Today's Hotness: Future Carnivores, Manors, Scud Mountain Boys



>> A number of things conspired against us providing timely coverage of Future Carnivores' recently issued sophomore set, but none are as remotely interesting as the record itself. Titled Come Inside, the set features 10 generous cuts of the Cambridge, Mass.-based collective's singular tribal space-pop. The songs are largely spun from the same silk as the tunes gracing Future Carnivores' 2012 self-titled debut, which we reviewed here. Come Inside continues the band's love affair with re-imagined New Romantic pop: dreamy vocals swirl over basic, hypnotic grooves fashioned from electro beats and staccato guitar loops, a foundation regularly and significantly embellished by imaginative instrumentation and production. If there is a defining characteristic to Come Inside versus the band's debut, it is that the music has drifted further from verse/chorus constructs to focus pointedly on the aforementioned hypnotic grooves. If you'll permit the aside, it calls to mind Dave Sitek's (TVOTR) interview with Pitchfork in 2006, in which he discusses the importance of repetition ("Through the trauma of birth we're thrown into these repetitions, everything from our heartbeat to our routines, and I think it's identifiable") and hi-hat ("This guy named Fegun who played with Fela Kuti for a while was telling me about the hypnotic effect of music. He's like, 'The most important drum in Afrobeat is not a drum, it's the hi-hat. Because it hypnotizes. And that's what people identify with. It syncs with their heartbeat.'"). It speaks to the confidence of Future Carnivores that Come Inside opens with a six-minute mid-tempo jam whose second-half blossoms into a blissful, psychedelic sound-chakra. "Blame Time" ups the ante on the six-piece's groove fixation via a foregrounded syncopated cymbal cadence. Not that there aren't some uptempo and single-worthy numbers on Come Inside; the quasi-title track "Twice" is a modern dance-floor killer that provides the record's boldest moments, and the slightly more subdued preview track "The Drugs She Fed You Last Night" goes intergalactic when the beat drops out and returns at the close of the final chorus. Come Inside was self-released by the band June 3, and is available for sale as a digital download via Bandcamp. Stream the whole dealy via the embed below.



>> We aren't head over heels over the entire collection, but the recent lo-fi LP from Philadelphia's Manors does feature one song we can't stop listening to, the sweet, spare and spooky ballad "Teeth Dreams." Tangentially, we'll remark here for those who don't know that teeth dreams is a thing, we used to have bad dreams with some regularity that our teeth broke. Ironically, we finally broke one 10 years ago and then the dreams went away. Magic! Anyway, Manors is the nom de rock of Dayna Evans, and "Teeth Dreams" rests in the midst of her record called Fit In. The set features drumming by all-around awesome dood Evan Bernard, whose name should be familiar to Clicky Clicky readers, but "Teeth Dreams" is comprised of just three elements: a Kim Deal-esque vocal track, electric guitar and what we'd guess is melodica. It's the simple vocal and its sad, self-aware narrative that draws us in again and again ("...I thought you'd be the one, but I don't know anymore..."). The tune is filled with beauty and resignation and regret and doubt and is terribly human and affecting. It's perfect for the hot summer days upon us, just the thing to help you pass still hours under a piece of shade and within a wisp of breeze. Fit In was released to the wilds of the Internerds via Bandcamp May 14; stream "Teeth Dreams" via the Bandcamp embed below.



