review: Mouse Fire -- Big Emotion

Mouse Fire
Big Emotion
Lujo Records, 2010

mp3: Mouse Fire -- "True I May Have Lost It"

Where does Mouse Fire exist?

Do they exist in the soft malleable, danceable part of your heart, the place where you feel guilty for liking a Top 40 song, a pop song? That place where you are just starting to understand that everyone, even you, even them, even your heroes, wants love, recognition, a Top 40 song, a pop song, a truly memorable song that has feet & minds & hearts twirling, wandering, wondering?

Or Florida, in most instances. But I don't usually find them in the usual Florida circles (maybe I'm not looking hard enough).

First disc--Wooden Teeth on Lujo Records. A favorite record label.

Then almost nothing. Never really heard of them touring (i'm sure they did).
never heard people talking about them (i'm sure they were).
not sure what was going on.

What was going on was a massive writing project that has turned out to be Big Emotion. But, where does Mouse Fire exist?

Not on any cool indie lists, for the most part, somehow outside of that mainstream punk rock realm. No Vans or Osiris.

But here's music like Cursive, No Knife, Minus the Bear possibly.

"Desert Woman" explains it slowly.

"Don't Mess With A Texan" bleeds goodness.

"True I May Have Lost It" exudes smoothness.

"The Comedy Of" plays what the kids love.

"But It's Not What You Think," follows the rules by the end.

Not so much on "Silly Boy From Tampa Bay" and "Tic Toc."

You are where Mouse Fire exists (I'm sure now).
More after the jump...

mp3: Megafaun -- "Volunteers"

mp3: Megafaun -- "Volunteers"

Durham's Megafaun is putting out a mini-album on Sept. 14. Read about the process on Hometapes' Tumblr.

Here are some Megafaun tour dates...

06/08/10 Arlington, VA @ IOTA Club & Cafe #
06/09/10 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s #
06/10/10 Cambridge, MA @ Regattabar
06/11/10 Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall #
06/12/10 Buffalo, NY @ Sound Lab #
06/13/10 Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Big #
06/15/10 Milwaukee, WI @ Club Girabaldi #
06/16/10 Eau Claire, WI @ House of Rock #
06/17/10 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon #
06/19/10 Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop #
06/21/10 Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
06/22/10 Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
06/23/10 Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle
08/06/10 Portland, OR @ Pickathon
08/07/10 Portland, OR @ Pickathon
09/11/10 Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Fest - King’s
^ with Tift Merritt
# with Sam Quinn


More after the jump...

Swing South: Native / This Town Needs Guns

mp3: Native -- "Ride The Tide"

Yeah, frantic math rock. Native is from Indiana and are kicking it hard with their new release, Wrestling Moves. Late 90s complex math rock.

The UK's This Town Needs Guns is a little gentler on the ears, tends more towards a poppier American Football or something like that. (Is that reference out of date?)

Anyway see the bands. Dates after the jump...



Jun 7 Black Cat w/ This Town Needs Guns Washington, Washington
Jun 8 2010 Local 506 w/ This Town Needs Guns Chapel Hill, North Caro, US
Jun 9 2010 Masquerade (Purgatory) w/ This Town Needs Guns Atlanta, Georgia
Jun 10 2010 Skull Alley w/ This Town Needs Guns Louisville, Kentucky , US

More after the jump...

mp3: Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band -- "Leaving Trails" & more

mp3: Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band -- "Leaving Trails"

Seems deeper, maybe more fuzzed, maybe less playful than the previous release, though no big changes. Still a good song. Their s/t was one of my faves in 2009, this time around I hope they get the recognition they deserve. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band's new album, Where The Messengers Meet, is out in August.

mp3: Sunglasses -- "Whiplash"
Really like this band from GA. Get another mp3 "Stand Fast" here.

mp3: Woodsman -- "When The Morning Comes"

mp3: The New Loud -- "Wrapped in Plastic"
mp3: CAW! CAW! -- “Sons of Sons of Saviors”
mp3: Banquets -- "Eleanor, I Need A Garden!"
mp3: Bellflur -- "Insect Politics"







More after the jump...

