This Weeks Short Bursts: Kal Marks, Joanna Gruesome + Winter

Boston's DIY scene mainstays, Kal Marks are prepping to issue their sophomore LP, Life Is Murder on September 17th on Sophomore Lounge, Midnight Werewolf, and the stalwartly Exploding In Sound Records. The new set marks the recorded debut of the solidified line up of Carl Shane with drummer Nick Egersheim and bassist Mike Geacone. The band recorded the tracks found on Life Is Murder with Richard Maar at Watertown's Galaxy Park studio. Over the the past few weeks Kal Marks have served up a couple tracks off their forthcoming album, first they treated us with the inspired and fuzzed covered title track which features guest vocals from Jonah Furman of Boston's bugcore trio Krill, then came the teetering and dense sludge pop of Parking Lot. Which brings us to this weeks offering, the third single from Life Is Murder and quite possibly our favorite track of the new collection, Where A River Starts And Ends, which finds Kal Marks immersed in driving rhythms, charging and dense guitars with Shane delivering a sneering yet compelling vocal. The band will head out on a U.S. tour shortly after the release of their new LP, but will return in time for a TBA homecoming show on Saturday October 12th.





Cardiff's rising noise pop concern, Joanna Gruesome have announced they will issue there debut album, Weird Sister via Slumberland Records in the U.S. on September 10th and one day prior via Fortuna Pop! in Europe. The Welsh five piece has just issued their second single, Sugarcrush in advance of the release. The track features a pristine boy/girl vocal harmonies which float above a cacophony of dissonant guitar crunch that successfully lends some balance to the dark themes that run throughout that track and reportedly the entire LP. The bulk of Weird Sister was reportedly written during the bands month long stay in a seedy Brighton, England hotel called The Hell House with the quintet recording the tracks with MJ of the revered Hookworms. Now with U.S. label representation, we're thinking and hoping that increases the chance for a stateside visit this fall from this thrilling and lauded pop collective.



It's a bit bittersweet that we report on the new single from Winter, just days after vocalist and front woman, Simara Winter announced that she is planning on relocating to the West Coast in short order. The band recently gave what were billed as there final Boston performances, at least for the immediate future. However the band plans on continuing to write and record with the current line up of Nolan Eley ,Kyle Oppenheimer both of Infinity Girl, and Ana Karina DaCosta who also spends time in 28 Degrees Taurus and Slowdim. On the new single, Alligator the band addresses the impending move over lush instrumentation, boyant bass lines and a enchanting vocal performance from Ms. Winter. We can't seem to hear this too many times, although we've tried. Alligator is a track ripe with understated and charming pop hooks, not to mention I may just be Winter's finest recording to date. Let's hope there is more to come from this quartet regardless of it's geographical preferences.

This Weeks Short Bursts :: Terry Malts, Cloud, + Winter

Northern California's chainsaw pop trio, Terry Malts have announced their hotly anticipated follow up to their 2012 year end list crashing debut LP, Killing Time. On September 10th the trio will release Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere on the always superb Slumberland Records. The band has just issued the albums lead single, I Was Not There which finds The Malts discharging liberal doses of guitar fuzz and gigantic hooks. Nobody Knows This Is Nowhere was recorded at the trio's San Francisco practice space before being mastered by Monte Vallier at Ruminator Audio.

Nobody Knows This Is Nowhere
1. Two Faces
2. Human Race
3. Life's A Dream
4. I Was Not There
5. They're Feeding
6. Buy Buy Buy
7. No Tomorrow
8. Walking Without You
9. Well Adjusted
10. Comfortably Dumb
11. So Serious


London based Audio Antihero, a label that never seems to steer us wrong has seemingly done it again with their first stateside signing Cloud. The band is the brainchild of a mysterious character and one time Boston resident now living in Los Angeles. Cloud is steeped in bedroom pop but there's a hell of lot more going on the albums ramshackle and freewheeling lead single Mother Sea than your standard singer songwriter fare. The track features lush and layered instrumentation, screeching feedback, and biting lyrics.  Cloud will release the 11 track Comfort Songs on August 5th, in the meantime you can obtain Mother Sea for free over at the Audio Antihero Bandcamp page.


Boston's rising dream pop concern, Winter is collaboration between some notable local players, Samira Winter, Nolan Eley and Kyle Oppenheimer of Infinity Girl and Ana Karina DeCosta of Slowdim and 28 Degrees Taurus. They have just issued a new digital single, The View which has cemented itself as our go to song of the summer and follows up their excellent debut EP, Daydreaming. The track is an ideal soundtrack to a mid-summers day dream with layers upon layers of sonic haze, complimented by shimmering guitars, buoyant bass lines, and a gorgeous lead vocal from Nolan Eley. The last time we were this infatuated with a song it was the summer 1997 and Pavement had just released the Shady Lane single. If you need us we'll be shouting from our rooftop.



