The Best New Releases post from this week featured lead tracks from highly anticipated 2013 albums by Foals, The Little Ones, Veronica Falls, among others, including a dozen more singles from a variety of artists and bands.
In addition to the official release this week of new albums, EPs and singles from indie and alternative artists signed to record labels both large and small, there has also been a huge number of excellent, even out-of-this-world, new releases in the past week from talented and promising DIY bands that most people have never heard of before. In fact, many of the unsigned and talented artists who DIY drop new material each week do not even appear on the radars of high profile indie blogs and music sites, and are often either brand new or simply unknown by even the most intrepid indie music enthusiasts.
That’s why IRC has become a top web destination for music lovers that are hungry for new, exciting, original and talented artists and bands, most of whom have not been profiled on a major music blog before, and for some. We are constantly amazed and thrilled by how much fantastic, totally under-the-radar music is sent to us directly by DIYers that we’d otherwise never hear. For the tens of thousands of music lovers that have been regularly visiting IRC for months and years, we salute you, because you favorite so many of the songs and bands we feature on a regular basis, as evidenced by the weekly Top 10 Songs playlists – which are a reflection of the most popular songs posted in a given week.
Band (Still) to Watch: SF’s The Stone Foxes
San Francisco rock band The Stone Foxes have opened for bands like The Black Keys and Cage The Elephant at San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival and New Orleans’ Voodoo Music Experience. They’re also no strangers to these pages with a number of profiles on IRC over the years. And yet for all of their talent, the band is still under-appreciated in the larger arena of well-known alternative garage rock and indie rock bands, which we still find to be a head-scratcher.
The first single from Small Fires, “Everybody Knows,” has been making the rounds in the past couple of months on a number of blogs and mainstream press websites thanks to the song’s standout rock sting. In fact, the track is a modern representation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell Tale Hear.” The second single, Psycho, is gritty, hard edge garage rock that serves as yet another example of the band’s truly remarkable talents. The track has more of a bluesy rock feel to it than “Everybody Knows,” and includes a Jack White type of harmonica jamming that beckons the memory of classic rock blues bands like the Yardbirds and newer bands like Wolfmother, Dead Weather and The Black Keys. In fact, as mentioned earlier in this post, The Stone Foxes are often compared to Keys – and there are few higher compliments than that nowadays.
“Everybody Knows” – The Stone Foxes from Small Fires – Feb. 12th
“Psycho” – The Stone Foxes from Small Fires
The Stone Foxes Official Website
Hearts & Plugs’ New Sampler Features Brave Baby Single
First up, here are a couple of tracks from a recent Hearts & Plugs Records‘ sampler, including a track from one of our (and based on the statistics, many of you as well) favorite ‘new’ bands of 2013 – Brave Baby – and another from the artist Mr. Jenkins. The sampler also includes tracks from ELIM BOLT, The Lovely Few, and Run Dan Run.
“Lakeside Trust” – Brave Baby from Hearts & Plugs Sampler, Volume 2 – Feb. 1st
“You’re Free” – Mr. Jenkins from Hearts & Plugs Sampler, Volume 2
Seattle Musician Drops Debut Solo Album
Unsigned Seattle musician D.A. Wright, who performs solo as the force behind the new project, Wild Wants, released his debut album, We Are Committed To Excellence!. The album, according to Wright, was “sporadically self-recorded and mixed in various bedrooms, bathrooms, and bandrooms, between day-naps and nights out from July 2011 to December 2012.” Except for the drums, every instrumentation and vocal is Wright’s work, and his penchant for melody, layering and utilization of the full stereo spectrum add a special flare to the album’s overall production, as the two signals here demonstrate. It’s no surprise that his major musical influences include Guided By Voices, The Magnetic Fields, Dr. Dog, The Beatles and The Smiths.
“All Your Answers Will Be Questioned” – Wild Wants from We Are Committed To Excellence! – Feb. 13th
“Twirl My Curls” – Wild Wants from We Are Committed To Excellence!
Netherlands Band April Release Debut Single
Formed in 2011, Utrecht, Netherlands duo APRIL have a sound that has been called “a muscular, Baroque approach to boy-girl guitar pop” supported by the rich and melodic vocals of the Julia Hendriks as well as the growling croon in the lower registers of the band’s frontman, Jorn Mathijssen on new tracks from their new Subroutine Records 7″ single release, including the upbeat, joyous lead track, “The Rise And Fall Of A Beautiful Bird.” Think of a European Matt & Kim. The band has previously opened for artists like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Rats On Rafts, and Daily Bread.
“The Rise And Fall Of A Beautiful Bird” – APRIL from The Rise and Fall Of A Beautiful Bird 7″ – Feb. 12th
APRIL Official Band Website
Austin’s Giuseppe Andrews Drops New LP
Austin artist Giuseppe Andrews is a prolific musician, filmmaker, and writer who has completed 37 records, 37 films, and seven novels to date. As a teen, Andrews and his father moved to Hollywood and lived in a van before landing roles in movies like Independence Day, Detroit Rock City, American History X, Never Been Kissed and Pleasantville. In 2002, he left Hollywood and acting to move to Austin to pursue music full-time. Giuseppe’s music includes experimental avant garde, pop, rock, comedy, and rap. Here are two top singles from his newest album release, Rubber Duck. This is a case where you cannot judge an album by the cover art (even though people do; and it does make a difference), which itself leaves a lot to be desired.
“Welcome to Air” – Giuseppe Andrews from Rubber Duck – Feb. 12th
“White Mind” – Giuseppe Andrews from Rubber Duck
Orlando Band Stiletto Red Release Debut LP
Orlando alternative rock band Stiletto Red dropped their debut album, Her Love Is A Lie, on Feb. 17th, featuring punchy, rhythmic grooves, sharp, melodic hooks and an artistically-driven, yet classic rock sound. Thrust together by a unified vision that drove them through thick and thin, the band members took leave from different bands and worked around hectic schedules to record their debut album. With songs you can hear and feel loudly, the album handles topics like angst, rage, rites of passage, and finding hope.
“Her Love Is A Lie” – Stiletto Red from Her Love Is A Lie – Feb. 17th
“Further Addiction” – Stiletto Red from Her Love Is A Lie
Stiletto Red Official Website
Way Back Now: Old UK Boy Band Regroups
They were first featured by the legendary John Peel on his popular BBC radio show in the mid 1980’s, but the oddly named ‘boy band’ The Passmore Sisters from Manchester, soon fizzled out and disbanded. Now, all these years later, some of the original members have regrouped to create a new band, Fever Hut, and just released a new album, Segovia. The album was written in Spain and recorded in the U.K. and includes the two singles below, “Ropewalking” and “Love Like A Car Crash.” Contributers to the album included renowned artists like drummer Jonny Cragg, violin virtuoso Davide Rossi (Goldfrapp & Coldplay) and members of the English electro band Zoot Woman on keyboards. The album was dropped on the small indie label, Vegetable Records.
“Ropewalking” – Fever Hut from Segovia – Feb. 14th
“Love Like A Car Crash” – Fever Hut from Segovia
This week’s batch of new releases from popular, obscure and signed indie and alternative rock, electro and folk bands offers indie music lovers a large assortment of albums to pick from, as well as singles to stream and download. Keep an eye out for a whole series of recently released DIY albums coming up soon and containing a stunning collection of top-notch singles from artists many folks have never heard before. We’re also working diligently on putting together and publishing the 
