Today's Hotness: What Moon Things, Family Video

>> Last week brought the first official new sounds from What Moon Things since the trio moved from upstate New York down to Brooklyn, the compelling darkwave number "Party Down The Street." Sure, there was the nice short stack of spacey jams casually and digitally released at the end of 2015 entitled, well, Space Jams, which fans shouldn't overlook and which also offers some indication as to which label might release the three's planned sophomore full-length. For sheer drama and major hookage, "Party Down The Street" -- which will likely feature on said forthcoming LP -- can't be beat. The song's arrangement comfortably sprawls through breathy verses (that exhale apparent reverse reverb), and anthemic, noisier sections where guitars swirl over the song's mechanical rhythm track. In said verses, Mr. Harms' vocals are impressionistic and emotive, but when he bellows "my face lit up like a question mark" the narrative focuses and the song catches fire. It also doesn't hurt that "Party Down The Street" echoes not just a little vintage and celebrated sounds from bands including The Cure. The tune closes with a tasteful, downbeat denouement, pulsing kick and boxy electro-snare into a roomy reverb while guitars slowly unwind the melody. No release date or title for What Moon Things' next record have been announced, but the band is presently on tour and we expect fans are hearing some new songs out there in the rock clubs of the American South as the Things venture to and from the annual SXSW music confabulation (Arkanas tonight! Full tour dates below). Hot Grits released What Moon Things' self-titled debut full-length in June 2014 as a vinyl 12", CD and digital download; that LP is presently in its second pressing. Stream "Party Down The Street" via the Soundcloud embed below.

3/10 -- Maxine's -- Hot Springs, AR
3/11 -- Denton 35 FEST -- Denton, TX
3/14 - 3/20 -- SXSW -- Austin, TX
3/21 -- Gasa Gasa -- New Orleans, LA
3/23 -- Blind Mule -- Mobile, AL
3/24 -- TV Land -- Tallahassee, FL
3/25 -- 1904 -- Jacksonville, FL
3/27 -- Will's Pub -- Orlando, FL
3/28 -- Tin Roof -- Charleston, SC
3/29 -- Brookland Tavern -- Columbia, SC
4/1 -- Slingshot FEST -- Athens, GA
4/4 -- The Camel -- Richmond, VA
4/6 -- Songbyrd Cafe -- Washington, DC
4/7 -- Old Mogul Theatre -- Montclair, NJ



>> The persistence of bass player jokes is one of those modern mysteries. After all, examples of notably talented bass players that can write songs aren't all that hard to come by: there's that McCartney guy, that Tweedy guy, and locally in Boston, just off the top of our head and only picking one, there's Jenny Mudari from Feral Jenny and Bent Shapes (whose album release show is tonight in Allston Rock City, doncha know?). As it turns out, Clicky Clicky faves Fog Lake have a talented, songwriting bass player as well. Her name is Jen King, and her project Family Video last month issued an understated but fierce set of indie pop songs called Places To Sleep. Sure, the St. John's, Newfoundland-based act's music isn't as deeply haunting as that of Fog Lake, but it is similarly affecting and occasionally even as downcast. Family Video's 11-song set features scruffy, guitar-centric songs that bash and pop through spare arrangements and echo in places the confessional songwriting of Liz Phair and the fizzing verve of Tiger Trap. Asymmetrical opener "You In The Night" morosely plods through pretty, chiming verses in the first 90 seconds, but soars for the final two minutes on the strength of spiraling, melodic lead guitar and steady synth tones. The cracking album highlight "My Sister's House" showcases buoyant bass playing and glistening guitar jangle, and escalates into a proper rave-up spangled by an urgent quarter-note cadence on the snare in its final third. "Winter Shadow" -- as well as its more poignant, delicate, acoustic iteration "Winter Shadow (Revisited)" -- presents Ms. King voicing the unguarded, forthright request "won't somebody smack me and make me feel realize..." The song's emotional heft compounds as its lyrics cast in different directions for deliverance from loneliness (it also references listening to the radio, which always gets songwriters a check-plus from Clicky Clicky's executive editor). Places To Sleep was recorded to and mixed on a four-track machine, and Fog Lake's Aaron Powell contributed synth to three cuts and vocals to the tune "Empty Bed;" he's also mentioned in the song "Aaron In The Basement." Family Video self-released Places To Sleep to the wilds of the Internerds Feb. 16. Stream the entire collection via the embed below and click through the purchase it as a paywhutchyalike download.

