Today's Hotness: Weed, Samira Winter, Diet Cig

>> Lefse Records has unveiled a real blinder from Vancouver three-piece Weed in the form of "Thousand Pounds," the first single taken from the band's forthcoming sophomore set Running Back. "Thousand Pounds" bursts open with a two-chord curtain composed of distorted guitar and white-out cymbal crashes, which enshrouds a relatively serene, slap-backed vocal from fronter Will Anderson that ultimately leads the song to an uneasy, clanging denouement. The flipside, a tune called "Turret," is a "super old b-side" taken from the band's first-ever studio session. For context, Weed issued its debut long-player Deserve in September 2013 on Couple Skate, and also has an EP and another single under its collective belt. Lefse will release "Thousand Pounds" b/w "Turret" as a vinyl 7" and digital download Feb. 24, and pre-orders are being taken right here. Running Back is a 10-song set slated for release April 7, with a limited run of vinyl being pressed to bright pink media. These LPs will come packaged with a lyric sheet and large newsprint poster, and -- magically -- they, too, are also available for pre-order. Stream "Thousand Pounds" via the Soundcloud embed below. Weed embark on a brief West Coast tour Feb. 5 -- its first since 2013 -- and all the dates are listed at the act's Bandcamp right here.



>> The original inspiration for Clicky Clicky's sorta neglected Regolith songwriting challenge feature, Samira Winter, is back at it, hammering away at a song-a-week project that is producing terrific results. Ms. Winter's latest entry, the eleventh in the present series, is the hazy dream-pop gem "She Said No." The tune is a collaboration with a producer/engineer named Scott Barber, and its power is in its simplicity: while it is of average length, the entire thing feels like one long, affecting chorus. The actual chorus is a knockout, pairing a rich, descending guitar melody with Winter's arresting voice -- backed, presumably, by Mr. Barber's -- insistently repeating "all because she said no." Ms. Winter recently soft-announced the sophomore set from her full-band project Winter -- the first recorded with her more recent left-coast lineup -- which will be called Supreme Blue Dream. The set will be issued by LA's Lolipop Records, according to this article in LA Weekly, but there is no official word yet on formats or a release date (although our recollection is Lolipop favors cassette releases). We've heard the record and expect fans will be very pleased to hear what is coming. The band Winter has been gigging very regularly since relocating to California about a year ago; it is on a hot bill next week supporting Dead Meadow at the Continental Room in Fullerton. We previously wrote about Samira Winter's first song-a-day thing right here in September 2013, and have a written a bunch of other stuff, like this piece about Winter's "Alligator" single here, and we premiered the video for "Bedroom Philosophies" right here. Considering how strikingly strong the material from the current songwriting challenge is, we would be very surprised if some of it didn't end up on a forthcoming Winter record, especially as -- although we don't want to give too much away -- certain tunes from her first songwriting challenge will appear on Supreme Blue Dream. All of that, of course, remains to be seen. But we highly recommend "She Said No," which you can stream and download via the embed below, to your attention.

>> From the same fertile scene that brought the indie rock world What Moon Things comes the fresh new indie punk duo Diet Cig. Fronter Alex Luciano and drummer Noah Bowman ably conjure the sort of scruffy charm that made Tiger Trap records so listenable, oh, a 100 years ago. Which, if you don't know from Tiger Trap, means strong pop fundamentals, substantial vim and appealing rough edges, with occasional inbursts of classic girl group reverie ("Scene Sick"). It's a sound that places Diet Cig in the good company of contemporary acts like Swearin' and Radiator Hospital. Diet Cig are debuting with an almost absurdly strong five-song EP called Over Easy, which will be released by Father/Daughter on cassette and as a digital download Feb. 24. The short set is already drawing raves, and it is easy to hear why: we've listened to the thing on repeat for hours at a time and Over Easy has yet to feel stale. Stream the scathing rocker "Harvard," with its defiant chorus "fuck your Ivy League sweater," and the aforementioned, concise and more introspective (but similarly fuck-filled, radio programmers be warned) ballad "Scene Sick" via the embeds below. Pre-order Over Easy from Father/Daughter right here, it's the right thing to do and the tasty way to do it.

