In 2009 Spectrals began life as a one man band. That one man was Heckmondwike, Yorkshire resident, Louis Jones, and he played everything on his early releases himself. A number of singles were released on labels such as Captured Tracks, Tough Love, Underwater People and Moshi Moshi; somewhere along the way Louis recruited his brother, Will, to play drums; touring band members came and went, but the core of the two brothers remains to this day.

Spectrals are finally back with “Sob Story”. The album is described as follows: There are songs that are clearly loves songs in the classic sense (‘Limousine’, ‘Milky Way’, ‘Sob Story’). The problems of long-distance relationships are covered in ‘Blue Whatever’ (“I’ve been blue as a bruise ever since you went down / ’cause to me it could just as well be another galaxy”); that same topic, as well as the problems caused by being away on tour so much, come up in ‘Karaoke’ (“If I stop playing guitar / Learn to drive a car / And try and get my head around living in another town”); he discusses how he can be the cause of their problems in ‘A Heartbeat Behind’ (“I made such hard work of loving you / Love became a hobby too / I’m in no way badly done to / After all, I have you”); and with his characteristic humor, ‘Something To Cry About’ tackles a question asked by a number of journalists when reviewing Bad Penny – what will he write songs about if he doesn’t have trouble in love???

http://spectrals.co.uk

Belfast-based four-piece Girls Names are a singular proposition, both geographically and psychically removed from their contemporaries at home and abroad. Released on March 12, their second album The New Life is the sound of a band on the fringes striving to forge their own path, purposefully out of step – and time – with their surroundings. Weighed heavy with the grey landscapes of their hometown, The New Life is isolation laid bare, shot through with an undeterred sense of purpose and individuality. Watch their haunting new video for “Hypnotic Regression” Featuring model, Jordann Ebbitt, and directed by Nick Thompson.

Girls Names

The New Life

(Slumberland Records / Tough Love)

1. Portrait

2. Pittura Infamante

3. Drawing Lines

4. Hypnotic Regression

5. Occultation

6. A Second Skin

7. The Olympia

8. Notion

9. Projektion

10. The New Life

http://girlsnames-deadtome.tumblr.com

San Francisco/Oakland’s The Mantles have been charting a unique path through the Bay Area’s storied garage/pop scene since 2007. The early shows were loose & loud Velvets/Nuggets-bashing, always with weirdly catchy songs & oddball chord changes. Their first singles saw them honing their sound, building towards their 2009 self-titled debut album (on Siltbreeze) and follow-up EP on Mexican Summer. Loosely aligning with artists like White Fence and Ty Segall, The Mantles thoroughly modernize and personalize the folk-rock tradition.

Now on Long Enough To Leave, The Mantles still color outside the lines but dial a cleaner, more infectious sound. SF’s Kelley Stoltz (Sub Pop) recorded the new album with enough savvy to make it pop while keeping the performances idiosyncratic & affecting. Sharp ears may spot bits of early Love, New Zealand’s Flying Nun label and LA’s Paisley Underground.

Tour Dates:

06/14 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop (Record Release show) @
07/05 Washington, DC – Black Whiskey*
07/06 Baltimore, MD – Club K*
07/07 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Neck Tie*
07/08 Harrisburg, PA – MakeSpace*
07/09 Brooklyn, NY – Shea Stadium*
07/10 New Haven, CT – BAR*
07/11 Cambridge, MA – Lilypad*
07/12 New Bedford, MA – No Problemo Taqueria*
07/13 New York, NY – Cake Shop#*

 * = w/ Juan Wauters of The Beets

@ = w/ The Bats, Legs

# = w/ Piano Movers and Pale Lights

The Mantles

Long Enough To Leave 

(Slumberland Records)

1. Marbled Birds

2. Hello

3. Long Enough To Leave

4. Reason’s Run

5. Raspberry Thighs

6. Brown Balloon

7. Bad Design

8. Don’t Cross Town

9. More That I Pay

10. Shadow Of Your Step

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mantles/147297444375

Post-punk outfit Weekend are making a gloriously noisy return with their forthcoming second LP, Jinx (Slumberland). Premiering yesterday, Weekend’s lead track “Mirror” sets the stage  - and the effect is roaring and disorienting all at once.

Weekend
Jinx
(Slumberland)
July 23, 2013

1. Mirror
2. July
3. Oubliette
4. Celebration, FL
5. Sirens
6. Adelaide
7. It’s Alright
8. Rosaries
9. Scream Queen
10. Just Drive

About a decade ago Mario Hernandez (of Ciao Bella & From Bubblegum To Sky) was casually sitting on a Stockholm couch drinking a really good cup of coffee when a friend put on the “Back To Mono” box set and Hernandez’s life was forever changed. He was instantly drawn in by the excellent songwriting and lush instrumental arrangements; and what started out as an innocent side trip into the Phil Spector back catalog soon became a longtime fascination with the Brill Building and Spector’s fabled wall of sound.

