Flashback Tracks: 10 Years Ago This Month – Phantogram, Surfer Blood, Woodsman, Deer Tick, Bear Lake & More


NOTE: This post was first published on Oct 10, 2011; updated some links Oct. 2021

One of our favorite songs so far this autumn is “Don’t Move” from Phantogram; it’s simply a fantastic track that you just can’t but help to move to – even though the song title says not to move.

When we featured the song in one of the recent Fresh Tracks mixes, people downloaded and streamed it like crazy.

It only makes sense to kick off this edition of Best New Releases with the hot, new single from Phantogram. (We recommend listening first to last week’s BNR mixtape, for more stellar tracks.)

Surfer-Blood-Tarot-Classics

Surfer Blood return with their first release since 2010’s sensational debut LP, Astro Coast, an album that made them a huge hit in the indie circuits for the past two years. The band’s newest single is the compelling “Miranda”.


Following Surfer Blood is a double-shot from Woodsman‘s new album, featuring two songs that are masterfully arranged and executed. “In Circles,” and especially, “Specdrum,” highlight the band’s raw talent for combining elements of rock, pop, post-punk, electronic, and particularly, in the case of the two tracks below, their capabilities in creating pure jam psychedelic tunes, with impressive results.

Double-shot: “Specdrum”Woodsman from Mystic Places EP


Deer Tick returns with a bit more rock in their sound with the lead track “Main Street,” a song which reminds us of Paul Westernberg and The Replacements, whether on purpose or just as some subliminal influence. This is a nice new maturation of style for Deer Tick.

It seemed only fitting to follow-up Deer Tick with the new single from Bear Lake (another animal-named band) who just self-released their new album, If You Were Me.


Italy’s 2010 breakout band A Classic Education return with their sophomore album and the lead track “Forever Boy,” is a sentimental, slow rock track marked by heavily melodic vocals and choruses, Wavves-style guitar licks, and percussion, and an obviously better overall produced sound throughout the album than their 2010 U.S. debut.


Just like other great surprises this week, another new-to-us band, The Beets, add more credibility to the garage rock-pop sound – of bands like The Vaselines – with their new track, “Doing As I Do” from the new album, Let The Poison Out, on Hardly Art Records.

Even better, we were lucky to find another killa track from the album, “Friends of Friends,” thanks to Pitchfork.

Double-shot: “Friends of Friends”The Beets from Let the Poison Out.


Incorporating electronic beat pop styling with underlying cinematic, and psychedelic, rock infusions, woven with synth sound effects, violin and guitar riffs, and an assortment of wood blocks and cowbells, the eclectic indie band Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble shine through on, “Pretend,” where they are clearly not pretending at all – the track is as real as it gets, and an incredibly complex arrangement at that.

Next, another new-to-us band, The Through & Through Gospel Review, offer one of the most memorable tracks of the week – the enchanting, almost carnival-like influenced song, “I Firmly Believe” from their self-titled, debut album.

As with other bands in this week’s Best New Releases, this is yet another pleasant surprise, and surely a band that we will keep our ears out for. In fact, we received a complimentary copy of the debut LP, and look forward to listening to it more in-depth later on; it’s just another album added with the dozens and dozens of others in our “To Listen To” playlist in iTunes.

“An Arcade From The Warm Rain That Falls”Comet Gain from Howl of the Lonely Crowd

Although we generally do not post about remastered albums, the fact that Dntel‘s remastered (with bonus tracks)  LP, Life Is Full of Possibilities, is out this week, and features Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie, Postal Service) on vocals for the lead track below, definitely makes it an LP to consider repurchasing, and if you’ve never owned it before, that track, and many others, is reason alone to grab a copy.

“(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan”Dntel from Life Is Full of Possibilities (remastered with bonus tracks)

The problem is the sound quality of the track itself. It’s ironic that it is a remastered track but is filled with what sounds like static, and we can only hope it is not intentional because that would make no sense. We’ve been unable to find any information about why this terrific ‘remastered’ track has static on it. We also tried to hunt down the originally released track, but without any luck. If anyone knows why the track has static on it – especially towards the end – we’d love to hear from you.