Today's Hotness: Radiator Hospital, Red Sea, Steve Hauschildt

>> Punk-pop saviors Radiator Hospital already put out one of the great power-pop releases of the year with its life-affirming Torch Song LP [review] over the summer, but the remarkably prolific operation led by Grand Rapids, Mich.-bred Sam Cook-Parrot just let loose to the indie-verse another great pair. Mr. Cook-Parrott and co. contributed two tunes to a towering four-band split from the un-eff-withable tag-team combo of Exploding In Sound and Double Double Whammy. The two Radiator Hospital tracks, "Half Empty" and "Now & Then," fall in line with the folk-y lo-fi detours that spangle last year's full-length tour de force Something Wild [review], our formal introduction to Philly collective, but are notable in that neither tune features Cook-Parrott on lead vocal. Featured alongside Radiator Hospital on the aforementioned split 7" are Boston bugcore provocateurs Krill, fuzz dynamos LVL UP and guitar-band goliaths Ovlov, making the four-way split a proverbial dream team of indie rock bliss. Those who monitor our social media spew closely have already heard Krill and Ovlov's offerings, but everyone can hear them again via the Soundcloud embed below, as well as the tunes from Radiator Hospital and LVL UP. Score the record from Double Double Whammy right here. Blue-and-yellow vinyl platters are already sold out, but the 7" is still available pressed to yellow or blue media; vinyl orders ships next month, while the digital release was earlier this week. Also of note is Mr. Cook-Parrott's current solo tour with the equally solo Allison Crutchfield of Swearin'. Local fans would be wise to note that said tour slides into the Boston area tomorrow night for a show at the Democracy Center in Harvard Square; it wraps two days later in Brooklyn. Details for the Cambridge show -- which also includes Dessert First and Pre Studded Cardigan -- can be found right here. -- Dillon Riley



>> We were bowled over by the Yardsticks for Human Intelligence EP, Red Sea's early 2014 collection of four two-year-old tracks which together formed the perfect calling card for the mysterious Atlanta-based indie rock act's skewed songcraft. Drawing from the cold but brilliant guitar sound of Women's masterful Public Strain album, Red Sea's EP arrived seemingly out of nowhere to establish the band as both highly adventurous and as possessing distinctly original songwriting. And, just as Yardsticks revealed a mysterious, guitar-driven universe contained therein, so too does the band's striking recent release In The Salon. The short set, which surfaced via Bandcamp way back on Sept. 8, is a genre-expanding effort that explores new applications of drum, bass and synth elements while also nudging the band's production into more precise focus. It is an extraordinarily singular set which boldly challenges traditional rock constructions with jazzy flourishes and unexpected twists, while still being able to get the head nodding in the same manner as, say, Talking Heads, Joy Division and Prince. Red Sea recorded In The Salon's seven tracks live in the studio, and man, the tightness, clarity and ferocity of its complex pieces are breathtaking. Opener "Life Image Module" touts sweetly sung vocals, two guitars and a bass that all seem to be playing slightly off from one another. That dynamic, of "disconnected connectedness" is an important element of In The Salon. During both "On The Marble" and "Participation" Red Sea skitters around the time signature, guitar strums and snare hits coming in front of or behind the beat, ultimately building a larger groove or melody by wholly unconventional means. "Participation" is the stunner of the set, sounding like a long lost, experimental pop piece by the two Davids in their '70s prime (Byrne and Bowie, of course) [Also, we'd argue that Red Sea's dazzling no-wave groover "Chance Arrest" would simply not be if Byrne and Robert Fripp hadn't first offered the blindingly brilliant "Under Heavy Manners." -- Ed.]. The deep, tuneful vocals and clean and jagged guitar hooks contrast against mind-blowing stick work, wherein the drummer diverts the snare in and out of time within certain bars, as if an old Aphex Twin sound card sprouted arms, grew sentient and developed a taste for the region's prized peaches. And that fantastical image, really, sums the EP up. In The Salon is the collective effort of a group of musicians so clever, they both playfully and nobly taunt listeners to join them as they dive into their own confounding, extrasensory universe. Stream the EP via the embed below and click through to purchase. -- Edward Charlton



