Follow The Links :: Winter 2011

Welcome one and all to Follow The Links, a new feature where we will gather up the finest in free, legal, and highly recommended new music streams and downloads. With the advent of Bandcamp and Soundcloud, as well as the generosity of the artists themselves, the discovery of your new favorite band, album, or rare live recording has never been easier. Although we will continue to post audio content in our regular features, Follow The Links will allow us to point you to music deserving of your attention in a consolidated and concise format. We hope you find this exercise to be a fruitful one and by all means feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions on this and future installments.

We Are Losers - The Newbridge, Kildare, IRL fuzz poppers issued their 3 song debut last summer and hooked us in immediately. The band has just posted a brand new track, Cheerleader, two and half minutes of sublime indie pop that you will find below. You can also download the bands debut EP from their bandcamp site.

We Are Losers - Cheerleader
Blogspot/Twitter/Bandcamp

Maritime - it's been a full four years since Maritime released any new music and eight since Davey von Bohlen and Dan Didier formed the band out of the ashes of the highly influential and in our eyes criminally over looked, The Promise Ring. On April 5th Maritime will release LP #4, Human Hearts on Dangerbird Records. The band is currently giving away the track Paraphernalia at the cost of your e-mail address at their site. We have also posted the track below , mainly because it's an irresistible pop song and we think you should hear it.

Maritime - Paraphernalia
Facebook/Twitter/Official

Chris North & the Love Parade - In late December Chris North fronter for Boston's American/Irish folk outfit The Points North, somewhat quietly released this self titled EP. As a genre we usually don't go for a lot of the "folk" stuff but there is something about these songs as well as North's Music with The Points North that strikes a chord with us. Beautiful and haunting all at once. Chris has made these songs available at his Bandcamp site for free however we request that you support his efforts with a donation of $5.00 or more.

Shows: Chris North will play Gay Gardens performance space in Allston on 2/18 and The Points North will play T.T. The Bears on 2/24 with The Craters.


Bandcamp/The Points North/Twitter

The Bigger Lovers - We were flat out ecstatic when we heard that Philadelphia's purveyors of intelligent power pop were reuniting and reissuing their fantastic debut album How I Learned To Stop Worrying. As if that wasn't enough the band has just released their first new music since 2004's This Affair Never Happened… and Here are Eleven Songs About It, in the form of the new digital EP dubbed, The Little Giant Maxi-Single. Technically this one isn't free,but it's pretty close, four songs for a measly $4.00. The EP can be streamed and purchased over at The Bigger Lovers Bandcamp page or at finer digital retailers. You might as well pre-order the bands debut on limited edition 180 gram vinyl while you're at it. The Bigger Lovers have announced one hometown show in March, but we're totally hopping that the band adds some additional dates,like uh um Boston!


Tumblr/Bandcamp/Facebook

Yuck - Ever since releasing their debut single, last March these Londoners have been planted firmly on our radar as well as the rest of the interwebs. On February 15th Yuck will release their highly anticipated self titled debut and will answer the question that all blog buzzed bands must eventually address, was the hype justified? Based on the amount of time we've spent listening to the tracks that occupy their first long player, the answer is a resounding yes. You can hear a handful of these songs at the bands Soundcloud and Bandcamp pages.

Yuck - Holing Out
Soundcloud/Blogspot/Facebook/Twitter

Low -Deluth,MN's slow core/minimalist legends are set to return on April 12th with C'mom via Sub-Pop. The 10 track album was recorded at Sacred Heart Studios, a former catholic church and where they tracked 2002's Trust. The albums cover art has some local ties, it was snapped by Boston music blogger and all around nice guy, Brad Searles from Bradley's Almanac. Low have just announced a tour in support of C'mon that will have them in town for a show at the soon to be reopened Paramount Center on April 29th. Try to Sleep is the first track revealed from C'mon and it's yours in exchange for your electronic address.

Official/Facebook

Gruff Rhys - Originally intended as an album of piano ballads to lament his 40th birthday, thankfully that plan went a little off course in favor of impeccably constructed albeit off kilter pop songs (with horns) from the Super Furry Animals fronter. Rhys' third solo outing will be released in the U.K. on February 14th on Turnstile, however U.S. fans will have to wait until May 3rd before we can get our mitts on Hotel Shampoo via Wichita Recordings. As of yesterday you can now listen to the album in it's entirety at The Gruffington Post or on the widget that you'll find below.

Gruff Rhys - Sensations in The Dark [Video]

Listen To Hotel Shampoo

The Gruffington Post/Facebook

Fat History Month - These Boston lo-fi noise makers and frequent basement dwellers are responsible for one of our current favorite releases, First Tape which includes a ramshackle cover of Daniel Johnston's Casper The Friendly Ghost, among other noise drenched nuggets. Due to limited information available on line it's unclear when this album was actually released, we think and hope recently. The band makes regular appearances throughout the New England underground. They play Gay Gardens, Allston on March 26th with State Champion. Up until about 24hrs ago First Tape was available at Bandcamp, however it has since been taken down. Until we can locate that fine release, we hope you will find consultation in the track we found as the Bedroom Suck Records Soundcloud page.