Next up is another band name that does not fit at all with the band’s sound and style. Gospel Music, present this semi-quirky track, “This Town Doesn’t Have Enough Bars for Both of Us” that has clear percussion influences from The Violent Femme‘s “Blister In The Sun,” whether on purpose or not.

Perhaps the only blues track in this mix, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, deliver the upbeat, and oddly optimistic, “Everything Will Be Fine,” with plenty of gusto and some steller musicianship – especially amongst the guitarist, bass player, and drummer. The vocals are clearly influenced by B.B. King’s singing style.

The Migrant mix New Orleans jazz influences with folk, pop, and rock to the appropriately thematic track, “The Hurricane.”  Plus, check out other tracks, including Peggy Sue‘s “Cut My Teeth”; The Strange Boys’ amazing “Me and You”, and Russian Circles‘ “Mladek”.

“The Hurricane”The Migrant from Amerika (self-released)


“Cut My Teeth” – Peggy Sue from Acrobats (stream album)


“Me and You” – The Strange Boys from Live Music


“Mladek” – Russian Circles from Empros

 

Best Songs of 2013, Vol. I – Surfer Blood, Sigur Ros, Deerhunter, Phoenix, Kurt Vile, Wild Nothing, The National, Daft Punk, Big Deal

surfer-blood-pythonsby Devin William Daniels

As you’ve probably noticed over the past few weeks, IRC has posted playlists of the Best Songs of 2013. Musician and IRC contributor, Devin William Daniels, has picked dozens of his favorite songs from the Top 10 Songs playlists of 2013 and written a series of reviews about the songs. There was no shortage of indie and alternative rock singles from 2013. Many of the singles in this post, and throughout the series, are from the Best Albums of 2013.

Listen to all four volumes of the Best Indie Rock Songs of 2013

This is the first of a series of the Best Songs of 2013 based on the Top 10 Songs playlist; there have been, and will be, other posts and playlists highlighting the other top songs of 2013, including those that did not make it on the Top 10, as well as many amazing DIY songs of the year that you probably won’t hear anywhere else. Stream any playlist uninterrupted by clicking the exfm play button in the bottom right of the page or the first song on the page.

“Demon Dance” – Surfer Blood

The lead single from Surfer Blood‘s solid LP, Pythons, allows John Paul Pitts to flex his guitar muscles a little bit, albeit more tonally than technically. I wish he let loose a little more, as he does in Surfer Blood’s excellent live show, but the restraint gives us a piece of well-crafted, pristine guitar pop. JPP’s guitar kicks things off with a nice clean riff that’s soon interrupted by the sound of airplanes dying or robots screaming, before we’re treated to a tasteful verse, bridge and chorus. The imagery is extremely biblical: the first line recalls the first line, “A word has weight,” is a snarky reflection of the slightly more famous first line of the Book of Genesis, and we also hear talk of apples, snakes, a Pentecostal choir and the hounds of hell. Is the narrator’s offer that he or she “can suck the venom out of [our] bones” an offer of salvation of a temptation to damnation? I’m not sure, but Surfer Blood set this dilemma to three parts that are so well constructed from a pop perspective (when most pop can’t manage two legitimate sections), you’ll mostly just be waiting for the next hook.

“Demon Dance”Surfer Blood from Pythons

JuneGloom-500x500

“Dream Machines” – Big Deal

Big Deal embrace dream pop a bit too literally with the aptly titled “Dream Machines,” but the styling serves them well. What could be a sing-songy folk pop number transforms into a textured, slightly obscured single. The drums echo to a bombastic degree, and the guitar plays a memorable, carnival-esque melody before a fuzzy, anthemic power chords briefly explode before fading behind the twin vocalists, who dually confess, “I’ve been dreaming of dropping out/ Will it matter if I’m around?” The boy/girl dynamic of the voices is the highlight here, and while that’s often paired with acoustic guitars and not much else, here the dreamy, drugged backdrop serves as the perfect accompaniment.

