Premiere: White Laces' Lysergic Video For "Keith Sweat"

Richmond future-pop leading lights White Laces later this fall will begin an extended hiatus from playing live in order to finish writing its next LP. But the cube-gleaming quartet is leaving fans with certain tokens of its spacey affection, including seven shows in the next month, a planned free mini album titled No Floor, and the brand-spanking-new video above for its cracking tune "Keith Sweat." The video presents a study in iterations, almost respirations, as it seems to breathe as motion cycles among its oily layers. The clip was created by friend of the band and first-time auteur Wolfgang Daniel, whose abstract and sensual imagery here represents a bit of a departure from his earlier work, but makes for an engaging accompaniment to White Laces' uptempo rocker. The cascading "Keith Sweat" was a highlight of White Laces' most recent collection, the 2014 breakthrough LP Trance [review], which earned the band both a berth on the Happenin' Records roster and a coveted slot opening for Philadelphia vibe kings The War On Drugs during a U.S. tour last year.

Like Trance, the forthcoming No Floor is being produced by Philadelphia studio savant Jeff Zeigler (whose hands and ears have touched almost every major release out of that city in recent years, and whose own heavily anticipated solo record remains as yet unreleased). The mixing and mastering for No Floor are not yet complete, but White Laces aims to offer the short stack as a free download to fans during its upcoming break from playing shows; a limited-edition cassette release is also contemplated. As for the Richmond act's hiatus, it remains to be seen exactly how inactive the band will be during the six months ("We've always been really bad at taking breaks," fronter and guitarist Landis Wine told us), but as fans we certainly hope the break is productive -- and as short as practicable. There are seven more chances to see White Laces in the flesh before it hits the proverbial locker room for a spell, including a day show at the highly regarded Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh, N.C. today; we've listed all the shows -- including a bunch with the stellar Myrrias -- below. Watch the clip for "Keith Sweat" above, and stream all of Trance via the embed below the show listings.

09.11 -- Bad Grrrl/Negative Fun Hopscotch Day Party --Raleigh, NC
09.24 -- Triple Crossing Brewery -- Richmond, VA
09.29 -- Ortlieb's w/Myrrias -- Philadelphia, PA
09.30 -- Balliceaux w/Myrrias -- Richmond, VA
10.01 -- Slim's w/Myrrias -- Raleigh, NC
10.03 -- The Garage w/Myrrias -- Winston-Salem, NC
10.04 -- The Ante w/Myrrias -- Charlottesville, VA



Selected Prior White Laces Coverage:
Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Top Songs of 2014 (Jay Edition)
Review: White Laces | Trance
White Laces Sign To Happenin, Trance Due Oct. 7
Today's Hotness: White Laces
Today's Hotness: White Laces
Today's Hotness: White Laces
Review: White Laces | Moves
And Then This Happened: White Laces | Muthership | 13 July

Review: White Laces | Trance

Where do you go? When you've pursued for years a minimalist agenda within the fairly limited framework of a guitar band, when you've refined your sound down to a tight aesthetic kernel that still manages to sound sleek, full and fluid -- where do you go? Well, apparently you go to Philadelphia, which is where thoughtful Richmond space-pop quartet White Laces found itself last winter, recording its sophomore set Trance with studio savant Jeff Zeigler. The resulting record is ambitious and remarkably elegant, filled with shimmer and vim, softly encased in precise delays and reverbs that conjure a steadily breathing aura around White Laces' economical compositions. The music has taken White Laces out of Richmond and Philly and across the U.S. (supporting a peaking The War On Drugs), and where it takes the band next increasingly appears to be within White Laces' own control.

Fans of the band who haven't checked in since its relatively noisy and somewhat less agile self-titled 2010 EP, which was led by the reeling highlight "Motorik Twilight," might not even recognize White Laces' music, so far has it progressed. Those who are just turning on to the act, to whom White Laces is a new, up-and-coming band, are encountering it at perhaps the most opportune time: Trance evidences a foursome cresting, its songwriting inspired, its performances hot, its sounds printed to tape by one of the most creative guys working right now. And while the aforementioned Mr. Zeigler is one of the best getter-of-sounds in the game right now -- from the psychedelic soup of ambient tracks hiding in plain sight on The War On Drugs' 2011 set Slave Ambient to the bright and crisp guitars that led upstart indie-punk trio Break It Up's brilliant "New Penzance" -- the simultaneously more focused and expansive sound he elicited from the White Laces in the studio isn't the only story here on Trance. The fact is that Trance, while a game-changer, does not wholly reinvent the wheel for the band, which established a fertile if spare creative framework with its 2012 debut LP Moves. It's just that Trance consistently -- thrillingly -- presents White Laces' smartest, best musical face.

Lead preview track "Skate Or Die" shudders with passion, from the chiming guitars to fronter and guitarist Landis Wine's unusually rugged and immediate vocal. From incantatory opener "Teenage Brain" -- a sort-of tribal "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" for the disaffected -- through the sedate, thrumming final tune "Strangulation Blues," every measure of the album is more inherently tuneful. With each release White Laces has gone further to divorce itself from genre, but Trance's bracing economy, bright melodicism and the rhythm section's firmly applied timekeeping perhaps counter-intuitively reveals within the band's measured post-punk cool DNA strands twirling back to notable touchstones such as The House Of Love's "Shine On" or even A Flock Of Seagulls' "Space Age Love Song." These referents don't suggest White Laces' sound is dated, but rather that its musical appeal is crossing over from something niche and approaching something out of time, even classic.

Trance is being released by Happenin Records, EggHunt Records and Arrowhawk Records, with each label handling different formats. Alabama-based Happenin releases Trance on CD Tuesday, and is co-releasing the set on vinyl 12" with EggHunt. Richmond-based EggHunt, which just launched this past April, is already offering through its web site 180-gram vinyl pressed to either pink or blue right here. The vinyl edition is limited to 1,000 pieces, with the colors limited to 100 units a piece, topped off by 800 foot-wides pressed to the traditional black media. EggHunt's web site lists the vinyl release date as Oct. 24. Athens, Georgia-based Arrowhawk will release Trance on cassette tapes, but there is as yet no information about when that might be available. For those who missed White Laces' Moves, which we reviewed here in XXX, there is some good news. EggHunt has licensed the collection for a expanded CD release that will be available imminently and is limited to 250 units. The EggHunt CD version of Moves will include two tunes previously available as a cassingle from Treetop Sorbet, "Ascend" b/w "Deep Moves." A third bonus track is included as a hidden track, and to preserve the surprise we won't tell you anything more about that except that a certain very handsome blogger strongly lobbied for its inclusion. Three preview tunes from Trance, "Cruisin'," "Skate Or Die" and "Nothing Clicks," are available to stream via the Soundcloud embeds below. White Laces are expected to announced additional live dates soon, but it will still be pretty busy this month with handful of dates around its home Commonwealth, which are listed below.

White Laces: Bandcamp | Facebook | Internerds | Soundcloud

10.09 -- Strange Matter/Bad Grrrl Anniversary Party -- Richmond, VA
10.17 -- Gillie's -- Blacksburg,VA
10.18 -- Speakertree -- Lynchburg, VA
10.24 -- Broadberry (LP Release Show) -- Richmond, VA
10.25 -- Artistree Festival -- Norfolk, VA
11.14 -- Everybody Hits w/Myrriahs -- Philadelphia, PA

From The Banford File: Boston Calling In Pictures

You there. Yes, you, discerning indie rock fan. Was our five-part, wall-to-wall coverage of this past weekend's Boston Calling festival just not immersive enough for you? Well, while going over our archived notes from the weekend, we stumbled upon this neat-o photo set from shadowy freelance operative Quinn Banford. You will find therein evidence of good rock music being played, and good rock music being heard. And we think you will agree the photos of Lorde and Spoon in particular really sizzle. It seems essential to share Mr. Banford's work with you. Banford, on special assignment to Clicky Clicky yet again, had this to say about his experience in the field at the festival:

"Carrying around a camera felt a bit odd at times, especially with the flowing amounts of beers waving in the air. The poor camera had no rain coat and the lightning storm was another form of "wet" that it wasn't ready to take on. But my good lad Nick the Nikon had bold plans, and he got those pictures. He pulled through."