Photo Credit: Terry Malts Gina Clyne Photography

Short Bursts :: Hallelujah The Hills | English Singles | & Propeller

After over four months of inactivity I'm pleased to back at the helm of this blog I started in May 2006 and look I forward to regular updates as well a few changes around here which will include some new contributors, features, events, and a few design changes. As always thanks for readership, not to mention your patience. [Ed.]

Today see's one of The AGP favorites, Hallelujah The Hills issuing Portraits Of An Artist As Young Trash Can, which collects singles, B-sides, and unreleased tracks. The 21 track LP can be purchased at the bands Bandcamp site. 5 of the tracks found on Portraits Of An Artist .. were recorded in 2013 including the exceptional and anthemic, Confessions of An Ex- Ghost. This release showcases the bands evoultion as well as showcasing Ryan Walsh's gift for writing intelligent and addictive material that only gets better and better with each subsequesnt listen.


Following two superb singles, Sacramento, CA's crash pop outift English Singles are back with a new three song EP via Slumberland Records. The EP's opening and title track, Ordinary Girls features fronter, Scott Miller leading the singles through the earnest and boyant track while provinding 12 string leads and engaging pop hooks. Like thier previous singles that have the knack of sticking in your head all day, Ordinary Girls is no different, in fact it's even more adictive than it's predocessors.


San Francisco power pop heroes, Propeller have issued there sophomore set, Don't Be Sorry Again it's choc full mid 90's power pop that brings to mind early Teenage Fanclub and The Replacements , but Propeller manage to put their own stamp on it, balancing guitar cruch with a strong batch of songs. I'm hoping a Boston show is in the future, perhaps with our friends Varsity Drag on the bill?  I'm not above begging.

Forthcoming :: Terry Malts - Killing Time

On February 21st San Francisco's noise pop phenoms, Terry Malts will deliver their debut long player, Killing Time courtesy of Slumberland Records. We first discovered the Malts last spring through their excellent, I'm Neurotic 7", which featured three infectious noisy power pop tracks that struck a chord with us from very first spin. With a couple of singles and a six song cassette to their credit, the trio of Corey Cunningham, Phil Benson, and Nathan Sweatt convened in the studio and committed 34 minutes of new material to tape and then handed the songs over to Monte Vallier (Swell), to handle mixing duties. Slumberland has offered up a two song sampler of Killing Time, both tracks display the trio gift for staggering buzz-saw pop, while adding a little spit shine to their gritty and addictive tunes. We're keeping our collective fingers crossed that the release of Killing Time will finally bring the band to Boston.

Terry Malts - Killing Time Sampler by Slumberland Records

Reviewed :: Gold-Bears - Are You Falling In Love?

Former Plastic Mastery fronter, Jeremy Underwood formed Gold-Bears in his home town of Atlanta last year as an outlet for the songs he had written in the wake of his former bands passing. Earlier this week Gold-Bears released their sparkling debut, Are You Falling In Love? on Slumberland Records. Some well deserved blog buzz is building and comparisons to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are just, as are those to the urgent pop of The Wedding Present and the lesser know but no less essential Boyracer.

Are You Falling in Love? is a concise collection, 11 tracks clocking in just over 33 minutes without a single second wasted. The album opens with Record Store, an undeniable pop song drenched in fuzzy guitars and sweet melodies that seems to bounce around my head for hours. Elsewhere Jeremy Underwood exhibits a penchant for writing catchy as hell twee pop and then burying these songs under a sea of roaring guitars and thumping bass lines. The shoegaze standout and title track is encapsulated in ambient noise, pounding snare drums, and features one of the best opening lines I've heard in some time, "Fuck my life, I sent it a text last night". Because it's such a dynamic and varied offering, I find myself listening to Are You Falling In Love? multiple times in one sitting either due to it's brevity or maybe because it's catchy as hell and there's nothing I like more than a well executed pop song, let alone 11.

Gold-Bears - Record Store by Slumberland Records

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Transmissions :: Crystal Stilts

Brooklyn's Crystal Stilts are ready to drop their new LP, In Love With Oblivion on April 12th via Slumberland Records. Through the Floor is the second single taken from an album that we can't wait to get our mitts on. They continue their minimalist approach to all things Crystal Stilts in this video in an almost non-video, instead letting the excellence of the track speak for itself.