Today's Hotness: Arc In Round, White Laces

>> Philly-based dream-pop veterans Arc In Round (lest we forget the band's years working under the nom de guerre Relay) kick off Monday night's Kurt Vile show at Brighton Music Hall, and we strongly advise folks to get there early to check the quartet out. Co-fronted by in-demand recording engineer/live sound guy Jeff Zeigler, Arc In Round has issued a second EP, logically titled II, hot on the heels of its long-awaited debut EP Diagonal Fields, which was released early in 2011. The II EP unsurprisingly centers around Arc In Round's standout song "II," which has been kicking around for years (we wrote about a version of the track in 2008 here). The latest iteration of the song sounds as if the tempo has increased, or at least the drums are more rocking. "II" still swirls like a classic Lorelei jam, but this face-melting version from the new, four-song (plus a remix) EP is perhaps more visceral, immediate and dense than anything that storied Slumberland act recorded. The rest of II is similarly strong (for example, "Volume Sets All The Time" sounds like what you wished Ladytron sounded like these days), and we again exhort you to see Arc In Round Monday night in Allston-Brighton. The band's complete tour dates are below (note the Allentown date is with goth-tinged shoegaze luminaries SOARS), and below that we've embedded the entire II EP. Buy it at Bandcamp (it's currently being sold at "name your price" for a limited time. You're welcome).

07.10 -- Death By Audio -- Brooklyn, NY
07.11 -- Brighton Music Hall -- Boston, MA
07.12 -- La Sala Rossa -- Montreal, PQ
07.13 -- Lee's Palace -- Toronto, ON
07.14 -- Grog Shop -- Cleveland, OH
07.15 -- Russian Recording -- Bloomington, IN
07.16 -- Subterranean -- Chicago, IL
08.26 -- Kung Fu Necktie -- Philadelphia, PA
09.23 -- Allentown Brewworks -- Allentown, PA


>> Also in town early next week are rising Richmond noise rockers White Laces. The act launches a two week-long strand of tour dates Tuesday night in Jamaica Plain, when it brings its fractured pop to a low-key, non-traditional venue called Muthership. Long-time readers will recall we have written about White Laces, fronted by former Cinemasophia member Landis Wine, a bit over the last year or two. White Laces is no stranger to JP; the band recorded a fair amount of material there a year ago that wound up on White Laces' eponymous debut EP, which we wrote about here last September. White Laces has a pending release in the works, the single "Hands In Mexico" b/w "Bastard's Dead." The A side may be the catchiest song White Laces has recorded to date; the song is particularly gripping when the repeated ascending guitar arpeggio gets munched up by a crazy bending finale. To promote the tour White Laces is giving away an MP3 of "Hands In Mexico" at Bandcamp right here. If you prefer the stream, have at it below.

Today's Hotness: Little Gold, Philistines Jr.

>> One of the more recent Sound Opinions podcasts discussed bands or artists that had "gone off the rails," which is to say the band or artists changed styles or suddenly produced such terrible work that critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis felt betrayed them. We have a similar disappointment with erstwhile, Brooklyn-based indie punk gargantuans Meneguar. As far as we can tell, the quartet never formally broke up, it just dissolved into other acts. The most notable of these is the new-wave-of-American-psych outfit Woods, whose music simply doesn't connect with us. Meneguar's final record The In Hour was a sprawling lo-fi effort that hinted change was coming, but we can't help hoping that eventually Meneguar will reconstitute itself and deliver a lacerating set of angular, guitar-heavy indie rock akin to the contents of Strangers In Our House -- our favorite record of 2007 -- and I Was Born At Night (the band's stunning debut, so nice it was released twice).

Last month brought word that Meneguar guitarist Christian DeRoeck's more recent project Little Gold was releasing a new single and planning to record later this year a sophomore album (Little Gold's debut On The Knife, released in 2009, slipped completely under our radar). And the very good news is that Mr. DeRoeck's music is short sharp bursts of melodic, guitar-centric indie rock. It's not Meneguar, but it has a shambling charm and an edge that is incredibly appealing. Little Gold's "Completely Fucked!" is available now in a limited run of 300 singles pressed onto orange vinyl (!) by Heartbreak Beat. You can download the A-side below; the B side is available for streaming at the Little Gold MySpace cabin right here. We are happy to know that if we can no longer see DeRoeck doing this, at least we have his wonderful Little Gold project to help fill the Meneguar-shaped hole in our heart. Little Gold embarks on a U.S. tour this week, and we've posted the band's full itinerary below (which includes a Louisville date with the wonderful State Champion).