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

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



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

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

Today's Hotness: Moonbell, What Moon Things, White Reaper

>> San Francisco quartet Moonbell make faraway and trippy shoegaze with a very distinctive sound, one that makes the act's long-player Afterlives among the most singular dream-pop albums of 2014 to date. Its 11 songs carry copious reverb on nearly every instrument, and the unexpected wandering bass lines and schizophrenic patterns of this record add to its otherworldly nature. Opener "Never Seems" establishes a mood with loping snare work, and the drifting vocals and strings simultaneously disorient and engage. In an especially cool touch at 1:22, the tune transforms from electric to acoustic -- a solid example of the unexpected elements that Moonbell regularly employ. The title track, an album highlight, goes for a more monolithic approach, with punchy, slightly dissonant bass work reminding this reviewer of the colossal "Periscope" from Lilys' masterpiece In The Presence Of Nothing (which, as we wrote last month, may finally be getting the reissue it so dearly deserves). The vocals, while airy, bear the charmingly innocent and slightly out-of-tune feel of shoegaze greats like The Telescopes and early The Brian Jonestown Massacre -- a welcome revival of the style. Afterlives was released April 1 on the band's own Hypnogram imprint in a limited edition of 100 cassettes and as a digital download; purchase it right here. The entire set may be streamed via the embed below, and a new EP comprised of music recorded during the same sessions as Afterlives is slated for release this summer, according to this interview. Moonbell, which formed in 2010, previously released a digital single "The Golden Hour" and two EPs, Figurine and Parallel, all of which are available as free downloads via Moonbell's Bandcamp yert right here. The two EPs were packaged together for a CD release in 2012. But particularly based on the strength of its newest material, Moonbell's unusual blend of styles and sounds makes it a band to watch. Watch we will. -- Edward Charlton



>> The news was a long time coming, but New Paltz-based noise rockers What Moon Things revealed at last today that it has signed to the new imprint Hot Grits, which will release the trio's self-titled debut LP June 3. It's a record about the making of other records, a record populated by vampires (and which at one point was to have been titled The Vampire), populated by data lint scraped from and used to stuff the taxidermied remains of failed relationships. What Moon Things carries its own specific and murky atmosphere, marked by prickly but patient guitars, wide-hipped reverbs and fronter Jake Harms' existentially uneasy tenor. The eight-song set fluidly slides from moody groove to desperate thrash, making it not only just a little sexy, but also a gripping listen. The spooky preview track "The Astronaut" conveys via giant but spare drumming, percolating guitars and Mr. Harms' emotional, drawling vocals a deep isolation, an outsiderness whose introversion fuels an arresting gravity that draws listeners in. It's a promising single from among a strong set of songs. There is as yet no pre-order information available for What Moon Things, which will be on offer as a 12" flat vinyl disc, compact disc, and, we imagine, digital download. Despite a pretty gnarly injury to Harms' thumb recently, the band embarks on a short strand of tour dates tomorrow, including a stop at Boston's Great Scott next week. We've posted all the dates below, and below that you can stream and download "The Astronaut" via a Soundcloud embed. We first wrote about What Moon Things, "The Astronaut" and the swerving anti-anthem "Squirrel Girl" right here last July.

04/10 -- The Batcave -- Montclaire, NY
04/11 -- Suburbia -- Brooklyn, NY
04/12 -- Upstate Artists Guild -- Albany, NY
04/15 -- Great Scott -- Boston, MA
04/18 -- 158 Salon -- New Paltz, NY
04/19 -- Cameo Gallery -- Brooklyn, NY
04/25 -- Bard College -- Red Hook, NY
05/06 -- Oasis Cafe -- New Paltz, NY



>> Last time we wrote about garage punks White Reaper last August, the Louisville duo was prepping a full-length for a German label. It appears that plan never came to fruition, based on a scan of the label's web site, but there is new music from White Reaper -- now a trio -- in the offing, and on a label much closer to home. The venerable Polyvinyl revealed today that it will release in June a self-titled EP from the threesome. A blazing preview track from the EP, titled "Half Bad," bashes and pops with abandon, and touts a ridiculously keen, burbling organ lead whose space-age vibrato threatens to separate the tones from the speakers of your hi-fi, particularly during the rave-up of the cymbal-soaked final chorus. The six-song EP also features a version of the 2013 A-side "Conspirator," and is available for pre-order now as a 180-gram, clear pink 12" vinyl disc, CD, cassette or digital download. White Reaper will be released June 24; pre-orders will ship June 13, according to Polyvinyl. Stream the blaster "Half Bad" via the Soundcloud embed below.