Previous Coverage:
Replacements Deliver Blazing Set, Spoon and The War On Drugs Also Highlight Final Day Of Boston Calling
Rain Delay Dampens Boston Calling Day Two, But The Hold Steady, Sky Ferreira And Lorde Still Shine Brightly
Classic Neutral Milk Hotel Lineup Electrifies Night One Of Boston Calling Festival
Boston Calling This Weekend: Five Key Sets To Catch By Bands That Are Not The Replacements
Boston Calling This Weekend: The Replacements Return To Boston For First Show In 23 Years

Replacements Deliver Blazing Set, Spoon and The War On Drugs Also Highlight Final Day Of Boston Calling

[PHOTO: Dillon Riley] Here it was, Sunday, the day we waited for with bated breath, the final day of this fall's Boston Calling music festival. The day we saw one of the greatest rock acts ever, The Replacements, return to our fair city for its first area show in more than two decades, along with noteworthy bands who channel in one form or another the legendary act's influences. A friend we encountered Sunday on Boston's City Hall Plaza noted the presence of a much older crowd than previous days, and we laughed nervously in agreement, wondering what that said about us, our mindset, and our own inherent age/mortality. Such concerns were assuaged -- at least temporarily -- by the incredibly vital sets of rock 'n' roll we saw; here are the highlights. -- Dillon Riley

The War On Drugs (3PM, Blue Stage)

We noted in our preview last week The War On Drugs' recent breakthrough with the release of its latest record Lost In The Dream. So it's somewhat sad to report that the general excitement surrounding the band out among the broader indiedom wasn't reflected in the Boston crowd's reaction to the Philadelphia act's midday set. Indeed, festival-goers seemed a little less than enthused, which is a shame, because Adam Granduciel and his cohort laid on the grooves nice and thick. There was a propulsive chug to some of the new record's sleepier numbers, including the title track. For his part, Mr. Granduciel employed some nimble fretwork on punchier tunes such as the album's early single "Red Eyes." A reference to the dearly departed rock radio broadcaster 104.1 WBCN fell on deaf ears to boot, prompting Granduciel to deadpan something to the effect of "Y'all should get out more." We wholeheartedly concur.

Spoon (7PM, Blue Stage)

In case you need reminding, Spoon has a lot of good songs. A lot of them. And they played quite a few of them in a challenging time slot early Sunday evening (when many minds were likely drifting ahead to the next hour's highly touted Replacements appearance). But Austin's favorite sons acquitted themselves with aplomb, however, and it was nice to see the act retains a youthful energy whilst still being able to showcase the major progression it has undertaken over the last two decades. The band's bold opening salvo was a nervy take on "Small Stakes" off 2002's critically adored Kill The Moonlight before slipping into a few hot tracks back-to-back off their latest offering They Want My Soul. No complaints here, as the new record bursts with massive hooky rock-and-roll without abandoning the experimental nature of certain of Spoon's work. A heartfelt mid-set shout-out to the beloved 'Mats, who were figuratively on deck, was well-received, too, and provided a candid and true moment of real meets real.

The Replacements (8:15PM, Red Stage)

"Yes, we are this close for the goddamn Replacements," is what we kept saying to ourselves as we hung over the barrier by the right side of the stage Sunday night. And the Minneapolis-spawned act's fiery set was everything we thought it would be, and possibly more. No, Billie Joe didn't show, and couches be damned, the recently hobbled fronter Paul Westerberg made it through the whole hit-spangled, 20ish-song set without any back issues... though he did pour salt and pepper on his guitar. The set came off like all those legendary 'Mats sets we've only read about in Our Band Could Be Your Life, all manic energy and hilariously flubbed choruses. Sure, Westerberg forgot an entire verse of "Androgynous," big deal -- the crowd knew all the words and was happy to fill in the blanks. The band snuck offstage for all of about 30 seconds before returning to run through a brilliant take on Pleased To Meet Me's "Alex Chilton," a towering love letter to the legendary and iconoclastic former Big Star co-fronter (the song was explosively delivered again Tuesday night on late night television). Turns out Nas and The Roots had sent Paul, Tommy, Dave and Josh back out for the quick encore (likely sacrificing some of their own stage time in doing so, it should be pointed out). So thanks to the festival closers for letting the boys play, and thank you boys for taking the piss out of the final chorus on "I Will Dare." The laughs helped chase away the tears of joy.

And that about wraps it up for Boston Calling 2014. On a personal note: what an amazing, scary, tiring and emotionally trying weekend. We believe Saturday's final run of Spoon into The Replacements into Nas + The Roots' headlining set may have been the best show-going experience of our year thus far, and you better believe we've seen some shit. Until next time...

Previous Coverage:
Rain Delay Dampens Boston Calling Day Two, But The Hold Steady, Sky Ferreira And Lorde Still Shine Brightly
Classic Neutral Milk Hotel Lineup Electrifies Night One Of Boston Calling Festival
Boston Calling This Weekend: Five Key Sets To Catch By Bands That Are Not The Replacements
Boston Calling This Weekend: The Replacements Return To Boston For First Show In 23 Years

Boston Calling This Weekend: Five Key Sets To Catch By Bands That Are Not The Replacements

[PHOTO: The Hold Steady, Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 2006, from the Clicky Clicky Archives]

Earlier this week, as you will recall, we waxed poetically in these electronic pages about how unbelievably stoked we are for The Replacements' triumphant return to Boston Sunday, when the storied band hits the Boston Calling stage (ahead of NYC rap legend Nas and The Roots, no less). Today we're taking the opportunity to flag for readers the rest of the acts the Clicky Clicky brain trust deems most likely to turn in festival-highlighting performances framed against the brutalist architecture of Boston's City Hall Plaza. If you remember nothing else from this piece, remember this: stick close to the blue stage sponsored by the apparently consistently satisfying air carrier (as opposed to the red stage sponsored by the credit card company fined $140 million in 2012 for deceptive marketing). Indeed, the weekend's best acts, in our opinion, are stacked up at said blue stage. And so this is where you'll catch us clapping, cheering, and outwardly displaying all manner of merriment during this weekend's festival, and particularly during the five sets highlighted below. Dig with us now below the who, the when and the why. -- Dillon Riley

___//Friday, Sept. 5th//

Neutral Milk Hotel (8PM, Blue Stage)

The indie rock institution recently emerged from self-imposed exile to a large run of reunion dates surrounding a deluxe box set release from Merge, including two nights at the Orpheum Theatre downtown that certain members of the Clicky Clicky editorial staff -- but not all of them -- regrettably missed. There's really no need to spill too much digital ink on the importance of the collective's two epoch-defining records, but suffice it to say they mean a great amount to a good many, and the track "Holland, 1945" in particular is etched in full upon the hearts of many more. Know this, though, dear readers: the current iteration of Neutral Milk Hotel is the lineup that recorded and toured behind their swansong/magnum opus In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, so it's a good bet we'll hear plenty of tunes from it. Considering how long this reunion tour has bee going on, it wouldn't be outrageous to perhaps even expect something new from Jeff Mangum and Co. We mean, it wouldn't, right? A blog can dream.

