Bands to Watch 2010 – INDIE ROCK CAFE

Bands To Watch: Computer Magic, Stockholm, Gift Horse, The Powder Kegs, Hunter Valentine

Posted on 07/15/201012/18/2019 by Max Hammer

computermagicartist — Computer Magic is the musical moniker of a NYC college student only known as Danielle (or Danz)

The volumes of great music that artists and bands have been sending in over the past few months is impressive, and taking time to get through – literally hundreds. And so we have to keep slimming down the list to make it realistic. Today we are adding five more bands to watch in 2010.

A couple of weeks ago, we received some tracks from 21-year-old Danielle (last name unknown), who also goes by the nickname Danz. Danz, who is a DIY musician living in New York City, is better known in the musical realm as Computer Magic. She plays guitar and synthesizer, and writes and composes lo-fi indie rock and glo-fi music. And we hope she keeps doing so, because we heart Computer Magic.

Computer Magic is heavily influenced by old sci-fi films and Philip K. Dick books, in addition to many artists, including Belle & Sebastian, Animal Collective and David Bowie. She loves movies like Barbarella, Zardoz, Outland, The Man Who Fell To Earth, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

“Electronic Fences” – Computer Magic

“On VHS” – Computer Magic

“Teenage Ballad (High School)” – Computer Magic

Computer Magic on MySpace

Stockholm – Orlando, FL

Orlando, Florida’s post rock band Stockholm may sound like a new band you’d hear on college radio Top 40; but surprisingly, the band has received very little recognition, and remain unsigned – not sure why. The band, which was only formed last summer, are getting love from indie folks in Florida, but we anticipate more people will be hearing them in the months to follow.

Stockholm’s sound is very polished and chock full of glimmering guitar licks, swoon-style rhythms and the terrific vocals of singer Chris Arter.

“Don’t Stop Now” – Stockholm from Don’t Stop Now

“Goodbye Tomorrow” – Stockholm from Don’t Stop Now

Stockholm official website

Gift Horse – Anthens, GA

On May 4th, Anthens, Georgia, indie band Gift Horse dropped their debut, Mountain of Youth, produced by Hank Sullivant (Kuroma, The Whigs, MGMT). The band sent us two tracks to share with everyone. If you like heavy shoegaze chords full of distortion and deep, moody percussions, you’re probably going to like this southern indie rock band. Gift Horse have opened for bands like Meat Puppets, Dead Confederate, Kuroma, among others.

“Missionaries” – Gift Horse from Mountain of Youth

“Plastic People” – Gift Horse from Mountain of Youth

Gift Horse on MySpace

The Powder Kegs – Philadelphia, PA

The Powder Kegs formed in New York City in 2005 and now call Philly home. In 2007, they won a band competition on National Public Radio, and not long after, in 2008, they released their debut LP, You and Your Right Now. The LP was produced by Jeremy Backofen (The Walkmen, Frightened Rabbit, Mice Parade). The Powder Kegs’ new EP, Empty Side, is good listening.

“Shake Me Down” – The Powder Kegs from Empty Side EP

“The Right Time” – The Powder Kegs from Empty Side EP

The Powder Kegs on MySpace

Hunter Valentine – Brooklyn, NY

Brooklyn’s all-girl trio Hunter Valentine recently sent us a copy of their new album Lessons From The Late Night for us to hear. After just one spin, it was easily to see why the band has received accolades from bloggers and mainstream press.

Hunter Valentine recently dominated the MTV-U video contest , and GO! Magazine named them the Best Local Band in New York. In April, Hunter Valentine’s “The Stalker” video made its debut on MTV’s LGBT channel, Logo, and was picked as Spinner‘s Video of the Day just a few days later.

“The Stalker” – Hunter Valentine from Lessons From The Late Night

Hunter Valentine’s official website

Hunter Valentine on MySpace

Band to Watch: Chicago’s Glitter Bones

Posted on 05/06/201012/18/2019 by Max Hammer

The Chicago based indie/gospel/glam duo known as Glitter Bones got our attention thanks to the I Guess I’m Floating blog. The duo craft dreamy, electronic shoegaze-tinged pop on their free, debut EP, Returning to the Magic.