Fat History Month - Money=Time=Death

Official/Bedroom Sucks

The Skull Defekts - Often referred to as Sweden's answer to Sonic Youth, The Skull Defekts have been at the center of the Swedish experimental scene since their inception in 2005 and for good reason,. On February 15th the band returns with Peer Amid on Thrill Jockey with a fifth member in tow, Daniel Higgs of Lungfish, who supplies vocals, chants, and various instrumentation. The bands label is offering the album track Fragrant Nimbus as a free download, go get it.

The Skull Defekts - Fragrant Nimbus
Thrill Jockey/Official/Facebook

Robert Pollard / GBV - What would this exercise be without the inclusion of Uncle Bob and his various vehicles for his seemingly endless deluge of material. With the near perfect, Space City Kicks already under his belt this year and collaborative releases from Lifeguards with former GBV guitarist Doug Gillard which will be released next week, as well as Mars Classroom with Big Dipper's Gary Waliek due in late March. There's plenty for us Pollard fans to look forward to in the very near future. You can hear the lead track off The Lifeguards' Waving at The Astronauts, Paradise Is Not So Bad at Serious Business Records. Not to mention that the reunion of Guided By Voices classic line up is alive and well and they have just added a couple more live dates, including one at this years Sasquatch Festival in Seattle. We're hoping for another trip east from Dayton but until then we're happy to find this bootleg from the Isolation Drills tour. GBVDB, the encyclopedic on-line resource for everything and anything you wanted to know about Guided By Voices and Robert Pollard, have recently unearthed The Last of The No Hit Wonders, Live at The Mercury, Austin, TX 06/17/01 and offered it as a free download. We remember this tour fondly which included some highlights from Suitcase as well as the bands TVT years.

Download The Last of The No Hit Wonders from GBVDB

[MP3/Stream] Guided By Voices - Settlement Down [Live in Autin]

Robert Pollard/GBV/Facebook

Transmissions :: The Answering Machine

Lifeline, is the title track from the forthcoming sophomore LP from Manchester England's The Answering Machine. Your new heartbreak anthem has arrived. Lifeline will be released on February 21st.
Pre-order

Plan Accordingly ::The Radio Dept.

Swedish dream pop stalwarts, The Radio Dept.,will make their Boston debut tonight when the trio plays The Middle East with San Francisco's rising shoegazers Young Prisms. The Radio Dept. are currently on tour to support last years critical smash, Clinging to a Scheme and their just released collection, Passive Aggressive: Singles 2002-2010. After just checking with The Middle East box office and their ticketing agency we are pleased to tell you that there are a few tickets still available for tonight's show. An obvious must see show for 2011, be there.

The Radio Dept. - Never Follow Suit [Official]

Forthcoming :: Rival Schools - Pedals

On March 8th NYC post hardcore titans Rival Schools will release their long awaited second album, Pedals. The album will be released by Photo Finish/Atlantic on March 8th and follows the critically lauded United By Fate, released back in 2001. You can currently pre-order Pedals in a variety of exclusive packages that include vinyl, hoodies, and Rival Schools high top sneakers. Coming on the heels of fronter, Walter Schreifels' exceptional solo debut, An Open Letter to The Scene, which landed firmly on our 10 favorite albums of 2010 list. Pedals features 10 diverse tracks, some of which reportedly have an acoustic foundation, that we're guessing were influenced by Walter recent solo recordings. Rival Schools will play some east coast dates that lead up to the release of Pedals including a show on March 5th at The Brighton Music Hall before heading over to Europe for a co-headlining jaunt with ..And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead.

Rival Schools U.S. Dates
March 2nd Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
March 5th Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
March 6th Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel
March 7th Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda's
March 8th New York, NY Santos Party House

Last fall Rival Schools released a digital single and video for Shot after Shot. You can grab it at the bands site at the low cost of your e-mail address.

Rival Schools - Shot After Shot

Reviewed :: Ancient Kids - Odd City

Normally bands are formed long before recording a debut album, however Jordan Robson Cramer decided to write and record the entirety of Odd City before putting a band together. Ancient Kids features past and current members of Montreal's best and brightest, including Islands/Unicorns, Adam & The Amethysts, Anemones, not to mention Cramer's other band Sunset Rubdown. Odd City was recorded from November of 2009 to August of 2010 with Jordan playing nearly every instrument in a loft space recording studio known as Digital Bird with Martin Horn handling production duties.

Admittedly we are big fans of Jordan's work in the Spencer Krug [Wolf Parade] fronted Sunset Rubdown, but we were unsure of what to expect from his first solo outing. What we found was one of the most varied and infectious records we've heard in a quite some time. Odd City starts with the rousing fuzz pop of See Through, which leads into Crystal Family a gorgeous piano driven ballad that reminds us of Sophomore Slump era Grandaddy, but after a couple of minutes angular guitar lines and pounding drums enter, which makes for one of the albums most immediately satisfying tracks. Throughout Odd City Jordan Robson Cramer displays penchant for writing catchy as hell choruses and the uncanny gift of delivering deadpan lyrics over sunshine pop which allows him to never sound overwrought or dramatic. This is best exhibited in our current favorite, Slowing Down (Already), when Cramer delivers the line "wintertime just has a way of fucking with our heads", not only timely but dead on. As a whole Odd City works beautifully mostly because it's an eclectic and engaging record that comes damn close to pop perfection.

Ancient Kids have offered Odd City at there Bandcamp site for free with the recommendation that you pay $8 and we wholeheartedly concur. So if you like what you hear below (and we think you will), plunk down some of your hard earned cash.