>> We were pleased to encounter a notice recently from Brooklyn imprint Air Texture informing us that the ambient electronic musician Steve Hauschildt is co-curating the upcoming Air Texture Volume IV digital compilation. A nifty idea, the Air Texture series selects two experimental artists to compile a two-disc mix that includes both new works by the curators as well as other pieces that tickle their fancy. Air Texture Volume IV, which is co-curated by a producer named BNJMN, features two tracks from Mr. Hauschildt bookending the first disc, including the preview track "Watertowers." The glistening instrumental commences with what sounds like accelerated insect noises before introducing Hauschildt's familiar, arpeggiated synth work. The piece not long after settles on a group of interlocking synth textures that at different times evoke classic house music and the icy shoegaze of mid-period M83, all while still functioning in its entrancing, ambient context. Although the piece deviates little throughout its six minutes, it establishes a transporting, positive groove that challenges the listener to reconsider what constitutes dance music. What is EDM without the constant serial pulse of the drum machine? It's something that electronic producer Kaito explored more than a decade ago with the brilliant pair of records Special Life and Special Love [link, link]. But it's also probably something very much like "Watertowers," which you can stream via the embed below. Air Texture Volume IV will be released Nov. 3; pre-orders for the collection are not yet live, but we advise you to watch this space. Hauschildt embarks on a European tour Nov. 1, and all planned dates are listed right here. We last wrote about Hauschildt here in July 2013. -- Edward Charlton

Review: Radiator Hospital | Torch Song

Among rock-and-roll songwriters, there are something like three archetypes: the industrious perfectionist, the chronic over-sharer, and, well, all those other people. Sam Cook-Parrott is most certainly of the over-sharing ilk. A perusal of his indie rock concern Radiator Hospital's Bandcamp page speaks to a prolific bent, and -- more importantly -- a mastery of power-pop that few Cook-Parrot's age can claim. His band's oeuvre presents an embarrassment of riches, with records that shift through various styles while reliably twisting nostalgia and heartbreak into arms-outstretched, sing-alongable anthems. Indeed, the best-of-2013 full length Something Wild [review] found Radiator Hospital equally adept at crafting potent, Hüsker Dü-descended pop-punk and crackly, confessional downer folk. Radiator Hospital's fizzing latest collection Torch Song is perhaps even more lean and refreshing, and ably hoists the act up onto par -- in terms of renown -- with its more-celebrated affiliates.

For many, Something Wild, and particularly its killer songwriting and vital perfomances, served as a proper introduction to Radiator Hospital. The runaway successes of Waxahatchee and Swearin' (certain members of which have contributed and continue to contribute to Radiator Hospital records) definitely cast some reflected glory upon Something Wild, but Radiator Hospital need not ride anyone's coattails. And Torch Song is the definitive proof. The set sparkles with uptempo, Buffalo Tom-styled rockers like "Five & Dime" and "Honeymoon Phase" as well as more pensive acoustic strummers like the bottomlessly poignant "Fireworks (Reprise)" and the concise gem "I’m Alright." All of it is delivered with remarkable economy. Indeed, Cook-Parrott is smart to remain true to the short burst, high reward modus operandi of Something Wild by opening the new set with "Leather & Lace," a thrilling punk ditty punctuated by drummer Jeff Bolt's frenetic rolls and a barn-burning final chorus. Elsewhere, the record's notable guest vocalists provide perfect foils to Cook-Parrott's high and lonesome singing, as both Crutchfield sisters and All Dogs' Maryn Jones each feature prominently on various tracks. However, Torch Song's greatest vocal turns come from Cook-Parrott himself, when he harmonizes his higher register with a laconic, gravel-y monotone. The verses of closer "Midnight Nothing" eschew singing altogether, opting for a sing-speak style conveys well the narrative nature of the song’s evocative lyrics -- before bursting forth once more with life-affirming choruses.