The National (9:30PM, Blue Stage)

Elder statesmen in the indie rock game who came across like self-assured pros from the get-go, The National has built up an impressive catalogue in their decade-plus as a recording entity. Theirs is one filled with a strong identity and a strong handle on a sound that borrows heavily from the darkness of British post-punk but filters it through a prism of strong Midwestern sentimentality. Much like fellow indie legends R.E.M., their records can be exercises in slow, deliberate progression. Sure, successive releases regularly mine similar territory as those prior, but one should not mistake consistency for complacency. To wit, The National's latest, 2013's Trouble Will Find Me, boasts one of their strongest collections of songs since the act's 2005 breakthrough Alligator. Also of note, guitar player Aaron Dessner has been a co-curator of Boston Calling since its inception. This year's performance will be the band's second appearance as a headliner.

___//Saturday, Sept. 6//

The Hold Steady (5PM, Blue Stage)

The Hold Steady and our beloved 'Mats are cut from the same cloth, generally speaking. The younger act's ultra-relateable songs -- featuring the painstakingly detailed lyrics of Boston College-graduated fronter Craig Finn -- are filled with loveable losers whose judgment and choices are often clouded and/or fueled by intoxicants; The Hold Steady's early shows weren't exactly sober occasions, either. Certain of the editorial contingent here at Clicky Clicky are comfortable advancing an argument that, as a recording entity, The Hold Steady were far less erratic than the 'Mats. Not unlike The National, The Hold Steady spent the '00s putting together a stream of critically acclaimed and universally -- at least within the indiesphere -- beloved records that positioned the act tantalizingly close to a break through into the overground. That never quite happened (that part like sounds familiar to 'Mats fans, too), but the band soldiers on making great records and putting on remarkable and cathartic shows. Saturday is the act's first appearance at Boston Calling.

___//Sunday, Sept. 7//

The War On Drugs (3PM, Blue Stage)

2014 has proven to be the year Adam Granduciel finally achieved the notoriety on par with that of certain of his famous Philly friends. Not that it is a contest or anything, but The War On Drugs -- a recording project overseen almost entirely by Mr. Granduciel -- is regularly addressed in the same breath as Kurt Vile, Philly's favorite über chill son and an early Drugs collaborator. However, with the release of The War On Drugs' gargantuan new record Lost In The Dream, Granduciel has stepped out of Vile's friendly but long shadow. Boasting a billowing and bold batch of songs that takes the Americana-in-space aesthetic of predecessor Slave Ambient and blows it up to widescreen HD, The War On Drugs' latest even reminds us of Spiritualized with its massive, philosophical scope, enveloping swells and sonic trickery. We've heretofore only seen the band once, at a show in Central Park in NYC a few years back, and it will be fulfilling to finally see the band post the well-earned breakthrough.

Spoon (7PM, Blue Stage)

Got a bit of a running theme here, as Spoon represent another ultra-consistent indie rock group whose work defines the aughts. While certainly taking a more calculated, minimalist approach to rock 'n' roll than the aforementioned Clicky Clicky Fest Picks, Spoon is arguably the most notable of the three in the greater scheme of things. Their transition from Pixies-indebted garage riffers/major label aspirants to whatever weird micro-genre can classify them post-Girls Can Tell can be seen as one of the most vital evolutions in the past three decades. Their latest record, They Want My Soul, their first not on indie flagship Merge since being fatefully dropped from Elektra all those years ago, documents yet another creative rejuvenation. Turning to Flaming Lips producer David Fridmann for support, They Want My Soul situates the band among new sounds and finds them blending new techniques into their established mix with winning results, and recent reports of the acts always-dependable live show are quite promising.

Related Coverage:
Rock Over Boston: Jeff Mangum | 9.9 - 9.10.2011
Review: The War On Drugs | Slave Ambient
Footage: The War On Drugs' "Baby Missiles"
Today's Hotness: The War On Drugs
Clicky Clicky Music Blog's Top Albums 2000-2009
Today's Hotness: The War On Drugs
Today's Hotness: The Hold Steady
Today's Hotness: The Hold Steady
Today's Hotness: The War On Drugs
That Was The Show That Was: Spoon | The Roxy
Today's Hotness: Spoon
Today's Hotness: Spoon
Today's Hotness: The Hold Steady
That Was The Show That Was: The Hold Steady

White Laces Sign To Happenin, Trance Due Oct. 7

Richmond space-pop heroes White Laces revealed at long last today that it has signed to Alabama-based and Frenchkiss-affiliated Happenin Records to release its hotly anticipated sophomore set Trance. The record is slated to hit racks Oct. 7. The foursome recorded the 11-song collection last winter in Philadelphia with Jeff Zeigler, and we feel comfortable telling you it is a big step forward for the band. Working with Mr. Zeigler, White Laces has refined and intensified its singular, atmospheric sound, and as a result the album presents the band at its most sleek, sexy and dangerous. As we said here in April in regard to the early Trance taster "Skate Or Die," "[t]he sounds are bigger, fronter Landis Wine's vocals more desperate, and one can literally hear the band expanding on its sonic proposition, becoming bigger and bolder." Trance will be released on 12" vinyl, CD and cassette, and we have heard that some portion of the LP edition will be pressed to hot pink media, which means you'd best have your black light in working order for the zoned-out album listening sessions that will likely occupy a substantial portion of your time this fall. Presently, there is no way to pre-order Trance, but we expect if you keep an eye on the label's digital storefront your attention will eventually be rewarded. White Laces first LP Moves was issued by Speakertree two years ago, which we reviewed right here, and the band has released a steady stream of EPs and singles and cassettes since forming in 2010 (the majority of which you can read about in the vast Clicky Clicky Archives). White Laces plays Baby's All Right in Brooklyn tomorrow night and has a few additional confirmed dates -- including a spot at next month's hotly tipped Hopscotch Festival -- that we have listed below for your review. Stream the aforementioned "Skate Or Die" via the embed below.

08.15 -- Baby's All Right -- Brooklyn, NY
08.24 -- John's Hopkins University -- Baltimore, MD
08.27 -- Strange Matter -- Richmond, VA
09.04 -- Hopscotch Music Festival -- Raleigh, NC

Today's Hotness: White Laces, Fennesz, Hymnals

>> It's a bit of an understatement to say things have timed out pretty nicely for White Laces of late. Hot on the heels of finishing the recording of a sophomore LP with renowned Philadelphia producer Jeff Zeigler in December, the hotly tipped, Richmond-based futurepop four was selected to support The War On Drugs' current U.S. tour, which has its penultimate stop at Boston's Paradise Rock Club tomorrow. Reviews of the Laces' supporting slots have been solid, and we've heard reports that the guys have stayed healthy and sane (and, importantly, literally on the road, when that sort of thing counted). But for those not lucky enough to be on the tour rout, the most exciting thing of late coming out of the White Laces camp is the first taste of the forthcoming LP, Trance, a bombastic, kinetic and fluid groover called "Skate Or Die." The sounds are bigger, fronter Landis Wine's vocals more desperate, and one can literally hear the band expanding on its sonic proposition, becoming bigger and bolder, on the new tune. There are as yet no public plans for the release of Trance, but the looks and listens White Laces have been garnering on the current tour -- the band's first circumnavigation of the U.S. -- will likely prove invaluable when it comes to finding a home for the collection. So get to the Paradise early on Thursday, Boston -- you will be glad you did (at least for now, tickets remain available). Last we saw the act live, it was playing a third-floor living room in J.P. in 2011, so needless to say the band has already come very far; we expect the next year will bring more of the bigger and better. Press play on "Skate Or Die" via the embed below and get ready to rawk. We reviewed White Laces debut long-player Moves right here in August 2012.