Plan Accordingly :: Hands and Knees

Hands and Knees will celebrate the release of their terrific new LP, Wholesome tonight at Great Scott. Be There.

This Weeks Short Bursts ::

Ringo Deathstarr + Say Hi + Explosions in The Sky

Austin, TX pop noise makers,Ringo Deathstarr will release their debut LP, Colour Trip on March through Sonic Unyun Records on March 8th. Even with the comparisons to My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and The Mary Chain we hesitate to toss the shoegaze tag, mostly due to the bands true pop sensibilities that we hear under the sea of noise and feedback. According to fronter Elliott Fraizer, Colour Trip represents a full realization of the bands vision, a vision through a druggy haze of sound. The band heads off to Europe next month for a tour supporting Dean Wareham before returning home for a U.S. tour including a hometown gig at this years SXSW.

Ringo Deathstarr - So High
Shame on us for being surprised by the arrival of a new album from Say Hi, after all 2009's Oohs and Aahs remains in frequent rotation around here. The new record is another superbly titled offering,Um, Uh Oh issued earlier this week on Barsuk. The album is already receiving some well deserved praise and is being called Eric Elbogens most mature and introspective song cylce to date. Say Hi play The Middle East on March 6th with Blair and Yellow Ostrich.

Say Hi - Devils

We would be big fat liars if we didn't admit to how damn excited we our about the prospect of a new recording from post-rock goliaths, Explosions in The Sky. The bands new LP is entitled Take Care, Take Care, Take Care will be issued by the fine folks at Temporary Residence on April 26th. The six track album was recorded in West Texas with John Congleton. Explosions in The Sky will play Radio City Music Hall with Low and Eluvium on April 6th for as of now the bands only scheduled U.S. date.

Take Care, Take Care, Take Care Album Teaser

Hallelujah The Hills + The Capstan Shafts January 18, 2011| T.T. The Bears

*Photo courtesy of Jon Bernhardt

Since the release of Revelation Skirts, The Capstan Shafts latest hookfest and one of our 10 favorite records of 2010, we've been feverishly checking the bands on-line haunts for an announcement of a Boston area show. So when this pairing with Hallelujah The Hills was announced it was a no brainer, we had to be there. Dean Wells arrived in Boston Tuesday night fronting a power pop trio, not the four or five piece incarnation that he had toured a few months earlier and blasted through 13 songs in about 35 minutes. A charming albeit all too brief performance that left us wanting more.

Somehow over the past five or so years we have inexplicably missed every opportunity to catch Hallelujah The Hills play live. We own all the records and play them frequently but something always seemed to prevent us from catching one of our favorite bands, local or otherwise. Well we're happy to report that we finally put that gross misjudgment to an end this past Tuesday night. With the band about to start recording their fan funded third album next week our expectations were high to hear the yet to be recorded material as well as selections from the bands impressive back catalog and HTH did not disappoint. The bands six members took up nearly every inch of the small stage at TT's for a cacophony of guitars,drums, brass, and strings for a concise and impassioned set. The night hit it's high point when frontman Ryan Walsh regaled us with a story of an unknown benefactor of the bands soon to be recorded Some of Them We Lost 7", a raucous track that treads the line between pop and noise beautifully. Maybe it was that we finally got to hear songs like, Wave Backwards to Massachusetts and A Guide To The Worlds Most Fantastic Monsters in their raw and unfettered states or maybe it was the fact that Hallelujah The Hills are a powerful and dynamic live act. Either way they were well worth the wait.

Transmissions :: Boat

As far as we're concerned March 22nd can't come soon enough. That is of course the release date for Dress Like Your Idols, the new long player from Seattle's self proclaimed purveyors of sloppy pop, Boat. Luckily for us the band has offered this video for (I'll Beat My Chest Like) King Kong to hold us over. The band has also issued the track on 7" with two b-sides, including the much ballyhooed, Landlocked featuring John Roderick of The Long Winters. Both releases are being issued by Magic Marker.

Order the (I'll Beat Mt Chest Like) King Kong 7" here.
Pre-order Dress Like Your Idols

The Ash Gray Proclamation Presents ::
An Interview with Ryan Walsh of Hallelujah The Hills

Hearing Hallelujah The Hills 2006 debut, Collective Psychosis Begone was something of a eureka moment for us, one of those records that you can't wait to tell your friends about or anyone who will listen, for that matter. With Colonial Drones, Boston's indie pop titans managed not only to match the excellence of their debut, they trumped it with a stunning recording of fuzzed up pop and infectious balladry just 3 years later. This past November HTH turned to their fans and Kickstarter, to launch a campaign that gave fans the opportunity to pre-order the bands yet to be recorded third full length. The Kickstarter Experiment was designed to assist with the expenses of recording and releasing a new record while the band is in a limbo period with their current label.

Hallelujah The Hills linchpin Ryan Walsh recently agreed to field a few question from us, we discuss The Kickstart Experiment, the recording of the bands next record, and what we can expect tonight, from the bands first show of 2011 with The Capstan Shafts. We'd like to thank Ryan for his time and willingness to share.

Bryan Hamill: After finding the band in a pause period with your label Misra Records, you decided to turn to Kickstarter for the HTH III experiment, can explain what led to that decision and how you feel about the strong response from Hallelujah The Hills fans who contributed to the recording of the next album?