Torch Song is not only the best Radiator Hospital record to date, but it also includes its fair share of outlier ideas. The most intriguing of these is "Sleeping House," a late-album swoon that rests on nothing more than some minimal rhythm work and a droning, repetitive organ lead. In-and-out well before the three-minute mark, the song makes a strong argument for Radiator Hospital as ambient-pop project. Still, its likely just another genre experiment from Cook-Parrott: a guy who succeeds at those sort of things far more than he fails. Preorders for the Torch Song LP are being taken by Detroit-based label Salinas Records here right now. The record is also available as a pay-what-you-like download via Bandcamp; click through the embed below to purchase. -- Dillon Riley

Radiator Hospital: Bandcamp | Facebook | Internerds

Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Top Albums Of 2013: Jay Edition

More so than in any of the 13 years in which we've devoted too much time to writing about music, it feels silly to pick the best of it for 2013. So much of what we heard this year was wonderful, and the year certainly exceeded our expectations. This despite our fervently held belief that there is *always*, every year, an abundance of excellent music waiting to be discovered; the trick is finding it. Which is kind of why this blog is here. And while we struggled with tough decisions that excluded deserving acts including Fat History Month, Heyward Howkins, It Hugs Back and Bent Shapes from the final top 10, well, dammit, rules are rules. We're going to have one more year-end list coming by the end of the week, top albums selections from our indefatigable Staff Writer Dillon Riley. Before we let you get to Executive Editor Jay's picks below, we want to take this opportunity to thank you for reading Clicky Clicky Music Blog. We try to do things a bit differently here, by offering more insight and analysis, more background and context. We hope the quality of the product makes reading about music here something you value. And another quick thanks for everyone, both bands and fans, who supported the Lilys comp And I Forgot A Long Time Ago How You Feel, as well as the Community Servings benefit show we presented last month. Music is important; we believe that with every fiber of our being. It matters. Below is a list of the albums that, in Jay's estimation, mattered the most in 2013.

1. Speedy Ortiz -- Major Arcana -- Carpark Records

While success outside the four corners of the record sleeve isn't something our year-end lists take into consideration, it's hard to draw any conclusions other than 2013 was owned by Speedy Ortiz, one of the hardest-working rock bands in the rock music-making business. Within the four corners of the record, it is easy to hear why: Speedy Ortiz makes the sophisticated sort of guitar music we want to listen to a lot. Indeed, Major Arcana, with its full-frontal guitars, churning rhythm section and engaging articulations of frustration and decathection, is immediate and gratifying. To paraphrase a singer from a different band discussed below, there ain't a stinker on it. We reviewed Major Arcana for Vanyaland right here in July; buy it from Carpark Records here.





2. Krill -- Lucky Leaves -- Self-Released

"Just go ahead, climb into my head," is what Lucky Leaves seems to say, leaning down and tipping its comically over-sized cranium toward you, snapping the clamps behind the ears upwards and open, and lifting off the top. "It's kinda weird in here," it goes on, although it is kind of hard to tell whether the record is talking to you or itself when it says that. "Never mind the other dude in there, he's harmless. He's actually got a pretty good band, you should check them out... though he said something about them breaking up? Half the time I don't know what he's on about." We reviewed Lucky Leaves here in June; buy it here (and tick-tock: we're given to understand there are fewer than 40 copies of the first vinyl pressing left for sale).