WE Fest Preview -- Eskimo Kiss Records Showcase & Goodbye Throwdown

The Eskimo Kiss Records showcase at the Soapbox in Wilmington is Sunday night, May 30 at 9pm. See our WE Fest preview here & the fest site here.

mp3: The Good Graces -- "Working Title"

My first experience of Eskimo Kiss Records was a sticker on a fire hydrant in Decatur, GA. Later when I moved to Wilmington, NC and wrote a story about Eskimo Kiss, I found out that Eskimo Kiss was started in Wilmington and that founder Kim Ware had moved to Atlanta.

What a weird, wired, small world.

Anyway, Kim is closing up Eskimo Kiss after 10 years and is returning to WE Fest in Wilmington for a shutdown celebration or something. She's bringing along Chapel Hill's North Elementary, which is one of the bands I totally enjoy--and I found out about them thanks to Kim.

Eskimo Kiss has one last release, called "Let's Do Art and Be Best Friends" which is a ten year recap and will be released in June.

The label has a crazy beginning story, so I'll let Kim tell it and talk about "Let's Do Art" after the jump...

I started eskimo kiss records on a cold winter’s day in early 2000. It was snowing, which was somewhat atypical for the southeastern tip of North Carolina. Not a fan of cold weather, I felt sort of trapped, I think both due to the snow and also the confines of our tiny coastal town. Perhaps I was bored.

A few months prior to that snowstorm, which became known as the “Blizzard of 2000,” my then-husband had randomly won an all-expenses paid vacation to Las Vegas. While we were there I hit the jackpot on a slot machine. I came home with $4,000, not a huge sum by most people’s standards, but still, you can do a lot with $4,000. It just so happened that our band was sitting on a record we had just finished recording, wondering what to do with it. Suddenly, we had the money to put it out. And so on that snowy day, we decided it made sense to start a record label.

But since then, eskimo kiss has released 21 records. And me, I’ve divorced, moved
(several times), and fallen in love again. I’ve made lots of new friends, many through this label. I’ve lost some people really close to me. I’ve changed careers. And I’ve written songs about all of the above. Through it all, the only real day-to-day constant has been my label, the songs, and my cat. (I wrote a song about him too.) So as I began putting together this collection of songs, to serve as the final release for eskimo kiss, I realized it’s basically a documentation of the past 10 years of my life. As I listened to all the releases, trying to decide which songs to include, I couldn’t help but think of the moves, the new friends, the old ones … the heartbreak and the happiness that I felt along the way.

More after the jump...

mp3: Sunglasses -- "Stand Fast"

mp3: Sunglasses: "Stand Fast"

Happy go lucky, maybe? Sunglasses are Savannah, GA inspired dance-pop. Yes, Samuel Cooper and Brady Keehn met at art school. No, that doesn't mean it sucks. Yes, they made an art film together. No, that doesn't mean you shouldn't like the band.

Their S/T EP comes out June 15 from Lefse. More after the jump...

mp3: Mouse Fire -- "True I May Have Lost It" & tour dates

mp3: Mouse Fire -- "True I May Have Lost It"

Florida band Mouse Fire is out of the gates on tour in promotion of their new album, Big Emotion, out June 8 from Lujo Records. Their new single, "True I May Have Lost It" is above.

Loose alt-rock, it really reminds me of this fav band. I love Mouse Fire, I love Big Emotion. You will love them too. I think Louisiana people love this band--2 dates in Shreveport!?!?

More Mouse Fire on Deckfight.

Dates below...



5/21 Gainesville, FL @ The Atlantic
5/22 Pensacola, FL @ A House
5/24 Lafayette, LA @ Artmosphere
5/25 Shreveport, LA @ Dalzell House
5/26 Hot Springs, AR @ Maxine's
5/27 Little Rock, AR @ Vino's
5/28 Oklahoma City, OK @ Sauced
5/29 Austin, TX @ The Ghost Room
5/30 San Antonio, TX @ The Ten Eleven
6/2 El Paso, TX @ Percolator
6/3 Las Cruces, NM @ The Equinox
6/4 Tucson, AZ @ The Hut
6/5 Scottsdale, AZ @ Rogue
6/9 San Diego, CA @ Beauty Bar
6/10 Santa Monica, CA @ Trip Lounge
6/11 Mountain View, CA @ Red Rock
6/14 San Francisco, CA @ Kimo's
6/16 Salt Lake City, UT @ Bar Deluxe
6/17 Denver, CO @ Lion's Lair
6/18 Wichita, KS @ Kirby's
6/23 Denton, TX @ Hailey's
6/24 Shreveport, LA @ The Collective 6/27 New Orleans, LA @ The Circle Bar 6/30 Pensacola, FL @ Handlebar 7/2 Marietta, GA @ The Local 7/3 Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn

More after the jump...

review: Band of Horses -- Infinite Arms

Band of Horses

Infinite Arms

Columbia Records, May 18, 2010

mp3: Band of Horses -- "Factory"

Review by Jason Frye

Call it a knife in the wound, call it a restless night waiting for her to call, Infinite Arms embodies that last beautiful gasp of unrequited love and forces you to relive it. But don’t worry, you come out the other side better for the journey.

Here’s our song-by-song breakdown of the new album from South Carolina's Band of Horses...

“Factory” is like seeing a movie alone; like hearing a voice in an empty house.

“Compliments” is a failed escape attempt.

“Laredo” is the lovesick moment when you know you’re not over her.

“Blue Beard” and “On My Way Back Home” are the Beach Boys on Xanax; the continuation of the story from Pet Sounds’ “Sloop John B” with our hero finally home but finding himself filled with longing for the sea.

“Infinite Arms” is a codeine dream you don’t want to wake from.

“Dilly” is a sad summertime pop song.

“Evening Kitchen” plays like a gritty, slow motion film of a boy and girl on swings intercut with their last date, flowers forgotten on the table.

“Older” is the revelation that leaving was the best thing to do.

“For Annabelle” is an empty field stretching an impossible distance to the horizon.

“NW Apartment” is the excitement of something new, the promise of a closed door.

“Neighbor” is the relief of seeing the porch light left on for your return.

More after the jump...

mp3: This Piano Plays Itself -- "Who We Were"

mp3: This Piano Plays Itself -- "Who We Were"

Atlanta's This Piano Plays Itself is busting out an album release party tomorrow night for their new release, As The House.

It's at The Drunken Unicorn with Nomen Novum and Untied States. Still taking this one in, but other people are saying stuff like "Mogwai" and "Explosions in The Sky" and "Slint."

Not sure what I'm going to say yet. The full track list for "As The House" is after the jump...



1. As The House...
2. Who We Were
3. Where We Lived
4. What Happened
5. How We Left
6. When We Got There
7. Why We Stayed
8. ...It Fills With Light

More after the jump...

review: Caddywhompus -- Remainder

Caddywhompus
Remainder
Community Records, 2010
(download the record free here...)

mp3: Caddywhompus - "Let The Water Hit The Floor"

This album was dangerously close to being in that zone--the zone of "I listened to long to this album, haven't I reviewed it already?" But the flip side of an album being in that zone is that I've lived it, inhabited it, taken it in and made it my own.



New Orleans' Caddywhompus has carved that place into my life with their latest, Remainder. This is a clash of garage and electro, like if The Black Lips covered Dan Deacon songs. It's amazing. And it's amazing that Community Records is giving this thing away for free. Yes, free.

"Guilt" is my favorite song--their ups and downs, and this amazing groove beat in the middle of it while the cymbals clash all around. This might be math rock for all I know, because Caddywhompus' equations run all over the place. Following it is very difficult, where they go next I'm not sure, but it's all kept together, somehow in some way, and it's this mystery that I've lived, inhabited, taken in and made my own.

Other standouts--"Congo Half-Mask" and "Let The Water Hit The Floor."



More after the jump...

Swing South: Annabel

mp3: Annabel -- "Sleeping Lions"

From Kent, Ohio, Annabel is pop-punk with an edge. Been enjoying their stuff for a few months & they kick of their summer tour in the south land including RadFest!!!

Their album, Everyone and Everywhere was released last year by Count Your Lucky Stars.

Here's a vid and the tour dates are after the jump...

Annabel - People & Places from Michael Ormiston on Vimeo.

