Today's Hotness: Faux Fur, Mahogany, Colleen

>> Calgary guitar-pop quartet Faux Fur would seem to have been tailor-made for the reliable Brighton, England indie label Faux Discx -- and not just because of its name. Indeed, the foursome's off-center, post-punk aesthetic and skewed pop smarts make them a natural fit for the rock-solid label, and are in keeping with certain prior releases lauded by Clicky Clicky. Exhibit A is Faux Fur's scratchy gem "Rough Palms," which alternates choppy strumming and spiky arpeggiation in the foreground while a subdued vocal slouches in the middle of a bright, trebly mix. "Rough Palms" features on Faux Fur's self-titled long-player, which was self-released last year via Bandcamp, where it is still streaming in full. That aforementioned brightness doesn't carry through the entire record, however: instead, much of Faux Fur exists in a pleasantly murky, semi-dream state. Faux Discx will re-release the collection April 28 in a limited edition of 100 grey cassettes and as a digital download. The cassette appears to carry different art than the self-release, but we assume it is otherwise the same delightful 10 songs, songs that crackle with nervous energy, songs that bewitch by holding back just enough to make the crescendo of "Stoop" jarring, and the uptempo rocker "I Saw You Standing" rocking. Faux Fur is a striking little collection; order it from Faux Discx right here, and stream both "Rough Palms" and "I Saw You Standing" via the embeds below.





>> While the details are so slim as to almost not qualify for a reference in the plural, visionary dream-pop collective Mahogany disclosed this week it will release an EP titled Electric Prisms next month. The (presumably) short set of music will be released May 27, the final night of the act's month-long Tuesday night DJ residency at a hotel in Manhattan. On that final night only, Mahogany will perform live, while shoegazer Tamaryn and a member of Fleet Foxes will execute DJ sets. Mahogany will have a limited number of (again presumably) physical copies of Electric Prisms on hand; pre-orders for a vinyl edition and release via other unspecified formats (wax cylinder? Dataplay?) will begin on or around May 25. We last heard from Mahogany a year ago, when the act (once an octet, now a duo comprised by Andrew Prinz and Jaclyn Slimm) issued the transcendent eight-minute single "Phase Break," which understandably drew raves from our own Edward Charlton right here. Revisit "Phase Break" via the embed below, while we keep our ears to the ground for more details.



>> Electro-acoustic luminary Colleen disclosed to her email list this week that she has begun recording the follow up to last year's magical The Weighing Of The Heart [review]; this in and of itself might not be news save for the fact that there was a six-year gap between The Weighing Of The Heart and her previous collection, 2007's Les Ondes Silencieuses. The planned new record will not only come relatively hot on the heels of the 2013 set, but it will also be the fifth released by Colleen, a/k/a the French-born but now Spain-based Cecille Schott. Ms. Schott hopes the new music will be released in late 2014 or early 2015. And while we don't want to jinx anything, the new album will almost certainly be easier for Schott to make. When she was recording The Weighing Of The Heart, she had to work just a couple hours at a time and late, late at night because her studio was not insulated from the noise of the surrounding streets. However, recently the studio, which Schott has dubbed The White Ark in homage to Lee Scratch Perry, has been (not quite completely) soundproofed, meaning Schott can theoretically choose to work at any hour. What will the new music sound like? We have no idea. The Weighing Of The Heart was notable for its more pronounced rhythms and the incorporation, for the first time, of Schott's serene and light vocals into her songs. Presumably the 2013 record will be a jumping-off point for the new music, but Scott's restless exploration of her muse means no possibility can be ruled out; stream all of The Weighing Of The Heart via the YouTube embed below.

