Today's Hotness: Plums, Princess Reason, Flout

>> Sudbury, Mass. guitar-pop act Plums was an unknown quantity here at Clicky Clicky HQ until earlier this summer, but the quartet's strong, seven-song debut Jen quickly and most satisfactorily remedied that. The set is rife with the kind of sparkling, fluorescent and classicist pop jams of which we can all always use more. The foursome's springy, delayed guitars and crisp vocals conjure something reminiscent of Philadelphia indie pop luminaries Literature's fantastic Chorus album from last year, if there were actually, well... more chorus, and a yet stronger '60s-indebted dream-pop vibe. After Jen's bouncy opener "Parking Lots," Plums drop "Julia Gloria," a brilliant, Beatles-esque acoustic strummer that sees the Sudburians achieve a certain spectral beauty amidst washes of sound and electric-guitar crescendos. Though the campfire acoustics in each channel persist, the band incorporates sufficient dynamics to maintain the riveting beauty of "Julia Gloria." Follow-up "Lounger" takes that instrumental set-up to its logical conclusion, before "Fine Madeline" reintroduces the Captured Tracks-inspired, rainy-day guitars and the loopy bass work first established with "Parking Lots." Instrumental pieces such as the title track and the trippy, backwards "They Love Me They Love Me" further posit a notion that this young band could be an American response to neo-psychers Tame Impala. Perhaps better, though, than placing heaps of expectation on Plums, it would be best to instead consider this young act one to watch, as such attention will be rewarded so long as the act continues its gorgeous pop experimentation. Jen was released by Minneapolis-based Forged Artifacts July 14 in a limited edition of 100 goldenrod-colored cassettes (only six remain as of last week) and as a digital download. Stream the entire set below, and click here to purchase it in one of the available formats. -- Edward Charlton



>> Baltimore-based indie pop concern Princess Reason are one of those acts we watch that comes 'round with fair regularity, scatters a few strummy lo-fi gems about the proverbial place, and then walks out the door toward the next waiting heartache. Each new release presents an opportunity to take a deep breath, clear one's head and meditate (ruminate?) upon the act's uniquely bummed but capably wrought music. Last month the trio disclosed it had teamed up with Nebraskan Coast records for the imprint's inaugural release, which will be a three-song 7" from Princess Reason titled Your Divorce, which is due Aug. 14 and available for pre-order now. Princess Reason has consistently traded in a certain scrappy subtlety, tucking analog suspense into the edges of its recordings' stereo fields, so we imagine that much-talked-about vinyl warmth will translate well for the trio. The aforementioned single's lightly chugging A-side does, too, while presenting a decidedly more electric, full-band sound than much of the material we are familiar with. "Your Divorce" vamps on a hiccupping melody and full, persistent bass that sounds to this reviewer like Pavement at their twangy, podunk best, although thankfully devoid of Stephen Malkmus' detached irony. The song is instead shot through with some very real and direct sentiments regarding (presumably) a parent's frayed marriage. Following the clenched-throat breakdown in the song's midsection, the rhythm section falls back in to groove during that devastating refrain – "I can't wait for you to leave New York, I can’t wait for you to get divorced." Sure, disappointment looms large on the mind of Princess Reason, but at no point does it fail to enrich such quality homespun pop as this. Pre-order your copy of the Your Divorce single directly from the band right here. -- Edward Charlton



>> We discussed last April here in these electronic pages Flout's charming Gims full-length, noting that the Art Is Hard-issued collection was a subdued and tasteful lo-fi cassette release from the mind of Weymouth, New York's John DeRosso. Full of fractured pop gems, the collection felt worn-in and welcoming, purveying a vibe that is just as appealing during the recent searing summer days as it was during spring’s first bloom. We were pleased to stumble upon a new standalone tune, "Sinker," on Soundcloud in recent weeks. Though tagged as a demo, the introverted and intimate recording would fit well on Gims, as it stays true to that album’s piecemeal song structures and chilled-out fuzz passages with aplomb. Opening with a frail, acoustic guitar lament set against DeRosso's steady and true vocals, the piece reminds of how Flout (much like Princess Reason,discussed supra) uses lo-fi methods to cut to the core emotion of the narrator and tune, rather than the more typical approach of using noisy recordings to mask them. It works wonders, as the production figuratively transports the listener right there into the bedroom, where the distorted guitar and thin, faux-strings from the synth likely sound yet more impactful, even devastating. This reviewer looks forward to LP2, but for now you can stream "Sinker" via the Soundcloud embed below. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Walrus, Red Sea, Wildhoney