Little Gold -- "Completely Fucked!" -- "Completely Fucked!" b/w "Chainsaw"
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[buy the Little Gold 7" right here]

08.11 -- Cakeshop -- New York, NY
08.13 -- Garfield Artworks -- Pittsburgh, PA
08.14 -- The Hideout -- Chicago, IL
08.16 -- The Medusa -- Minneapolis, MN
08.17 -- Vaudeville Mews -- Des Moines, IA
08.18 -- Replay Lounge -- Lawrence, KS
08.19 -- The Dairy -- Memphis, TN
08.20 -- Discoteca -- Chattanooga, TN
08.21 -- Skull Alley w/ State Champion -- Louisville, KY
08.22 -- Al's Bar -- Lexington, KY
08.23 -- Kingbee Ground Sound -- Kingbee, KY
08.26 -- Allways Lounge -- New Orleans, LA
08.27 -- Argentum -- Houston, TX
08.28 -- 2908 Cole St -- Austin, TX
08.31 -- YOBS -- Tempe, AZ
09.01 -- Tin Can Alehouse -- San Diego, CA
09.02 -- The Smell -- Los Angeles, CA
09.04 -- Hemlock Tavern -- San Francisco, CA
09.05 -- Mudai Lounge -- Portland, OR
09.07 -- Sunset Tavern -- Seattle, WA
09.08 -- S.S. Josephine -- Seattle, WA
09.11 -- Yellow Feather -- Denver, CO
09.11 -- Rockaway Tavern -- Denver, CO
09.16 -- The Happy Dog -- Cleveland, OH

>> Back when we were music director of the radio station of our small liberal arts college in the mid-'90s, we got our share of free stuff, often just duplicate copies of CDs or records (hello The Bends on vinyl). Most of these extras were jettisoned forthwith because -- even 15 years ago -- there was a lot of crap being serviced to radio, yes, even in the pre-Pro Tools era. Like today we'd take a flyer on certain things, and one that worked out marvelously was The First Bubble Core Records Sampler [Amazon], which featured a bunch of acts that we think were sort of centered around the scene at Yale? Maybe? Anyway, the comp had some amazing cuts, including the explosive and transcendent "Adam's Living Room" by an act called Me + Dave and a few standout cuts by a quirky combo going by the name Philistines Jr. Years later we would learn that the latter act featured now-prominent-recording-guy Peter Katis, whose name you probably recall is attached to records by Interpol, Mobius Band and The National. Anyway, imagine our surprise last week when we learned that Philistines Jr. never actually broke up, and that the act has finally gotten a new record in the can. If A Band Plays In The Woods...? will be released Oct. 5 on the band's own Tarquin Records. The set apparently took 10 years to record (Mr. Katis is quite busy), and you can stream the entire thing on SoundCloud right now, and it is well worth hearing, as strong as any of the early material. Have a listen. If you try just one track, make it "If I Did Nothing But Train For Two Years." No buy link for the set yet, but we expect it will eventually be listed here.

Today's Hotness: Paper Cranes, Meneguar, Psapp

>> [Photo: The author, as shot by Watson, Cracow, 1997] In the 10 seconds it took us to rise from bed this morning and place ourselves under the shower head, some wiseguy on morning gabber "The Today Show" said the word "eastern;" we don't know if he was saying "Eastern Europe" or "Middle Eastern" or what. But what we do know is that immediately this Paper Cranes jam started playing in our head, and has been there most of the day. Right now we are attempting to exorcise it by listening to the track.

We can't recall where how this MP3 made its way to us, although there is metadata in the file indicating it must have come from AreYouFamiliar.Blogspot.com, which we don't recall ever reading and which hasn't posted an update since 2006. The mystery remains. As best we can tell the band is the same one you can find at this MySpace dojo, although we are not certain. If indeed it is them, The Paper Cranes' current material is decidedly more pop, less rough around the edges and spiky. But certainly worth a listen. But this one below is the jam, at least for frigid winter days, which of course is as far from the weather we have in Boston right now as it could get.

Paper Cranes -- "January In Eastern Europe" -- Demo 2005
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[buy Paper Cranes records from the band here]

>> Indie punk geniuses Meneguar and freakier/jammier sister act Woods (it's not really a side project, it is really its own thing) have just disclosed some European tour dates that you can view here. None of the dates is in the UK, so we imagine somewhere right about now certain dudes in Johnny Foreigner are cursing their busy touring schedule and likely attendant inability to catch the tour as it wends its way from The Netherlands to the Czech Republic. Remember how awesome Meneguar's sophomore full length Strangers In Our House was? No? Here's a reminder.