>> A reader tipped us off to the presence on YouTube of a new Fennesz song titled "Liminality," which is a slowly spiraling delight of fuzzy electric guitar and icy electronic tones. The 10-minute meditation is the third to surface from the forthcoming, seven-song collection Bécs, which will be released by Editions Mego on LP, compact disc and as a digital download April 28; Pantsfork premiered the substantially more ominous "The Liar" here in February, and the escapist fantasy "Static Kings" here in March (although the author of the latter piece seemed unaware of the former). Bécs is Vienna-based Fennesz' first solo long-player in six years (although the song "Sav" is co-written by Cédric Stevens), and it is apparently intended as a follow-up to Fennesz' ground-breaking 2001 collection Endless Summer. "Liminality" certainly seems akin to the music from that tremendous earlier LP, in terms of tone and texture. Loosely gathered electric guitar notes cluster together into jangling, fuzzy chords, and then billow loosely in the composition's quieter moments, in much the same way Bill Frisell's guitar is at its most beautiful when it just serenely sustains. Those quieter moments eventually recede as Fennesz constructs a wall of melodic distortion that undulates and ripples like the surface of a warm pool of water. It's a mesmerizing piece, one that is distinctly Fennesz. Pre-order Bécs right here, and stream the stunner "Liminality" via the embed below, while it lasts.



>> So you're one half of rad indie rock duo Kindling, and your partner in crime is out of town for a week: what do you do? Make monolithic, fuzz-blasted rock music, that's what. Seven days to himself was enough of an opportunity for Stephen, the surnameless male component of the Western Mass.-based act Kindling, to dream up "When You're Away," which he has released here under the moniker Hymnals. It's unclear how active this project will actually be, dependent as it would seem to be on Gretchen Kindling's travel schedule. The duo certainly has kept busy since we first wrote about the band right here last month. Although progress on the pair's ever-expanding demos set Spare Room would seem to have stalled, in fact the apparent inactivity is the result of the fact that Kindling has a four-song 7" in the offing, according to this Facebook status. They are still finishing up vocals, so there's no telling when we might hear this 7", so it's nice to have a new little sumpin' sumpin' from Hymnals to tide us over. Stream the blunt, concise swirl "When You're Away" via the embed below.

Today's Hotness: Ringo Deathstarr, Boston Does Boston

>> The 2014 album announcements are coming fast and furious these days, with Clicky Clicky faves Speedy Ortiz, Krill and The War On Drugs all making (albeit expected) disclosures of this sort in recent days. We noted yet another over at the Clicky Clicky Facebook page Monday, but given our enduring love for noise-pop heroes Ringo Deathstarr we wanted to reiterate here the news: the Austin-based trio will release a new collection, Gods Dream, in the U.S. in 2014. The set is being released first in Japan Dec. 18 via the Vinyl Junkie label, so if you are in Japan, feel blessed. A preview track, "Flower Power," is already available to people of all nations; in addition to being awesome, the song features guest guitar work from the legendary Swervedriver fronter Adam Franklin (we should note here that Swervedriver also issued to the wilds of the Internerds recently two new songs that are terrific). "Flower Power" opens with two barking guitar chords and a rhythmic red herring; after the first half-minute the song explodes into a four-on-the-floor belter that re-centers the beat and then gets progressively heavier and more manic with each passing bar, until an oasis of melodic, calm interrupts the frenzy and resets the song, allowing it to establish a slow, elegiac groove. This being Ringo Deathstarr, the serenity persists but unsurprisingly crumbles, giving way to a final 40 seconds of grind. "Flower Power" is an auspicious taste of a record we expect we will listen to quite a lot in 2014; there is as yet no information about a label or release date for what is hopefully an inevitable domestic release. Vinyl Junkie's web site indicates the record has nine tracks, including three that are exclusive to the Japanese release, so maybe Gods Dream is actually an EP? Hard to say what a domestic release will look like until it is announced. While we wait, stream "Flower Power" via the Soundcloud embed below. We reviewed The Deathstarr's 2011 debut full-length Colour Trip here, and its 2012 collection Mauve right here.



>> It's the sheer magnitude of the effort that impresses us most about Boston Does Boston, a new, two-disc benefit compilation that features local independent rock combos covering one another's work. Proceeds from the sale of the set will be donated to the Animal Rescue League of Boston, which means the set gets our vote pretty much right out of the gate. Besides the production costs of the CDs, everything else related to making Boston Does Boston happen was donated -- right down to the studio time, the art and the mastering -- which is pretty wonderful, and speaks to the kindness in the music community in our fair burg. The running order of the formidable collection is daisy-chained across 26 songs, with each artist or act covering a song by the next artist/act performing the following track. So, for example, Clicky Clicky fave Ted Billings (who is actually now based in Brooklyn) covers former Elevator Drops guitarist Garvy J.'s "Celebrate," then Garvy J. covers Sarah Rabdau and Self-Employed Assassins' "Pavement Prophet," and so forth. The biggest hooks might just be in I, Pistol's blazing version of The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library's anthemic "Amylee." Relatively new power-pop act Parks' take on Corin Ashley's "Badfinger Bridge" is another one that will have you hitting the "back" button on your IPod (or having you root around in there for Mr. Ashley's criminally-lost-in-the-shuffle-by-us 2013 collection New Lion Terraces -- hear it at Spotify). Boston Does Boston is a lot of music to take in all at once; perhaps that makes the holiday season the best time to release it, a time when folks might have a chance to put their feet up and really dig in. There will be not one, not two, but three CD release shows, beginning tomorrow night at Brighton Music Hall. Full details of the three events can be found here, here and here, and you can purchase the collection via this Bandcamp page. Can't make it to the show? Want to do more than just buy a CD? There are lots of different ways to support the very good work the Animal Rescue League performs. Read more about that right here.

Today's Hotness: Jeff Zeigler, Boom Said Thunder, Nucular Aminals

>> [UPDATED] That Jeff Zeigler figuratively wears a lot of hats (although for a long time it seemed like he only had that knit one -- Ed.). Despite his recognized renaissance-man status in Philadelphia as a principal in progressive-shoegaze standouts Arc In Round and an in-demand producer (he's the go-to guy for Purling Hiss and The War On Drugs), Mr. Zeigler early this month quietly began posting brilliant solo tracks to Soundcloud. There fans will find the beautiful and abstract compositions "Opportunity (rough edit)" and "Saw The Life." The fractured songs are a departure from the relatively more formal music of Arc In Round; they meld painstakingly constructed ambience and feedback, spectral guitar and voice, space and spare beats into transporting, other-worldly compositions. Each one bears Zeigler's familiar wayward percussion and delayed guitar passages, and expands upon Arc In Round's measured interstitial soundscapes. Zeigler's new music echoes certain tracks off of The Swirlies' oft-misunderstood Cats of the Wild, Vol. 2 album and its head-spinning effect achieved by so much meticulously crafted chaos. Old school Philly types may even reckon that Zeigler's new songs' experimental bent recalls the music of erstwhile Philly peers Diagram. "Saw The Life" commences with subdued acoustic guitar; not long after a dreamy vocal spills into the mix a firm rhythm is established via tumbling, crunchy echoes and clanking guitar sounds. A brief chorus at the end reminds fans of the rare moments in which Zeigler explores his higher vocal range, a move that pleasingly builds tension without losing the smoky cool of his lower register. "Opportunity" adds more electricity with clean electric strums and a vacuum cleaner feedback blow that unhinges the tune and lifts it into the heliosphere. With such high-caliber music at hand, one can only hope that a solo gig in Philadelphia this Monday might be a harbinger of a potential solo record. But in the meantime Arc In Round has its own fish to fry: Friday the foursome revealed it is at work on a sophomore set and will release a remix record collecting stray tracks and remixes Tuesday via Soundcloud and Bandcamp. The collection includes contributions from experimental heavy-hitters Benoit Pioulard and A Sunny Day In Glasgow, among others. Listen to Zeigler’s "Opportunity (Rough Edit)" via the embed below. Clicky Clicky reviewed Arc In Round's self-titled debut long-player here last June. -- Edward Charlton