Ryan Walsh: Albums cost money to create (at least the type of one we want to make right now). Without label support you can raise the money but doing that might delay you a year. A year in band years is like 2 in human years. If you sit on a bunch of songs for 2 years by the time you're ready to record them they've grown stale. So, hoping to avoid that we rolled the dice hoping a portion of our fan base would be interested in being Jr.Record Producers. And they were! It's amazing.

Bryan: How has the recording sessions been going?

Ryan: They actually begin next week. We'll record 2 songs, completely, in a 24 hour period, once a month, through out the winter and spring.

Bryan: Can you give us any hints of what we can expect from III?

Ryan: Back to our roots! A return to form! A concept album about what we'll sound like 50 years from now! And other awful conceits!

OK, that was rude. I apologize. 9 songs. 35 minutes. I really think people talking about their next work is probably the source of some of the most unreliable, way-off comments in all of interview history. There's no perspective. I might as well be a meteorologist (been trying to get a good public fight going with a TV weatherman for years now).

Bryan: On Tuesday Hallelujah The Hills play their first show of the new year with The Capstan Shafts at Great Scott, can we expect to hear any of the new material that you've been working on in the studio?

Ryan: Yes, at least 3 songs that will be on the next album are on the set list. I'm looking at the set list right now. Is it a bad idea to write out my in-between song banter on the set list? After song 2 I wrote, "Insult someone in front row, make them feel small, then mention the merch table."

Bryan: How did the pairing with The Capstan Shafts come about?

Ryan: I forget how I first heard the Capstan Shafts but I liked them immediately. I wrote Dean and he started sending me these albums. Lots of them. It was like The Jam Of The Month Club. I've tried to get him to play live here for years. He's been on bills before but then fate intervened. 3rd times a charm.

Bryan: Back in October you suffered the untimely departure of your drummer, documented in a youtube video, how has the band soldiered on with that absence?

Ryan: To be honest, it was fairly painless. It was a shocking night and a tremendous pain in the ass in the moment. I'm glad that we finished the set. I hope it was at least entertaining for the crowd that night.

Bryan: Last fall the Boston music scene lost one of its most ardent supporters and local music champions, Billy Ruane. Can you tell us how you first encountered him?

Ryan: I was sitting at an outdoor patio in the front of a venue in Knoxville, TN. An employee of the club came out with the land-line phone and said, "There's someone on the phone looking for Ryan Walsh." I said, "That's me" ready to hear some awful news from back home or something. A voice said, "Hi this is Billy Ruane and I'd like to book you for the Middle East anniversary concert I'm putting together." That was the beginning of the rocket ship ride. I knew him very briefly, relatively, but every encounter was memorable.

Bryan: What did it mean for you to able to perform at Billy's memorial birthday bash last November?

Ryan: A whole lot, truly.

Bryan : For the forthcoming album, did you have the songs written before bringing them into the studio, or did you take a more collaborative approach to writing, involving the other members of the band.

Ryan: I'm writing as we record, as we go. Now I'm noticing I'm starting to write about writing as you go. One new song called "Get Me In A Room" is sorta about that and how people develop relationships with songs. I think some people open up more to their favorite songs than they do their family, ya know?

The band, as always, is an arranging juggernaut. I bring in a bare bones demos and then we really have a lot of fun shaping it all together. It's a true collaboration.

Bryan: You recently shared Nightingale Lightning, a song slated to appear on the new album for free download at your official website as well as your newly launched Bandcamp site, that track was culled from a show you played this summer in Toronto, are there any plans to release that show for a future HTH Live album?

Ryan: Maybe as a downloadable free extra for something. It was one of our favorite performances, even from the moment we first got off stage, but the recording isn't perfect. There's some Chatty Cathys near the microphone that becomes kinda bothersome during the quieter songs. So, "Live From Toronto On Woody Guthrie's Birthday" might see the light of day but probably nothing too official.

Tonight Hallelujah The Hills play T.T. The Bears with The Capstan Shafts and Nowhere Lights. A line up not to be missed.

Grab tickets from TT's/Ticketweb

Reviewed :: Robert Pollard - Space City Kicks

Just like clockwork, the new year arrives and Robert Pollard is ready to unleash another slew of releases to the faithful. With upcoming collaborations with former GBVer', Doug Gillard on the forthcoming Lifeguards LP and Mars Classroom, in an almost too good to be true line up that fetures Big Dipper's Gary Waleik, and Pell Mell's Robert Beeman, to be released this March. Not to mention the next Circus Devils or Boston Spaceships album that he'll write this weekend or next. But, first up on Pollard's 2011 docket is the release of an 18 track solo offering, Space City Kicks.

The material found on Space City Kicks treads the line between charming pop experimentations and fully realized rock anthems. From the brash punk of the albums opener, Mr. Fantastic Must Die! to the perfect power pop of Touch Me in The Right Place at The Right Time, Space City Kicks is the ideal album for those still coming down after the recent GBV reunion and proof that Bob's got plenty of tricks left in his bag. He achieves perfect balance with seemingly, off the cuff skeletal snippets and fist pump inducing pop rock, the likes of, we haven't heard since, Alien Lanes or more recently on 2006's superb,From A Compound Eye.

