# Best New Releases – Sunbears, Sea Lions, The Antlers, Giant Sand, Magazine, Orange Juice, Calexico, Trentemoller, Marvelous Darlings

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2011/11/best-new-albums-sunbears-sealions-theantlers-giant-sand/
- Published: 2011-11-26T03:59:44-05:00
- Author: Max Hammer

Not surprisingly, it is a thin week for new releases. Many record companies hold
off on releasing albums during the week of Thanksgiving because it’s so much more
difficult to get the attention of media and music consumers due to the holidays.
That said, there are a few albums out this week that we highly recommend, including
the new debut LPs from Sunbears and Sea Lions.

Since 2008, **Jacksonville**, Florida musicians **Jonathan Berlin** (vocals, bass,
guitar, keys, synth) and **Jared Bowser** (drums, percussion) of **Sunbears** have
been wooing and wowing audiences with their own brand of psychedelic indie rock.
To date, the band has released a handful of EPs and singles, including a song for
the hit kids’ TV show, _Yo Gabba Gabba_, followed by a short stint on their _Super
Music Friends Show_ tour in the fall of 2010. In addition, Sunbears have also toured
with **Mates of State, Black Kids** and **Dredg**, among others.

Recorded at New York City’s **Singing Serpent Studios **with producer **Jeremy S.
H. Griffith**, _You Will Live Forever_ channels the ghost of The Dakota, conjuring
equal parts **Plastic Ono Band**, _Dark Side Of The Moon_ and _Quadrophenia_. On“
Dying Alone, Without Yourself,” electronic creations are intricately layered upon
a gorgeously strummed acoustic guitar, accompanied by haunting choral back-ups. “
Give Love A Try” is the album’s infectious “feel good” first single, and in our 
opinion, one of the best indie songs of the second half of 2011.

[“Give Love a Try”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Sunbears_GiveLoveATry3.mp3)–**
Sunbears **from _You Will Live Forever_

The album is full of songs that explore all kinds of musical styles and themes, 
and at times you swear you were hearing different artists you already know being
channeled through the incredibly talented duo. Sunbears is a band we will be watching
in 2012. There are many fantastic songs this year that we’ve heard from relatively
unknown artists and band.  Sunbears now occupies two or three, maybe more, of those
slots, thanks to what is also one of the best debut albums of 2011, _You Will Live
Forever_.

_Stream the album via Spinner_

We’re not going to list all of the songs from the album, but a couple more to add
include **The Flaming Lips**-sounding, “They Think They Are Sooo Philosophical,”
and the sorta **John Lennon** like, “Together Forever.”

** **[“They Think They Are Sooo Philosophical”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Sunbears_TheyThinkTheyreSooooPhilosophical3.mp3)–**
Sunbears **from _You Will Live Forever_

_You Will Live Forever_ is a colorful, psychedelic sonic journey through various
musical landscapes, marked by introspective, superbly written, amazingly arranged,
and wonderfully produced songs that leave the listener with the sense that they 
just experienced something special. If you dig these three tracks – and it was a
challenge to pick only three – then you’re probably going to really enjoy the album.

Having somehow just made it through the appalling 2011 **American Music Awards**
when we first listened to _You Will Live Forever, _it was so refreshing to hear 
original, dynamic music created by talented musicians almost no one has ever heard
of.   If all the right pieces fall into place in the next few months, Sunbears could
be one of the biggest indie bands of 2012.

Related Post:  Best New Releases from The Dodos, Lovett, The Idle Hands, J. Mascis,
Joy Formidable, Mathew Sawyer & The Ghosts, Alex Turner

![sealionsmusic](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/1173__t479.jpg?6626f76dcd72edc2e28f46812c7026450162bdb2"
sealionsmusic")

The long-awaited debut album from the post punk/60’s pop **Oxnard**, California 
indie quartet, **Sea Lions**, officially dropped this week, and is being welcomed
with a decent number of encouraging reviews. _AbsolutePunk_ gave the album a 7-star
rating, stating, “Despite the occasional flat execution, Sea Lions’ knack for constructing
timeless melodies is undeniable, and the golden oldies era is obviously a pervading
influence on the album.” There is no doubt about that, from the vintage pop of “
I Don’t Wanna Go Out” to the **C-86** guitar jangling of the album opener, “I Should
Be Sleeping,” this debut album is a formidable release, and definitely among the
top indie pop – if we were to pick one genre to describe it – debut albums of 2011.