3. Veronica Falls -- Waiting For Something To Happen -- Slumberland

This was our go-to record for the first half of 2013, and we continue to put it on often. Eminently listenable British guitar pop. The songwriting on the album is so strong that the album feels like a singles compilation. What's more, Waiting For Something To Happen features one of the very best songs of the year, the wistful ode to young love "Teenager." The nagging question of seeing this record at number three on the list is whether that placement, ultimately, can be traced to the enjoyment we got seeing or otherwise interacting with the members of the bands mentioned above. Whatever the reason, the aggregate play counts across ITunes, etc., don't lie. This record is so good even Clicky Clicky Mom liked it when it was played during her visits to HQ; a fairly rare feat, this liking (it was accomplished previously by two admittedly amazing records, Okay Paddy's The Cactus Has A Point -- link -- and Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga). Buy Waiting For Something To Happen from Slumberland right here.





4. My Bloody Valentine -- mbv -- Self-Released

We recently discussed mbv with a friend, specifically its surprise release -- and everyone's mad dash to the My Bloody Valentine web site to purchase and listen to this tremendous new collection -- and how that release has been one of the very few communally shared experiences in modern indie rock. That pulse-pounding excitement was totally appropriate, especially given how great mbv is, and the dissonance of that excitement butting up against such a serene-sounding album opener, "She Found Now," perhaps only heightened the experience. My Bloody Valentine's follow-up to its legendary Loveless is terrific, offering not only familiarity (with its cooed vocals and bending guitars), but also an explanation of sorts ("In Another Way" manifests Kevin Shields' purported fixation with jungle, albeit years and years and years after that fixation was a topic of conversation). As gratifying as mbv is, perhaps most gratifying of all is Mr. Shields' uncompromising approach to the business of music; we'd say "outspokenness" if perhaps he spoke more often, although the interviews he's given over the past year are all amazing. Shields' is a singular sonic vision, and hopefully one that will be as inspiring to bands as Loveless has been. This 2013 collection extends and burnishes the deep MBV legacy; buy it here.



5. Los Campesinos! -- No Blues -- Wichita/Turnstyle

Big, bold and beautiful is what this is. While we are still unsettled by the revelation that No Blues was almost not made (the band had apparently considered hanging up its boots), that doesn't in any way diminish how enjoyable it is. Indeed, it's as accomplished a collection as Cardiff-based Los Campesinos! has made. The singles still punch hard, the album cuts are just as rich and soundly conceived. Fronter Gareth Campesinos' lyrics remain sharp and affecting, a feat all the more impressive given his stated practice of writing them as late as possible into the recording process. Let us not overlook just how neat a trick it is that so many of the lyrics center around football, yet still communicate as strongly as when he addresses affairs of the heart (perhaps it is no trick: football -- that's soccer to you, Yank -- is an affair of the heart to Gareth). The single "Avocado, Baby," with is ridiculously catchy chant, just missed our year-end songs list, and other album highlights include "Cemetery Gaits" and "What Death Leaves Behind." We reviewed No Blues here last month; buy it from the band right here. Los Camp play a rare Boston date next month.





6. Radiator Hospital -- Something Wild -- Salinas

Now that we have published our year-end songs list, wherein we disclosed that we favored this collection over even the dynamite releases by scenemates Swearin' and Waxahatchee, it's probably little surprise to find Radiator Hospital sitting here. Call it pop-punk, call it emo, it doesn't matter: Something Wild is fun and emotional and engaging (not that those aforementioned collections from the respective bands of the sisters Crutchfield aren't these things; we just listened to Something Wild more, and math counts). Our own Dillon Riley reviewed the set right here in July; buy it from Salinas records here.