MAY 13 - Charlotte, NC @ The Milestone ( Beartrap Fest! )
MAY 14 - Wilmington, NC @ Rad Fest
MAY 15 - Wilmington, NC @ Rad Fest
MAY 16 - Atlanta, GA @ Wonderroot
MAY 18 - Fort Worth, TX @ 1919 Hemphill
MAY 19 - Austin, TX @ Red 7
MAY 20 - Las Cruces, NM @ Equinox Music Venue
MAY 21 - Tucson, AZ @ Skrappy’s
MAY 22 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
MAY 23 - Los Angeles, CA @ Dig In
MAY 24 - Los Angeles, CA @ Eastside Cafe
MAY 25 - Stockton, CA @ Plea for Peace Venue
MAY 26 - Eugene, OR @ The Muse Lounge
MAY 27 - Seattle, WA @ The Comet Tavern
MAY 28 - Tacoma, WA @ The Den
MAY 29 - Portland, OR @ Laughing Horse Books
MAY 30 - Boise, ID @ Terrapin Station
JUN 01 - Denver, CO @ Astroland
JUN 02 - Kansas City, MO @ TBA
JUN 03 - St Louis, MO @ Cicero’s
JUN 04 - Columbus, OH @ TBA






More after the jump...

review: Discover America - Future Paths

Discover America
Future Paths
Lujo Records, 2010

mp3: Discover America: "Force of Proper Wind"

A few years ago Iron and Wine was on the tip of all the tongues, now it's chillwave or whatever. So it goes for trends, for singer songwriters and singer songwriters from Seattle maybe as well.

Definitely want to lump Discover America (nee Chris Staples) into the Damian Jurado / David Bazan camp. Too many things are in common. There's that Seattle thing. There's that complicated relationship with Christian faith. There's that understated yet visceral acoustic-type output.

Staples seems more folk than both of those guys, though the opener "Force of Proper Wind" has the piano meandering on the edge of the more honest parts of say, Twothirtyeight's Regulate the Chemicals, a release from Staples' previous band. He reins it end in the following track--"1979"--a weary ballad of indie rock honesty if there ever was one.

Actually, the album begins to separate into two distinct parts--like oil and water. The salt-of-the-earth side is represented by songs like "1979," "Sawdust in My Clothes," the verses of "A Lock of Samson's Hair" and "Time Is A Bird."

The other songs have another edge, utilizing more mechanical means--drum machines, more delay--rock songs almost but more melodic than anything by Twothirtyeight. "Devil In The Woods" is my favorite of these, followed almost immediately by "When You Were Young" and "Out of the Valley" falls somewhere in between the two structures. Sometimes Staples has the jam band Death Cab for Cutie nailed, other times he is doing his best Florida to Seattle impression of the lonesome Southern road less traveled.

It's maddening--give me the programmed drum beats anyday--I want this enforced mechanical isolation to box Staples in--those times he is the most honest, the most complete songwriter and at his best. Forget any of the slightly alt-folk jingles and stick to the bitter, the inhumane, the computational. Sounds awful, I know, but it's Staples at his best.


More after the jump...

mp3: Caddywhompus - "Let The Water Hit The Floor"

mp3: Caddywhompus - "Let The Water Hit the Floor"

New Orleans' Caddywhompus. Crazy name, amazing results.

New album Remainder from Community Records hits May 11.

More to come after I fully digest this goodness.


More after the jump...

mp3s: Discover America, Fol Chen, The Antlers, The Shondes & more

mp3: Discover America - "Force of Proper Wind"

Discover America's new album Future Paths hit yesterday.

Chris Staples of Discover America = former Twothirtyeight.

Think David Bazan, John Ralston, Damian Jurado.

Discover America = Lujo Records.

Other most excellent mp3s:



mp3: Fol Chen "In Ruins"

mp3: The Antlers - "Two (Buffetlibre remix)"

mp3: Jesus Makes The Shotgun Sound - "Do Not The Clothes Make The Man"

mp3: Windsor for Derby - "Queen of the Sun"

mp3: Cartridge - "Black Roads"

mp3: The Shondes - "Nothing Glows"

mp3: Goonies Never Say Die - "Paul"

mp3: Spirituals - "Wanderings"

More after the jump...

mp3: Everyone Everywhere "Music Work Paper Work"

mp3: Everyone Everywhere "Music Work Paper Work"

Yeah, yeah, my turn on the Everyone Everywhere Blog Tour. 10 blogs, 10 tracks.