Once again Robert Pollard recorded the tracks at Waterloo Sound in Kent,OH with assistance from frequent collaborator, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias. Space City Kicks continues the tradition of Pollard solo albums by offering enough immediately satisfying tracks to hook us in on first listen, but the real pay off comes after repeated listens when the albums best moments reveal themselves. Pollard sounds as loose as we've heard him in a while especially after last years reflective and poignant, Moses on a Snail. Space City Kicks incorporates the best of Bob's post-GBV output; marrying the abrasion of Circus Devils with the big hooks of Boston Spaceships and the melancholy of quieter moments found on past solo releases. Space City Kicks is a superbly crafted pop record riddled with memorable hooks abundant melodies and to our ears the first great record of 2011.

[MP3/Stream] Robert Pollard - Touch Me in The Right Place at The Right Time

Pre-order Space City Kicks, released on January 25th on Guided By Voices, Inc.

Transmissions :: Big Troubles Live in D.C.

New Jersey's noise pop stalwarts, Big Troubles played Washington D.C.'s, Subterranean A last weekend and offered up this brand new, unnamed, but completely fantastic new track. Enjoy it while we continue our begging campaign in hopes of convincing Big Troubles to play a Boston show in the very near future!

Three Must See Shows to Kick off 2011

As you can tell from our overflowing show list to the left, 2011 is putting it's best foot forward with an impressive line up of shows. With so many Live music options this winter we thought we would take a few minutes to point out a few that we're planning on making room on our dance cards for this month and recommend you do the same.

First and foremost we must call your attention to a show featuring two of our favorite purveyors of guitar pop and Pollardesque song titles, Boston's Hallelujah The Hills and former Vermonter Dean Wells' The Capstan Shafts. Both bands play TT The Bears on January 18th. Expect more hooks than your Granpa's tackle box, none of which will be rusty however. Buy tickets now via TT's /Ticketweb.



We're all kinds of excited to catch Boston's hard to pin down popsters Hands and Knees when they celebrate the release of their excellent new LP, Wholesome on January 27th with assistance from Doomstar!, Fedevess, and Weymouth's skuzz poppers, The Needy Visions. Grab tickets for the Wholesome album release.

Hands and Knees are still offering Wholesome on their Bandcamp page as a free stream, but we ask you to do the right thing and through them a few bucks and buy it.


Also check out this footage of Hands and Knees playing the pRIMORDIAL SOUNDS Showcase last month the the Middlesex Lounge, performing Dancing On Your Tears.

The fact that the shows we're most looking forward to all feature local bands is a testament to the current state of the Boston scene and we're not done yet. On January 29th we will find the excuse we've been looking for to catch a show in the newly opened Brighton Music Hall, when Mean Creek celebrates the releases of their new Hemophiliac EP,with Taxpayer, Girlfriends,and Dirty Dishes. Mean Creek recorded the new EP at Head Gear Studios with John Agnello (Sonic Youth). You can catch a glimpse into the recording process as well as the art of achieving the perfect drum sound, through a couple videos the band has posted to their tumblr site

Mean Creek - The Comedian

New Video :: Centro-matic

In 2001 we were on a pretty rabid Promise Ring/Vermont bender when we were given our proper introduction to Denton, TX's Centro-matic through = Opportunity, the split EP they released with Davey von Bohlen's Vermont. It took just one listen to the tracks contributed by Centro-matic before we were completely hooked on the superb songwriting of fronter Will Johnson. 10 years have passed and as far as we can tell Johnson keeps on getting better and better, weather releasing music with Centro-matic, South San Gabriel, or as a solo artist Johnson seems incapable of writing a bad song. Centro-matic have always seemed to be priority #1 with Johnson and the band have just announced the release of a new album, Canidate Waltz, to be released in April. We know very little about the new album other than this new video that band posted to their site on New Years Day. Only in My Double Mind is decidedly more pop than we've heard from the band before, but it's also immediate, accessible, and pretty damn close to perfect.

Short Bursts :: The Flaming Lips

As we were preparing to write up our last post of the year, we realized that we hardly ever write about this band although we count them as one of our favorite acts. Oklahoma City's psychedelic acid/art pop legends, The Flaming Lips have committed to a busy 2011, the band will record and release a new song each and every month of 2011 as opposed to the traditional, work on 10 or 11 songs for a year or two. It's still unclear how these new tracks will be released or weather they will compile them for a proper release at some point. The Lips will also be sharing videos that capture the bands recording process. For now they have chosen to stay clear of a conventional follow up to last years Embryonic, in favor an ambitious recording experiment that will put music in the ears of their fans on a regular basis throughout the next year.

Wayne Coyne, Steven Drodz, and Michael Ivins will put their collective stamp on 2010, when The Lips play their fourth annual New Years Eve Freakout in Oklahoma City, where they'll perform The Soft Bulletin in it's entirety, sometime after midnight. The entire performance will be streamed live on iclips. We're looking forward to our NYE party guests reactions when they see what we can only guess will be a beautiful freak show. The way we look at it ,we'll have a house full of Flaming Lips converts by the time to 2011 hits or we'll have some extra couch space,either way come on over. Happy New Year!

