DATE ARCHIVES : January 2019

Leon Canoe – ‘Shane’

e657ce772bf044d2b191ef7ab0687d46b91601cf

Despite being from Poway, California, Leon Canoe are in the business of crafting some of the best soaring Britpop melodies this side of the ’60s, as evidenced by new track ‘Shane’.

‘Shane’ is the debut single from the US outfit and it is a ridiculously catchy. It is an alluring haze of shimmering indie-pop goodness dripping with melody, that given the right environment and time, it would be a dead cert to take its place on the dizzier echelons of the hit parade. Melodies build, vocals bounce and hooks, well hook, as the pace wanders upon a quickstep snappy beat until it all comes together formed on a rhythmic build to an energetic melodic climax. A charming, heartfelt and melodic masterclass in neat indie-pop goodness.

Tune into ‘Shane’ below now.

 

Leggy – ‘Eden’

50728492_1801685209936112_9171007340315410432_n

In 2017, Cincinnati Indie trio Leggy released a self-titled record of collected works of their material since 2013 and this year, they’re going one step further and releasing their first full-length album.

Entitled Let Me Know Your Moon, it is out on March 8 and is preceded by ‘Eden’; the first single lifted from the forthcoming album. It is an expansive indie rocker, gritty and anthemic, sliding between a garage rock and indie before taking a different shape as it goes along, veering off on a motorik beat into more experimental post-punk territory. There is a sweetness to ‘Eden’ also, mostly in the form of the melody which bubbles away beneath the layers of crunchy guitar, meaty riffs and mild doses of fuzz and distortion as the powerful, passionate and compelling vocals sit front and centre. A phenomenal tune and mouthwatering taste of what we can expect from Let Me Know Your Moon come March.

Listen below.

Introducing: The Pierce Project

49702406_1955828904711996_1575943339079892992_n

The Pierce Project is a family affair. It is the result of three brothers – aged 15, 17 and 22 – with the intermittent assistance of their dad embracing a love of music steeped in the sounds of the 60’s and 70’s.

While their influences loom large on the horizon, The Pierce Project strive to blend this with a character of their own; resulting in beautifully crafted songs bound by a timeless charm and irresistible melodies, sweet harmonies and brimming with a sense of optimism – as evidenced by new singles ‘Time is Absurd’ and ‘Rolling Down the Stairs’. ‘Time is Absurd’ is a charming, catchy and gleaming piece of guitar-pop, dripping with melody and brimming with sweet harmonies, it glistens as it goes by with a placid and easy-going air. ‘Rolling Down the Stairs’ opens at a slower pace, it moves along a steady beat and stabs of keys with a doleful air. It is a much more melancholic, sombre and heartfelt piece of piano-pop affair but space is still found for there sweet harmonies and a slowburning guitar solo to see the song out. The Pierce Project’s music is beautiful, simplistic and craft with an obvious love, and sometimes that is quite enough.

Tune into ‘Time is Absurd’ and ‘Rolling Down the Stairs’ below and rumour has it, they are working on an album.

The Red Leslies – ‘Intercourse Weapon’

45132936_2185218695066126_7244623493407440896_n

The Red Leslies are a garage-punk band from Southern California revolving around core members Luis Sanchez and Adrian Martinez whose sound is derived from influences like The Ramones, T. Rex, The Strokes, Buddy Holly and Lou Reed.

Having formed in 2015 The Red Leslies have spent the intervening years playing gigs at rowdy house parties, empty swimming pools, along with more traditional venues, and now have their debut record In White primed for release in March. And with that news comes lead single ‘Intercourse Weapon’; a fast, furious and fuzzed-up burst of guitar driven energy. It is riff driven garage rock at its triumphant best, fuelled by a fizzing vitality it races forward, pumped with adrenaline that is tempered by a melodic sensibility and hooks you could hang your hat on – and topped off by some simply scintillating vocals. This is a full-blood garage-rock explosion with raucous and riotous energy dripping out of every pour.

Tune into ‘Intercourse Weapon’ below and keep those eyes peeled for their debut record In White come March.

Mesa Luna – ‘Dispel’

44737068_1934827939938820_3828375608174313472_n

The last time we encountered Vancouver’s Mesa Luna was with the hypnotic, absorbing singles ‘Ruins’, ‘Don’t Let Go’ and ‘Church Garden’ a few years back – at that time, a duo featuring Justice McLellan and Alex Cooper (now of the PAVEL parish).

Today, Mesa Luna is the one-man dream-pop project of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, Justice McLellan who is preparing to release debut LP Lash; out March 22. The album is fronted by lead single ‘Dispel’ which proves Mesa Luna has lost none of its allure, zip and groove. Centred around shimmering synth, immediate riffs and rumbling bassline, ‘Dispel’ is submerged in dreamy, blissed-out vibes. Amid all the hazy atmospheres and dreaminess there is a doleful, melancholic air as the beat quickens – matched step by step by riff, synth and bass – ‘Dispel’ gallops forward leaving only dust (think early Foals and Boxed In). An exquisite and emphatic introduction.

Tune into ‘Dispel’ below and remember Lash is coming out on March 22 via Afterlife Music.