I agreed to do the tour before I even heard Everyone Everywhere's new release--perhaps risky on my part or blind faith, but no matter--because mark this down: this album will be on my end of the year list.



Think Braid, The Promise Ring, Piebald with no gimmicks.

Then try a non sequitur like this from "Music Work Paper Work":

"Look in the mirror/try to raise just one eyebrow/it's pretty weird/makes your head feel like it isn't yours..."

What the...? Yeah, and there's more where that came from.

This is track #6, so find the other tracks from the other blogs here. And check out The Album Project for tomorrow's track. These will be up until May 4, and then PunkNews will be streaming the album.



More after the jump...

review: Shark Speed -- Education EP

Shark Speed
Education EP
Self-released, 2010

mp3: "Killing Kind"

Here's why I like Shark Speed:
1) that's a good band name. Interesting, but it makes sense. Good names are more than half the battle 2) Not math rock, not pop punk, not emo--but something in those cracks. Old Minus The Bear is the best example for Shark Speed, really I'm at a loss after that. But instead of finding divergent idiosyncrasies to exploit, Shark Speed just pumps those melodies. A giddy and excitable mix, as if Sarah Palin was finally allowed to drill for oil in her backyard.

Their debut album, Sea Sick Music was one of my fav albums of 2009, and this EP is primarily more of the same, except a touch deeper. "Killing Kind" goes a beat too long, but its question provokes--"Are my devils the same as any other man?"--without ever brushing off those who can't hang.

The opener "King of The World" probably sounds dynamic live, something like U2 with an edge (that's not an insult)--the song is grand and self-assured. It's the sound of Joe, Thayne and Jared settling into their identity, like high school kids in rented tuxes after their third hour of prom night.

"Pretend" adds an electronic vice, but it blends it nice, like ordering a smoothie beyond the regular order. Good to see the trumpet make a reappearance here, backed with a requisite distortion as if the whole operation is rocking with the smoothie machine.
Nice EP, nothing fancy, a little richer, good follow-up. Man, my metaphors suck.

More after the jump...

mp3s: Free Electric State, Ducktails, Ash Reiter, Beach Fossils & more

mp3: Free Electric State "Darkest Hour"

Noisy shoe gaze & slow dazed grunge is what Free Electric State is.

This is true: they're from Durham, they're on Churchkey Records (home of HNMTF!) and their new album Caress was released April 20. Find it, buy it.


Other mp3s:

mp3: Brad Senne "Golden"
mp3: Ducktails "Mirror Image"
mp3: Ash Reiter "Paper Diamonds"
mp3: Gareth Dickson "Noon"
mp3: Indian Jewelry "Oceans"
mp3: Beach Fossils "Youth"

More after the jump...

Everyone Everywhere MP3 blog tour

Philly's Everyone Everywhere is putting on a blog tour for its upcoming album--each blog gets a track, and YOU THE FAITHFUL READER can download a track each day until May 4, then Punk News (you probably know them...) will start streaming.

I'm due next Monday, but The Ripple Effect kicks it off today (Monday) and then moves from there. The blogs and track listing is after the jump...

01. Tiny Planet @ The Ripple Effect - Monday (04/19)
02. Raw Bar OBX 2002 @ Can You See The Sunset? - Tuesday (04/20)
03. From The Beginning To The Tail @ Built On A Weak Spot - Wednesday (04/21)
04. Tiny Town @ Dryvetyme Onlyne - Thursday (04/22)
05. Tiny Boat @ Battle Of The Midwestern Housewives - Friday (04/23)

Side B
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

06. Music Work Paper Work @ Deckfight - Monday (04/26)
07. Blown Up Grown Up @ The Album Project - Tuesday (04/27)
08. Fld Ovr @ Familiarize Yourself - Wednesday (04/28)
09. I Feel Fine by Everyone Everywhere @ Reviewsic - Thursday (04/29)
10. Obama House, Fukui Prefecture @ Clicky Clicky Music - Friday (04/30)

More after the jump...

review: The Menzingers--Chamberlain Waits

The Menzingers
Chamberlain Waits
Red Scare, 2010


this is a video of an older song...but it's still awesome

Give it up for The Menzingers. Not too many albums that I've been genuinely excited about this year--but this changes all of that. To the untrained ear this is more punk jargon. The Menzingers though hit in all the right places, such as that slight crash right before the chorus in "Tasker-Morris Station." Yes, it may be punk but you still have to use the right tools.