Watch The Flaming Lips New Year's Eve Freakout Live at 10 PM

Transmissions :: Wire - Two Minutes

We are in full on vacation mode this week and preparing to depart for the snow covered mountians. But we just stumbled onto this new Wire track, that was apparently released as an album tease a couple of weeks ago, so we had to find a minute or two to write. Post-punk architects and creators of that genres defining release, Wire will release Red Barked Tree on January 11 on the bands Pink Flag imprint. The band has been paired down to their core line up of Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, and Robert Grey for the ever shifting ground of another art punk manifesto. This band never seems to stay in one sonic landscape for very long. Two minutes is the track featured above and as the title suggests, is two minutes of sledgehammer shouts and buzz saw punk.

Pre-order Red Barked Tree ahead of it's release and receive The Strays EP via Pink Flag.

Wire are scheduled to play The Middle East on April 3rd, it kind of goes without saying but I'll say it anyway, you should plan accordingly and BE THERE.

Forthcoming :: Obits/Boat/Cloud Nothings

This definitely will not be our last post of the year, we've got few more things planed before we send 2010 packing. However after dedicating the bulk of the last week or so to our year end list (perhaps you've seen it?) we wanted to get to some news that's been sitting in our inbox and spread the word on a few 2011 releases we're plenty excited about.

Granted we don't have a ton of details to report as of yet, but what we do know is that blues-punk titans, Obits will release a new 12 song LP on March 29th on Sub-Pop called Moody, Standard and Poor. The album was recorded in Brooklyn's Saltland Studios with Eli Janey and Geoff Sanoff handling production duties. Per usual Moody, Standard and Poor features fronter Rick Froberg handling most of the vocals with guitarist Sohrab Habibion (Edsel) stepping up to the mic for two tracks. This release sits at the top of our 2011 most expected releases.

Obits - Pine on from 2009's I Blame You

Seattle's guitar popsters, Boat are set to return with the release of Dress Like Your Idols on March 22nd. Dress Like Your Idols, the band 4th proper full length will be once again issued by Portland, OR's Magic Marker Records and features a guest appearance from John Roderick of The Long Winters. Which makes perfect sense to us Boat's D. Crane and Mr. Roderick have the gift of creating wry, wise ass pop records, which is right in our wheelhouse. In advance of the March release of the new album the band is also planning on the releasing a single on white vinyl next month.

Dress Like Your Idols Video Promo


The long awaited full length debut from Dylan Baldi's Cloud Nothings will shortly be upon us. The self titled longplayer will be released by Carpark Records in the U.S. and Wichata Recordings in the U.K. and Europe on January 24 & 25th respectively . The album was recorded last summer in a Baltimore warehouse with Chester Gwazda twisting knobs. Gwazda has reportedly boosted Cloud Nothings fidelity to what we can only guess will be somewhere in the mid-fi neighborhood. Baldi played every instrument on the album as well as supplied his signature orca sized pop hooks throughout. Cloud Nothings will be supporting the release with a U.S. tour, unfortunately no Boston area date has been announced yet, but we're hopefully that will be corrected shortly. Check out the track Should Have from the forthcoming release below.

Cloud Nothings - Should Have

The AGP's 10 Favorite Albums of 2010

The task of selecting our favorite records from any 12 month period can prove to be an arduous one and 2010 was no exception , as we could have easily expanded the list to 20 and still missed a few quality LP's. In the last year we have witnessed what can only be described as a renaissance of indie rock, with the return of our favorite 90's bands like Guided By Voices, Superchunk, and Pavement as well as a promising new crop of bands like Male Bonding, Wild Nothings, and Allston's ambient punks, Young Adults. We thoroughly enjoyed what we heard in 2010 and look forward with great anticipation to the deluge of 2011 releases to come. However before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let us commemorate what we consider to be the 10 best records of 2010.

As we've done in years past we consult our music libraries in our homes, itunes, and last.fm as well as those records that always seemed to find their way onto the car stereo. We'd like to mention the following releases that were inexplicably left off the list but deserve a mention as well as a listen: Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love, Calories - Basic Nature, and Weekend - Sports , to name but a few. We've taken the liberty of embedding songs from each album featured. Thanks to Soundcloud for being good sports and making these track available to us. And now without further blabbering our favorite records of 2010.


1. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor [XL Recordings]

A concept album about the American Civil War seemed like a project better suited for The Decemberists than New Jersey punk goliaths, Titus Andronicus. However it only took about about a minute for us to realize our preconceived notions were completely misguided. Although there is a conceptual theme throughout, The Monitor is about Titus fronter Patrick Stickles' love/hate relationship with his home state of New Jersey, just as much as it's about the struggles, hardships, and ideals of the Civil War. We found ourselves reaching for this album over and over and it never let us it down. The Monitor is an ambitious record no one will argue that, but it's also a flawless and impassioned one from beginning to end.

Review/Purchase from XL Recordings

Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union


2. No Age - Everything in Between [Sub-Pop]

As the founding fathers of the DIY scene in LA centered around the all ages performance space, The Smell , Randy Randall and Dean Spunt have delivered hard and honest punk over the past few years without a misstep. This album continues that tradition and finds No Age a little more accessible but not less engaging or jarring. If Everything In Between is there most listener friendly album it's also their most varied, with charging punk, ambient electronics, and luminous distortion. Everything in Between is a sparkling pop record with a sense of adventure and chaos.