[“I Should Be Sleeping”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/02-sea_lions-i_should_be_sleeping3.mp3)–**
Sea Lions **from _Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sea Lions But Were 
Afraid To Ask_

If you’re a sucker for golden oldies, the** C-86** post punk movement of the 1980’
s, and jangly guitar pop, you will probably enjoy _Everything You Always Wanted 
To Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid To Ask _from start to finish (with a couple
of small exceptions). We certainly have.

That said, none of the 15 tracks are over three minutes long, and the problem with
that is that it makes it harder for the songs to stick in your head afterwards; 
in fact, there are many terrific songs, unfortunately, on this album that, just 
as you’re getting into them, end too soon.

[“Grown Up”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Grown%20Up%20%28Single%20Edit%29.mp3)–**
Sea Lions **from _Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sea Lions But Were 
Afraid To Ask_

[“As Times Change”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Sea%20Lions%20-%20As%20Times%20Change.mp3)–**
Sea Lions **from _Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sea Lions But Were 
Afraid To Ask_


This next cluster of great tracks from new albums out this week is really an excellent
collection of songs that really exemplifies the talent of all of these artists who
have very different musical styles, from country rock to punk rock, and electro-
pop to hard rock.

**Eddy Current Suppression Ring** belts out some raw garage punk rock – somewhat
reminiscent of early **Arctic Monkeys** meets **Beastie Boys** – on the single “
You Don’t Care”; **Trentemøller **delivers a slow, haunting, semi-industrial track
with “Neverglade”; **Wooden Wand and the Briarwood Virgins **slug through a 70’s
style country rock song, “Big Mouth U.S.A.,” that would be perfect on the soundtrack
of a road trip movie or an Almost Famous 2;  **Fonda**‘s “Better Days” is a charged,
guitar buzzing track from the just-released EP, _Better Days_; and** Toronto **house
mavens **Azari & III**‘s new dance single, “Into the Night,” was officially released
this week.

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Barcelona, High Llamas, Heavenly States, O'Death, Bombino

[“I Don’t Wanna Go to the Party”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/01_I_Dont_Wanna_Go_To_The_Party3.mp3)–**
Marvelous Darlings **from _Single Life _

“You Don’t Care” – **Eddy Current Suppression Ring **from _So Many Things_

“Better Days” – **Fonda **from _Better Days_ EP

![trentemoller](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/trent4.jpg "trentemoller")

“Neverglade” – **Trentemøller **from _Reworked/Remixed_

“Big Mouth U.S.A.” – **Wooden Wand and the Briarwood Virgins **from _Briarwood_

“Into The Night” – **Azari & III **from single

#### Calexico’s Road Atlas, The Antlers Cover The xx, Orange Juice in a Box, Giant Sand Reissue

Other releases this week include some singles, box-sets and re-issues. First, **
The Antlers** released their _(together)_ EP, featuring a cover of **The xx**‘s 
track “VCR”; one of our favorite alt. country rock bands, **Calexico**, released
their compilation, _Selections from Road Atlas, 1998-2011_; the band **Giant Sand**
reissued an expanded version of its 2000 alternative country rock album, _Chore 
of Enchantment_; the indie pop rock pioneers **Orange Juice** officially released
their _Coals to Newcastle_ box set this week.