>> We'd be derelict in our duties if we did not inform you that details about the new record from reunited alt.country legends Scud Mountain Boys are now available. The new, fourth set -- the band's first in 17 years, since the release of the harrowing classic Massachusetts -- is titled Do You Love The Sun, and it streets July 9 via Ashmont Records. You can look at the album art and stream three songs (the title track, "Double Bed" and "Crown Of Thorns") at the quartet's brand-new web site right here. Fans who pre-order by July 4 will also receive a numbered, limited edition bonus disc titled Drowned, featuring three Joe Pernice-penned tunes recorded just before the Scuds signed to Sub Pop. Legal drama that surrounded the signing, among other things maybe, kept the songs -- which were recorded with Michael Deming at Studio .45 in Hartford, Conn. -- from ever being released previously. Drowned goes out of print immediately after the expiration of the pre-order period, so that's a pretty good inducement, right? You know, besides this awesome band reforming and recording a record for you? Incidentally, we once gave a Warners A&R rep the very bad advice to skip a Scud Mountain Boys show in Northampton, Mass. in 1995 or so, instead directing her to see the goofballs in The Unband. Live and learn... Anyway, if you know what's good for you, you will pre-order Do You Love The Sun directly from Ashmont and the band right here. The Scuds first reunited in 2011 at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge; the foursome's next local appearance will be at Brighton Music Hall in Boston Sept. 20.

Remarks: Destroyer, Iran, Wooden Wand

All of Friday night clicked together very neatly for us when Iran fronter Aaron Aites mentioned that he had written the song "I Already Know You're Wrong," a highlight of the Brooklyn-based quartet's supporting set, with Peter Hoffman. This name might not mean that much to you unless, like us, you are a very big fan of the late, lamented The Mendoza Line, which in its heyday was fronted by Mr. Hoffman, Timothy Bracy and Shannon McArdle. According to Wikipedia, which we all know to be completely infallible, apparently Hoffman was once a full-fledged member of Iran, as was TV On The Radio's Kyp Malone. This latter fact, Mr. Malone's membership, was the only thing we knew about Iran before we took in the set Friday night; he was not with the band Friday night.

After Mr. Aites mentioned Hoffman, he tossed off a casual comment about Hoffman having played with Mendoza Line, and that Mendoza Line's Tim Bracy had been playing with opening act Wooden Wand. This was complete news to us, and we certainly would have detached ourselves from the bar at the front of the building to see Wooden Wand had we known there was a possibility Bracy was performing. So we're almost lacing this together -- the final salient fact is that Mr. Bracy was/is a partner in Misra Records, which released some earlier Destroyer records. See how it all ties together? It would seem that the bill last night was all strung together through that Misra connection, even though Iran's records are released on Narnack, Destroyer is now on Merge and Wooden Wand is, we think, on Young God.

So the show... our only familiarity with Iran was a promo track that circulated the Internerds sometime last year, and frankly we weren't that crazy about it. So when we wandered in to catch the Iran set it was mostly to see whether Mr. Malone was still with the combo and whether any of Iran's other material grabbed us. The answer to the former question, as we already stated, was no. But Iran's other material definitely did grab us, even more so than the recorded stuff, which we've since purchased from EMusic. The musicianship was admirable as well: the rhythm section was dynamic and punchy, and Mr. Aites presentation and delivery made us think of Steve Earle a little bit. He just stands there and sings, a bit like Joe Cocker, sans animation, but Aites' voice is heavy like lead. Good stuff. We found Iran's guitarist's handlebar mustache amusing, but were on the wrong side of the hall to really see what he was up to.

As we noted supra, Destroyer's Dan Bejar -- worshiped a little too much by the self-consciously loquacious younger fans standing around us, we thought -- came out under the spots sporting only a red Guild acoustic, his voice, a couple Stella Artois bottles and what might have been a heavily poured dram of liquor in a plastic cup. Or it could have been tea with honey. That wouldn't surprise us. Anyway, despite the completely minimal set-up, Bejar was arresting to watch and listen to. We've read one or two interviews where Bejar talks about how it is not just the turns of phrase, but how he turns those phrases with his mouth, that interests him. The combination of the two is what he's built his career on, and we certainly admire both. There are honestly few lyrical geniuses, and Bejar is one of them, and the fact that he's matched them to gripping songs is all the more amazing. We were very pleased with the solemn iteration of "Foam Hands," and Destroyer offered numerous other hits for the cardigan set, including "European Oils," "Painter In Your Pocket," "Watercolours Into The Ocean," "Farrar, Strauss & Giroux" and "This Night."