The AGP Review / Purchase from Sub-Pop

No Age - Fever Dreaming


3. Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring [Wichita/Arts & Crafts]

A darker and meaner sounding record than their two preceding full lengths, not that those were exactly Yummy Yummy Yummy, I have Love In My Tummy, but Romance is Borring finds Los Campesinos! delving deeper into the their favorite topic, the decay of romantic relationships. This would make for a grim listening experience if the songs weren't the bands strongest to date. There are Listed Buildings and Straight In at 101 are fine examples of Gareth Los Campesinos (no one uses surname in LC!) gift of delivering comical and often devastating lyrical compositions. Romance is Boring is a near perfect cacophony of noise and pop from a band on the verge of something great.

Review/Live Review/ Purchase from Arts & Crafts

Los Campesinos! - There Are Listed Buildings


4. Boston Spaceships - Our Cubehouse Still Rocks [GBV, Inc]

With this years reunion of Guided By Voices' classic line up it's understandable if you missed a release or two from The Fading Captain. But it would be criminal if you didn't take at least a few minutes to examine the excellence of album #4 from Pollard's Boston Spaceships. I don't know if it's the rock solid line up of Chris Slusarenko and John Moen or if it's that Bob saves his best pop songs for the Spaceships. Either way Our Cubehouse Still Rocks is dexterous record of pop, punk, and prog. Not that we want the GBV reunion to ever end, but when it does we look forward to the attention and praise Our Cubehouse Still Rocks justly deserves.

The AGP Review/Purchase from The Factory of Raw Essentials/Rockathon

Boston Spaceships - Come on Baby Grace

5. Superchunk - Majesty Shredding [Merge]

Little did we know the return of Superchunk would be this triumphant. After a nine years of inactivity Chapel Hill's indie rock institution delievered Majesty Shredding, a record that recalls the band early to mid 90's heyday of energetic guitar pop. Just when Superchunk have absolutely nothing to prove comes 11 frantic pop burst that pogo through the first few tracks, slowing down occasionally to catch their breath, only to come charging back again and again. Majesty Shredding serves as a great reminder of the caliber of band that Superchunk is, as well as nice introduction for new fans. Majesty Shredding can sit proudly next to the bands best work.

The Fire Note Review / Live Review / Purchase from Merge

Superchunk - Crossed Wires


6. The Capstan Shafts - Revelation Skirts [Rainbow Quartz]

Dean Wells, the hook wielding mastermind of The Capstan Shafts recorded and released his most fully realized and focused recordings to date on Revelation Skirts. With assistance from drummer/producer Matt Lemay, Wells' delivers 14 mid-fi pop anthems in just over 30 minutes with not a second wasted. The songs are superbly crafted, concise and catchy as hell. With the brevity of Revelation Skirts we found ourselves listening to this LP multiple times a day nearly every day since it's release. Although the first spin hooked us in, repeated listens have proven that this record is completely addicting and equally as durable. Big guitars and even bigger hooks on Revelation Skirts made for one of 2010 most enjoyable listens.

The AGP Review / Purchase

The Capstan Shafts - Quiet Wars


7. The National - High Violet [4AD]

Ever since being introduced to The National with their 2003 second album, Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers we've been hooked on this NYC by way of Ohio quintet and over the past few years they have barely taken a mistep, releasing excellent, albeit dark and brooding records, one after another. High Violet is both powerful and poetic often both at the same time, all while sad bastard vocalist, Matt Berringer delivers his most claustrophobic and harrowing lyrics to date. High Violet spoke to us and reminded us that things don't always work out the way we plan. Being disappointed never sounded better.

Chromewaves Review/Purchase From 4AD Records

The National - Blood Buzz Ohio

8. Clinic - Bubblegum [Domino]

This record was a bigger surprise than Shane MacGowan's new teeth! As big fans of Clinic's kraut rock infused early records we were somewhat underwhelmed by the bands last couple of releases. However that all changed once we heard the reinvention of Clinic on their latest LP, Bublegum. With the addition of dulcimers, harpsichords, and strings the band brings a whole new dimension to the their sound. Through the album's 13 tracks the band reveals a few surprises from behind those surgical masks. Sure there's a few of the bands trademark disorientated fuzzed up stompers, but they also reveal an affinity for classic pop structures and British folk. The album works best when they employ all of these strengths on the same song, like on the stunning closer, Orangutan.

The AGP Review/Purchase From Domino Records

Clinic - I'm Aware

9. Walter Schreifels - An Open Letter To The Scene [AFS]

For his first solo outing, the former Gorilla Biscuits/Quicksand/ and current Rival Schools member Walter Schreifels issued a laid back record filled with acoustic pop strummers. The songs writing is sparkling and frankly is what makes the record shine, well that and Walter's weary albeit captivating vocals. I gifted this record to my brother because that's what great records make you do, they make you want to share the music and tell your friends. Open Letter To The Scene certainly qualifies as a great record.

Clicky Clicky Review/Purchase from Academy Fight Song

Walter Schreifels - Arthur Lee's Lullaby

10. Pernice Brothers - Goodbye, Killer [Ashmont Records]

The superbly crafted tales of love and life that have occupied previous Pernice Brother albums is in tact on Goodbye, Killer. However with a couple of exceptions, Pernice jettisons the familiar ground of chamber pop for the more intimate and road ready acoustics and electric twang featured on the albums 10 tracks. Goodbye, Killer is a bit of grower that slowly unfolds and reveals it's incredible charm with each subsequent listen. Pernice continues to be an amazingly consistent songwiter with very few peers, just listen to Newport News or the impeccable,The End of Faith for your proof. Goodbye, Killer is a sturdy no frills record that treads the line between alt-country and pop beautifully.