Today's Hotness: Soccer Mom, Screaming Maldini, Routine Involvements

>> Based on the math and the recurrent wringing of hands/gnashing of teeth about Facebook page views, roughly 95% of Clicky Clicky Facebook page readers missed our trumpeting there of last week's long-awaited announcement about the pending release of Soccer Mom's full-length debut. Which is quite a long sentence. But, indeed, this is finally, finally happening. The Boston shoegaze giants' titanic first long player is a self-titled, nine-song collection that will be released by 100m Records May 1 as an LP, CD and digital download. As for the music, Soccer Mom presents an impressively realized set of songs, songs that balance delicately the dueling guitars of co-fronters Dan Parlin and William Scales. Texture is a concept the band has championed for years, but the real stars of the new set are the finer melodies, and the distinct (but not stifling) framing these recordings provide (as opposed to the volatile maelstrom of the band's live performances). We don't want to say more than that, as we'll have a complete review of the full record in a few weeks. But it is coming, with all of its bad magic and transformative loss. Ardent fans will note that some of the new songs are already in the wild, with early versions of "No One Left" and "Hideaway Sands" appearing here at Foundwaves last summer, and today here, where "Sundown Syndrome" and "Orejas" were debuted by Allston Pudding. Soccer Mom's catalog to date also includes a vinyl single, the colossal 10" You Are Not Going To Heaven, and last year's desperate and desolate digital single "Brides" b/w "A Canoe Shy." There is as of yet no pre-order information for Soccer Mom, but we've seen evidence that physical copies of the record exist, so all in due time, my pretties... The record will be feted May 3 at Great Scott with a release show featuring the staggering slate of support acts Bedroom Eyes, Infinity Girl and Palehound. For now, how about taking a listen to The Mom's brilliant cover of Lilys' "Ginger," from last year's Clicky Clicky comp? It does a body good.



>> Sheffield, England-based indie pop geniuses Screaming Maldini have loosed to the wilds of the Interzizzles the third in its mysterious and apparently monthly series of free downloads, an effort now dubbed #monthlymaldiniXII. The latest track is the anxious, dreamy ballad "Abyssinia," in which singer Gina Maldini passionately entreats, fiercely fends off desperation. The tune is dark and dynamic, raising itself up from plodding piano chords onto the back of thumping percussion and gang vocals in the chorus. "Abyssinia" carries the sextet's characteristically deft arrangements and sophisticated harmonies, and draws on its familiar horns and key changes, but the compositional skill, a Maldini hallmark, makes the song feel newer and fresher, even among the act's impressive repertoire. Not only did Gina perform the lead vocal of the track, she also wrote and directed the video for the accompanying clip, which you can watch right here. Last month the sextet issued "Bearings," the second tune of #monthlymaldiniXII, which can still be heard right here. This month finds Screaming Maldini heading to Japan for the first time, to support the recent release into that market of the band's stirring self-titled full-length (which we reviewed here a year ago). Two tunes from Screaming Maldini charted in the Tokyo Hot 100, a very respectable achievement for the Sheffield six. We're holding out hope that at the end of the 12-month exercise that is #monthlymaldiniXII there is a physical release of some sort. Call us old-fashioned. And after you're done doing that, listen to "Abyssinia" via the Soundcloud embed below.



>> Is upstate New York having a moment? It's probably always having a moment, right? But, anyway, obv. now-act Perfect Pussy hails from Syracuse, noise-rock upstarts What Moon Things are poised to make a statement and break out of verdant New Paltz later this year, and now comes Routine Involvements, an act that cultivates hooky, crunchy guitar pop from its base of operations in Rochester. Let us consult a map: oh yes, there it is, physically even further west than Syracuse. But sonically -- at least based on the new song "Faux Affections" -- Routine Involvements are considerably more west. That is, if you want to go ahead and compare the four-year-old act (which was formerly known as Stereophone) -- as many likely will -- to Weezer circa the first two albums. The Rochester trio's latest effort is the Future Days EP, which will be released on cassette later this month by Dadstache Records. The six-song set includes the aforementioned "Faux Affections," which follows its chugging bass line and palm-muted guitars through several logical steps, none of which shock, but all of which add up to a bracing bit of scruffy pop. Choruses are big, alluring feedback pools across the floor of the second verse, calm if tense vocals explode along with the guitars in the final thirty seconds. It's a great song, and we're eager to hear more of them from this rock combo. At present there is no information about ordering Future Days at the Dadstache online storefront, but if you keep your eye on that there link we expect it is just a matter of time. For now, stream "Faux Affections" below.