>> Cambridge, Mass.-based Boom Said Thunder recently issued its throbbing debut long-player Exist, a collection at turns tender, bombastic and then, well, even more bombastic than that. The trio's spartan approach eschews guitars -- and, really, any adornment at all beyond maybe that trill of ghostly keys on "Invisible People" -- in favor of heroic doses of over-driven bass, thunderous drumming and fronter Abby Bickel's out-sized vocals. There may be a formula to it, insofar as each of the 11 songs on Exist attacks directly at gut level (what was that '80s boxing video game? "body blow!" "body blow!" "uppercut!") and then makes quick work to move hips and nod heads. But Boom Said Thunder's strength on the album is using that same point repeatedly as a vehicle to successfully stage heavy moods, define heavy grooves and power big rock numbers from silence to cacaphony and back again. Ms. Bickel's voice perhaps superficially suggests that of Karen O., and the sheer force of the trio's music at times recalls the blunt trauma of Sleigh Bells, but Boom Said Thunder is able to substantially shade its work even with the few tools it allows itself. So the pretty ballad "Violet" taps the same sort of gothic melancholy as Nirvana's "Something In The Way," while album openers "Gold Rush" and "Destroyer" unapologetically rock face with a refreshingly overpowering amount of attitude that evidences a commitment to rocking out so strong that it would make many be-sweatered, bespectacled indie rockers a touch uncomfortable. Exist was self-released March 1, and the band celebrates said release Wednesday with a show at Great Scott in Boston. The album is available as a clear/purple haze 12" vinyl LP as well as a digital download; the band is also selling posters and t-shirts, and all of these are available via Bandcamp. Stream the LP below, that's what you should do now.

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>>Since hoodwinking Portland, OR-based correspondent Edward Charlton into thinking we operate a real publication, we've been needling him to throw insight our way into his adopted hometown's vibrant guitar-pop scene. One of his first tips from the indie rock Valhalla is veteran act Nucular Aminals (a reference to G.W. Bush's less-verbose moments?) and its recently issued "Alice Day" b/w "Come On" vinyl 7". The spooky single, out on Portland's own Hovercraft Records, features two new tunes from the psych-garage quartet and comes in the wake of a pair of long-players for legendary Pacific Northwest imprint K Records. "Alice Day" -- and its sparse arrangement of tense guitar strumming, droning organ, thudding bass and reverbed vocals -- patiently evidences a difficult-to-define sound that nods affirmatively to proto-post-punk and grunge influences (think The Wipers). Its lumbering bass line and fronter Robert Comitz’s sinister vocal melody each add a pleasing spy-noir glaze to the proceedings. Nucular Aminals' music at the very least conjures a singular, out-of-time feeling. Sure, "Alice Day" hints at '60s revivalism, too, but not to the extent the song echoes the parade of formulaic beachgazers that have dominated a wide swath of guitar pop in recent years. Instead, thinking Bleach-era Nirvana toying with a B-52s cover doesn't seem far off the mark. The Aminals recently completed a two-week European tour and will play an official release show for the "Alice Day" single April 11 at Portland's The Know. The single just recently appeared on Bandcamp and you can stream it and buy it via the embed below.

Clicky Clicky's Top Albums Of 2011: Jay Edition

And here we are at the end of 2011. If you had told us a year ago that the things which transpired this year were coming, we would not have believed you. While for much of the year, and much to our frustration, music had to take a back seat to real life, that only increased its importance to this writer. Cross-country flights soundtracked by Broken Shoulder. Getting up to speed mornings listening to Rival Schools. Quiet weekends with J Mascis, summer vacation with Algernon Cadwallader and The War On Drugs, doing dishes with the The Henry Clay People. And when we could, we saw shows that kept us smiling long after they were over, not the least of which was the seismic bill we co-presented in late October featuring The Hush Now, Soccermom and Chandeliers. We even found time to draft major pieces on favorite acts Haywood (here) and Johnny Foreigner (here). But largely constraints on our time and tons of stress often meant quality over quantity when it came to the blogging life; fortunately in 2011 there was no shortage of exceptional music to keep us sane. Below are our favorite 10 records of the year. We are very excited for what 2012 will bring, even if it only brings a little more time to catch up on everything we didn't have time for in 2011. Thanks for reading. Stick with us, there's a lot more Clicky Clicky where this came from.

1. Johnny Foreigner -- Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything -- Alcopop!
Now that it's here, it's hard not to feel like everything was leading up to it, from the band's very first single in 2007 onward. Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything is a fully DIY proposition that is remarkable in its vivid realization -- especially considering the small amount of money involved in creating it. It's also a defiant statement from a band that has fought for everything it has got, including its continued existence. As fronter Alexei Berrow told us here in October, "It feels like there are a lot of people waiting to be like 'O Johnny Foreigner fucked up, inevitable, how predictable.' Vs. Everything is us making these possibly imaginary folks eat their stupid words." And, man, the record delivers the fire and hope, the desperate melodies and sublime sentiments. If you haven't already, make sure you hear the best record of 2011.
[review / buy / Spotify]

2. Benjamin Shaw -- There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet -- Audio Antihero
While this list of favorite records for the most part illustrates which albums we listened to most in the last 360 or so days, it also speaks loudly about what we value in the music we spend our time with. Benjamin Shaw's There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet is perhaps the best example of what we value most: an artist with a singular personality, a unique vision or world view that is ably and creatively captured in the stereo field. Mr. Shaw's chamber pop showcases a charming dourness and humor, cloaked within deftly arranged guitar, piano, strings and ambient curiosities. His vocal delivery is remarkably personal, and the resulting collection here is as cozy as it is ghostly. Each song presents soft and sharp elements, like a bag full of knitting, while making sure that there are as many melodic hooks as there are noisy cul-de-sacs. It's enchanting, and it is easily one of the best of the year.
[preview / buy / Spotify]

3. Age Rings -- Black Honey -- Midriff Records
The one that almost got away, Black Honey was shelved for more than a year during its difficult gestation. Somehow band fronter Ted Billings was able to gather up inspiration that had sifted through his fingers and complete the collection, some four years on from its inception. It's a marvelous, rootsy rock record with a vast arsenal of hooks supporting Mr. Billings' raw, heart-on-sleeve sentiments and wry sense of humor. Black Honey is a thrilling collection, from the bombastic openers "Rock and Roll Is Dead" and "Black Hole" to the haunting closer "Caught Up In The Sound." It was a real feather in local dynamo Midriff Records' cap to be able to put it out, and it feels like a gift every time we listen to it.
[review / buy / Spotify]

4. Destroyer -- Kaputt -- Merge Records
Oh, how we loved this one from the very first time we put it on, perhaps the most obvious sign that even before we climbed all the way up the umbilical noose of '80s MTV, we were immersed irretrievably in early '80s commercial radio. It bothers us that Kaputt is viewed by many as tongue-in-cheek (the video for the album's title track didn't help matters), as we genuinely love the recycled soft-rock sounds and "Miami Vice"-cool found on the record just about as much as all the "critically compliant" Brotherhood vibes. Of course, embossing Destroyer auteur Dan Bejar's characteristic witover top of Kaputt's confections makes it that much more irresistable. Every song on the record is a hit, and it is at the top of mind every time we sit down to put on a record. Another Bejar coup.
[buy / Spotify]