“Glow in The Dark” – Glitter Bones from Returning to the Magic

“Race to Heaven” – Glitter Bones from Returning to the Magic

Glitter Bones is Nick Donlin and Zach Vouga, and things are starting to move in the right direction for the band. Glitter Bones will open for Toro Y Moi on June 5 at The Empty Room in Chicago and are planning to release their EP on vinyl. Watch out for this band and get the EP digital download free.

Glitter Bones on MySpace

Glitter Bones on Facebook

Best New Releases of the Week, Part Two: Seabellies, The Tim and Sam Band, Inspired Flights,

Posted on 05/06/201007/22/2021 by Max Hammer

Yesterday, we published the Best New Releases of the Week mix featuring fresh tracks from new releases by The New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, The Hold Steady and many others. Since there are so many great new releases this week, we broke up the usually one installment into two parts. In today’s mix, Part Two of the best new releases, we feature mostly bands that sent their music to us, including Seabellies, Tim and The Same Band, Inspired Flight, Unbunny, Snowglobe, The Sister Ruby Band, Shodes, Cast Spells, and Gift Horse. As with Part One, today’s mix offers you a chance to hear a lot of fabulous music that you may not have otherwise heard.

Despite an overwhelming consensus among music bloggers who find the North Wales band name, Tim & Sam’s Tim & The Sam Band With Tim & Sam, ridiculous, annoying, and so on, the band has managed to create some great songs that allow for a pass on the stupid band name. The band have toured and performed at In The City Festival, as well as other fests, like Latitude, Swn and The Great Escape. They also opened for bands like Slow Club, Metronomy, Peggy Sue, Maps, and Scouting For Girls.

We’re going to refer to the band as The Tim and Sam Band, and will list them as such on our 2010 Bands to Watch list. It would be smart on the band’s part to shorten the name now, rather than later. Anyways, the band members employ lush instrumentation, craft sweet, melodic songs that are daydream inducing and all just all around luring. Hope to hear more from them soon.

All four members of Tim and Sam Band are accomplished multi-instrumentalists, effortlessly switching between instruments such as glockenspiel, marmonium and clarinet, as well as melodies of light xlophones , accordions and rich choruses during live shows. Their new album, Life Stream, out now, has been in the works for two years. If you like the songs included here, you’ll probably love the album. Their debut album, Put Your Slippers On, was released in 2008.

“Choices” – The Tim and Sam Band from Live Stream

“Hope’s Garden” – The Tim and Sam Band, instrumental single (2009)

Tim and Sam official website

You can also hear more of the band’s songs on their MySpace page.

From Sydney, Australia comes yet another Band to Watch – Seabellies. The band is signed with indie label Hub/Albert Music. Seabellies have opened for bands like Mum and The Temper Trap, and also performed at the V Festival along side Phoenix, The Pixies and Pet Shop Boys. Their music is rich and lush, full of ethereal electronic sounds, strings, metalaphones and melodicas, soaring guitars and Scandinavian-influenced melodies.

Swapping instruments throughout the set, the bands onstage presence is akin to bands like Architecture in Helsinki, Broken Social Scene and the Go! Team. They broke through last fall with the release of the single “Orange X” (see video) and their US release include the new single included here, ”

“Feel It Leave” – The Seabellies from By Limbo Lake

Seabellies on MySpace

The unsigned San Diego indie electronica band Inspired Flight show a lot of promise from what we’ve heard thus far. Rooted in hip-hop and dipping into elements of indie rock, down-tempo, dub and dance, Inspired Flight is taking your pre-conceived notion of what a band and DJ are and merging them into something new and quite appealing. By creatively integrating traditional DJ elements, like sampling and scratching, the San Diego musical duo perform live using multiple laptops, keyboards and turntables while incorporating guitars, kalimbas, melodicas and vocals, translating into the ultimate electric, live experience.

