Back in 2008, when we first began to officially provide artists and bands a formal way to submit their music to us for review, we would get a few dozen submissions a month. However, in the past two years, as the traffic to IRC has steadily grown (most especially in the past year), the number of submissions has gone through the roof, and we now receive hundreds of submissions a month. And it has just become nearly impossible to keep up with it all.
We are doing our best to keep up with it all; we’ve come across some of the most amazing music we’ve ever heard via the music submissions process. In most cases, they are unknown and new artists and bands, mostly from the United States and Canada, but also from every corner of the globe. If you have followed the In Dee Mail series for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with the series by now.
In Dee Mail is unique from other posts, band profiles, new releases, mixes and playlists, is the fact that all of the songs featured are from artists and bands we’ve never heard of before until they contacted us. Over the years we can say that we’ve spotlighted artists and bands who’ve gone on to become marginally to very successful in the indie rock culture. But without pretense, bands have found that one good place to get fairly significant exposure on these days is IRC.
So, back to this latest edition of In Dee Mail. Right now we are back-logged by nearly 200 submissions, and there is pressure to get them all reviewed by the end of the year. And so we are going to do what we can. Of the nearly 200 submissions, there will probably be about 30-40 that will make it to an In Dee Mail playlist. In this edition, the music spans the spectrum of indie rock to the romping dance beats, and rocking riffs.
Push Pals – Charlotte, NC
Push Pals is a Charlotte, North Carolina indie rock band that formed in February 2010 as a creative collaboration between musicians Blake Raynor, Ben Gelnett and Noah Warner – each of whom have been actively involved in the booming Charlotte music scene of the past couple years. In June, Push Pals released their debut EP, To The Thing, And Back, and are now working on their debut full-length album. Even though they only formed this year, Push Pals have already opened for big-name indie bands like Beach Fossils, Wavves, and The Growlers.
The opening of the track “Fu*k Yes” reminded us of the patriotic rock epics of Titus Andronicus. The track has a blazing and memorable guitar riff that easily put Push Pals on the radar as our favorite new Charlotte band that we’d never heard of, until now. The follow-up single, “Keep Pushing” is enthusiastic and rambuntous, and further evidence that this band is poised to strike a chord with indie music lovers beyond the local scene of Charlotte.
“Fu*k Yes” – Push Pals from To The Thing, And Back
“Keep Pushing” – Push Pals To The Thing, And Back
Get more info via the Push Pals’ Facebook page.
Southern Shores is a Canadian duo relocated in Berlin making tropical, exotic, bright, balearic wonderful music. Something to make you feel on a windy and sunny beach instead that passing your monday in a cubicle. Have a good day.
“Grande Comore” – Southern Shores
Mutineers – Manchester, England
The bar is set pretty high for bands trying to carve out a name for themselves in the legendary rock and roll city of Manchester, England, thanks to the worldwide adoration for Manchester bands of yesteryear like The Smiths, New Order and Stone Roses, to name just a couple of examples. Not surprisingly, those are two of the top mentors for the increasingly popular local rock band, Mutineers.
The band also name drops other bands when describing that its songwriting incorporates “slices of towering anthemic pop to match anything in the international armoury of The Killers or prime REM.”
“Infidelity” – Mutineers from Friends’ Lovers?
Opened For: Bad Lieutenant, Wintersleep, The View, and Pete Doherty
Influences: The Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen, Talking Heads, The La’s
The Raw Men Empire – Tel Aviv, Israel
Anti-folk/freak-folk band from Tel Aviv, Israel were just drinking buddies until they began to experiment with making music. While their sound is a ways away from refined – therein ‘raw’ – it is almost like listening to demos of something that could someday be significant with just the right producer and engineer. The songs are from the band’s September debut LP, Elodie.
“Between You and Me” – The Raw Men Empire from Elodie
The Raw Men Empire on Facebook
Opened For:
Influences:
The eclectic music of Durham, North Carolina’s Nathan Oliver is more irresistible every time we spin the band’s 2009 release, Cloud Animals. From the feel-good, jangly pop of “Playground Lies,” to the driving rawhide blues and horns of “Icicles for Fingers,” and the fuzzy melancholy of the road-trip instrumental, “Leaf Spine,” Cloud Animals proves to be one of the best under-appreciated albums of 2009.
Other standout tracks on the album include the catchy melodies and chorus of “French Press,” and the post-punk rocker, “Red Panda.” The band, which includes past and present members of Schooner, North Elementary, The Rosebuds, and Ticonderoga, have made their way on to our radar as a fairly large blip, and earned a spot on the ‘bands to watch’ in 2010 list. Nathan Oliver’s music conjures up general comparisons to bands and artists like The Shins, Conor Oberst, The Pixies and The Unicorns.
“Playground Lies” – Nathan Oliver from Cloud Animals
“Icicles for Fingers” – Nathan Oliver from Cloud Animals
“French Press” – Nathan Oliver from Cloud Animals
Check out the band’s website for more tracks and a link to purchase the LP, and visit Nathan Oliver on MySpace.