Destroyer -- "Foam Hands" -- Trouble In Dreams
[right click and save as]
buy Destroyer records from Newbury Comics right here

The Mendoza Line -- "What Ever Happened To You?" -- Sent Down To AA
[right click and save as]
buy Mendoza Line records from Newbury Comics right here

Today's Hotness: Report Suspicious Activity, TV On The Radio

>> Our complaints about the lack of contemporary, politically charged hardcore music continue to go largely ignored. Thankfully, Vic Bondi and J. Robbins' Report Suspicious Activity is on the case. Has it been more than a week since this whole "lipstick on a pig" nonsense transpired in the American political sphere? It certainly hasn't been much longer than that, which makes it all the more remarkable that Report Suspicious Activity has already recorded a track responding to that empty furor and the empty politician that inspired it. The track dubs Ms. Palin "George Bush in a skirt," so if that isn't the sort of sentiment that sits well with you, well, you probably wouldn't be here in the first place. The tune is available for download at the foursome's MySpace compound, but we'll save you a trip and post it below. Do make certain to go to the quartet's MySpace wigwam, because another new song, "1-800-DESTROY" has also been posted and is even more of a barnburner. Thank you, Mr. Bondi, et al., for taking the time to put one of America's important natural resources -- hardcore music -- to use at a time when it is most needed. Because we'll never stop loving it, we're also posting Report Suspicious Activity's "Subtle." Alternative Tentacles released the band's sophomore set Destroy All Evidence Aug. 18.

Report Suspicious Activity -- "Lipstick On A Pig" -- MySpace track
Report Suspicious Activity -- "Subtle" -- Report Suspicious Activity
[right click and save as]
[buy Report Suspicious Activity records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> By the time you read these words MySpace will have been streaming in its entirety the madly anticipated new record from TV On The Radio for hours and hours. And Stereogum says here you can already stream the deluxe edition of the album at Last.FM right here, so hold on while we click over. Wow, wait until you hear "Crying." Dear Science, will be in stores Tuesday -- and we will most certainly make a special trip to buy it during our lunch hour that very day. People are already throwing around album of the year accolades, which isn't terribly surprising considering how strong Return To Cookie Mountain was. We noticed that a promotions company has set up a number of prominent music blogs with vinyl copies to give away, so if you've got a turntable you should hit up the Googles to avail yourself of such an opportunity. The Brooklyn-based quintet commences a long strand of tour dates tonight in San Diego; the tour wraps in Europe Dec. 5. You may inspect all the tour dates at the aforementioned MySpace dojo right here. TV On The Radio plays the Wilbur Theater in Boston Oct. 13, but we may have to pass as we'll be seeing The Feelies and The Notwist on the two preceding nights.

>> Pitchfork threw a little love -- just a little -- in the direction of our favorite British noise-pop stars Johnny Foreigner. The Bloc Party remix of "Salt, Peppa And Spindarella" got the Forkcast treatment here, which we suppose means it is now cool for us to post the track as well. We still await delivery of our copy of the vinyl version of "Salt, Peppa And Spinderella," but it shouldn't be too much longer. What else can we tell you? There's not much else new to know about the band. We made an insprection of the Nettwerk web site recently to see if we could find an actual North American release date for the band's forthcoming full-length debut Waited Up Til It Was Light. And while we found nothing definitive about a date, we did learn that Johnny Foreigner's label in Canada is Nettwerk Productions, but in the U.S. it is Nettwerk Records LLC. Fascinating, right? Whatever, here's the remix.

