# Best New Music Releases, January/February, 2014 – Damien Jurado, Warpaint, Wild Cub, Hidden Cameras, Mogwai

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2014/02/best-new-indie-rock-songs-and-albums-januaryfebruary-2014-damien-jurado-warpaint-wild-cub-hidden-cameras-mogwai/
- Published: 2014-02-25T06:33:44-05:00
- Author: Max Hammer

The Best New Releases series is back and has been renamed to the Best New Indie 
Rock Releases to be more specific and also distinguish it from IRC’s coverage of
DIY and under-the-radar artists and bands, such as the recent first volume of the
[Top DIY Rock Songs & Albums for January 2014](https://indierockcafe.com/2014/02/top-diy-rock-songs-and-albums-january-2014/),
which contains fantastic music – and of course artists and bands – that most music
lovers have not heard before, including 20 free MP3 singles from The Howler Weary,
The Supplement, The Fake Vulgarys, Matt Boroff, Manic At Midnite, Zach Jones, Glitch
Mouth, Canadian Hunter, One Eleven Band, Pictures, Tom Harrison, Urban Wildlife,
and Gold Spectacles. The second part of our favorite picks for January’s Top DIY
Rock Songs & Albums feature – selected from over 150 submissions – will be posted
soon.

As many of you probably know, there were not many releases from signed and popular
indie rock and alternative artists and bands dropped during the month of January,
until near the end of the month, which we have discovered over the years is actually
typical for the first three weeks of a new year. There are many reasons for this,
including the fact that it is right after the holidays and many people’s attention
is focused elsewhere, they’re on vacations, getting ready to go back to school, 
wrapped up in football playoffs and so on.

Therefore, we’re starting with releases from popular, relatively new and signed –
but not well-known necessarily – artists and bands that officially dropped during
the week of January 21st through January 27th (Tuesdays are when more new releases
are dropped by record labels, which has been the standard for decades). The top 
releases for the week of January 28th, which spills into the first couple of days
of February, will be published in the next day or two, so watch out for that. Also,
make sure not to miss out on Volume One of the Top DIY Songs & Albums of 2014 (So
Far), which has gotten a huge amount of hits, plays and downloads, with many of 
the song available only on IRC.

So, let’s get to it. Then we’ll be working really hard to get all caught up with
February. It’s an incredible amount of work to sift through hundreds and hundreds
of submissions to bring you the best indie rock playlists and bands around. There
simply is no other indie rock site like IRC, and certainly none that post so many
songs each month with free MP3s and uninterrupted playlists and podcasts of the 
best new indie and DIY music available on the web.

Related Post:  Best New Songs and Albums of March 2014, Vol. II - Iska Dhaaf, Black
Lips, The War on Drugs, Hold Steady, Aloe Blacc, TPC, Liars

###### Singles from New Releases by Damien Jurado, The Hidden Cameras, and Mogwai

Beginning with the week of January 21st, the top singles include new songs from **
Damien Jurado, Mogwai, Warpaint, The Hidden Cameras, Thee Oh Sees, Wild Cub, Against
Me**, and **Bill Callahan**, among others.

A good deal of the lead singles from new releases for the last full week (1/21 to
1/27) of January 2014 are similar stylistically – with varying degrees of experimental,
dark, melancholy and psychedelic sound signatures, sometimes with one or more genres
interwoven and threaded together. The less rock and less pop influences, and the
more trippy and dark characteristics, are unmistakable, as you will hear in the 
sequencing of the singles’ playlist for the week of January 21.

This first cluster of 2014 singles kicks off with **Damien Jurado**‘s spooky, psychedelic
jam on “Silver Timothy.”

[“Silver Timothy”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Damien%20Jurado%20-%20Silver%20Timothy.mp3)–**
Damien Jurado ** from _Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son_ via Secretly Canadian

Next, **The Hidden Cameras**‘ trippy orchestral experimentation on “Year of the 
Spawn,” is one of the finest new songs of 2014, without a doubt. There’s a certain
_Sgt. Pepper_-esque composition present, with a build-up to a noisy, riffling, and
chaotic climax that includes a sonic duel, rather than a duet, between the viola
and piano, and ultimately, all of the instruments. It’s unquestionable the song 
was influenced by **The Beatles**‘ album, _Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band_.

After all, it is pretty much unavoidable for a songwriter and musician – unless 
they’ve been completely oblivious and somehow cut-off from pop and rock music for
the past 50 years – not to be directly or indirectly influenced The Beatles. The
fact is that there is some really fine, skillful craftsmanship going on in the The
Hidden Cameras’ camp, and their latest album is proof positive.

We’ve been spinning the songs in this playlist again and again over the past two
weeks, and some of them, just get better with each spin. That’s when you know you
have a song that will stand the test of time. After the masterful, intense, even
mind-blowing, experience of “Year of the Spawn,” we needed to pick the right follow-
up tune, and **Mogwai**‘s single, “Remurdered,” fit the bill.

Although the song is not a new Mogwai song, it is one of the tracks on the band’s
new **Sub Pop** compilation _Rave Tapes_, which makes the compilation a nice treat
for die-hard Mogwai fans. All things considered, what can be said about the greatness
of Mogwai that hasn’t already been said over the years?

