Interpol has been enjoying dropping news via sneak attack lately. New song, new video, band changes, tour dates and album details keep popping up periodically to stoke the fan interest (not that we could ever forget about them). So when I was up too early this morning checking my Twitter feed, the guys decided to slip another note under the door. They have released a second song entitled "Barricade" from their upcoming self titled release and it is, um, really, really good.
The new tour is still kicking off on July 23 with two shows in Chicago August 15 and 16, the album is still coming out on September 7 and the track list is given below.
01 Success
02 Memory Serves
03 Summer Well
04 Lights
05 Barricade
06 Always Malaise (The Man I Am)
07 Safe Without
08 Try It On
09 All of the Ways
10 The Undoing
Pre-2010, the basic expectations from Toronto based Tokyo Police Club were clear and distinct. This is a group of guys who make fun, free-wheeling music that doesn't go too deep or require too much from the listener. If you are looking for an emotional plunge or a musical transcendence, don't waste your time looking too hard. For the rest of you, hang out for a bit if you are up for a quick fix in the form of a two minute pop-punk nugget. This is hardly a condemnation as many bands cannot find that proper mixture of joyous energy and warmly embracing yet indelibly catchy songs.
Tokyo Police Club's second release Champ was nothing unexpected and made no sudden change in their established style. Yet, the album was a true surprise because it is, as a whole, better music. Most obviously, the average song length on Champ is more than a solid minute longer than their earlier releases. The new tracks never feel drawn out or overextended; Tokyo Police Club now just have more to say. The themes here are more thoughtful, mature and articulate. Granted, nobody will ever mistake Tokyo Police Club for making overly heartfelt, self-aggrandizing music (Hi U2!). Thank goodness that oft-made misstep wasn't, and will hopefully never be, made. Enjoy the three tracks.
Music made in the name of selling shoes. Well, it is the era of your favorite musicians tying themselves to commercial products. It is the easiest way for your single to catch the ear of the new listener.However, this collaborative effort of Kid Cudi, Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino and Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij was made to promote the shoes not the artist. I might turn my nose up at this effort if it wasn't so damn catchy. Check out the song below and download the track for free here.
All Summer by Kid Cudi, Bethany Cosentino, Rostam Batmanglij All Summer by mjvisme
The best way to come across a never-heard-before band is incidentally, giving the moment a "stars are in perfect alignment" feeling that puts this gift of newly found music in your listening rotation that is reserved only for the all-time favorites. You can have that feeling with Avi Buffalo as well. Since this is not only their first album, but that all of the band members are at or under legal drinking age, you can definitely get in on the fandom at the ground floor. The only fans who will have you beat will be their high school friends.
If you have been reading up on Avi Buffalo recently, you have quite possibly heard their sound connected to the Zach Braff-endorsed band The Shins. There is a definite connection to their sweet, hummable tunes paired with a inviting falsetto. However, Avi Buffalo's lyrics manage to dig deeper and employ the edgier, adventurous side of being young. Their songs are about the unsettling nature of relationships not unlike, well, everyone else, but have the youthful exuberance of teenagers who can't restrain themselves. Look no further than the tellingly titled tracks "Summer Cum", "Five Little Sluts" and "Where's Your Dirty Mind".
Yet there is much more going on here than teenage energy. There is interesting vocal inflections, beautiful boy-girl harmonies and some intricately simple guitar work revealing a confidence most bands search for their entire careers. If anyone is finding their sound too twee, give the guitar solos on "Remember Last Time" and "Jessica" a listen. It is almost an inside joke that such 70's inspired sounds come from band members mostly born in the 90's. All in all, Avi Buffalo's self titled release is definitely the best debut this year. Get on the bandwagon now while there is plenty of room. Three favorite tracks from the album are given below.
There are select expressions in music that render me a sucker. These moments are unpredictably disparate, but always leave me affected. It could be a frontperson's painful wail or sardonic sneer, that perfect pop guitar lick or disco drum beat, or the emotional swell in a song that still brings the goosebumps after thousands of listens. One of those well used methods is the woozy, swirling slide guitar where it feels like the room is spinning. These sounds were perfected on the 1991 album Isn't Anything by My Bloody Valentine. Anytime a band invokes that feeling, I am well over halfway there.
Baltimore duo Beach House has been employing dizzying guitar loops since their 2006 self titled release. However, their two earlier efforts had failed to wrestle me down like Teen Dream. Released at the beginning of the year, it seemed that Beach House brushed off the restraints of their earlier two albums and began to truly soar. With a new clarity in their production featuring upfront vocals courtesy of Victoria Legrand, Beach House had gone from that shy wallflower in the back of the class to the confident, blossoming, world-ready graduate.
The entirety of Teen Dream is a gauze-strewn slideshow of dreamy, from the hip snapshots capturing memories of those mundane moments that are easily missed. The settings that Beach House evoke are the sights of Americana: fields, dirt roads and yes, beaches. All the tracks are have their own mise-en-scene set by the instruments, be it a warm morning stroll, lazy afternoons in the shade or a long drive under twinkling stars. There is defined beauty, but always a second layer of longing and ache that is never too dark nor stormy. It is just the everyday cloud obscuring that perfect sunny day. Three of my favorite tracks are given below.