Johnny Foreigner -- "Salt, Peppa And Spinderalla (Bloc Party Remix)" -- Salt, Peppa And Spinderella 10" single
[right click and save as]
[buy Johnny Foreigner music from EMusic right here]

Today's Hotness: Frightened Rabbit, TVOTR, Johnny Foreigner

>> Drowned In Sound reports here that Selkirk, Scotland's finest, the indie rock foursome Frightened Rabbit, will issue a third single to support its superlative sophomore set The Midnight Organ Fight [read our review here]. Due Sept. 22 in the UK is the uptempo rocker "I Feel Better" backed with our favorite track from the record, the infectious and relatively swinging piano-pounder "The Twist." The Midnight Organ Fight, incidentally, has finally been issued on vinyl, although label Fat Cat's web site says the 12" issue is already sold out just via pre-orders. Or at least we think that is what they mean. Hard to say. Either way, getting one bought, boxed up and shipped to the States is likely prohibitively expensive. We reviewed Frightened Rabbit's July 1 Boston show right here. The quartet begins successive tours of Ireland and the UK in early August, and then it plays several European dates in early October. Consult Frightened Rabbit's itinerary at it's MySpace hutch right here. How about a classic?

Frightened Rabbit -- "The Greys" -- Sing The Greys
[right click and save as]
[buy Frightened Rabbit records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> NME reported here today that TV On The Radio will release its third full-length Sept. 23 in the U.S. The set is called Dear Science, -- sadly, that comma is part of the title, which puts it on par with names as cool as *NSYNC, in our humble opinion. The Brooklyn-based act's previous record was the highly acclaimed Return To Cookie Mountain, which was released in 2006. TV On The Radio teased the release of that record with a performance at Boston's City Hall Plaza two years ago, which we reviewed here. The quintet is currently giving away for free at its MySpace dojo the jitterfunk track "Dumb Animal," which is new to us but was apparently originally issued as a b-side on the sold-out "Province" single released last year by 4AD. Have a listen.

TV On The Radio -- "Dumb Animal" -- Province 7"
[right click and save as]
[by TV On The Radio records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> As of last night, Johnny Foreigner had yet to officially unveil the video for its forthcoming single, the gargantuan "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella." The video clip appeared online briefly about a week ago, and then was pulled just as a MySpace bulletin was circulated by label Best Before saying the video would be released this past weekend. Well, the weekend has come and gone. The single will be issued Sept. 8 as a 10" with three remixes, including one concocted by countrymen Bloc Party. Hear any interesting stories about Bloc Party fronter Kele Okerere? [Oh Lydon, we're so disappointed]. Anyhoo, "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" is the third and likely final single from the Birmingham, England-based trio's debut full-length Waited Up Til It Was Light, which is available digitally in North America today. Yes, you read that correctly. We checked EMusic, ITunes and AmazonMP3 last night, and no one had the digital files live yet, although Amazon was clearly ready for the clock to strike midnight. A physical release for North America is slated for October; we reviewed the import here last month.

>> According to this blog post, Glaswegian septet Dananananaykroyd will apparently record their debut full-length for Best Before Records in New York, just as labelmates Johnny Foreigner did a year ago. We can only speculate the hotly tipped, Dischord-reminiscent act will also work with The Machine, the Hoboken-based producer who spun the knobs and situated the mics for the recording of Johnny Foreigner's spectacular Waited Up Til It Was Light. When that's confirmed or denied, we'll pipe up.

>> We're certainly no Facebook superuser, but we still feel like it should be patently obvious what the popular Facebook music app iLike does. But either it doesn't really do anything interesting, or we just totally don't get it. This story at Digital Music News refers to iLike as a "profile and discovery platform," which in our opinion means it does the same thing the rest of the Internet does. Most striking is iLike chief exec Ali Partovi's assertion therein that "[i]n some ways, streaming is the new downloading." We've heard this before, from the digital music service Rhapsody, who incidentally provides the back-end for many iLike services through some sort of sub-license. Interesting thing about Rhapsody is it just recently announced it would be selling untethered MP3 downloads. So it would seem to us that downloading is the new downloading, yeh? We just don't get it.