>> If the allegedly impending spring has you in the mood for some Syd Barrett-inspired psych pop, well, you are not alone. Enter Walrus, a sextet based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by brothers Justin and Jordan Murphy. The act's dazzling and impressively realized new EP Glam Returns highlights the band's modern, compact and sunny take on the style. Across four songs simple chords, richly delayed vocals and burbling organ unravel to reveal bright, quirky songwriting. Standout track "Bulash" is buttressed by whooshing synths and circularly applied tremolo guitars that imbue the verses with a bouncy, almost tropical feel. The hazy vocals recall those of popular beat group Tame Impala. The most thrilling section of the song arrives at the tail end of its first minute, when a shouted, echoing blast of vocals and guitar announces the chorus. The choppy guitars here elevate the energy from that of a lysergic psychedelic fever dream to more mod-leaning aggression; it jolts the listener from the cozy bed of effects defining each instrument. Walrus draws heavily on powerful strains of our collective psych past, and on all four cuts on Glam Returns the band's enthusiasm and love for the style is both evident and contagious. Glam Returns was issued digitally via Bandcamp last month, and it will apparently be released on cassette via Out of Sound and Poncho Records March 27, in time for Walrus' planned jaunt out of town to destinations including Fredericton, Ottawa and Montreal. The EP, according to a recent interview, contains older material that the band doesn't perform live much these days, and Walrus hopes to have a full length out later this year. In the meantime, dig in to Glam Returns via the Bandcamp embed below. -- Edward Charlton



>> "We love to sound as one would love to food." That's the opening line of the Bandcamp bio for Atlanta's Red Sea; theirs is some of the best music (food?) this reviewer has encountered so far in 2014. The quartet's brilliant recent EP, Yardsticks For Human Intelligence, is presently available as a free download, and it is an art rock tour de force. Brainy, knotty, and alluringly catchy, this is the kind of stuff one would play for someone who claims they are "bored with music" (though really, why would you hang out with an asshole like that? -- Ed.). It's that good. This four-song selection follows up on a similarly sequenced EP from 2010, and, interestingly, these tunes appear to have been recorded in 2012. While that may make one wonder about the present state of Red Sea (keep your blouse on, they just played a hometown show last week), it also adds to the mystery from these compositional mavericks. The band just has so much on offer. Opener "Tandem Style" menaces with almost taunting vocal work and jumbled rhythms, which are interrupted by high-pitched slashes across the bridge of the guitar. Very quickly one senses that these guys are operating within their own, singular sound world, one in which it's normal for a singer to fluctuate from evoking Nico to Kermit the Frog to an opera singer within the span of a verse, one in which any of the more aggro-avant fret work of Thurston Moore is fair game for the plundering. Highlight "Grapes" cascades through mysterious section after mysterious section over the course of six minutes. Despite hard stops, one-offs and dramatic arpeggios, the piece never loses inertia; one particularly memorable bridge drops in at the two-minute mark. A generously textured noise section closes the tune out with exotic pedal work. The balance of the EP, comprised of the numbers "Down With The Crown" and "Vacant Ring," features more shifting, schizophrenic earworms. The steady, cool strum of the guitar work, despite the erratic changes, calls to mind Women and their prickly, post-punk masterpiece Public Strain. Indeed, at times, Yardsticks For Human Intelligence even feels like a possible extension of that band's legacy in an instrumental sense. Red Seas' EP offers an arresting look at a very compelling young band, and we recommend you listen very closely to what it has to offer. Stream Yardsticks For Human Intelligence via the Bandcamp embed below, and click through to download the tunes. -- Edward Charlton



