JEFF the Brotherhood – INDIE ROCK CAFE

The Album of the Week goes to Jeff The Brotherhood‘s Hypnotic Nights, the band’s seventh studio album. This is the band’s second album (the first was last fall’s We Are The Champions) with Warner Brothers, who they signed with in 2011 , while retaining their long-relationship with Infinity Cat Recordings. The deal with Warner has been pitched by their PR people as a way to give the band a wider distribution while JTB is assured “substantial creative control.” What exactly that means is unknown, but “substantial” is less than “total” or “full.” Some die-hard fans have accused the band of selling out by signing with a major label. Whether it’s a good move for the band over the long term remains to be seen. For example, the new album has received good reviews from a variety of popular mainstream music outlets and blogs, but not raving reviews.

The All Music Guide remarked: “if [Hypnotic Nights] isn’t able to kick off your summer, nothing will” while Rolling Stone wrote: “it’s got a good-natured sense of slacker irony.” The album was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, and it’s possible to hear Auerbach’s influence for anyone who is a Black Keys’ fan. Hypnotic Nights has a number of memorable tracks, including the unmistakable summer kicker, “Sixpack,” the first lead single release from the album. It would have been an even better track if the band had extended it a little longer to include a mid-song, all-out jam. And this is probably one element wherein the Warner influence prevailed because they’re aiming for a wider audience now, where songs tend to be produced to be more “radio-friendly.”

“Sixpack” – Jeff The Brotherhood from Hypnotic Nights on Infinity Cat Recordings/Warner

Soundcloud: “Mystic Portal II” – Jeff The Brotherhood from Hypnotic Knights on Infinity Cat Recordings/Warner

Note: Look for more tracks from the past week’s new releases in Vol. II, coming up in just about an hour from now.

New Singles and Albums from The Drowning Men, Shout Outs4, The Very Best, Frank Ocean and More

This mini-block playlist-within-a-playlist kicks off with the new single from The Drowning Men, “Lost In A Lullaby,” a catchy, flourishing summer-soundtrack type of song that reminds us of Arcade Fire, but which is also unique enough that it’s not some half-assed rip-off of AF’s signature sound – driving, almost frenzied rhythms, larger-than-life choruses, and the inclusion of woods and strings along with the cornerstone elements of pop rock – guitar, drums and bass. Chances are if you dig this track, you’ll want to get your hands on the band’s new album, All The Unknown.

“Lost In A Lullaby” – The Drowning Men from All The Unknown on Borstal Beat Records

Shout Out Out Out Out dropped a new album this week featuring the single, (really, four ‘Outs’? Maybe just ‘Shout Outs?’), Never The Same Way Twice,” which is a decent song. But the band name is awkward and annoying for people to speak or type it – and completely unnecessary. The name doesn’t resinate, especially when you consider there is a fairly popular indie band by the name of the Shout Out Louds. Sometimes it seems as if bands don’t understand how important it is to pick a good band name, and why it’s not a good thing to pick a name that is difficult to say or write, and to Google. Then there is the whole thing about “is it three Outs, or four or five?” It’s not hard to see why “keep it simple stupid” is a good motto to go with; if you look at many successful bands, their names are rather simple.

“Never the Same Way Twice” – Shout Out Out Out Out from Spanish Moss and Total Loss on Normals Welcome Records

Frank Ocean's new album, Channel Orange, is No. 2 on Amazon - MP3 album only $2.99 by clicking the album cover

Alright, now that that (SOOOO’s name) is Out in the open, the next single, “Pyramids,” from Frank Ocean, who is not necessarily an ‘indie’ artist, is deserving of mention because his newest album, Orange, is an impressive collection of songs, featuring more of his top-notch R&B mixed with a range of other genres. By now, most everyone has heard that Ocean recently revealed that he had a happy, loving gay relationship with another man while he was in his late teens. One thing is for sure – that takes a lot of guts on a number of levels. We think it also makes him and his music more authentic and from the heart. For a limited time, get the MP3 version of Channel Ocean for only $2.99 via this Amazon link.

“Pyramids” – Frank Ocean from Channel Orange on Island Def Jam

“Yoshua Alikuti” – The Very Best from MTMTMK on Moshi Moshi

“Take My Bones Away” – Baroness from Yellow & Green, on Relapse Records

The Dust Engineers, The Black Swans, Mum, and The Blank Tapes

The Dust Engineers unearth some find alternative country rock on “Snot Nosed Dweeb” (titled reminds us of a Sonic Youth track), the lead single from their new EP, Bail via No Horse Town Records. Plus, listen to new singles from fresh drops by experimental Icelandic band Mum and L.A. garage rockers The Blank Tapes; and to close out part one of releases for the week of July 17th (wow, summer, you are flying fast), two Soundcloud singles from Monterrey, Mexico band Kinky; and, Columbus, Ohio folk band, The Black Swans. The song is also a candidate for the next edition of the State of Music playlist series (picking up, in a way, where Sufjan left off).

“Snot Nosed Dweeb” – The Dust Engineers from Bail EP on No Horse Town

“0,000Orð” – Múm from Early Birds on Morr Music

“I’m Back” – The Blank Tapes from I’m Back 7″ on on 20-Sided Records

“Negro Dia (feat. Mala Rodriguez)” – Kinky from Sueño De La Maquina on Nacional Records

“Portsmouth, Ohio” – The Black Swans from Occasion For Song on Misra Records

boniverband — Bon Iver are one of the hottest folk indie bands. Justin Vernon (with the banjo) is the band's frontman.

