for goodness' sake.

The Hush Now - On Holiday by rslblog.com

>> Tip the 40, if you will, for Sir Yes Sir: the London-based noise pop upstarts announced earlier this month that they are breaking up. However, fret not: it sounds like what is really being done -- after five years, one tape, one CD and one CD-R -- is that Sir Yes Sir is scrapping its name and contemplating reconfiguring a little. When we last wrote about the trio in May they were poised to release their debut full-length Reigning Over Silence, which you can stream right here. We had short correspondence with Daniel from SYS after the break-up announcement, and were told the band is considering adding a new member and perhaps changing who plays what instrument. This all sounds like a good thing to us, and as long as the new entity can continue to churn out delightfully tuneful sludge like "Not Excited," which we wrote about here in January, we'll be more than happy.

>> Fans of hardcore and pop-punk know No Idea, the Gainesville, Fl.-based label responsible for superb releases from acts including Armalite, Lifetime and J Church (RIP Lance). The label's aesthetic is well-established, but one new No Idea release from Michigan-based and un-Google-able slowcore duo Shores challenges it, and suggests that No Idea is now about more than, well, all that stuff we mentioned above. Take, for example, the track "Meanwhile" from Shores' debut Coup De Grace, issued by No Idea Oct. 31 in a limited first-run of colored vinyl with a screen-printed cover and download code. It's measured, meditative, melodic and dynamic, and it hits a strident crescendo two-thirds of a way through that recalls certain fine moments from T.W. Walsh and Codeine. No Idea has posted "Meanwhile" as a free download, and it is ripe and ready for your winter playlists. Have at it.

Shores -- "Meanwhile" -- Coup De Grace
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[buy Coup De Grace from No Idea right here]

And Then Some Days We Get Awesome Mail 2

London-based (via Manchester) noise-pop sensations Sir Yes Sir's thrilling cassette-only debut EP Not Excited arrived today. The collection was released March 1 in the UK and remains available for purchase -- until the limited edition of 200 copies peters out -- from Rough Trade here. We first wrote about Sir Yes Sir right here in January; since then the band has shared the stage with Clicky Clicky faves Johnny Foreigner; released said EP; played the big Pavement tribute show in Brixton earlier this month; and recorded a radio session with Huw Stephens. Late word from the band is that it will appear on a forthcoming compilation put out by London-based indie concern Fierce Panda. Fierce Panda will release June 14 the Licensed To Drill six-track compilation EP, to which Sir Yes Sir have contributed the song "Your Recent Hits." Apparently a Sir Yes Sir full-length recording is in the works. These are exciting times.

Pavement Ist Rad, Brixton, 8 May

Featuring the exceedingly promising Sir Yes Sir, about whom we first wrote words here, and the one-time-only supergroup (featuring at least one member of the wholly terrific Johnny Foreigner) Kannberg 1664. England, you're doing it right.

YouTube Rodeo: Sir Yes Sir's "Not Excited"

We discovered the above video at London-based blog F*ckingDance an hour ago, and we can't stop listening to the track. "Not Excited" has a wall of guitars and a buried vocal and tons of attack and melody and harmonic noise and swirl and punch and flat-out awesomeness. We only turned on to Sir Yes Sir -- a trio containing Joseph Logan, Daniel Cowley and Sam Turner -- via Another Form of Relief last week. And while we liked the track AFOR posted ("Have I Hell," get it here), we are bonkers for "Not Excited." According to its MySpazzzz Sir Yes Sir will play with Johnny Foreigner in Manchester, England Feb. 2. That's a hot bill. Curiously, the Not Excited EP will apparently be released on *cassette tape* March 1 by the un-Google-able Hope Club Records. We're hoping the EP also makes its way into digital storefronts, preferably ones serving North America. We're selfish like that. With the rock.