Related Post:  Best New Indie Rock Releases, Vol. II - The Album Defense, Pontiak,
Gem Club, Sleepy Sun, Habibi, Doug Tuttle, Wax Fang

[“Year of the Spawn”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/The%20Hidden%20Cameras%20-%20Year%20Of%20the%20Spawn%20(Age%202014).mp3)–**
The Hidden Cameras ** from _Age_ via Evil Evil

[“Remurdered”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Mogwai-Remurdered.mp3)–**
Mogwai** from _Rave Tapes_ via Sub Pop

###### Selected Singles from New Albums by Warpaint, Bill Callahan, The Oh Sees and Wild Cub

The next set of IRC’s selected singles from the first batch of 2014 album releases
by signed and well-known artists and bands (which we separate from our DIY/unsigned,
small label posts and playlists) highlights Warpaint, Bill Callahan, The Oh Sees
and Wild Cub. From **Warpaint**‘s January release comes the semi-dreamy, semi-melancholic
track, “Biggy,” perhaps the album’s best song, and no wonder it was chosen as the
first single to be released by **Rough Trade**. Don Yates at _KEXP_ in **Seattle**
wrote that Warpaint’s sophomore, self-titled, album release, is a “more subtle and
minimalist take on the band’s brooding dream-pop, featuring a dark, atmospheric,
sound with swirling guitars and keywords, prominent bass line, hypnotic rhythms 
and ethereal harmonies.” Word, bro, word.

Next, the subdued mood continues with **Bill Callahan**‘s newest single, “Expanding
Dub,” and its mystical melancholy and experimental trippiness – all of which is 
interesting considering that more of Jurado’s new work veers more into those realms.**
Thee Oh Sees**‘ single, “Coma,” which by its name alone, fits into the over-riding
theme of the week. “Coma,” however, is remastered single from TOS’s new _Singles
I & II _ compilation.

Now it’s time to switch gears and lighten things up with**Wild Cub**‘s catchy indie
dance pop song, “Thunder Clatter,” a song that could easily get caught in your head.

[“Biggy”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Warpaint%20-%20Biggy%20(Official%20Audio).mp3)–**
Warpaint** from _Warpaint_ via

[“Expanding Dub”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Bill%20Callahan-%20Expanding%20Dub.mp3)–**
Bill Callahan** from _Have Fun With God_ via Drag City Records

![theeohsees](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/theeohsees-624x566.
jpg "theeohsees")

[“Coma”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Thee%20Oh%20Sees-Comas%20w%20Lyrics.mp3)–**
Thee Oh Sees** from _Singles Collection 1 & 2_ via Castleface

[“Thunder Clatter”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Wild%20Cub%20-%20Thunder%20Clatter.mp3)–**
Wild Cub** from _Youth_ via Mom+Pop Records

![rev-reverendhortonheat](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/rev-
reverendhortonheat-584x584.jpg "rev-reverendhortonheat")

###### Against Me! Gets More Pop; Rev. Horton Heat Dials In Jazzy Blues

Wild Cub’s track right above sets up the next bloc of the singles nicely. In fact,
the latest song, “Black Me Out,” from the long-running punk rock band, **Against
Me!**, sounds much more like a pop rock kind of a band than the punk rock Against
Me! band that we used to know; everyone needs to evolve at some point. The question
is: Will it work for long-time, hard-core fans of the band? The **Reverent Horton
Heat** returns with album No. 120 or something like that and the halfway decent 
jazzy, bluesy rockabilly style track, “Spooky Boots,” that might remind some of 
the **Squirrel Nut Zippers**; wonder (well, just for a second, actually) whatever
happened to them?

Related Post:  Best New Indie Rock Songs & Albums of February 2014, Vol. I - Asgiers,
Broken Bells, Augustines, Cymbals, Gardens & Villa

The album cover art for **REV** is fantastic. In an age when album cover art isn’t
taken as seriously by artists and bands as it was in the 70s and 80s – part of the
90s – it’s extra noticeable when an artist cares about the cover art to their album.
You may not be able to judge a record by its cover, but it sure can entice, and 
definitely impress, and thereby, increase the chances of a sale – at a time also
when people don’t buy as much physical music as they used to – a great album cover
can absolutely encourage sales that may otherwise not happen.

[“Spooky Boots”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Reverend%20Horton%20Heat%20-%20Spooky%20Boots%20(Audio).mp3)–**
Reverend Horton Heat** from _REV_ via Victory Records

[“Black Me Out”](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/Against%20Me!%20-%20Black%20Me%20Out.mp3)–**
Against Me!** from _ Transgender Dysphoria Blues_ via Total Treble Music

###### NYC Indie Band herMajesty Release Stellar New Single

The **New York City** indie rock/pop band, **herMajesty**, which we first profiled
back in 2010, and again in 2011, are back with a new album, and a new label, **Bittersweet
Records**. Plus, the band has had the honor to opened for bands like **The B-52s,
The Tom Tom Club, Say Hi to Your Mom**, and **Boxer Rebellion**.

Combining poetic lyrics, a memorable chorus (sung by a choir of elementary school
children), and a clarion-like trumpet accompaniment, the band’s newest single, “
One by One”, is what they call their “most accessible song to date,” even though
they don’t exactly say what they mean by that. Nevertheless, it’s definitely one
of the standout tracks of the week. The band’s songwriter and chief architect, **
JP** (John Paul? Jose Perez? Jack Pontanopolous? – we do not know), was granted 
citizenship in the U.S. when he was eight years old. At that early age, JP was already
a student of modern Greek poetry and classic Greek tragedy.

“The motivation to use a children’s choir on the new single came from the idea that
we are all struggling to come to grips with the promise of our youth and the reality
of adulthood while maintaining a connection to the life affirming energy and sense
of wonder of those early years” says JP. The band’s principal musical influences
include **Roxy Music, Arcade Fire, David Bowie, Jon Hopkins**, and **Eagulls**.

“One by One” – **herMajesty** from _One by One_ – Jan. 22th

Coming up next: Top singles playlist for the week of January 28th to February 2nd
and the February top hits playlists, as well as more great DIY releases.