“I Won’t Let You Down” – Inspired Flight from s/t debut

“Pull, Push, Let Go” – Inspired Flight from s/t debut

Inspired Flight on MySpace

More of our Favorite Songs from New Releases

“Pioneer Scalps” – Cast Spells from limited 12″ Bright Works and Baton

Cast Spells on MySpace

“Love” – Snowglobe from Little More Lived In

Snowglobe on MySpace

“Rebecca (Just Take It from Me)” – The Sister Ruby Band from A Shot In The Dark

The Sister Ruby Band official website

“My Dear One” – Shodes from My Dear One

Shondes official website

“Countersign” – Unbunny from Moon Food

Unbunny on MySpace

“Missionaries” – Gift Horse from Mountain of Youth

Do you have a favorite song in this mix? Let everybody know in the comments section. And if you like these playlists, send the links to friends; it’s let’s us know better what folks like and don’t like :)

IRC Band to Watch: New York’s The Rassle

Posted on 04/24/201012/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Bringing back a sound: The Rassle. Photo by Jimmy Fontaine

The Rassle is a recently-formed New York City rock/post-punk band composed of former band members from two other great NYC rock bands, The Virgins and the The Young Lords.

So naturally, when The Rassle’s Erik Ratensperger (and ex-Virgins member) sent us a couple of songs, we had hightened expectations, and what we heard in those two songs, and a couple of other tracks via the band’s MySpace page, were enough to make it clear to us that we were hearing a terrific new band.

Ratsenperger joined with Mark Solomich and two brothers, Blair and Reed Van Nort, of the now-defunct band The Young Lords in January to form The Rassle. The guys must have had some idea that their new band would be something special, after all they had pretty much known each other for a couple of years from playing shows at various New York rock clubs.

The band’s disciplined, yet adventurous, rock sound is edgy and catchy at the same time, and has somewhat of a post punk-pop rock revivalist charm heard clearly on songs like “Celebrate The Days” and “Wild Ones,” conjuring up comparisons to legendary bands like Cheap Trick, Thin Lizzy and Big Star. But more people are likely to compare The Rassle with one of the biggest “indie” bands of the past year, Philadelphia’s Free Energy.

“Celebrate The Days” – The Rassle

Since we’ve been playing these songs from The Rassle over and over again, it wasn’t a stretch to put them near the top of the Bands to Watch in 2010 list. It wouldn’t be a surprise to us one bit if you’re reading about The Rassle on Pitchfork, and even The New York Times, in the next few weeks. The band’s unofficial EP has summer time written all over it.

Ratensperger told IRC that the band have been offered residency at New York’s Pianos next month, are talking to some labels, planning to tour and working on material for a debut LP that is expected to drop later this year. We say that if they’re ready to do Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, or any other big best fest this summer, organizers might just want to give the band a call. That’s a bit ballsy with only four songs to go on, but we just have a good feeling about this band.

“Wild Ones” – The Rassle

“Born Free” – The Rassle

The Rassle on MySpace, TheRassle.com, Twitter and Facebook

A little background: The Virgins formed in 2006 and within a matter of a year opened for Sonic Youth and Patti Smith, performed at big music festivals, and even made it on to Rolling Stone‘s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008 for the track, “Rich Girls.” Although things have been pretty quiet for the band since their widely acclaimed debut, self-titled EP (2007) and LP (2008), The Virgins have not announced any plans for a new album.

Best New Releases of the Week: Bear Hands, Local Natives, The Hush Now, Field Music, Son Lux, The Good Listeners

Posted on 02/16/201012/18/2019 by Max Hammer

This week’s new releases include the fresh songs, as well as some tracks that have already made the rounds and are now being repackaged and re-issued in various forms. For example, Brooklyn‘s popular, but still unsigned, band Bear Hands, have re-issued their single, “What a Drag,” today on white vinyl, and will celebrate this evening at The Studio at Webster Hall in New York, a kick-off show for an extensive tour of the U.S. with We Were Promised Jetpacks and Passion Pit. The band’s shows with Passion Pit have already sold out in cities like Chicago, Minneapolis and Vancouver.

