Introducing: Teen Sensations

Talk about old school. The Australians of Teen Sensations are making waves with their retro sounding surf pop.



"Surf And Sway" caught my ear and won't let it go. The same is true of their other song ("Get Fit For Summer"), which I'm currently living out. Both of their songs are available for a free download on their bandcamp. You should show these Brisbane boys some summer love.

Introducing: Night Engine

I've loved Talking Heads for a long time. Their off-key sound, their commitment to dance music as well as rock, and the delightfully strange voice of David Byrne. Well...imagine my joy when I found a new band that basically sounds like an updated version: Night Engine.



"I'll Make It Worth Your While" is reminiscent of Talking Heads classic "Burning Down The House," which, you know, makes it amazing. Their entire repertoire is a jangly, neon-colored new wave dream. After listening to "I'll Make It Worth Your While," take the time to listen to "Give Me A Chance." I think you'll find that these London boys would fit in on any new wave bill.

My Love Is Older Than My Soul

 The Lone Bellow, formerly Zach Williams & The Bellows, started as a songwriting project after his wife was partially paralyzed due to a horseback riding accident. The overwhelming uncertainty and tragedy of the accident fueled much of Williams' songwriting for the band's first album, with the themes of hope, despair, doubt, uncertainty, and triumph dominating the album.



The Lone Bellow appeals to fans of The Civil Wars, The Head & The Heart, and The Avett Brothers. They define their sound as "Brooklyn Country Music", which puts them even more in a league with Avett & Co. Filled with harmonies and absolutely gorgeous folk instrumentation, The Lone Bellow's eponymous solo album is well worth your time.


THE LONE BELLOW - "Two Sides of Lonely" [live] from SerialBox Presents on Vimeo.

That video of my personal favorite Lone Bellow song ("Two Sides Of Lonely") was shot LIVE. LIVE, I TELL YOU! Which is, coincidentally, the way I'm going to see them this very day at WFPK's Waterfront Wednesday in Louisville. It's perfectly free and all you have to do is get down there. The Staves go on first around 6PM, then Lone Bellow around 7:30, and Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band around 9:00.

Oh, You Civilized Barbarian!

Typhoon is overwhelming in the best possible way. They drench you in their harmonies and drown you their gorgeous instrumentation. This Oregon elevensome makes some of the best folk rock around,appealing to people who like stuff like Bright Eyes, Fleet Foxes, and Frightened Rabbit. Their album Hunger & Thirst is an absolute masterpiece, with stand out songs like the slow-to-start-but-quick-to-grow-on-you "White Liars" and the Fleet Foxes-sounding "Ghost Train".



The reason that I bother to write about Typhoon, when their album came out three years ago, is because
1. I love them.
2. They have a new album set to come out in August.
3. That album will HOPEFULLY have this amazing song on it:



In the end, I'll buy the album. These peeps are truly some of the best around. I kind of also need to see them live, but that's a hard thing to do in Kentucky. Here's hoping they book a show in the area soon. For now, though, I'll just have to live with "Dreams Of Cannibalism," the first single off of White Lighter, their soon-to-be-released album.

Introducing: Sombear

I love a good side project. Sometimes when band members split off and do their own thing they can produce magical goodness, which is exactly what Brad Hale, the drummer for Now, Now, is doing under the guise of Sombear. He made the jump from stripped down post-rock sounding music to electropop reminiscent of Electric Guest and The Postal Service.



His upcoming debut album is being released by Trans- Records, the imprint of Chris Walla AKA The King AKA the drummer for Death Cab For Cutie, and will be out this summer. The album, out 7/23, will be called Love You In The Dark, and the title track (A FREE DOWNLOAD) is absolutely fantastic.



The rest of his Soundcloud is definitely worth checking out for his short electro compositions, like "how my head sounds when you ask me a question". Some of them are free and all of them are worth a listen.

I am something that you'll never comprehend.

CHVRCHES (pronounced Churches) comes out of Glasgow on the other side of the pond, where they've been producing neon-tinged electropop for almost a year now. Their first single "Lies" set the blog world on fire and gave them time to produce their "Recover" - EP.


In addition to their original material, CHVRCHES has also produced some pretty great covers and remixes. My favorite among these is their cover of Prince's "I Would Die For U", which they have stylized as "I Would Die For V". The original is a classic, and one of my favorite Prince tunes. They took Prince's lovelorn ballad and turned it into a declaration of pop.

Introducing: Books of Love

Books of Love is a kinda sorta super group comprised of Vivian Girls' Katy Goodman and The Hush Sound's Greta Morgan. They've teamed up to produce tuneage that sounds gloriously like The Best Coast. Their origin story, as told on their bandcamp, goes as follows:

While hiking past the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, friends Katy Goodman and Greta Morgan were struck with the idea to record a song together: A song about physics and love, science and romance, space and time. Have you ever felt the lovesick pain of falling for someone from a different dimension? We have too.

And the very next day, Katy and Greta recorded "Space Time."
 
In addition to that song, they made a music video to accompany it: