Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Introducing :: Alarm Bells

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Just a year has passed since Glasgow Fight Pop concern, Dananaanaakroyd called it a day and just like they're back, well sort of. Earlier this week on the defunct band's facebook page they announced that a new project featuring the bulk of the Danaananaakroyd line up, Alarm Bells was issuing Part One, a limited edition 12" LP. Alarm Bells features  including, John Ballie Jnr (vocals), David Roy (guitar), and Ryan McGinness (bass). Part One features the epic 13 minute Whitemare and the bands impressive debut single Cocoons be sure to check the accompanying creeped out animated video which you can see here.

You can order the debut release from Alarm Bells, part One at their Bandcamp page. All proceeds will go to funding the bands next release, Part Two.



Monday, November 19, 2012

Tonight in Cambridge :: A Place To Bury Strangers, Bleeding Rainbow, & Young Adults @ The Middle East

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Looking for an excuse to get off the couch and into the clubs tonight? Look no further than tonight's line up at The Middle East. In what can only be described as a noise rock super-bill that features New York's shoegaze outfit, A Place To Bury Strangers, Philadelphia's Bleeding Rainbow, and Allton's noise rock titans, Young Adults will have us leaving the suburbs in the rear view. Join us and shake off this never ending Monday with this formidable bill, bring your earplugs this shit's gonna be loud and awesome.

For More information and ticketing see the event page.




Sunday, November 18, 2012

Transmissions :: The Motel Beds - Smoke Your Homework


The last time we checked in on Dayton Ohio's The Motel Beds they had just released the superlative Tango Boys LP and were included on our Top Albums of 2011 and justly so. Well The Beds are back with an LP choc full of British invasion fueled mid fi pop excellence that rivals their high water reaching Tango Boys with Dumb Gold. The bands eighth album was recorded at home in Dayton by guitarist Darryl Robins and features 10 tracks from songwriter's Paul John Paslosky and Tommy Cooper that find the prolific duo showcasing their gift for churning out songs that are both insanely catchy and filled with timeless pop hooks. Earlier this week the band issued Dumb Gold and premiered a video for the albums lead track and perfectly titled, Smoke Your Homework which you can view above.

Dumb Gold is available as a free download or even better throw down a measly 5 bucks for the physical copy at The Motel Beds Bandcamp page.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Reviewed :: Guided By Voices - The Bears For Lunch

To get one new album from the reformed classic line up of Guided By Voices would have been enough to satisfy any fan of Guided By Voices but the fact that The Bears For Lunch marks the third LP of new material from Dayton, OH's indie rock legends is enough to have any fan from the casual to the die hard beside themselves. In January Pollard and Co. kicked things off with the excellent, Lets Go Eat The Factory and in June delivered the equally impressive Class Clown Spots A UFO. The Bears For Lunch finds GBV unveiling a set of songs that are bit more fleshed out and a little less ramshackle than its predecessors, it makes for an incredibly consistent and employable listen from beginning to end. Not to worry there's plenty of off the cuff lo-fi charm here but the experiments are perfectly executed with strong pop structures, often within the same song.

Upon many listens I'm left wondering is this what the follow up to Under The Bushes, Under The Stars would have sounded like if Pollard had left this line up in tact instead of hooking up with Cobre Verde for Mag Earwig!? I suppose we'll never know, but the songs that occupy Bears have plenty in common with those found on Under The Bushes, in that both LP's strike a balance between, full throttled pop anthems, rich melodies, and stark melancholy but the album also features some of the spit shined fidelity that Pollard dabbled in with GBV's post classic line -up releases.

The album kicks off with Kind Arthur The Red, a full tilt charging guitar track complete with jackhammer drums courtesy of Kevin Fennell. That song sets the tone for the LP beautifully. With no disrespect intended to the previously mentioned 2012 releases from the band, The Bears For The Lunch feels like the album that GBV were working toward since they regrouped in 2010 and as a result the band display a ton of focus without losing their gift for crafting thrilling pop songs. To say this line-up contains two gifted songwriters is a a ridiculous understatement, although it's never been more obvious that the two bring out the best in each other. Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout deliver their finest contributions of the reunion here with Sprout's Beatlesque gems, Waving At Airplanes and Skin To Skin Combat, while Pollard turns in what might be his strongest song cycle in recent memory, highlighted but not limited to the flawless pop nugget,White Flag and the heartbreaking ballad,You Can Fly Anything Right. The Bears For Lunch finds Guided By Voices firing off 19 tracks in over 43 minutes with not a second is wasted. Every song here reminds of just why we we fell in love with this band in the first place. The album not only picks up where they left off earlier this year with Class Clown Spots A UFO, it picks up where they left off in 1996. The Bears For Lunch is an outright triumph.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Transmissions :: Hallelujah The Hills - Call Off Your Horses


If there's one regret with our over discussed spring/summer hiatus its that we didn't get the chance to proclaim our admiration for the third and to our ears finest LP from Boston indie pop giants, Hallelujah The Hills No One Knows What Happens Next. The album has been in heavy rotation at AGP HQ since its release last May. Jah Hills fronter Ryan Walsh recently directed & edited the video for Call Off Your Horses, one of many highlights featured on the completely stunning new(ish), LP at his now former employers Cambridge Theatre Company. The video was premiered earlier today at MTVHive. Watch the video, then buy the album, that is if you havent already.

Order No One Knows What Happens Next at the Hallelujah The Hils Bandcamp page

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Tonight:: A Benefit For Community Servings

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Tonight at Great Scott our pals at Clicky Clicky Music Blog our presenting a benefit show for Community Servings, the Jamaica Plain-based organization delivers 395,000 free, home-style meals to 1,300 people per year, to those who are too sick to cook for themselves or their families. The event features what could easily be the strongest line ups to play Boston this year, featuring sets by local psych pop heroes, Guillermo Sexo, North Hampton's Speedy Ortiz, Boston's rising shoegazers, Infinity Girl as well as the first ever Boston appearance from England's finest purveyors of captivating guitar pop, Johnny Foreigner.

Tickets are just $10 and all proceeds go to benefit Community Servings clients. For further details head on over to the Facebook event page.