Footage: Yuck's "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty"

We're loathe to post two videos in a row, but of course last night's tribute to Mr. Ruane was unplanned and certainly important. Today we have the video for London quartet Yuck's fantastic, shoegazey b-side "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty." The song is overdriven, melodic and a bit understated, but in a completely wonderful way; download the MP3 right here. "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty" will appear on the forthcoming "Georgia" single being released by Fat Possum in the U.S. Nov. 23 [pre-order!], and it also appears on the Rubber EP being released in the UK this coming Monday by The Pharmacy Recording Company, as we first wrote here earlier this month. Fat Possum intends to release in early 2011 Yuck's debut full-length recording, the title of which has not yet been disclosed.

YouTube Rodeo: Varsity Drag's "Billy Ruane"

The place just ain't the same without Billy Ruane, Billy Ruane. The bad news.

Young Adults Record Release Show | Great Scott | 6 Nov.

Yes, we know you're going to go to Guided By Voices the night before, and you'll be in no shape Saturday night to think about being out. But this is a big deal show. Also on the bill are the hotly tipped Girlfriends, scene-makers Doomstar and Earthquake Party. That sounds like a recipe for a sell-out. Young Adults will be hyping the release of their snarling new 12" Black Hole, which is being issued by Prague-based AmDiscs. You've seen them rock basements, you've heard them unleash tsunamis of swear words on live radio. But you've never seen them play a record release show for Black Hole before. Be there.

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Varsity Drag, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

>> We ignore about as many pitches in a day as breaths we inhale, but there are certain folks whose recommendations are lead-pipe cinches, and we got one of those cinchy pitches a few weeks ago about the fast-rising, London-based indie rock duo Big Deal. The pair, whose MySpace URL is charmingingly MySpace.com/WeAreABigDeal, flew onto the radar of the British rock press after only its second show, and Big Deal's debut single "Homework" b/w a cover of Big Star's "13" doesn't even street until 18 Nov. and is not yet available for pre-order. The single, incidentally, will be issued by London's Records Records Records, who you may recall recently issued the completely terrific Superman Revenge Squad EP Dead Crow Blues. Anyway, Big Deal is songwriters and guitarists Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe, and the pair's music sounds a fair amount like another hotly tipped London act, that being Yuck, which means Big Deal sounds like Yo La Tengo, in the best way possible.

"Homework" b/w "13" will be released in a limited vinyl edition with "hand finished" artwork (we don't know what that means, but yeah, awesome?), and both tracks are already streaming at the aforementioned MySpace along with three others. NME recently posted the smouldering strummer "Locked Up" as its track of the day, and we're taking the liberty of re-posting the track below because it is brilliant. Big Deal are apparently recording new material with Gordon Raphael, who aging hipsters may recollect was the producer of the early Strokes material; according to Wikipedia Mr. Raphael now works out of Urchin Studios in London.

Big Deal's "Homework," "13" and "Locked Up"

>> An update on the goings-on of hometown indie punk superheroes Varsity Drag is overdue. Sadly, drummer extraordinaire Josh Pickering has parted with the band. Word is -- well, actually we read it here -- that Mr. Pickering has been succeeded on the stool by a cat named Jonas Meyer, who is currently rehearsing with founding member Ben Deily and trusty bassist Lisa Marie Deily. And from the WTF file: Varsity Drag has been tapped to provide music for a forthcoming production of "Hamlet" being staged by an area theater company in 2011. No word what that music will sound like or whether it will be available for general consumption by non-theater goers. Varsity Drag's most recent release was the digital single "White Cat In A Snowstorm," a song originally written and released by UK punkers Ipanema. The song is slated to appear on a comp being concatenated by the Drag's UK label Boss Tunage, but no release date on the comp has been disclosed. Grab the track here or stream it below.




>> Dream pop phenoms The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart will release a sophomore full-length recording on Slumberland Records in March 2011. The album as yet has no title, but a first single, "Heart In Your Heartbreak," will be issued in November with an exclusive b-side. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's self-titled debut was released last year, as was the band's Higher Than The Stars EP. The New York-based quartet is on tour through the end of November and you can review all tour dates at the band's Myspace hacienda right here.

The Devil, The Hush Now And You

There is an element of camp, ever so slight, in The Hush Now's wonderful, new and Halloween-appropriate jam "Please Mephistopheles (Leave Me Alone)" that reminds us of the songs in "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" or even "101 Dalmations." Singer and guitarist Noel Kelly indulges a grittier, bluesier vocal style throughout, which probably is what we're reacting to. Of course, one need not be overly familiar with Mr. Kelly and his background to know that he would have a number of good reasons to be singing this song in earnest. Which maybe is the trick and the treat: while listeners will likely respond to the seasonal aspect of "Please Mephistopheles (Leave Me Alone)," the fact is that Kelly likely damn well means it when he delivers lyrics like "I know your coming for me some way / Until that day I'll always be on the run."