“Dream Machines” Big Deal from June Gloom

Monomania

“Monomania” – Deerhunter

Done with the dreaminess of past efforts, Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox seems desperate for anything tangible. Oddly, his chosen route to achieve this is prayer, as he sings, “Come on God, hear my sick prayer/ If you can’t send me an angel/ If you can’t send me an angel/ Send me something else instead.” The idea of “something else” seems key in this caustic title track, in which the narrator can’t convince his or her boy to “leave his lady,” pushing the issue as he sings, “let me tell you that/ If you wanna be with me/ I can be your home away.” Cox’s delivery has a jarring, confused quality that’s part tough guy and part seductress combined into some sort of pulp cartoon figure. Perhaps its these conflicting sides of himself, not two characters, he is addressing when he sings, “There is a man/ There is a mystery whore/ And in my dying days/ I can never be sure.” In spite all of the duality and the urge for “something else” – whatever it may be – the song devolves into white noise and the endlessly repeated mantra of “mono, monomania.” It’s an obsession with the “one” – or perhaps the idea that he his multiple sides are supposed to neatly combine into one – that ultimately does Cox and Deerhunter in.

“Monomania”Deerhunter from Monomania

phoenix

“Entertainment” – Phoenix

The title recalls the all-time classic hit, “Entertainment!,” by Gang of Four, and while Phoenix aren’t tackling commodification, Great Man theory and the avant-garde with the same intensity and intellectualism as the seminal post-punk group, there’s certainly a deal of meditation on the double-edged nature of artistic success in this track, particularly the parallels between the struggles of fame and the struggles of romantic relationships. Lyrics like “Entertainment/ Show them what you do with me/ When everyone here knows better” could be directed as a significant other as easily as a massive festival crowd. One imagines that Phoenix, late bloomers who achieved sudden success after years and albums had passed by, would find their fame more absurd and arbitrary than artists who’ve been on top from the beginning, and they seem to conclude it isn’t worth it with the chorus’s last line: “I’d rather be alone.” Of course, this confession is set amidst the pop-minded, synth-laden music that brought on that fame, so perhaps Phoenix want the festival gigs to keep coming.

“Entertainment”Phoenix from Bankrupt!

Kurt-Vile-Walkin-On-A-Pretty-Daze

“Walkin’ on a Pretty Day” – Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile‘s chill tempo and tastefully strung out guitars are almost hypnotizing, so you might miss the pretty enlightened thoughts he mumbles with the voice of a just woken Lou Reed. “Wakin on a Pretty Day” espouses a philosophy of loneliness, championing an existence without connection, present but distant from the concerns of the surrounding world. It’s appropriate then that the song’s main prop is the narrator’s cell phone, which Vile notes is, “ringing off the shelf/ I guess it wanted to kill himself.” The cell phone is both the symbol of and the primary source of our intense, persistent connection to the world and its demands and expectations, so Vile can appreciate the suicidal tendencies a phone might suffer, channeling all that pressure. He encourages detachment, singing: “Don’t worry ’bout a thing/ It’s only dying” and “Floating in place, no need saying nothing.” In fact, the song itself almost escapes the Earth’s grip and float off into space after the last notes of a guitar solo, before gravity pulls it back down with a drum roll and a short instrumental lead-in to deliver the final verse. What follows that verse is several minutes of music accompanied by few words but a series of “yeahs” – there’s no need for language in the world of embraced loneliness.

“Walkin on a Pretty Day”Kurt Vile from Waking on a Pretty Daze

wild-nothing

“A Dancing Shell” – Wild Nothing

Wild Nothing‘s “A Dancing Shell” tells the story of someone who doesn’t know how to love and destroys himself to earn it. The narrator’s fatal flaw is viewing love as a one-way street – he will do nothing – selling himself, being a monkey – “if it makes you love me,” with no concern for the effect on his own soul. His one-sided commitment to the object of his supposed affection destroys himself (“I am not a human/ I’m just a body/ Just a dancing shell here to make you happy“) and as a result he cannot even tell if he is indeed experiencing love. With this reduction to the nothingness of his moniker, Wild Nothing leaves us with nothing but doubts – “Is that the way? I never knew/ Is that the way?” — and the final resignation: “I was a waste.”