5. The War On Drugs -- Slave Ambient -- Secretly Canadian
We listened to this for hours and hours in the middle of a hot summer, and it reminded us of the boiling South Philadelphia summers of our mid-20s. The city's unbroken mesh of hot brick rowhouses, each one its own oven, windows thrown open to the constant street noise, noise that buzzes like the constant aural din that underpins Slave Ambient. A din, we'd argue, that is like a dialect unique to Philadelphians. We long for our days in that city often, and in a way Drugs fronter Adam Granduciel has given us the gift of hearing a piece of our history again amid his hypnotic, mesmerizing creation. Slave Ambient's icy coctail of Philly FM radio and motorik reverie gets better every time we indulge it. Each time we put the collection on we nudge the volume knob northward to sit back and bathe in a Bartowski-esque Intersect of musical data points, freejacking decades of Petty, U2, the Dead and on and on and on and on...
[review / buy / Spotify]

6. Algernon Cadwallader -- Parrot Flies -- Hot Green/BSM
More Philly, people. This time it's fist-banging anthems, lightning in a bottle, youthful vigor. Few things make us wish we were young again, but Parrot Flies is one of them. Somewhere in all the caterwauling and rocking out, there is a well-spring of positive vibes so potent that it not only has the ability to brighten our days now, but also to inspire in us the strange belief that we could go back and enjoy by-gone days more if only we had had Parrot Flies on one side of a C-90 stuffed in the dashboard tape player. Emo the way it was meant to be written and performed by dudes who do it themselves, from recording to touring to releasing their record. To steal a line from Stars, "when there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire." Algernon Cadwallader live it, and Parrot Flies is so much delicious proof.
[review / buy / Spotify]

7. The Hush Now -- Memos -- Self-Released
They did it. The Hush Now's third record is a triumph of melody, of songwriting, of will. For years the band has been slugging it out in Boston, turning in increasingly dominating live sets, and finally, with Memos, the band released a recording that matched in execution the passion and energy characteristic of their visceralperformances. And beyond Memos just sounding good and feeling good, it touts the best set of songs the quintet has turned out yet, from the jaw-dropping ballad "Sitting On A Slow Clock" (which featured on our year-end songs list here) to the scorching guitar pop anthems that the band has made its stock-in-trade, Memos delivers, and we can't imagine the overground won't come calling for these guys soon enough.
[review / buy / Spotify]

8. Ringo Deathstarr -- Colour Trip -- Sonic Unyon
It took four years to get it, but we can't say it wasn't worth the wait. On the tail of an increasingly convoluted string of singles and EPs (different collections in the USA, UK and Japan with different configurations of songs, something of a collector's nightmare), Austin-based noise pop behemoths Ringo Deathstarr finally issued a debut full-length. It's an arresting amalgamation of shoegaze, punk and even dance-pop, and it's awesome. The trio is having better luck in other markets (it just toured supporting Smashing Pumpkins abroad and had a few dates in Japan with Johnny Foreigner), but Colour Trip gained some significant traction for The Deathstarr here. And we ask you, what's not to like? The record is a perfect calling card for the band's power, style and attitude, and listeners that write the band off as a My Bloody Valentine clone are both missing the point and just not listening.
[review / buy / Spotify]

9. Soccer Mom -- You Are Not Going To Heaven -- 100m
...the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen. You Are Not Going To Heaven is an exhilarating collection, from the Sonic Youth-styled buzzsaw of "(A) Natural History" to the blackout bludgeoning of the final 30 seconds of "Southern Bells." All six songs here are dynamite. Perhaps the only thing more exhilarating is experiencing the quartet's firestorm live. We honestly feel bad for any band that has to follow these guys on a bill, because after The 'Mom levels the crowd with its blissful and desperate noise (via Dan Parlin's mad-dog death-grip head shake, the steady cool of guitarist Bill Scales and bassist Danielle Deveau, and drummer Justin Kehoe's octopus arms), that show's over, man. It's just over ("...grab your stuff and go and nobody goes to jail..."). This EP is huge, and we can't wait for the next batch of recordings. Boston's next big thing keeping getting better, if not nextier.
[preview / buy / Spotify]

10. Los Campesinos! -- Hello Sadness -- Arts & Crafts
In some way it is difficult to believe that the band that issued the scruffy Sticking Fingers Into Sockets EP in 2007 is the same act that crafted Hello Sadness. But there are a lot easy retorts to that sentiment, too, namely, well, it's just not the same band. The amount of living Tom, Gareth and the rest of Los Campesinos! have crammed into the last five years -- even if measured only by the 75 songs in our ITunes, you know, "band living" -- is quite astonishing. Hello Sadness is so emotionally broad and deep it is like the world's oceans, once you're in the water, it's just water going on forever, amazing songs like "To Tundra" and "Hate For The Island" so breath-taking there's no swimming across. There is a theoretic line between pop and art and this record is perhaps most remarkable for making that theoretic line so wide as one can not be pulled apart from the other at all. Amazing songs, amazing lyrics, so purposefully rendered.
[preview / buy / Spotify]

Review: The War On Drugs | Slave Ambient

Philadelphia-based The War On Drugs' towering second full-length, Slave Ambient, is an agreeably loose (but emotionally prodigious) consortium of oasis and mirage. The so-called psych-Americana act's more formalized compositions are oasis, mappable destinations; soundscapes (like the roaring greyscale inferno "Original Slave") that form the firmament between are the mirage, beautiful, impossible to reach out and touch. All of it sits together as a series of supraliminal dreams you can't quite remember, just images that will spring to mind with surprising sharpness but questionable clarity. Which is to say that Slave Ambient doesn't communicate as a sequence of discrete riffs and lyrics, but as a holistic collage of awesome.

This fuzzy presence is more pronounced on Slave Ambient than on on its terrific predecessor Wagonwheel Blues, as Drugs songwriter and fronter (and Dover, Mass. native) Adam Granduciel said in a recent interview that in writing and recording Slave Ambient he didn't really re-work lyrics, and in some instances recorded them in just a few takes long on improvisation. Adding to the slippery now that is this new collection is that a reel of music -- the eponymous slave ambient tracks -- was left to run in the background of the songs as they were mixed. Aurally there is a tension between the dense (and in places strong -- "Brothers" is loud, the rhythm tracks boom) wall of sound, and the fact that Slave Ambient's fever-dreamed construction can be quite delicate, a house of playing cards. Importantly, the record is best played very loud, as increased volume illuminates innumerable soft layers, renders the transparent diaphanous, and the diaphanous opaque, everything shifting in the 10-song set's deftly realized and fluid mix. Indeed, Granduciel said in still another recent interview that Slave Ambient was realized as much in the mix as it was in the writing and recording.

