Footage: Elias Krantz' "Tody Motmot"

Mesmerizing video for the first single from Swedish electropop artist Elias Krantz's forthcoming sophomore set Night Ice. Based on this track, an argument could be made that Mr. Krantz is Sweden's answer to Martin Dosh. But it is hard to get past how cool this video is: when the shirts start changing on Krantz's torso, it's really nifty to say the least. Although we shouldn't minimize that this song is really good. Night Ice will be released May 23 by Enskede, Sweden-based Country & Eastern Records; Elias Krantz's first set Island Rock was issued by Airwaves Music in 2007. Watch for pre-order information for Night Ice from Country & Eastern right here.

Tody Motmot by Elias Krantz

That Was The Show That Was: Yuck | Paradise Rock Club | 28 April

[We are pleased to welcome back to these digital pages longtime friend and former editor Ric Dube. Mr. Dube these days hosts the thoroughly wonderful More Lost Time rare indie rock podcast. Subscribe right here -- we heartily endorse his product and/or service. -- Ed.]

Oddly, even though Bryan Adams used to sing "everywhere I go the kids wanna rock," all he ever served up was that Canadian, Phil Collins-type ballad gunk. Maybe his observation was one of despair. "I'd like to help," he was trying to say, "but I only know these songs about Robin Hood."

And this is where we're at with rock n' roll these days. The kids want to rock but so many of the bands are still heavily involved with the bleeps and the la-la-la. Sure, there are plenty out there that would like to bring it, but they just don’t have the songs.

Which is why it was so damned exciting to see the audience at the Paradise last night love Yuck.

The beauty of Yuck is that the London-based quartet's songs are deceptively simple and extremely influenced by much of the best classic alternative rock of the '90s (Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Sugar, Pixies, Lemonheads) and thus, fantastically well written and about as common these days as a Drop Nineteens reunion.

For a quartet of near children -- two members of the band were without wrist bands, suggesting they are not of drinking age -- Yuck boasts a road-weathered confidence. The 45-minute set consisted of tunes from its debut record released in February, performed on a pair of Fender Jaguars with a self-assurance that follows from constant touring over the past 12 months throughout England and Europe. On one hand, tight performance sound can make an act seem unenergetic. But to Yuck's credit, this professionalism made the songs extremely accessible for anyone there to see the evening's headliner, Australia's Tame Impala, and not already familiar with the act.

Also, there's something to be said for pacing a set; at this early phase in its career Yuck is finding a performance style. For now that means keeping things moderately restrained and focusing on the songs for most of a set ("The Wall," "Get Away," "Suck") so that its finale ("Rubber") is that much more effective when it's time to really open up stage presence.

The few simple tones of "Rubber" throbbed within a haze of feedback, a young artist’s punk rock symphony about hoping away his virginity. The room groaned and surged, as if the floor might suddenly part to reveal a layer of fossilized music that might explain this as sound left behind decades ago, when Dinosaur Jr. and Galaxie 500 had procreated and left behind a fertilized guitar pick that was covered in volcanic Rolling Rock (your father’s PBR). Fans already familiar with every note became indistinguishable from the undetermined number of immediate converts. Both stood thoroughly involved -- closed eyes, heads slowly nodding in unison. -- Ric Dube

Yuck: Internerds | YouTube | Facebook | Flickr | SoundCloud

Previous Yuck Coverage:
Today's Hotness: Oupa
YouTube Rodeo: Yuck's "Get Away"
Be Prepared: Yuck | Self-titled | 15 February
Footage: Yuck's "Rubber" [NSFW]
Footage: Yuck's "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty"
YouTube Rodeo: Yuck's "Suicide Policeman" Live
Footage: Yuck's "Weakend"
Footage: Yuck's "Automatic"
Today's Hotness: Yuck
Today's Hotness: Yuck