Introducing: Stella Donnelly

Stella-Donnelly-Credit-Pooneh-Ghana

Wales-born, Australian singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly built a much warranted reputation on the back of her 2018 debut EP Thrush Metal – a stunning collection of deceptively simple, sparse but compelling acoustic tracks filled with witty, stark, honest and frustrated musings tackling subjects like sexual assault, victim blaming and misogyny.

Following on from last year’s EP, Donnelly has announced her debut album, Beware of the Dogs will be released on March 8 via esteemed indie label Secretly Canadian, and the 13-track LP is led by the single ‘Old Man’. Joined by a full band, on the surface ‘Old Man’ is a breezy, easygoing and sparkling piece of indie-pop but amid all the warm melodies, it’s a song that finds a perfect balance between dreamy and acerbic, with a sharp message aimed at taking exploitative men to task. Once again, Donnelly has proven herself to be a masterful voice of rage, wit, humour and compassion.

Check out ‘Old Man’ and the Fiona Jane Burgess directed video below and the debut LP, Beware of the Dogs is out on March 8 via Secretly Canadian. You can listen to debut EP Thrush Metal here too – it’s very, very good indeed.

Stella Donnelly plays The Grand Social, Dublin on April 29 – Tickets €15.

Ten Fé – ‘Coasting’

49897823_2028940777197301_559223248953278464_n

London outfit Ten Fé will release their new album Future Perfect, Present Tense on March 8th.

Since they announced details of their follow up to there wonderful debut Hit The Light, the now fully-fledged five-piece have embarked on a fairly relentless campaign of enlightenment sharing super singles ‘Not Tonight’, ‘Won’t Happen’, ‘No Night Lasts Forever’ and ‘Echo Park’ – and they have kept the heat up with yet another single ‘Coasting’. It is a grand, breezy and hypnotising number of lush instrumentation, drifting into a daydream of woozy dream-pop and coated with an Americana-tinged gloss and aura of free abandon. With ‘Coasting’, Ten Fé are sound fresh, carefree and loved up – not a bad way to be. ‘Coasting’ is a fine addition to the Ten Fé canon and things are looking good for the forthcoming new record.

Listen to ‘Coasting’ below – Future Perfect, Present Tense is set for release on March 8th via Some Kinda Love/PIAS.

Cam Maclean – ‘Sunshine’

9de5f25cf3d53af711b6cf2609199d2f202c919e

Cam Maclean, best known for his contributions with cult psych-pop outfit Vesuvio Solo, is a Canadian musician and songwriter based in Montreal.

In the latter half of 2018, Maclean ushered his first record as a solo artist with Wait for Love, leading us down a rabbit hole to an oddball world of psych sensibilities and serenity that echo a bygone era. As with his debut solo record, latest single ‘Sunshine’ is of a similar disposition with intricate guitar lines, high-pitched but soothing and emotive vocals, and songwriting full of both longing and hope. It is sun-kissed, twangy psychedelia delicately slinking along a retro groove, bringing a warm, melodic and heartfelt blend of frazzled doses of ‘sunshine’ and loungey, washed-out vibes.

Listen to the wonderful ‘Sunshine’ below and while you’re at it, why not check out Wait For Love
here.

Paint Thinner – ‘Distortion’

a3781293536_5

Formed from the remnants of Detroit underground outfits – like Terrible Twos, Fontana, Frustrations and Human Eye – post-punk noisemakers, Paint Thinner, are readying the release of their debut album, The Sea of Pulp, penned for release on February 15.

Ahead of their debut, the Detroit foursome have released the raw, rough-hewn post-punk powerhouse that is ‘Distortion’. Opening with an ominous and forbidding sense of doom, it is propelled onward by a repetitive, chugging post-punk guitar, meaty bassline and crashing drums.It is a tune that doesn’t mess about, it means business with its relentless, powerful drive chugging ever onward, burrowing inside inside your consciousness. ‘Distortion’ plumbs the murky depths, bubbling below the surface, deftly conveying powerful emotions, it ratchets up the tension to explode with an emphatic, cataclysmic climax. Think of early-The Horrors meets early-Wire; as far as opening introductions go, they don’t come much more emphatic than this.

Check out ‘Distortion’ below and keep an eye out for the debut album in February.

Dentist – ‘Upset Words’

46517526_1749094935217527_3502258483690995712_n

Dentist are a New Jersey-based indie-pop/surf rock outfit centred around the songwriting partnership of Emily Bornemann (vocals/bass) and Justin Bornemann (guitar), who are complemented and kept on point by Matt Hockenjos on drums.

2018 saw the trio release their third album ‘Night Swimming’ via Cleopatra Records, and it is a feverishly infectious collection of fuzzed-out, surf punk-tinged indie pop jangle and sun-kissed garage rock crunch.

Dentist have marked the coming of 2019 with the release of the album’s opener ‘Upset Words’, which pretty much captures everything that makes the trio’s sound so lovable in just three-minutes. It is a freewheeling, furious and fuzzed out blast of lively and addictive surf-tinged guitar-pop with waves of choppy guitar and big meaty riffs, propulsive drum rhythm and churning bass. This more forceful, aggressive side to Dentist is tempered and complimented perfectly by an abundance of hooks and infectious melodies, and Emily Bornemann’s sweet and buoyant vocals. ‘Upset Words’ is wonderful and like the album from from whence it came, is completely and utterly addictive.

Listen to ‘Upset Words’ below and you can check out all of ‘Night Swimming’ here – it is definitely worth some of your time and attention.