Droning but buoyed by mechanistic rhythm tracks that mirror Mr. Granduciel's regimented but drawling streams of Beat-echoing free verse, "Your Love Is Calling My Name" serves as an able proxy for the 2011 sound of the Drugs. The aural motifs (tremeloed guitar, spectral "Walk Of Life" synth, apparitions of feedback in the final thrilling moments) pile up, not in a pejorative way, but in the same way that elements in certain David Lynch films iterate: the more they are presented, the less certain things become, the more pronounced the aesthetics and sheer beauty. Still, the music's ebb and flow produces recognizable touchstones. "Brothers" has something of Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back" in either the lyrical weft or warp, perhaps it is Granduciel's declaration "looking out the window of my room / I'm looking out where something once ran wild." "Come To The City" at times approximates U2's "Bad," right down to Granduciel's "woo hoo" mid-way through the song (as an aside, it makes one wonder whether Granduciel was a Philadelphian as far back as 1985, and also suggests The Edge's signature guitar playing as a significant precursor to The War On Drugs' repetitive layering). The preview track that's been out in the wilds of the Internet for some time, "Baby Missiles," is just classic Drugs: cold mecha-shuffle, streaming vocals stamped with slap-back, Dire Straits-styled synth. The affecting "Blackwater" beautifully closes the album: the acoustic guitars are laid bare, the leads shimmer. The song's biggest victory may be making the waltz time almost inapparent, but it is the line "Remember me when you dissolve in the rain" that sticks with you.

Secretly Canadian released Slave Ambient Tuesday; the entire record can be streamed at SoundCloud right here. The War On Drugs' full-length debut Wagonwheel Blues was one of Clicky Clicky's top albums of 2008.

The War On Drugs: Internerds | Facebook | Twittah | YouTube

Footage: The War On Drugs' "Baby Missiles"

Philadelphia's The War On Drugs issue its sophomore set Slave Ambient Aug. 16 via Secretly Canadian, which is cause for some celebration given how much we like the band's preceding work (the full-length debut Wagonwheel Blues was one of our favorite records of 2008). What we have above is a video for the promo song "Baby Missiles," which we first wrote about here in May. There's not a lot of what you'd term narrative in the video clip, which is apparently culled from fronter Adam Granduciel's personal cache of Super 8 reels, but the images are soft and soothing and swiftly paced, making the visuals a fine complement to the song. True to the press verbiage, "Baby Missiles" pairs a motorik rhythm with the sort of organ sound that jumped out of '80s FM classics "Glory Days" or "Walk Of Life." It's a surprisingly winning pairing of elements, made all the more delectable by Mr. Granduciel's characteristically rapid-fire, slap-backed vocals. All told, it really sounds like summer. Not long after the release of Slave Ambient (which, in addition to all the typical formats, will also be released as a 45RPM double 12"), The War On Drugs pay a visit to Boston's Brighton Music Hall on Aug. 21. If you can't get enough of the jam above, you can also grab the Soundcloud stream below.

"Baby Missiles" by The War On Drugs by DOJAGSC

Today's Hotness: Gold-Bears, The War On Drugs, Yuck

>> Oh man we love this new Gold-Bears tune "Record Store," and we have high hopes for the rising, Atlanta-based quartet's full-length debut Are You Falling In Love? The album was released earlier this month by the obviously dominating and awesome Slumberland Records (although a note at the web site indicates the vinyl version is delayed until June 7). "Record Store" radiates a classic Slumberland sound saturated in fuzzy guitars, espousing big melodies, and rocking most steadfastly. Gold-Bears, who play PA's Lounge in Somerville, Massachusetts Wednesday, formed in 2010 and the band centers around songwriter Jeremy Underwood, formerly of the act Plastic Mastery (555 Recordings/Magic Marker Records). If the rest of the record sounds anything like the song embedded below, we imagine we'll listen to Are You Falling In Love? until people are sick of being around us. Buy the record from Slumberland right here.

"Record Store" by Gold-Bears

>> While we've been looking the other way, Philadelphia's The War On Drugs has been up to a lot. The remarkable folk-rock droners recently announced they would issue a sophomore full-length Slave Ambient Aug. 16 on Secretly Canadian. The collection -- which will be issued as a 45RPM double LP, as well as in those new formats the kids like -- was recorded in a number of places including Jeff Ziegler's Uniform Recording studio. Secretly Canadian is offering the tune "Baby Missiles" as a teaser for the new collection; fans will recognize the rhythmic foundation as very similar to the uptempo shuffle of "Taking The Farm," a stand-out track from The War On Drugs' superlative debut full-length Wagonwheel Blues, which was one of our favorite records of 2008. "Baby Missiles" updates the prior track with some "Walk Of Life"-style synth lines, some Springsteen-esque harmonica wail and a touch more frenetic energy. Taken in sum, the tune succeeds in making us want to hear the rest of Slave Ambient post-haste. In other news, The War On Drugs issued last fall a second EP Future Weather, which completely passed us by, and you can buy that thing right here.

The War On Drugs -- "Baby Missiles" -- Slave Ambient
[right click and save as]
[pre-order Slave Ambient sometime soon from Secretly Canadian right here]

>> We've been remiss in noting that London-based indie rock upstarts Yuck will self-release a double A-sided vinyl single June 27. The young outfit's release touts a non-album track "Milkshake" etched into one face; the grooves on the other face will recreate the sounds of the song "Shook Down" -- from the band's excellent self-titled debut issued by Fat Possum Feb. 15 -- when it is correctly scratched by a "stylus" or "needle" affixed to the tone arm of a record player. Not sure why Fat Possum did not issue this single, but perhaps Yuck's was a one-album dealy, or maybe Fat Possum just didn't want to participate in the vinyl release. The quartet returns to the U.S. in mid-July for two weeks of dates beginning at the Pantsfork festival in Chicago and ending with a date at The Troubador in Los Angeles July 30. "Milkshake" is a pretty strong guitar jam, and if you want to do the proverbial try before you buy, hit the Soundcloud stream below. We think you'll dig it. The inimitable Ric Dube -- host of the delightful More Lost Time podcast -- reviewed Yuck's recent Boston show right here in late April.

"Milkshake" by Yuck

Clicky Clicky's Top Albums Of 2008

It was a lot more work than we anticipated getting this list together, but fortunately we've been hammering away at it for about a month. Even so we didn't finalize our picks until Friday, which led to some extra writing, but so it goes. Along the way we deepened our relationship with and appreciation for these 10 records, which in our humble opinion represent the best that 2008 had to offer. We hope you'll find some things here that had escaped your attention heretofore, and that you derive as much enjoyment from listening to them as we do. For those who are curious, here are links to some of our prior annual lists [2007, 2006, 2005, 2002]. Thanks for reading Clicky Clicky in 2008.

1. Johnny Foreigner -- Waited Up Til It Was Light -- Best Before/Nettwerk

If you thought we were going to rave about Waited Up Til It Was Light all year and then not name it our favorite album, well, you were wrong. But if it makes you feel better, we were wrong, too. A year ago we declared that Johnny Foreigner's Arcs Across The City EP was the new gold standard in indie rock, and that choice now smacks of being obviously premature, as the band's monstrous full-length debut eclipses it on every level. It shudders with adolescent confusion and crackles with stumbling euphoria, one bottle of gin too many and guitars potted way, way up. There's feedback and in-jokes and sweat and disappointment. As we quipped in June, Waited Up Til It Was Light "is thronged with careening guitar anthems, its 13 tracks shot through with typewriter ribbon-lengths of lyrics that collectively present a contemporary mythology of the band's beloved city." The set will have spawned four singles by the time the double a-sided "DJs Get Doubts" b/w "Lea Room" streets Jan. 12 in the UK. Johnny Foreigner reportedly begin recording a follow-up, and we hope that at this time next year Alexei, Kelly and Junior Foreigner have us once again amending our assessment of what the gold standard is in indie rock. [review] [listen]