Review: Pinback | Autumn Of The Seraphs [Stream]

In an interview earlier this year TV On The Radio guitarist and producer Dave Sitek discussed repetition in music and how it appeals to a deeper consciousness in humans that is tied to the human heart beat. We wish we could dig up the clip, but the point is that this primal thrum that appeals to something very basic in listeners permeates the pleasantly sculpted music of veteran San Diego indie rock concern Pinback. We permitted Pinback's widely acclaimed 2005 Touch + Go debut Summer In Abbadon to skate by unexamined save for a few tracks posted on blogs, despite developing a pronounced affinity for the band's 2003 set Offcell. This latter record accompanied us on a lot of drives in the fall of 2003, and in the intervening years we've been increasingly interested by the work of Pinback's Rob Crow, whose non-Pinback releases earlier this year have both been notable, particularly the record by the project Other Men.

Here we pick up the Pinback thread on the occasion of its new, fourth set. Autumn Of The Seraphs percolates with the band's characteristic meditative energy. Mr. Crow, cohort Armistead Burwell Smith IV and band craft clean-burning songs that convey crackling passion and earnestness, all without getting too worked up. It's a neat balancing act, accomplished in no small part by refusing to indulge in rock's typically overt muscular posturing. As we said here a week ago: where other bands would use distortion, Pinback just dials back the edge and hits you with the clean. Where most other bands would deploy the fuzz-bass liberally to make their rock points strongly, Pinback uses in many places what sounds like one of those acoustic hollow-body electric basses that were popular in underground music circa 10,000 Maniacs. The album opener "From Nothing To Nowhere" is a case in point; it's all killer and no filler, but the instrumentation is surgically efficient. The album's hypnotic high points are "Good To Sea" and "Walters," two mid tempo amblers strung across crisp beats and abetted by a gauzy field of syncopated synth tones and guitar lines. Pinback embarks on an extensive tour Tuesday, and we've posted the American dates below.

Pinback -- "From Nothing To Nowhere" [stream] -- Autumn Of The Seraphs
[buy Autumn Of The Seraphs from Touch + Go here]

Pinback: InterWeb | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

09/11 -- Lou's Records -- San Diego, CA
09/12 -- Ameoba -- Los Angeles, CA
09/13 -- Ameoba -- San Francisco, CA
09/14 -- Fingerprints -- Long Beach, CA
09/19 -- Marquee Theatre -- Tempe, AZ
09/20 -- Sunshine Theatre -- Albuquerque, NM
09/21 -- Bricktown Events Center -- Oklahoma City, OK
09/22 -- LaGrave Field -- Fort Worth, TX
09/23 -- Emo's -- Austin, TX
09/25 -- Numbers -- Houston, TX
09/26 -- House Of Blues -- New Orleans, LA
09/27 -- Club Downunder -- Tallahassee, FL
09/28 -- The Social -- Orlando, FL
09/29 -- Common Grounds -- Gainesville, FL
10/01 -- Roxy Theatre -- Atlanta, GA
10/02 -- The Orange Peel -- Asheville, NC
10/03 -- Cat's Cradle -- Carrboro, NC
10/04 -- Satellite Ballroom -- Charlottesville, VA
10/05 -- Theatre Of The Living Art -- Philadelphia, PA
10/06 -- Stone Pony -- Asbury Park, NJ
10/07 -- 9:30 Club -- Washington, DC
10/09 -- Nokia Theatre -- New York, NY
10/10 -- The Roxy -- Boston, MA
10/11 -- The Tralf -- Buffalo, NY
10/12 -- Opera House -- Toronto, ON
10/13 -- The Crofoot -- Pontiac, MI
10/14 -- Metro -- Chicago, IL
10/16 -- Pabst Theater -- Milwaukee, WI
10/17 -- Fine Line Music Cafe -- Minneapolis, MN
10/18 -- Slowdown -- Omaha, NE
10/19 -- Gothic Theater -- Englewood, CO
10/20 -- The Depot -- Salt Lake City, UT
10/22 -- Showbox -- Seattle, WA
10/24 -- Roseland Theatre -- Portland, OR
10/25 -- Bimbo's -- San Francisco, CA
10/26 -- Bimbo's -- San Francisco, CA
10/27 -- Belly Up -- Solana Beach, CA
10/28 -- Wiltern Theatre -- Los Angeles, CA
10/23 -- Viking Union -- Bellingham, WA