“A Dancing Shell”Wild Nothing from Empty Estate

sigurros

“Brennisteinn” – Sigur Rós

Sigur Rós recall the classic material of ( ) while forging into new, darker territory. At their best, Sigur Rós often sound like a soundtrack to some cosmic, heavenly plane, or at least a gorgeous, Icelandic mountain view somewhere. The excellent “Brennisteinn” twists our expectations and offers a soundtrack to hell, not in the typical usage of that phrase as someone might apply to a really intense metal song or some other brand of supposedly “tough” music. “Brennisteinn” goes far beyond the earthly concerns of such music, providing us a sound that is just as cosmic as their best recordings but inverted, portraying the darker forces as just as powerful and beyond comprehension as the greater forces, but with an added element of terror.

Again, not the terror of horror movies and cheap scares, but the terror of the incomprehensible, brought on by otherworldly tones and voices. Then, things go quiet, the last guttural tone cuts out, and we’re treated to a brief moment of silence before the opposing force cries out in an ethereal lament over cinematic percussion and long, droning tones. The language here is lofty, but Sigur Rós are a band that, when they’re on their game, should be evoking grandiose prose, and it’s good to have them delivering.

“Brennisteinn”Sigur Rós from Kveikur

daft-punk-random-access-memories

“Get Lucky” – Daft Punk

With the album that came to dominate the summer of 2013, Daft Punk sought to recapture a bygone era and did so with enough success to make this record as divisive as the actual disco material that inspired it. At first glance it seems like either a critique or a misguided tribute, with the conclusion that “we’re up all night to get lucky” a fairly base encapsulation of the disco era. However, the song simultaneously asserts that “we’ve come too far to give up who we are,” which seems to me to suggest that there’s something in this time that, for Daft Punk, is worth fighting for. The idea of “get[ting] lucky” seems thus to be about more than just sex, but about dreams of becoming someone, of witnessing the future. To capture that feeling, Daft Punk goes into the past. Musically, Pharrell Williams provides the hookiest melody of the year, but my favorite part is when he drops out and the vocoding comes in, giving us a more robotic but less seamless transmission of the song’s message.

“Get Lucky”Daft Punk from Random Access Memories

the-national-trouble-will-find-me

“Sea of Love” – The National

One of the few contemporary bands approaching “legends in their own time” status, The National‘s sixth LP was yet another excellent entry in what is becoming a colossus of a discography. Evolving from moody post-punk songs to romantic piano pieces to orchestral, operatic alt-anthems, the National offer something more raw with “Sea of Love,” but it is still just as epic and affecting as their High Violet material. Masters of dynamics, the National provide a frenetic verse for the pacing questions of his narrator, cutting loose for a line you can’t ignore if you’ve read the album’s cover sleeve: “If I stay here, trouble will find me.” This is the sad belief of a reluctant nomad, but it reflects the practices that have made the National so great: constant movement forward, no staying behind to enjoy one’s previous successes, to stop moving is to die.

Some things are constant however, such as Matt Berninger‘s penchant for telling highly specific stories (see his use of particular names and places, “Jo” and “Harvard” in this song) in a universal way, without coming off as cheap “Jack and Diane”-esque pandering. The song’s repeated line “Hey Jo, sorry I hurt you, but/ They say ‘love is a virtue,’ don’t they?” never really comes off as romantic, but on examination is a terrifying justification in a song of drowning rationalizations, set to beautiful music. Like drowning – alternatively peaceful and horrifying – the clash of moods of “Sea of Love” is what makes it, and the National’s music in general, interesting and reflective of the often counterintuitive, incongruous nature of human experience. Be sure to check out the excellent music video, a tribute to the equally great Russian post-punk band Zvuki Mu.