This is the week of Bon Iver. From the top music sites and blogs, to airplay on various television shows and movie soundtracks, and an appearance on Comedy Central‘s The Colbert Report Monday night, the band have been on a roll for the past four years, and have performed at some of the biggest musical festivals, including Bonnaroo, Sasquatch and many others, including fests in the U.K.

Bon Iver is the moniker of musician, singer and songwriter Justin Vernon. In 2007, he self-releaesd the fantastic debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, and became almost an instant ‘indie sensation.’ Interestingly, Bon Iver’s new album, which officially dropped yesterday, is self-titled. Ordinarily, artists and bands use the self-title treatment for a debut album. Perhaps it’s a statement from Vernon, the artist – a deliberate and clear message to indicate this album is what he considers to be his true debut as an artist and musician. During a brief interview before his performance Monday night on The Colbert Report, Vernon told Stephen Colbert that he secluded himself for three months in a remote cabin in the Wisconsin wilderness to write the songs that ultimately became the tracks for his two albums. Bon Iver’s other members are Michael Noyce, Sean Carey and Matthew McCaughan.

Bon Iver is available for streaming via Spinner for a limited time, and can be purchased from Amazon (#2 on Amazon charts) as a 320kps MP3 download. It’s definitely one of our top albums of 2011, and we won’t be surprised to see it listed in Top 10 albums of 2011 on music sites and blogs later this year. Here is the excellent lead single, “Calgary.”

“Calgary” – Bon Iver from Bon Iver

But, first, we want to introduce you to two bands that is on our list for break-through bands of 2011; they are 1, 2, 3 – a Pittsburgh duo who dropped their debut album this week. The second band is a group of teens from Copenhagen who call themselves Iceage, and they are raising eyebrows in Europe as well as the U.S. They will be featured in an upcoming edition of 5 Break-Out Bands of 2011. Iceage dropped their debut album, New Brigade, this week. And the prospects keep piling up – another band that is new to us in 2011 is JEFF The Brotherhood; if you haven’t heard of this band in our previous posts this year, check them out. They are on fire, especially after packed performances at SXSW in March. Plus, don’t miss the new track from the latest album by Ty Seagull, who recently released an EP of T. Rex cover songs, titled Ty Rex.

“Work” – 1,2,3 from New Heaven

“Riding Coach” – 1,2,3 from New Heaven

iceageband — The Copenhagen teenage band Iceage are an IRC Break-Out Band in 2011. Their debut LP is out this week.

“Broken Bone” – Iceage from New Brigade

“White Rune” – Iceage from New Brigade

Here’s the title track via Soundcloud: “New Brigade” – Iceage from New Brigade

“Mellow Out” – JEFF the Brotherhood – from We Are The Champions (Stream)

You Make the Sun Fry – Ty Segall from Goodbye Bread

There are many other great albums out this week that we either have already approved internally, or that we’ve put on our Summer Music Listening List (we’ll be sharing the list soon), including terrific bands like Witches, Cassettes Won’t Listen, Dananananaykroyd, FM Belfast, Yacht, Paleo, Viva Voce, and Gomez. The albums further down in the mix are simply listed because we like the lead single, but, we have not heard them, and will probably not have time to listen to (got to draw the line somewhere:). Also, make sure to check out the In Dee Mail section, which includes new releases that were sent directly to us through the submission form by the artists themselves.

“Creature of Nature” – Witches from Forever

“Perfect Day” – Cassettes Won’t Listen from Evinspacey (Stream)

“Muscle Memory” – Dananananaykroyd from There Is a Way

“New Year” – FM Belfast from Don’t Want To Sleep

“Dystopia” – Yacht from Shangri-La

“In the Movies” – Paleo from Fruit of the Spirit

“Analog Woodland Song” – Viva Voce from The Future Will Destroy You

“Options” – Gomez from Whatever’s On Your Mind

Albums to Stream and links to purchase albums

(don’t miss Part II of this week’s Best New Releases that will be posted in the next couple of days)

– 1,2,3 – New Heaven
– Blood Orange – Sutphin Boulevard EP
– Bobby – Bobby (Stream)
– Bon Iver – Bon Iver (Stream)
– Cassettes Won’t Listen – Evinspacey (Stream)
– Digitalism – I Love You, Dude (Stream)
– Gomez – Whatever’s On Your Mind
– Grieves – Together/Apart
– JEFF The Brotherhood – We Are The Champions (Stream)
– Laurel Halo – Hour Logic EP
– Liam Finn – FOMO
– LMFAO – Sorry For Party Rocking
– OK Go – 180/365 (Live)
– Seun Kuti – From Africa With Fury: Rise
– Skrillex – More Monsters and Sprites
– Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread
– Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Stream)
– Viva Voce – The Future Will Destroy You (Stream)
– Weird Al Yankovic – Alpocalypse (Stream)

Tag: JEFF the Brotherhood

Best New Music Releases – Jeff The Brotherhood, Shout Outs4, The Very Best, Frank Ocean, The Drowning Men, Mum, The Blank Tapes

New Singles and Albums from The Drowning Men, Shout Outs4, The Very Best, Frank Ocean and More

The Dust Engineers, The Black Swans, Mum, and The Blank Tapes

Best New Releases – Bon Iver, 1,2,3, Iceage, JEFF the Brotherhood, Paleo, Ty Segall, Viva Voce, Cassettes Won’t Listen, FM Belfast