Today's Hotness: Little Gold, The Hush Now, Hold Your Horse Is

>> There are a number of bands right now forcing us to confront the fact that we do in fact like (some) rock music with horns. But we have to say most surprising of the lot is Little Gold's "Mike Swan." We've written previously about being overjoyed that one former member of Meneguar was doing something that excited us, that member being Brooklyn-based Little Gold's fronter Christian DeRoeck. Mr. DeRoeck's current rootsier rock act hews most closely to whatever we can refer to as a Meneguar legacy, although Meneguar certainly didn't have room for horns in its tense, two-guitars-and-no-bullshit indie punk plan. Hence the aforementioned surprise. Last August we wrote about Little Gold's "Completely Fucked!" single here. The act returns next month with a rollicking single on the scrappy Sophomore Lounge label, which you may recall is responsible for quality releases from State Champion. The new single -- limited to 300 vinyl copies on black vinyl (we eagerly await the shellac revival) -- touts the foot-stomper "Mike Swan" on the A and a cover of a James Jackson Toth composition, "Oh Dad," on the flip-flop. Said tunes were recorded by Mark Ospovat at Emandee Studioes in Bushwick, or so we just read here (where we also saw mentioned a split single we had no idea existed). A second LP titled Weird Freedom is planned, so keep your eyes peeled because we expect that will be a key beer-drinking record. Pre-order "Mike Swan" b/w "Oh Dad" from Sophomore Lounge right here.

Little Gold's "Mike Swan"

>> Social media stalkers may have already caught on, but those who don't shadow every move of Boston-based dream-pop goliaths The Hush Now may be interested to know that the quintet just tracked 13 new songs at Allston's Mad Oak Studios. Not certain of when we might see or hear the new recordings, but we've chatted with the band about some other interesting stuff they have going on that you'll read about here eventually.

>> UK-based indie rock aggressors Hold Your Horse Is are offering a pay-what-you-like live set titled Like, Live And Stuff. The sound is a touch boxy, but fans of Therapy? and Helmet will appreciate the band's forceful delivery of its punishing yet melodic tunes; grab Like, Live And Stuff at Bandcamp right here. The six-song collection was recorded Feb. 15 at London's Camden Purple Turtle and includes one previously unreleased jam, "Absurd." Hold Your Horse Is intends to use the proceeds from the sale of Like, Live And Stuff to fund the recording of a proposed full-length debut; "Absurd" is slated for the new record, so get your teaser now. The trio's EP Rammin' It Home -- released last August on Big Scary Monsters -- sold out last month. While some recent shows had to be scrapped for various reasons, the threesome will tour with Alcopop!'s Ute in June and has a number of festival dates booked -- see full dates here.

YouTube Rodeo: Dananananaykroyd's Wholly Wonderful "Muscle Memory"

Glaswegian fight-pop titans Dananananaykroyd return this spring with what promises to be a cracking sophomore set, There Is A Way. The record was recorded in late 2010 and it will be released on Dananananaykroyd's newly commissioned label Pizza College June 13. The video above is for the sextet's first single from the Ross Robinson-produced collection, and it is amazeballs. There Is A Way is already available for pre-order at Banquet Records right here; Banquet indicates the band plays New Slang in Kingston April 28, so if you are in merrye olde Englande nexte weeke, you know what to do. Dananananaykroyd's full-length debut Hey Everyone! was one of our favorite records of 2009. The band recently posted another track from its new album, "E Numbers," at SoundCloud, and we've embedded the number below. Dig in!

Dananananaykroyd - E Numbers by WorkItMedia

Today's Hotness: Grass Is Green, Fire Island Pines, The Henry Clay People

>> Sometimes heavy like the blitzkrieging sounds of the D.C. underground of the late 20th century, sometimes just spacey and weird (check out the wonderful and stumbling ballad "Twinkle Toes"), it's Boston post-hardcore quartet Grass Is Green. The act just released a seven-song EP Chibimoon that is one of the most enjoyable surprises we've encountered in a while. The EP presents an impressive sonic range but at the same time shows Grass Is Green doesn't disregard the importance of melody. The foursome is playing our alma mater tomorrow night, the alma mater at which we spent the mid-'90s when you heard this type of smart, awesome indie rock seemingly around every corner. Chibimoon was self-released by the band in March and you can grab the whole thing for $5 at Bandcamp right here; a debut full-length was issued last September, and is also available via Bandcamp. We're embedding "Twinkle Toes" below, but it's well worth parting with five American dollars to hear the whole collection. Grass Is Green has two local gigs listed at its Bandcamp dojo: May 11 at Church and May 14 at Middle East Upstairs.