Los Angeles blog buzz band Local Natives‘ LP, Gorilla Manor, celebrates its official release today, but some of the tracks – and good ones at that – were leaked last fall, making them a band to watch in 2010. Bear Hands kicks off a European tour tomorrow night with a sold out show in Paris, and will then return to the perform three shows at next month’s South by Southwest in Austin, followed by sets at Coachella and Bonnaroo music festivals.

Other tracks featured below from new releases include The Hush Now, Field Music, Son Lux, SPEAK and El May, as well as a handful of releases from last month that we didn’t have time for, or that we just recently learned about, but are worth checking out.

“What a Drag” – Bear Hands from What a Drag
Bear Hands on MySpace

“Sunhands” – Local Natives from Gorilla Manor
Local Natives on MySpace

“Constellations” – The Hush Now from Constellations
The Hush Now on MySpace

“Measure” – Field Music from Field Music
Field Music on MySpace

“Weapons V” – Son Lux from Weapons EP
Son Lux on MySpace

“Carrie (Mindfull)” – SPEAK from debut EP
SPEAK on MySpace

“Don’t You” – El May from s/t debut
El May on MySpace

Los Angeles indie folk pop band The Good Listeners released their third album, Don’t Quit Your Daydream, last month via Three Finger Records. The LP was recorded during a month long journey to twelve cities across the US, and also made into an indie film documentary by the same name. At each stop on their adventure, the duo collaborated with a cast of strangers and musicians who forced them to reconsider what a life dedicated to the pursuit of music really means.

“Insect Losing Balance” – The Good Listeners from Don’t Quit Your Daydream
The Good Listeners on MySpace

January Releases from Cop Shades, Sun Hotel, The Houston Brothers and More

In January, the experimental indie rock band Cop Shades released their debut album as a free download via Superbob Records – a label formed in 1993 by Ken Kelley, the drummer of The Monoxides. Cop Shades deliver gritty and fuzzy guitar rock almost guaranteed to attract rock fans who are hungry for something fresh and edgy.

Sun Hotel is an indie band from New Orleans that we are really beginning to like; we’ll have more about them in our upcoming Bands to Watch in 2010 issue. The band released their LP, Team Spirit, on January 28th. Also, check out tracks from January releases by Adam Green, The Houston Brothers, Gobotron, and Charlie Hunter.

“I Sh*t Ponies” – Cop Shades from s/t EP
“The Sorority” – Cop Shades from s/t EP
Cop Shades on MySpace

“Allways” – Sun Hotel from Team Spirit
“Plantation Land” – Sun Hotel from Team Spirit
Sun Hotel on MySpace

“Castles and Tassels” – Adam Green from Minor Love
Adam Green on MySpace

“Confederate Dunce” – The Houston Brothers from The Archer
“Wasted Youth” – The Houston Brothers from The Archer
The Houston Brothers website

“Never Turn Around” – Gobotron from On Your Mark, Get Ready…
Gobotron on MySpace

“High Pockets and a Fanny Pack” – Charlie Hunter from Gentlemen, I Neglected to Inform You That You Will Not be Getting Paid
Charlie Hunter official website

Band to Watch: Nashville’s The Vermicious K’nids

Posted on 02/06/201012/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Straight outta Nashville, indie rock band The Vermicious K’nids, definitely do not come even close to fitting the stereotype of a Nashville band – there is no country in their music, and we’re not complaining. Rather, the band delivers earnest, addictive pop woven with seductive indie rock.

The band’s sound has received many labels: key-heavy circus-rock experimentalists, “if Pavement, the Pixies, and Mick Jagger all had a baby”; power-pop, post-rock indie and so on. You will quickly find this band’s music hard to categorize, but you can’t help but jump up and dance along.