The Boston Phoenix Review/Purchase From Ashmont Records

Pernice Brothers - The Great Depression

*The AGP collage was created and photographed by Hamills', Colin, Joshua, Nicole, and Bryan.

Seasonal Sounds :: Swearing at Motorists

We thought we'd check in to let you know that we're hard at work compiling our favorite albums of 2010 and hope to have it ready for your eyes and ears (fingers crossed) shortly. In the meantime please enjoy some holiday music courtesy of Dayton, OH's by way of Germany's Swearing at Motorists as we continue to find and post some of this seasons finest holiday tracks. Swearing at Motorists fronter Dave Doughman recent took to covering Wham!'s Last Christmas as well as the standard Silver Bells. Both songs are available for free at Secretly Canadian as well as the Swearing at Motorists' Myspace haunt.

[MP3] Swearing at Motorists - Last Christmas

[MP3] Swearing at Motorists - Silver Bells

Los Campesinos! - Christmas Songs + 'zines

Our favorite indie pop octet, Los Campesinos! have announced the release and publication of the bands own quarterly 'zine and music bundle, Heat Rash. As a subscriber LC! fans will receive exclusive art, writing, as well as limited edition 7" singles and MP3's. This will allow the band to write, record, and release music spontaneously throughout the year in addition to their full length release schedule.

If you subscribe to Heat Rash before December 20th you will receive two new Christmas songs, Kindle a Flame In Her Heart and The Holly And The Ivy. The band has posted the A side to this exclusive digital single on their blog and we've also embedded it below for your convenience.

Subscription details and further information can be found at the newly launched Heat Rash site.

Seasonal Sounds :: Nosferatu D2

In 2009 the criminally defunct Nosferatu D2 finally saw their one and only full length LP, We're Gonna Walk Around This City With Our Headphones on to Block Out The Noise, released through the good graces of the Audio Anti-Hero label. That record features our hands down favorite Christmas song and it's being offered for free throughout the month of December over at the Audio Anti-Hero Bandcamp Page. Sadly, brothers Ben and Adam Parker packed it in back in 2007 however Ben Parker has been releasing records under the name Superman Revenge Squad, his latest, Dead Crow Blues (Records Records Records) is an absolute stunner. Both Nosferatu D2 and Superman Revenge Squad can both be obtained at finer digital shops as well as their U.K. based labels.

Reviewed :: Big Troubles - Worry

Over the next couple of weeks we will be focusing on our favorite releases of the last 12 months, just like every other blog, site, and music outlet in the free world. But before we get all Top 20 of 2010 on your collective asses, we wanted to dedicate some time to file our last edition of Reviewed for this year.

Over the last couple of years we've noticed a crop of young bands revisiting the shoegazer sounds we totally fell for in the late 80's and early 90's. Some of these bands bring some fresh ideas and unique execution of those influences while other are merely retreads, yes I'm talking to you Beach Fossils. The best example of the former that we can think of comes from Ridgewood, New Jersey's Big Troubles and their debut LP Worry. The album was released back in September by Brooklyn's Olde English Spelling Bee Records and nearly a day has passed since then that we haven't felt the need to give it a spin.

Songwriters Alex Craig and Ian Drennan create a varied and captivating debut on Worry. While Craig delivers fuzzed out pop gems, Drennan turns the abrasion up to 11 for some warm and accessible lo-fi pop moments. You only have to hear about ten seconds of the opening track, Video Rock to pin point the bands love of shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, but elsewhere on the album there are some obvious nods to 90's lo-fi heroes Guided By Voices as well the early recordings of Dinosaur Jr. Throughout Worry the band manages to create something bigger than the influences, something special, a noise pop juggernaut.

Tracks like Slouch and Freudian Slips display Craig/Drennan's knack for writing the perfect three minute pop song. Elsewhere Big Troubles enter quieter territory, but are no less captivating on the gorgeous, Georgia as well as the album closer, the spaced out and aptly titled Astrology Screen Savers.

To think that this is a starting point for this promising young band is a bit a mind blower, to release an album so completely satisfying as Worry on the first attempt is nothing short of astonishing. Please don't take our word for it, listen for yourself at the Big Troubles Bandcamp page, and relish the fuzzy pop bliss within.

Big Troubles - Freudian Slips

Transmissions :: GY!BE @ ATP

These are for those of us who couldn't be in attendance at this weekends Godspeed You! Black Emperor curated, All Tomorrows Parties The Nightmare Before Christmas. Not to mention those of us in Boston and elsewhere who somehow have been completely passed over on this reunion tour. The two videos were taken by the gracious YouTuber, polar1One and capture the band performing Storm, the opening song from the bands Friday night set in Minehead, UK.

Free Show :: Hands & Knees + Magic Magic

Boston's Pysch Poppers Doomstar! will be taking over The Middlesex Lounge the first Wednesday of every month for what we hope will become a long standing tradition. Tonight will feature performances from Magic Magic and Hands and Knees with Noah and Spencer from Doomstar! spinning in between sets. The show is completely free and will start at 10PM tonight!

For more information please check out pRIMORDIAL SOUNDS.