I always like "urgency." I use that word all the time. For the past....shall we say at least 6 years?...punk has lost some of that, once it became a pretty profitable business to be featured on TV shows, be on Guitar Hero and generally come up with the next underground hit. (What...recent Fearless Records releases, what?)

I kind of hope all that stuff comes for The Menzingers, not because I think they're aiming for that--but because they deserve it. The Against Me! inferences on this album are there, but The Menzingers cut that up with some heavier parts while maintaining an accessiblility---contrast "Come Here Often" with "Male Call"

There are some pop songs on here, but maybe the one with the hookiest chorus also has the best lyrics--style and substance don't have to be separate. On "I Was Born," vocalist Greg Barnett sings "I was born but I seem to have forgot it" as the bridge and "Send all my thoughts to the firing squad" is another line. That's good writing, because I have never thought of those words in that order myself.
Depth in the lyrics, a contrast of styles while maintaining the punk rock edge----sounds like punk rock I want to listen to.

I didn't even mention "So It Goes" or "No We Didn't"--love those songs.

Let's give a moment here to give out some props to Philly punk rock right now. Actually I was just going to mention Title Fight too, but I guess they're not in Philly but somewhere else in PA. Well, here's to PA punk...I know there are tons more bands around there, though I just can't think of them right now.

This is my first experience with The Menzingers and I'm a fool for that. I walked out early on one of their shows, because I was too tired. But I'm not going to tire of this anytime soon.
More after the jump...

mp3: Minus The Bear "My Time"

mp3: Minus The Bear "My Time"

I like Minus The Bear. I once talked to Jake Snider, lead vocalist of Minus The Bear, on the phone for a magazine article like 5 years ago. I think he just bought mineral water before I called him.

If I would've started this blog in 2005, 'things would be different.' Alas.

That article probably made no difference in the career of Minus The Bear...but I have to believe it is part of the 'groundswell' of support Minus The Bear has received.

The above track is from Minus The Bear's new album Omni. The album is out May 4 on Dangerbird Records.

But...the album will be streamed at KCRW beginning April 19th.

So listen to it.

Minus The Bear Tour Dates are listed after the jump...


Minus The Bear Tour Dates--
April 19 Knitting Factory Concert House Spokane, WA
April 20 The Railyard Billings, MT
April 22 Slowdown Omaha, NE
April 23 Sandstone Amphitheatre Bonner Springs, KS
April 25 St. Andrew's Hall Detroit, MI April 26 Newport Music Hall Columbus, OH
April 28 Madison Theater Covington, KY
April 29 Town Ballroom Buffalo, NY
April 30 Webster Theatre Hartford, CT
May 2 Bamboozle Festival E. Rutherford, NJ
May 5 Wilbur Theatre Boston, MA
May 6 Trocadero Philadelphia, PA
May 7 9:30 Club Washington, DC
May 8 The National Richmond, VA
May 9 The Fillmore Charlotte Charlotte, NC
May 10 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, GA
May 11 Revolution Ft. Lauderdale, FL
May 12 The Ritz Tampa, FL
May 14 House Of Blues Houston, TX
May 15 Granada Dallas, TX
May 16 La Zona Rosa Austin, TX
May 18 Sunshine Theatre Albuquerque, NM
May 19 House Of Blues Las Vegas, NV
May 20 Mayan Theatre Los Angeles, CA
May 21 Glass House Pomona, CA
May 22 SOMA San Diego, CA
May 23 Marquee Theater Tempe, AZ
May 26 Regency Ballroom San Francisco, CA
May 27 Knitting Factory Reno, NV May 28 Roseland Theatre Portland, OR
May 29 Sasquatch Music Festival George, WA


More after the jump...