NotYouTube Rodeo: Dinosaur Jr. Live At Amoeba Music

Indie legends Dinosaur Jr. played an in-store May 15 at the San Francisco outlet of the renowned retailer Amoeba Music, and we learned today via the FreakScene message boards that two video clips are available to stream. So here is the newish mellow strummer "This Is All I Came To Do" and the sludgy, powergoth classic "Gargoyle." The first cut is from the band's recent comeback triumph Beyond, which we reviewed here. The latter tune is from the band's 1985 debut. Note the close-ups of the Mascis-designed Nike shoes in the clip for "Gargoyle." Dinosaur Jr. is touring the world through the end of the summer, and has been on the road for some time already; full dates for shows in Europe and the Far East are posted here. The band returns to the states in time to appear on Conan O'Brien's late night gum-flapper Sept. 3.

Incidentally, if you click around through the menus at the Amoeba site you'll find that there are quite a few videos available, including a pretty hot montage of interview and live footage with TV On The Radio that is well worth watching here.

Today's Hotness: Wilco, Pole, Amazon, MySpace

>> Alt-rock gigantes Wilco have certainly got album marketing down to a science. Chromewaves here points us to a feature in Billboard that discusses the act's forthcoming record, Sky Blue Sky due May 15, and it lists off various planned sales permutations. The most appealing to us is the audiophile-grade vinyl that comes with a copy of the CD included. Not because we are a real vinyl devotee -- we're not, despite the fact that we continue to accidentally order LPs instead of CDs every now and again (resulting in our receiving a vinyl version of Kompakt's amazing Pop Ambient 2007 10 days ago). No, the reason we really like the vinyl-with-CD package is because these days we don't really do much with CDs anymore after ripping them to our hard drive, so getting the vinyl as a bonus means we can occasionally throw the record on or frame the album art if it jazzes us in real life. In addition to the vinyl/CD release, there will be a deluxe CD release that includes a DVD with a making-of documentary entitled "Shake It Off;" ITunes gets an exclusive outtake to go with its sales of the record; "indie coalitions" -- which we presume means Insound, Other Music and the like -- will sell a version of Sky Blue Sky that comes with a bonus disc with outtakes and live performances. The Billboard article is very good; read the whole thing here. And of course you can already stream Sky Blue Sky at Wilco's web site here, where they are also hosting a download from the record, a zip file containing the song "What Light."

Wilco -- "What Light" -- Sky Blue Sky
[.zip file; right click and save as]

>> Speaking of Pop Ambient 2007, another disc we received in that shipment was Pole's Steingarten, which Stylus reviews here today. After the disappointing foray into soundtracking a bland rapper on Pole's last outing, Steingarten is a refreshing return to Stefan Betke's dreamy electrodub. We reviewed Pole's 2003 self-titled effort and the EPs that preceded it for Junkmedia here, here and here. Anyway, how about an MP3 from the new and thoroughly satisfying Pole jawn?

Pole -- "Sylvenstein" -- Steingarten
[right click and save as]

>> Amazon.com may finally enter the digital music game next month, after at least seven years of speculation. Billboard reports here that the digital storefront may launch a service next month that will likely include DRM-free Classical music licensed from Universal's catalog. Here's hoping Amazon has gotten its digital act together significantly since the TV On The Radio pre-order debacle we ranted about in all of these places (1, 2, 3, 4). The Billboard article has interesting background about a scuttled launch of the Amazon service last year, as well as additional information about license negotiations with other labels that turn on wholesale pricing and bitrates.

>> This Wired article claims MySpace owns 81% of the social networking market. Interesting, considering our perception is that MySpace is sort of on the wane. Facebook, which we've never even looked at because, well, we're old, owns 10% of the market. There's no overt music angle to the story, just thought it was notable that MySpace's grip on the so-called social networking space is more robust than we had assumed. Now everybody switch over to Virb already.
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