Today's Hotness: Endless Jags, Parakeet, Dot Dash, Soccer Mom

>> It's taken for granted at this point, to the extent that anyone really talks about it anymore. But the best part about music blogging is the band that randomly emails you, that says "check us out," and that is totally awesome. It might happen two or three times a year. The last one that blew us away was our beloved Infinity Girl (who, of course, next week will open Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Community Servings benefit show at Great Scott in Boston). But last month brought another, Portland, Maine-based indie rock upstarts Endless Jags. The sextet self-released a self-titled EP Oct. 16, and it is packed with dynamic, emo-tinged guitar pop driven by fronter Oscar Romero's impassioned vocals and overdriven by big melodies. The short set was recorded in part and mixed by Shaun Curran at Napoleon Complex in Somerville, Mass. Trivia hounds will recognize that studio as the same that produced Clicky Clicky favorites Soccer Mom's brilliant debut single and towering 2011 EP You Are Not Going To Heaven. Pegging Endless Jags' sound causes one to grasp in a lot of different directions: there's the care-free energy and care-full emotion of the music echoes that of Mock Orange's stellar First EP; the Farfisa that colors large portions of Endless Jags has not been so brilliantly deployed in indie rock since Rocketship's mind-erasingly good A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness; Mr. Romero's voice is not unlike that of The Walkmen's Hamilton Leithauser. But it is the combination of these elements that makes the EP so potent, from the big crescendoes in opener "Seen Men" to the careening eponymous tune "Endless Jags." We can't wait to hear more from these guys: Endless Jags is a hit!



>> Parakeet, the side project of Yuck bassist Mariko Doi, last week quietly unleashed to the wilds of the Internet a stream of a new EP titled Shonen Hearts. If our minimal understanding of Japanese remains intact, we think "shonen" means "boy," so make of the title what you will. The music on the collection is delightfully smeared and grungy guitar pop. The lead track "Tuomono" layers rich, gritty guitar and bass over a simple rhythm and creates giddy forward movement by overlaying punchy melodies. The title track is a blissful confection that recalls The Primitives. The rest of the collection similarly pits noise against pop; it's not overtly Yuck-y, but there is an element of obviousness and inevitability that makes Shonen Hearts a rewarding listen. The London-based trio's short set is due Nov. 19 as a limited edition gold (we assume gold-colored, not, like actual gold) cassette available exclusively from Rough Trade in the UK. Pre-order Shonen Hearts right here, right now. Parakeet over the weekend played two UK shows with The Walkmen (there's that band name again...); the trio embarks on a short strand of tour dates Nov. 11 with the hotly tipped Diiv, which tour includes stops in Berlin and Cologne in Germany, Kortrijk, Belgium and two dates in London. Parakeet debuted with a single in April, "Tomorrow" b/w "Paper, Scissors, Stone," that we wrote about right here.



>> We've slept on it for weeks ands weeks, but the forever-solid Terry Banks and his band of merry indie veterans in Dot Dash returned last month with a cracking sophomore set, Winter Garden Light, that we've been spending a good deal of time enjoying. Yeah, the title sounds like an installment in the Dragonlance fantasy franchise, but we assure you: this is a very fine collection of indie pop tunes from a coterie of top-shelf scene veterans of bands including Julie Ocean, The Saturday People, Tree Fort Angst, Modest Proposal and legit hardcore legends Youth Brigade. Mr. Banks, et al., craft quality guitar-pop tunes that plant one foot in the future whilst dangling the other in the band's collective college rock past. And like Wire, from whose song Dot Dash takes their name, the D.C.-based act's approach is simple: each tune is an astutely realized nugget of punky songwriting relying on a few chords, aggressive bass work, and swoon-inducing backing vocals. "Writing On The Wall," a stand-out cut from Winter Garden Light, commences with an arresting bass descent paired with Banks' pleasant power-pop patter. Trebly, slapping rhythm guitar follows the vocal, as Banks peels off anthemic lines that penetrate your head like "a penny for your thoughts, my kingdom for a horse." The song closes with perfect snare rolls and a great guitar breakdown evidencing the band's tasteful deployment of delay and minor keys. Winter Garden Light is available now from The Beautiful Music label. -- Edward Charlton



>> Avid readers will recall that a month ago we wrote about the crushing forthcoming single from Clicky Clicky faves Soccer Mom. At the time we could tell you about "Brides" b/w "Canoe," but we weren't able to share any music with you. That's just no way to leave things. So fortunately we're now able to share with you a stream of "A Canoe Shy" (that's the full title of the tune, yeah) below. The song highlights the Boston quartet's dense, punishing guitar attack, features one of founder Dan Parlin's most affecting vocal melodies, and is also notable for being the first official 'Mom release featuring Mr. Justin Kehoe pounding the skins and hardware. As we said last month, Soccer Mom plays a very hot bill Monday at Great Scott in Boston, an evening that features the hotly tipped Tamaryn and west coast shoegaze luminaries Young Prisms. "Brides" b/w "Canoe" will be released by 100m Records the following day, and you can pre-order your copy right here if you aren't able to get to the show to buy one straight from the band.