“VCR” (The xx) – **The Antlers** from _(together) _EP

“Glowing Heart of the World” – **Calexico** from _Selections from Road Atlas, 1998-
2011_ (stream album)

[“Music Arcade”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/0209%20-%20Giant%20Sand%20-%20Music%20Arcade.mp3)–**
Giant Sand **from _Chore Of Enchantment_ (expanded reissue)

![](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/OJ_boxset_cover_web.jpg)

“Rip It Up” – **Orange Juice** from _Coals to Newcastle

_⌊magazinebandnothyself⌉⌊magazinebandnothyself⌉

#### Way Back Now: Magazine Releases First LP in 30 Years, No Thyself

The _Way Back Now_ segment is a new addition to the Best New Releases series that
highlights bands who have released their first album in more than a decade. In the
case of the **Manchester**, England post-punk gods** Magazine**, the release this
week of their fifth album, _No Thyself_, might not be as big of a deal if it wasn’t
for the fact that it marks the band’s first album in 30 years – since 1981’s fairly
disappointing, _Magic, Murder and The Weather_, which lacked the departed John McGeoch.

[“Holy Dotage”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/07%20-%20Holy%20Dotage.mp3)–**
Magazine **from _No Thyself_

Last year, **Howard Devoto**, who started out with **Buzzcocks** before he founded
Magazine in 1977, dialed up guitarist **Noko **and bassist **John “Stan” White**(
who replaced the unavailable **Barry Adamson**) to make another Magazine. What _No
Thyself_ proves is that the band have not lost their edge after such a long hiatus,
that they are more talented than ever before, and Devoto still has great vocals 
that sound as good or better than they did three decades ago. A few of the standout
tracks include the dark rock grind of “The Burden of a Song,” the urgent, synth 
rocking post punk of “Holy Dotage” and the unusually uptempo and catchy, “Physics.”

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[“Physics”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/05%20-%20Physics.mp3) –**
Magazine **from _No Thyself_

#### New Releases from In Dee Mail: Wait For Green, Fires in France,

We receive literally hundreds of music submissions a month, and it’s near impossible
to keep up with them all. One way to make it easier to manage is that we started
highlighting new releases we receive via our submission form for the week in which
the album, EP or singles are officially released.

We don’t receive much indie music from **Boise**, Idaho, but this week the unsigned
indie band from Boise, **Fires In France**, released their self-titled, debut album
and sent along these two tracks to post. Their sound is big, shimmering, more pop
than rock, and we think, promising.  Perhaps Fires in France’s overall sound is 
a bit more leaning to the side of polished Hollywood rock radio, but we’re confident
some of you will find it worthy of downloading to your MP3 player.

Among the bands they list as their biggest influences include Jimmy Eat World, The
Beatles, The Smiths, Awolnation, Neon Trees, The Format, Coldplay, Nirvana, and 
Edward Sharp.

“Love Is Strong” –  **Fires In France** from _Fires in France_

“Sing” –  **Fires In France** from _Fires in France_

![empiremachinesband](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/empiremachinesband1.
jpg "empiremachinesband")

Also, in the past week, on Nov. 16th, the unsigned **Austin** indie pop/alternative
rock band **Empire Machines** released their self-titled EP, which arrives two year
after the band first formed. Now, we say it all of the time, but to be an unsigned
indie band in places like Austin, or Brooklyn, or San Francisco, or Portland, is
quite the challenge these days.

In order to stand out among the thousands of DIY artists and bands in cities where
the competition among bands is fierce, bands need to come up with one or two hot
singles that get people’s attention, not just with deejays and music consumers, 
but also with their peers – who are often times simultaneously rooting for, and 
against them – artists need to make a splash.

We are a little surprised that Empire Machines have not played live in Austin. In
fact, they consider themselves a studio band, but we think it would be a good idea
if they got some gigs.

“Never Enough” – **Empire Machines** from _Empire Machines_ EP

“Sweet Teeth” – **Empire Machines** from _Empire Machines_ EP

Wait For Green is a Go For Broke Records’ indie band out of Venice, California that
sent in some tracks from their self-titled debut release, but failed to provide 
us any details about who they are other than to describe their music style as alternative,
funk, pop, reggae, and hiphop.

“Let The Record Play” – **Wait For Green** from _Wait For Green_

“Slow Riding” – **Wait For Green** from _Wait For Green_