Meneguar -- "Paint You" -- Strangers In Our House
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[buy Meneguar records from Troubleman Unlimited right here]

>> Funny how we just mentioned electrotweesters Psapp the other day during our ramblings about the July Muxtape, and now today comes news that the British duo will be releasing a new record in October. The set, Psapp's third, is called The Camel's Back, and it will be out in the U.K. Oct. 27 and in the States the following week. Domino reissued the band's debut Tiger, My Friend, last November. It has the track "Curuncula" on it, which is divine, and so you should have that record. No word on which label will issue The Camel's Back, but it would not surprise us if it is Domino. Surprised we will not be. So there.

>> Clicky Clicky faves Mobius Band play a free hometown show this Sunday at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. The notable trio is slated to appear around 9PM at what is being billed as a Breeders afterparty. So presumably The Breeders are performing thereabouts that afternoon, perhaps at one of those free outdoor swimming pool dealies? Where's our New York correspondent when we need him/her/it. Mobius Band's sophomore set Heaven was issued last year and was one of our favorite records of 2007. Believe it or not, despite the band tirelessly touring Europe and the UK during the last year, Heaven has yet to be released in the UK. This will allegedly happen "soon." Ahh, soon. Anyway, remember this jam?

Mobius Band -- "Hallie" -- Heaven
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[buy Mobius Band records from Misra here]

>> At least one reader out there likes to tease us about our affinity for the various bands of Ben Parker, including Superman Revenge Squad and the mighty Nosferatu D2. So for him, here is a link to a blog post from Mr. Parker indicating a Nosferatu D2 reunion of sorts is planned for a gig to take place on Parker's birthday. A few more details here.

>> We would have loved to hear Modest Mouse cover almost the entirety of Built To Spill's unparalleled There's Nothing Wrong With Love. Alas.

Today's Hotness: Wendyfix, Destroyer, Woods [UPDATED]

>> As you can see from the video above, Wendyfix-amania has taken firm hold at I Am Not Afraid Of You, resulting in the YouTubalization of the extant music videos for the defunct mid-'90s indie rock trio. The clip supra is for the track "Swinging Softly" and features nice performance footage -- well, staged performance footage, but still, it's all we've got -- of the act within a concept piece (the concept of which we've never quite fully grasped). The payoff shot of the cardboard figures rotating on the turntable and their shadows stretching across the ceiling steals the show. In fact, we would have liked to have seen more of that in the clip. Once you've watched "Swinging Softly," you can hit this link to view the video for "Pillowhead." Formerly this one was only available via Yahoo's Launch.com. Given the cuts that are going on in the Yahoo Music franchise of late it was probably high time to get "Pillowhead" available on a different channel. One mystery remains: what is the alleged third Wendyfix video? We'll just have to wait and see. UPDATE: Well, we didn't have to wait long, as the RSS reader just bubbled up the final video for the tune "Ridge." Check it out here.

>> As Mr. 'Nac also noted here in his Friday Music Miscellany, a Boston (well, Boston-ish) tour stop for Destroyer has finally been set. Dan Bejar and his cohorts will play The Middle East in Cambridge April 21. And speaking of Merge acts and the Middle East, new signees Wye Oak, who we wrote about here last month, will perform at the club Friday, Feb. 22. With big shows from Ringo Deathstarr, Say Hi and Evangelicals the following week, we're not sure if we've the stamina to add a fourth to our slate, but we're strongly considering. Wye Oak's Merge debut streets April 8; Destroyer's Trouble In Dreams will be in stores next month.

>> Meneguar's creepier, folksier side-project Woods launch a rare strand of tour dates next month to support the forthcoming release of Woods Family Creeps. Woods counts among its numbers Jeremy and Christian from Meneguar, and its touring unit also includes Meneguar's Jarvis Taverniere. Woods Family Creeps will be issued by Portland, ME-based Time Lag Records, although we could not find a release date anywhere. Confirmed tour dates are listed at Woods' MySpace lean-to here. Speaking of Meneguar, a review of the FuckItTapes and Woodsist web pages reveals a listing for a forthcoming LP titled The In Hour to be released as Woodsist 013. No release date was immediately discernible for that, either.