“Dynomania” – The Vermicious K’nids from s/t debut (2009)

“Away Oh Way Oh” – The Vermicious K’nids from s/t debut (2009)

“Snake Bite, Part 2” – The Vermicious K’nids from s/t debut (2009)

The Vermicious K’nids official website

The Vermicious K’nids on MySpace

Band of the Week: Boston’s Elephantom Endorsed by Grizzly Bear; Blog Exclusive of Track for Upcoming LP

Posted on 01/25/201001/09/2020 by August W. Zander

The members of Grizzly Bear are fans. And so are we.

Boston area band Elephantom, a musical collective of high school and college aged musicians, are IRC’s first unsigned ‘band to watch’ of 2010. Plus, we have an exclusive new demo, “I Am Your Head,” provided by the band to IRC for all to hear.

But first, the back story.

Comparing them to the Danish band Efterklang, Grizzly Bear members recently endorsed Elephantom’s 2009 DIY debut LP, Swim. Toward the Sun. While the band were attending a Grizzly Bear show in Vancouver last year, Elephantom guitarist, trumpet player and vocalist Sam Pearce tossed a CD copy of Swim. Toward The Sun. on to the stage.

He, along with his band mates, never thought that one of indie rock’s biggest bands of 2009 would listen to the CD, let alone send Elephantom an email praising their music and wishing them success.

For any band that knows why Grizzly Bear is such a hit nowadays – largely due to their critically acclaimed 2009 release, Vecktimest – a thumbs up from GB is an enormous endorsement, and is likely to get bloggers, music sites, and most importantly, indie fans, to take notice.

According to keyboardist and vocalist, Matt Aucoin, Grizzly Bear’s email hailed the Elephantom album as “really lovely,” adding, “we are in Vancouver all listening…thanks so much for sharing this with us. I hope you guys go far.”

The band features Pearce, Aucoin, bassist and guitarist Mike Cotter, guitarist and vocalist Trudie Kaiser, drummer and guitarist Nick Pope (who designed the album cover above), and lead guitarist, bassist and drummer Zach Trahan. All six of the band members are songwriters and multi-instrumentalists.

With Swim. Towards The Sun, Elephantom have created a breath-taking, rich, beautifully composed and produced album, full of spacious orchestrations, academic-style song titles and themes, spot-on vocals and harmonies, and oozing with a musical maturity that hints at a band that is headed for bigger and better things. They exhibit an enthusiasm and natural ability to sculpt songs that combine story-telling with elements of indie rock, jazz, cabaret, classical, folk, synth pop, psychedelic rock and so on.

In response to one of our questions, the band cited their major influences as Radiohead, Broken Social Scene and The Arcade Fire. Nevertheless, Elephantom have created their own original sound that really cannot be compared to anything else we’ve heard. There’s so much happening on this album – and the diversity of songs is so profound – that you may find yourself going back to listen to it again and again, and each time, likely discover new and fantastic things in the process.

Listening to the track “Aurora Surrealis,” you can close your eyes and imagine drifting away on a cloud on a glorious summer day, lifted by soft piano keys, French horns and the gorgeous vocals of Trudie Kaiser. “Citizen of the Earth” begins theatrically, and then eases into a seductive and sensual cinematic-cabaret swagger, interrupted by big blasts of sounds like some kind of cosmic orgasm.

We are excited to share a blog exclusive with you all – a demo version of Elephantom’s newest track, “I Am Your Head,” which Aucoin hopes will be on the band’s next album, even though a release date and title for the follow up to Swim have yet to be determined.

If all the right pieces falls into place, you are likely to hear a lot more about Elephantom in 2010.

“I Am Your Head” (demo) – Elephantom, from Nick Pope’s solo album St. Deviations Attack on The Castle Of Love, and planned for release on the band’s upcoming album (date and title TBD)

“Aurora Surrealis” – Elephantom from Swim. Toward the Sun. (2009)

“Citizen of the Earth” – Elephantom from Swim. Toward the Sun. (2009)

Here’s a YouTube video of a recent live performance of “I Am Your Head,” which created so much excitement among music listeners on Indie Bands Blog, that Elephantom were voted the top band of the week this past weekend.

Elephantom on MySpace

Elephantom official website

Download Swim. Towards the Sun. for free