As time passed he realized that he just couldn’t get away from it. He kept coming back to the idea of a simple pop song that wasn’t really that simple – a happy melody with a dark underpinning in the lyric- and he knew that it wasn’t enough to just listen. He had to make his own version of this great sounding stuff. Kids On a Crime Spree is the result of this obsession.

After living in New York for a spell to more fully immerse himself in the culture that spawned the music he loved, Hernandez moved back to California and began recording in earnest. Of the more than one hundred songs he composed but was not able to record while in New York, eight of the best were chosen for 2011′s We Love You So Bad, Kids On a Crime Spree‘s first record. Much care was taken to use older recording techniques akin to those used in the sixties in the Brill Building and the whole record was recorded on analog tape. We Love You So Bad set out their stall with eight nuggets of pure pop excellence, blending 60s pop chops with Ramones-y energy and drive, and a taste for noise. The tunes are brief and uncluttered, distilling 50 years of pop history into a completely focused, modern sound.

The new single “Creep The Creeps” has been a staple of the group’s live set for a while now, and we’re excited to finally have it on vinyl. It’s punchy, handclap-driven power-pop of the very highest order, with a driving dance beat courtesy of Ms Barron. It’s accompanied by an excellent video by Stagnant Cult that reinforces the band’s love of AM radio and pop history. “New Ex-Boyfriend” on the flip adds some minor-key drama and echoed surf guitar leads to the mix. It’s a heady combination, and points to new directions for exploration.

http://www.slumberlandrecords.com

Glasgow-based indie-pop group Golden Grrrls share their music video for “Take Your Time.” The band kicks off their US tour today in Olympia, WA. Their transcontinental jaunt includes shows with Veronica Falls, Sea Lions and Lorelei. Full tour dates below.

Bio:

Glasgow’s Golden Grrrls are Eilidh Rodgers, Ruari MacLean and Rachel Aggs. What began as bedroom guitar experimentation soon bloomed into a fully-formed pop language inspired by the 80s New Zealand and Australian indie pop scenes, DIY punk and Glasgow’s own rich pop history (think The Vaselines, The Pastels). Drummer Eilidh Rodgers’ inventive, loose-cannon drumming and lead vocals have framed MacLean’s baritone from the beginning, with newest member Rachel Aggs (also of Trash Kit) bringing an effortless melodic sensibility on guitar and backing vocals. Golden Grrrls’ first releases exemplified the lo-fi aesthetic they came from. Now long sold out, the two previous 7″s on Night School married the roughed-up recording dynamic with a boisterous, inventive melodic sense that has blossomed further on this, their self-titled debut LP.

For ‘Golden Grrrls’ the band has written eleven perfect songs about life’s realities dressed in three-part harmonies, heart-tugging changes and a playing style derived from punk and classic crash-pop enthusiasm. Like contemporaries Twerps and Sea Lions, they’ve joined a storied lineage of pop essentialists such as The Clean, The Bats and The Feelies — bands who eschew complexity for concision and never sacrifice melody to mere primitivism. Each chord, beat and vocal line is perfectly placed, essential and simply has to exist as it is in its moment in time.

With all three members singing throughout, the harmonies and guitar lines interweaving, there’s a warmth in every song that adds to the poignant punch of the album as a whole. Opener “New Pop” is a blast of breakneck spiked power pop while “Think Of The Ways” is a sweetly melancholic song that plays MacLean and Rodgers’ vocals against each other. “Take Your Time” and “Date It” are a punked-up indie pop gems, while album closer “We’ve Got…” is the catchiest ‘anthem’ you’ll hear from a band that would be repulsed at the idea of writing anthems.

Tour Dates

03/20 Olympia, WA – Le Voyeur *
03/21 Seattle, WA – Tractor ^
03/22 Seattle, WA – The Cairo *
03/23 Portland, OR – Doug Fir ^
03/26 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop ^
03/29 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour ^
03/30 San Diego, CA – Casbah ^
04/01 Boston, MA – Charlie’s
04/02 Easthampton, MA – Flywheel
04/03 Brooklyn, NY – Glasslands #
04/04 Philidelphia, PA – Vox Populi #
04/05 Arlington, VA – Comet Ping Pong ~ #
04/06 Baltimore, MD – The Bell Foundry #
04/08 New York, NY – Cake Shop #

* = w/ Brilliant Colors
^ = w/ Veronica Falls and Brilliant Colors
# = w/ Sea Lions
~ = w/ Lorlelei