Even the recording of the track met with some difficulties -- we can't recall exactly what Kelly relayed to us recently, but we think it was something to do with entire tracks from the recording getting zapped and having to be recorded at a new studio on short notice. Musically the song is another interesting turn for the increasingly formidable Boston-based quintet: it leads off with a reggae-esque lope and elsewhere cleverly conceals some terrific guitar effects in the periphery. The song got its live debut at the band's send-off, EP release show we attended early this month [photos]. The Hush Now has just returned from a quick strand of tour dates that took it out to Chicago, and it plays a CMJ showcase early today at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. The Hush Now released its Shiver Me Starships EP Sept. 28, and you can stream the whole shebang right here.

The Hush Now's "Please Mephistopheles (Leave Me Alone)"

YouTube Rodeo: Lilys' "Ginger" Live And Awesome

[Via Philebrity] Great indie rock song, or GREATEST indie rock song? We seriously ponder that. If Lilys leader Kurt Heasley hadn't also written the timeless and beautiful guitar dreamer "Claire Hates Me," or the entirety of the sublime full length Eccsame The Photon Band, it would be a slam dunk to call "Ginger" a crowning achievement. This clip was filmed in the '90s at Philadelphia's 3rd Street Jazz and Rock, which we believe has been defunct for many years. "Ginger" is the lead track on the now criminally out of print A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns EP, which streeted in 1994. The rights to that EP, as well as Eccsame, apparently have disappeared into a legal vacuum left after Spin-Art Records folded, meaning legitimate reissues of these incredibly important records may never happen. Sad.

Today's Hotness: Captain Polaroid, The Answering Machine

>> Devotees of lo-fi stalwart Captain Polaroid likely weren't expecting a shimmering shoegaze ballad with a convincingly Death Cab-esque vocal layered over it when they downloaded the Birmingham, England artist's recently issued Beat Nostalgia EP4. But that's what they got with a newly recorded version of "Jigsaw Of Planet Earth." Add in a spoken vocal track a la Michael Stipe in R.E.M.'s "Belong," and Captain Polaroid has turned out one of his most stirring tracks to date. All the more surprising because Mssr. Polaroid's brand of scrappy, home-recorded guitar pop tends to be more direct and dynamic. On "Jigsaw Of Planet Earth" a simple melody and punchy drum groove lay back and let the gorgeous guitar tone and tremelo effect breathe out and in and out and in, buoying the vocals on a dense curtain of guitars. We've embedded "Jigsaw Of Planet Earth" below; the original version -- a devastatingly sweet, whispery acoustic ballad -- appeared on Captain Polaroid's Pro Action Replay EP released in 2007 [stream it here]. You can stream the entire Beat Nostalgia EP4 here or download it here; it was released October 1. Captain Polaroid is now taking pre-orders for the Beat Nostalgia Surival Kit, a physical release that gathers two tracks from each of the five Beat Nostalgia EPs (there is as yet one more forthcoming) together with demos, a lyric book, badge, t-shirt transfer and various oddities, all for 10 pounds. Full details here.

Jigsaw of Planet Earth by Captain Polaroid

>> We've been waiting and waiting to finally have the time to tell you about the new single from Manchester, England-based indie rockers The Answering Machine. The tune is called "Animals" and it is available for free download from a Bandcamp page the quartet has erected here; a Soundcloud stream lurks below. A far cry from the scritchy, Strokes-channeling guitar pop of The Answering Machine's early days, "Animals" sounds as if it could have been lifted from the catalog of Swedish indie pop sensations Shout Out Louds. Although there is precedent for the soulful synth-pop in The Answering Machine's catalog: the closing track from the band's debut full-length Another City, Another Sorry [review here], "You Should Have Called," was more reserved than the rest of that album and drew heavily on '80s roller rink pop sounds. "Animals" will apparently be issued as part of a planned EP that will include a song rescued from the dustbin of the Another City, Another Sorry sessions called "A Courtyard;" the EP will likely be available through ITunes, according to this blog post from the band. As we reported here in August, The Answering Machine intends to issue its sophomore set Lifeline worldwide in early 2011. The band launches a short strand of tour dates across the U.K. tomorrow, and takes to the road in Europe next month. View all the tour dates here.

The Answering Machine - Animals