>> Additional notable indie rock has been piling up in our inbox, such as Fire Island Pines' fine Bratislava EP. The Cornwall, UK-based sextet fronted by a chap named Anton Rothschild is fewer than two years old, but the calm pacing of its orchestral pop communicates surprising confidence (not to mention competence). The music recollects The Sea And Cake or even Chin Up Chin Up in places, tempered with a spiky energy that suggests a very, very sleepy Los Campesinos! Fire Island Pines's arresting amalgamation of jangly guitars, persistent trumpet and murmured lyrics makes for a very listenable debut. Bratislava was released earlier this month via San Francisco-based digital label Vulpiano; the set is also available on a limited-edition CD-R. You can grab the entire collection for free at Bandcamp, but if you want a taster we suggest you check out the relatively perky "Heaven Till You Say;" the full EP is embedded below.

Bratislava EP by Fire Island Pines

>> As we quipped on Twitter last week, Los Angeles-based indie rock saviors The Henry Clay People have a new EP coming out next month, and it's a barn-burner. The short set is called This Is A Desert, and it's got five tracks, not the least of which is the scalding opener "The Honey Love He Sells." The whole thing was streaming at Spinner.com last week and we listened to it about 10 times, but now we can't find the link and the search on Spinner ain't turning it up. Dammit. Just take our word for it: you want this; it will be released on TBD in May; you can already pre-order the thing for $7 at the band's web site right here; and we think that's a smart move. If you need an early taste and can't be arsed to go to MySpace anymore -- and really, who can -- Aquarium Drunkard has a free download of track 2, "California Wildfire," that one can snatch right here. The Henry Clay People's full-length Somewhere On The Golden Coast was one of our favorite records of 2010.

Varsity Drag ALL AGES SHOW | Midway Cafe, JP | May 1

Because it's what's right for America. Because it's almost summer again.

Be Prepared: Wartgore Hellsnicker | Moderate Rock EP | 30 May

Maniacally groovy and largely unhinged extended play release from a shadowy Watford, England-based collective centered around a chap named Paul Terris. Maybe. The six-year-old band's bio is pocked with extended blackouts, 50 shows here, a release party for a never-released record there, no personnel. One press quote charmingly deems Wartgore Hellsnicker "music for people that don't like other people." But the recordings -- four on this EP, to be released at the end of next month by determined foot-shooter Audio Antihero -- are solid gold. Wartgore Hellsnicker brutally propounds an SST-flavored guitar attack abetted by an RFTC-esque horn section (that conjures occasional klezmer outbursts) and topped by a shouter on par with the guy from Archie Bronson Outfit. It's aural ambrosia for the disaffected. Listening to Moderate Rock will make you want to get a tattoo on your neck.

Every song is a winner, but we're particularly partial to the thoroughly bracing third track "Ten To Two," which we've embedded below. Despite the title not being available for another six weeks, Moderate Rock has apparently already conquered one digital distributor's sales charts (meaning Audio Antihero label head Jamie Halliday may have to scrap all those business cards that read "specialists in commercial suicide"). The EP was snuck into racks at Rough Trade in time for Record Store Day, and it looks like you can still buy it there. The digital version can already be procured at Bandcamp right here, and if we're reading the words right, if you buy the digital Audio Antihero will send you the CD when it gets its hands on some. Buy this record, or get a hammer and just start hitting yourself in the face.

We'll tell you when you can stop.