# Top DIY Releases This Week from City Brat, Sam Billen, Patchy and Qualms

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2012/09/best-diy-album-releases-week-of-sept11/
- Published: 2012-09-16T03:25:23-04:00
- Author: Max Hammer

If you listened to [Volume One](https://indierockcafe.com/2012/09/best-new-music-releases-week-of-sept-11th-the-raveonettes-the-xx-david-byrne-st-vincent-turbo-fruits-seapony/)
and [Volume Two](https://indierockcafe.com/2012/09/more-best-new-releases-from-firewater-field-report-neal-halstead-sea-wolf-avett-brothers-hello-echo-solos-helvetica/)
of this week’s Best New Music Release singles playlist, you not only heard amazing
singles from artists ranging from The Ravonettes to David Bryne and St. Vincent,
but also a few superb singles from DIY artists like **Hello Echo** and **Ethan Daniel
Davidson. **Yet there are even more DIY releases this week that you’re not likely
to hear anywhere else.

Today marks the official drop of the debut EP, _Strange Summer_, by **Brooklyn**
DIY duo **City Brat**. In a place like Brooklyn, which probably has more musicians
per square mile than any other locale in the U.S., it’s hard to get noticed. But
we have a feeling that once more electro indie fans get wind of City Brat’s sounds,
the duo will start drumming up more attention for their new EP.  City Brat features**
Jason Grad ** on vocals, guitar and synth, and **Alex Fippinger** on drums.

_Strange Summer_ is a musical experiment that mixes electro, jungle, funk, and even
new wave set against world beats coupled with guitars, bass, and vocals that create
dream-like swells of sounds as arpeggiated synthesizers flow freely in the background.
Grad’s vocal style is influenced by **David Byrne, Robert Smith, Michael Jackson**,
and **Freddie Mercury**, at times encompassing six-part harmonies.

After graduating from Vanderbilt University in 2009, Grad lived in **East Troy**,
Wisconsin, where he dedicated his free time to writing and recording some of the
songs on _Strange Summer_. In 2010, he made a strategic move to Brooklyn where he
met Fippinger. The two immediately discovered that they had mutual admiration for
artists like **David Bowie, The Talking Heads, The Cure, Arcade Fire, Michael Jackson,
Queen, and Animal Collective**, among others. Soon after, they began recording together,
resulting in City Brat’s four-track debut EP, of which we have two singles here.

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“Yeah It’s There” – **City Brat** from _Strange Summer_ EP

“Moves” – **City Brat** from _Strange Summer_ EP

![](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/photo-full.jpg?1336510294&sa=X&
ei=GnVWUI7xJaTAigKm44GoAg&ved=0CAkQ8wc&usg=AFQjCNF1tbrJnIgHEqjsphgXVhA4Tp_ZyQ)

#### Singer-Songwriter Sam Billen Goes DIY on New Album With Funds from Kickstarter

Even though he is only approximately 30 years old, **Lawrence**, Kansas resident**
Sam Billen** is a veteran musician. We said approximately 30 years old because he
answered the question of ‘Year Formed’ on the submission form with 1982, followed
by ‘year of my birth?’ in quotations. He seems more certain that for the past 13
years, he has released various albums with his old band, **Billions**, and solo 
albums as well. This time however, Billen decided to release his latest album, _Places_,
completely DIY style, with funds raised on Kickstarter. He sent in the new single,“
Saltine”. As a solo artist and with the band Billions, Billen has shared the stage
with bands like **Of Montreal, Starflyer 59, Danielson Famile, Jonathan Richman,
Mike Watt, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin,** and **Half-Handed Cloud**. Billen
told IRC that his new album is the “closest I’ve come to expressing my deepest emotions–
struggles and joys – in my music.”

“Saltine” – **Sam Billen** from _Places_

#### From Ashes of IPU, New Band Hjearts Arises

From **Aberdeen**, Scotland, the band** Hjearts **arose from the ashes of once booming**
International Pop Underground.** Formed just months ago, the band dropped on us 
their first single, a catchy pop track inspired by their favorite bands, including**
The Vaselines, Guided By Voices, Nirvana, Beat Happening** and others. The band 
describes themselves this way: “Bedroom superstars from a pop-geek universe, mixing
schoolboy earnestness with an arch, bratty directness, and relishing in the rebellious
innocence of primitive pop.”  Together for less than a year, the oddly-spelled band
recently dropped their catchy pop single, “Getting Calvin To Like You.”

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“Getting Calvin To Like You”  – **Hjearts**

![patchybarrowroad](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/$T2eC16VHJI!E9qSO8)
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i7KiO1iA7ZfFnL4YP1uqqMQ)

#### UK’s Patchy and Boston’s Qualms

The peculiarly named **Patchy** is a DIY indie/alternative band from Bristol in 
the United Kingdom. In the four years that they have been together as a band, the
members of Patchy have performed at festivals in Wales, appeared on the _BBC_, and
this week released their debut album, _Barrow Road._ The album pairs honest, heartfelt
lyrics against a variety of guitar-driven musical landscapes which are heavily influenced
by the band’s stated musical heroes – **Radiohead, Oasis, Death Cab For Cutie**,
and **The Walkmen**.

[“White Chair”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/White%20Chair.mp3) –**
Patchy** from _Barrow Road_

**Qualms **is a synth dream pop project of **Darin Thompson** and **Justin Mantell**,
who are primarily members of the **Boston** band **Orca Orca**. Now in their mid
20’s, Thompson and Mantell have been writing and recording music together since 
they were in high school. Last year they formed Qualms and shortly thereafter began
recording in a homemade analog studio built by Mantell’s father, who used it to 
record local bands during the 1970’s and 1980’s. The duo sent in two simply-named
tracks, “Pressure” and “Love,” and we’re definitely digging their synth pop sounds.
We’re interested to hear what you think of these tracks; please leave your comments
below and we’ll publish them.

“Pressure” – **Qualms** from _Honeylung_

“Love” – **Qualms** from _Honeylung_