Today's Hotness: What Moon Things, Little Big League, Fridge Poetry

>> At least The Bradys had their popcorn trail... With the half-attention/limited attention span we employ on a regular basis given the various demands on our time, sometimes we paste a link in a text file to revisit later, only to completely forget any and all context for it. So we send out heartfelt thanks to whomever it was that pointed us to the Bandcamp page of What Moon Things recently, because the quintet-or-trio-we-can't-tell's new tune "Squirrel Girl" -- posted to Bandcamp late last month and embedded for your enjoyment below -- is a stunner. The groop appears to be based out of New Paltz, NY, as best we can tell, and formed just last year. But it has made good use of that short time, as between "Squirrel Girl" and "Astronaut..." the band has already written two tunes that we've returned to again and again this weekend. "Squirrel Girl" melds psych, shoegaze and post-punk styles into something dense, noisy and beautiful, creating an arresting sound that hints at influences like classic Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse. What Moon Things recently added bassist Chris Kehoe to a lineup that as best we can tell also includes guitarist Jake Harms, John (with no surname) on drums, Kyle James on synth and some person or thing called Metamorphic manning synth, bass and percussion. The presumed five-piece (it appears only three band members are present in the video linked supra for "Astronaut...") are preparing a full-length, and previously issued a digital single, "White Indian Ghost" b/w "Storm Moon," in August 2012 (available for download here). We're excited by the possibilities before this young band, and recommend them to your attention posthaste. Stream the swerving anti-anthem "Squirrel Girl" via the embed below.



>> Just when you thought we couldn't find more bands to like coming out of Phiadelphia right now, here comes Little Big League. The rising guitar-pop quartet, fronted by Michelle Zauner and including former Titus Andronicus drummer Ian Dykstra, will release via Tiny Engines next month a debut full-length called These Are Good People. The set touts dynamic indie punk tunes highlighted by neatly arranged guitars that leave plenty of room for Ms. Zauner's affecting, high alto (which works in that range that always reminds us of Kiss Me Deadly's Emily Elizabeth). These Are Good People is at its best at its most ambitious, and you can hear the band pushing itself in the record's thoughtfully constructed and produced centerpiece "Sportswriting." Its composition is patient, there is noticeably more reverb applied to the guitars, and Zauner offers her most emotional vocal of the record. These Are Good People is out Aug. 6, and it will be available on a vinyl 12" or as a digital download. Pre-orders are being taken now right here and include t-shirt or poster bundles, cheap downloads and a 20% off checkout code, according to Little Big Leagues tumblr. Stream the first three cuts from the nine-song collecton via the Bandcamp embed below. Little Big League previously issued a 7" single, "Tokyo Drift" b/w "St. John," in April 2012. Little Big League is presently on tour and will play a show in Boston at Church on July 21 before making their way back to Philly for a record release show at The Fire on the 25th.



>> Junior Elvis Washington Laidley, the chief architect of the Birmingham, England-based electropop project Fridge Poetry and drummer in noise-pop titans Johnny Foreigner, would seem to have stumbled on something of a vocal muse for the former concern in Philly punk fixture Evan Bernard. The pair met when Mr. Bernard signed on to drive Johnny Foreigner around North America last fall. The pair first collaborated on the epic, yearning ballad "I'll See" from Fridge Poetry's April Soweto Slo Mo EP that we wrote about here, and now Bernard's heart-felt singing now graces a second Fridge Poetry jam, "Like Poetry," a remix of which was recently posted for auditory consumption at Bandcamp. The "Froback Remix" of "Like Poetry" situates Bernard's characteristically nostalgic and soaring vocals within a sparkling array of tinkling piano and a crashing, crash cymbal-heavy jungle beat. It's unclear whether it will be this remix or a different version that will be included on a planned forthcoming EP from Fridge Poetry. But according to the project's Bandcamp the EP will be called Leen van Pelt and will feature additional collaborations with JoFo tour mates Playlounge, Mutes (the project of Johnny Foreigner guitar tech James Brown), and a fellow named Paul Rafferty (who is not this guy). We will, of course, bring you further bulletins as events warrant, but in the interim get set to bliss out to Fridge Poetry's latest and greatest via the embed below.