2. A Weather -- Cove -- Team Love

In a perfect world, A Weather's understated yet confident debut would launch a thousand indie rock vessels, each one charting a course to illuminate new, obscure and quiet frontiers of a slowcore revival. But as this record seems to have been the most slept-on of all our 2008 picks, this is quite unlikely. One of the revelations of Cove -- which we named the first big surprise of 2008 back in February -- is that the set is filled with love songs, but not necessarily heartache. Yet there is still remarkable tension and mystery that courses through the nine tracks. Quoting again from our review, "[t]he band's beautiful full-length debut has a persistent but slippery allure. Populated almost entirely with murmured bedroom ballads driven by brushed drums, guitar and electric piano, the set somehow succeeds in not repeating the same tricks over and over again." [review] [listen]

3. Frightened Rabbit -- The Midnight Organ Fight -- Fat Cat

Last spring we spoke briefly -- albeit loudly, above the rock club din -- with Frightened Rabbit fronter Scott Hutchison about the growing distance between the songs on this collection and the events they reflect. Certain of the songs on The Midnight Organ Fight were about five years old at the time and reflected events growing increasingly smaller in Frightened Rabbit's rearview. Which makes the tunes' emotional impact -- particularly when performed during one of the quartet's usually incendiary live sets -- all the more impressive. But the live spectacle aside, The Midnight Organ Fight is still a remarkable collection of songs, as lush and atmospheric as Sing The Greys was stark and in-your-face. We pegged the band's "Extrasupervery" as indicative of the potential for Disintegration-esque genius, so we are eager to hear what comes next from the lads. [review] [listen]

4. The Notwist -- The Devil, You + Me -- Domino

Germany's The Notwist had been absent so long prior to the release of The Devil, You + Me -- as we remarked here in our review of the wonderful DVD "The Notwist On|Off The Record" two years ago -- that we were afraid the indie rock world might not take them back, and even more afraid that the band might not want to come back. Finally The Notwist broke its (near) silence with the promo track "Good Lies." The song raised hopes for a stellar album and the band delivered with a set as subtle and beautifully orchestrated as Neon Golden. And while the material is exceptional, it is hard to ignore that The Notwist also gave a wholly stunning performance when it appeared at The Roxy in Boston in October. "The band was alternately mesmerizing and astonishing, depending on whether it was locking into a heavy, digitally augmented groove or blasting through a crescendo of guitars," to quote our review. Compared to Neon Golden, The Devil, You + Me is a more reserved affair, reflecting perhaps the changes of life (fatherhood and the like) that the members of The Notwist have experienced in recent years. Even so, their songwriting chops and imaginations have not subsided in the least, and we're hopeful that it won't be another five years before its next record. [live review] [listen]

5. Destroyer -- Trouble In Dreams -- Merge

We recall reading comments from Destroyer mastermind Dan Bejar sometime during the year in which he states that Trouble In Dreams was a difficult, meaning we think inscrutable, record for fans, particularly compared to the prior set, Destroyer's Rubies. For the record, we think both collections are stellar, and we question just how "difficult" the music is. Musically, things are fairly straightforward on every Destroyer record we've heard (which is damn near all of them -- Damon Che Mr. Bejar is not), so we have to presume Bejar is referring to his lyrics. These are often impressionistic, deeply layered, and, of course, when coming out of Bejar's mouth are often the true highlight of Destroyer's recordings. Trouble In Dreams is no exception, and with some of the year's most winning melodies, the record easily made our list. [listen]

6. Julie Ocean -- Long Gone And Nearly There -- Transit Of Venus

Long Gone And Nearly There now seems a prescient album title for this upbeat collection of irresistable indie pop confections from an already broken-up quartet fronted by the cable newser best known for having himself tasered on television. How could it not be among our favorite records of the year? The collection captures 10 tunes touting broad, bright melodies delivered with an irresistible guitar-jangle and fizz. From a historical standpoint, Long Gone And Nearly There is a distillation of several strands of the D.C. underground, the apparent mean value of Velocity Girl, Glo-Worm and Swiz. And while the band's demise seems to neatly underscore the ephemeral nature of perfect pop, the band's borrowing from '60s AM sounds limns Long Gone And Nearly There with a classic pop sense that makes it stand out among contemporary indie releases. [review] [listen]

Julie Ocean -- "Here Comes Danny" -- Long Gone And Nearly There
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[buy Long Gone And Nearly There from Transit Of Venus here]

7. The War On Drugs -- Wagonwheel Blues -- Secretly Canadian

A beguiling set that offers jaunty singles candidates ("Arms Like Boulders," "Taking The Farm"), lo-fi balladry ("Barrel Of Batteries") and kaleidoscopic drone ("Show Me The Coast") is a special record indeed. The more we listen to it, the more we are convinced that band fronter Adam Granduciel is at the cusp of the sort of acclaim that follows Destroyer's Dan Bejar. There is a frank poeticism in his nasal proclamations buried within stoned repetitions that accumulate like sediment into enticing songs that succeed wonderfully at going nowhere. Wagonwheel Blues will make converts of us all; this video of a live set drives home the greatness of the band. [listen]

8. Love Is All -- A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night -- What's Your Rupture?

This was a late-year surprise. Our old housemate Tony B championed the Gothenburg, Sweden-based quintet and its boxy recordings early on, which got us turned on to the single for "Make Out Fall Out Make Up." And while we've listened to the band's 2005 set 9 Times That Same Song maybe a dozen times, we were taken by surprise by how much more A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night resonated with us. The set -- shrouded like its precursor in almost obfuscating amounts of slap-back reverb -- contains a perfect, grooving blend of dancey rock that sounds like a bizarre marriage of The Cramps and Haircut 100 fronted by a roughly rendered facsimile of Cyndi Lauper. "Give It Back" is a relentless torrent of hooks and energy, and the rest of the set follows suit. [listen]

9. Superman Revenge Squad -- This Is My Own Personal Way Of Dealing With It All -- My Best Unbeaten Brother

Ben Parker, sole proprietor of the acoustic enterprise Superman Revenge Squad, was the subject of the only feature interview we did in 2008, a reflection of the esteem in which we hold this very gifted songwriter based in Croydon, England. From a lyrical standpoint no one can touch him, not only in terms of sheer volume (the man is loquacious in song) but also in his ability to express discontent in colorful ways (we love the line "the sun's too hot and there's nothing on the telly" from the digital single "Idiot Food"). His music -- whether it is harrowingly urgent, morose and emotional or tongue-in-cheek and geeky -- transmits as deeply personal, despite the fact that often when Parker sounds like he is baring his soul he is actually making an obscure pop culture reference. This Is My Own Way Of Dealing With It All is filled with escape fantasies, dark resignation and still darker humor. And it is brilliant. We're posting the lead track below. [interview] [listen]

Superman Revenge Squad -- "Idiot Food" -- This Is My Own Personal Way Of Dealing With It All
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[buy the record from Superman Revenge Squad right here]

10. The Swimmers -- Fighting Trees -- Mad Dragon

We suppose it is a toss-up as to whether this was more slept-on than the A Weather record, although the label Team Love has more brand recognition than the Drexel University-backed Mad Dragon imprint. Philadelphia's Swimmers had been treading water for quite a while as we waited for its debut to finally see release, but it finally delivered in a big way. Echoing first-wave Wilco and scene precursors The Bigger Lovers, Fighting Trees' rootsy, upbeat attack and hooks aplenty made this a constant go-to record for us this year. While "Pocket Full Of Gold" made our list of top songs of the year last week, the entire record is filled with eager winners, not the least of which is the piano-driven homage to Lancaster, PA "Heaven." Daytrotter recently posted a session featuring a few tracks from Fighting Trees from which we are posting a fantastic take on "St. Cecilia" below. [review] [listen]

The Swimmers -- "St. Cecilia" -- Daytrotter Session
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[download the whole session right here]
[buy Fighting Trees from Amazon here]