>> We've been hearing about Wildhoney through the dream-pop grapevine over the last year, and the band's hotly anticipated 7" EP, Seventeen Forever, proves the hype is warranted. The Baltimore, MD-based shoegaze concern are now previewing the quasi-title track from that upcoming slab of vinyl, which arrives on D.C.-based Photobooth Records April 20, and, man, is this purist heaven. As on the act's previous disc -- recorded by Roomrunner bassist Dan Frome -- Wildhoney channels the best late-80's shoegaze and post-punk and synthesizes it into a fresh, professional 2014 model. "Seventeen" opens with some reverb-saturated surf guitar before a hip-hop drum break erupts, a smooth move straight from the Chapterhouse playbook. Soon after, Lauren Shusterich's lead vocals fly in on a sheet of harmonies that exude a contemporary pop confidence rarely exhibited so early on by such a young band. The crystal clear recording and myriad guitar tracks that surround her recall the same sort of carefully laid out, yet spirited indie rock of Maryland-based forebearers Velocity Girl. The most compelling part of the tune comes during the chorus, when both singers chant "over and over" while the guitars switch over from the chunky chording in the verses to melodic, single-note leads that one could almost mistake for bright keyboards. This grade-A East Coast dream pop not only feels very now and dreamy, but also so purposeful that one can hardly imagine anything but a bright future for Wildhoney. Our recommendation? Snatch up the band's dynamite previous self-titled 45, from 2013, in time to be prepared for this great piece of springtime wonderment here. Stream "Seventeen" via the Bandcamp embed below, and click here periodically for the next few weeks to see when pre-orders the 7" EP will begin. Massachussets and/or New England fans can catch Wildhoney performing at The Flywheel in Easthampton, Mass. March 23 with mighty Boston shoegazers Soccer Mom. Wildhoney plans to record a full-length set in June, according to its tumblaaaaaahhhh. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Her Parents, Scott & Charlene's Wedding



>> Our executive editor last August described U.K. spazz-pop band Her Parents' music as "hypercaffeinated," and we can't turn our back on that apt summation. It simply nails the band and its sound too well to ignore it, and it applies as firmly to the early tune "Justin Vernon" as it does to the latest album from the quartet. Her Parents, hailing from London, released May 20 the breathlessly brief long-player Happy Birthday on the beloved Alcopop! label. As we wrote here in March, the new set is so brief that it is pressed to one side of a vinyl 12" with the band's debut LP Physical Product pressed to the flip. Consider the new collection a State of the Union address for a band that has cut its teeth on strong digital singles (the aforementioned "Justin Vernon" and the ludicrously genius "Why Don't You Just Fuck Off?") and blinding passion; it also evidences the evolution of a chaotic-yet-tuneful blend of punk rock that makes this band so vital and worthy of attention. Like caffeine, Her Parents push and prod both body and mind, while reminding listeners just what a punk-influenced tune can be capable of. Lead album single "Lithuanian Mercedes" is a great case study. The tune clocks in at just over a minute and a quarter, yet is crammed with a full arsenal of snotty pub jeers, jarring halts, post-hardcore guitar lines, dramatic ambient backing vocals and a grinding chorus that is over before one can regain her senses. The sarcastic sense of play, the upbeat melodies and caterwauling tempos are delivered with a curious aggression that the band seems to revel in. Happy Birthday is all delightfully disorienting, to be sure, but it also showcases a group of musical minds that can take the high road by bludgeoning its audience with crafty intelligence as surely as it does with adolescent, brute force. Simply put, Her Parents is the kind of band the world needs. Stream "Lithuanian Mercedes" via the Soundcloud embed below, stream all of Happy Birthday at Bandcamp here, and buy Happy Birthday from Alcopop! right here. -- Edward Charlton



>> Australia is totally killing it right now in the indie rock department, in case you haven't noticed. The immense success of Tame Impala makes it the latest act to illuminate the land down under in the minds of indie fans the world over. But that's not to say Tame Impala is the only antipodean outfit making waves right at the now. Indie pop concern Scott & Charlene's Wedding, spawned in Oz but now operating out of New York, recently upped its profile with the cracking single "Fakin NYC." The tune arrives in advance of the act's sophomore LP Any Port In A Storm, which is slated for release July 22nd via Fire Records on CD, vinyl and digital. Scott & Charlene's Wedding, fronted by Craig Dermody, clearly mines a well-traveled indie rock lineage. The biting, distorted guitars and arch lyricism of "Fakin NYC" pleasantly echo prodigal slacker kings Pavement or the lo-fi pop stylings of fellow countrymen Twerps. "Fakin NYC" was inspired in part by Dermody's awkward experiences upon moving to New York City. Channeling real-life tales of security guard jobs and grating interactions with snobby New York types, the song presents a moodier attitude than the usual slacker-pop fare, but not so moody that it soaks the pop thrills propounded by scritchy guitars and shouty vocals. The band will be supporting Any Port In A Storm with a lengthy tour in Europe for much of the summer (peruse the tour dates here); there's no word yet on North American dates. Pre-order Any Port In A Storm right here. Clicky Clicky previously wrote about Scott & Charlene's Wedding's Two Weeks 10" here in March. -- Dillon Riley