7. Calories -- III -- Self-Released

Here is the third of three self-released records on our year-end list, which, of course, says something about the Music Industry of Today. However, this is not the place for a dissection of the challenges faced by bands trying to sell music. Even so, when something as objectively super and as wildly ambitious as Calories' III isn't the subject of a label bidding war, we start to wonder what the hell is wrong with the world. III is the foursome's most confident and rewarding to date, building up from the stoney foundations of the monolithic post-punk of its early years to embrace looser structures and more varied aural topographies. Somewhere along the way Calories started to sound haunted; at the same time the band started to engage a yen to fluidly jam across larger and larger stretches of time. Now vocals are subdued, guitars are just as likely to be acoustic as electric, but the potency of Calories music is not diluted. The greatest cut from III, the amazing, 10-minute closer "Tropics," is almost an album unto itself. The tune commences with broad distorted chords, crashing symbols and forefronted oohs, shifts into a steady four-four rocker for a minute, and then transforms into a spiraling, poignant final movement that stretches across almost eight minutes. That tune in and of itself is worth about 10 bucks, but you can download III from Bandcamp here in exchange for as much money as you care to pay for it.



8. Ovlov -- am -- Exploding In Sound

The conventional wisdom among the indiescienti is that -- from a label standpoint -- 2013 belonged to Exploding In Sound Records, who issued not only Ovlov's am, but also Fat History Month's blindingly brilliant Bad History Month, and Kal Mark's Life Is Murder, among other fine sound recordings. Ovlov's noisy hooks on am are undenible, despite the aural sludge in which the Connecticut trio encases them on belters like "Nu Punk" and the cataclysmic opener "Grapes." Vintage Dinosaur Jr. is a popularly applied reference, but Ovlov's vibe is less backwoods goth and more conventional (the opener's melody, reinforced by backing vocals from Speedy Ortiz's Sadie Dupuis, echoes great tunes by more pop-leaning Clicky Clicky faves The Wannadies and Projekt A-ko). The music on am shakes and shudders with desperate energy, fuzz flies off the guitars and cymbals, and the whole waxy ball of wax is anchored to punishing snare hits and fronter Steve Hartlett's Mascis-esque yowl. All of which makes the record endlessly listenable. Buy am from Exploding In Sound right here.



9. Guillermo Sexo -- Dark Spring -- Midriff Records

Diving deeper within to explore sounds and textures in the studio, Boston psych-rock unit Guillermo Sexo yet maintain an admirable level of focus, which is brought to bear on the urgent and dreamy material on its fifth long player Dark Spring. The remarkably varied album touts two seven-minute-plus opuses (inluding "Meow Metal," which was recognized in our year-end, best songs list) that speak to the band's confidence and willingness to stretch out and chase ambitious ideas. The set's first third, however, features a slate of immediate and more concise rockers. The collection has a classic '70s feel, adventurous and with an almost narrative quality, making it perhaps the most "albumy" album on this year-end list. We reviewed Dark Spring right here in September; buy it from Midriff right here.



10. Joey Sweeney -- Long Hair -- La Société Expéditionnaire

Long Hair is like an old friend, almost literally: Joey Sweeney's only other solo set, the excellent Heartache Baseball, was released in 1995. That's basically a lifetime ago, during a figurative pause between his most well-known bands Barnabys and The Trouble With Sweeney, the latter of which released its final recording almost a decade ago. This new and fresh solo collection has shed the youthful confusion, dyspeptic romances and coffee nerves that concerned Mr. Sweeney as a younger songwriter. Long Hair, instead, is confident and amused by life, and only a little world-weary. The well-measured, nicely orchestrated set distills decades of Philadelphia's rock and pop into nine songs that feel like a memoir: here is the park where the toughs trashed Sweeney for having new wave hair; there is the bar where the sweetest romantic conquest lifted a heavy heart. The record is highlighted by what might be the most direct piece of songwriting on the set, "Records And Coffee," Sweeney's ode to reliable comforts -- which is what Long Hair turns out to be. Stream selections from the record below, or the entire shebang gratis via this link to Emusic.com. Buy Long Hair here.