“Sea of Love”The National from Trouble Will Find Me


Devin William Daniels is a writer and musician from Pennsylvania currently teaching English in the Republic of South Korea. Follow him on Twitter or listen to his recordings on Soundcloud. Read more of Mr. Daniels’ posts and reviews via IRC’s archives.

Fresh Tracks from Thom Yorke + Burial + Four Tet, Fleet Foxes, Cults, Thurston Moore, Surfer Blood, A Lull, Wild Beasts, Man/Miracle

thomyorke

Our new tracks in-box has been filling up fast lately. In fact, it’s overflowing. So, here’s another big mix featuring fresh tracks from a range of artists and bands, including Thom Yorke with Burial and Four Tet, Thurston Moore, Cults, Surfer Blood, A Lull, Zachary Cale, Wild Beasts, Teenage Atari Riot, Man/Miracle, and others. And, there’s a whole bunch more to come in next few weeks. As some of you probably know, we don’t do one-song posts. The reason is that there is so much music that we want to share with you.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke recently joined Four Tet and Burial to record two electronic house/dubstep tracks – “Ego” and “Mirror.” The tracks have been receiving a good amount of buzz in the past week, and we’re stoked to be able to bring them to you for your listening pleasure.

“Ego”Thom Yorke + Burial + Four Tet

“Mirror”Thom Yorke + Burial + Four Tet

You can also purchase a copy of the vinyl 12″ via Four Tet’s label, Text Records. On Feb. 9th, Yorke performed a solo DJ set at Los Angeles club Low End Theory.  The video below is a slice of the evening’s events.

Thom Yorke Live DJ Set @ Low End Theory LA 3.9.11 from Theo Jemison on Vimeo.

Lots of Buzz Around Upcoming Fleet Foxes Release

Since their 2008 break out EP and debut, self-titled album, Seattle based Fleet Foxes have become one of the most influential bands in the indie folk movement. The band likes to call their wonderful style of acoustic music and precious vocal harmonies, “”baroque harmonic pop jams.” Not sure about the jam part of that, but no doubt Fleet Foxes etched their success beyond the indie scene and into the popular culture.

preorderhelplessnessblues

Since 2008, fans have been waiting patiently for new material. As a result, there has been a long wait of anticipation for their sophomore album, Helplessness Blues, set for release on May 3rd. Not surprisingly, the album has already leaked, but we’re going to wait until the vinyl edition to come out because Fleet Foxes are definitely a band to be listened to on vinyl, thanks to their melodic mastery, mid-song tempo changes and intricate chord progressions. That said, we have found two tracks from Helplessness Blues that we’d like to present as a way to let their fans know that they will not be disappointed.

“The Plains/Bitter Dancer” – Fleet Foxes from Helplessness Blues – out May 3rd

“Grown Ocean”Fleet Foxes from Helplessness Blues – out May 3rd

You can pre-order Helplessness Blues via Amazon for either  CD or vinyl.  There is no MP3 pre-order that we know of available at the time this post was published.  On Record Store Day (April 16th), the band will release a limited edition 12″ vinyl of the single, “Helplessness Blues” with a B-side of “Grown Ocean.” Not surprisingly, almost all of Fleet Foxes’ scheduled shows for May have been sold out.

New Singles from Thurston Moore and Cults

Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore continues to reaffirm why he is one of alternative rock’s most prolific and influential figures. Matador Records sent us a new single from Moore to spread around. Gladly.  The song, “Benediction,” demonstrates, even more, Moore’s talent and ability to write and record stellar music. The song is mainly acoustic, and just really, well, superb. It is the first single from Moore’s upcoming Beck-produced, solo album, Demolished Thoughts, out May 24th. It is definitely one of our most anticipated albums of the spring.

“Benediction”Thurston Moore from Demolished Thoughts – out May 24th

Cults, one of our break-out bands of 2010, have just dropped a new track, “You Know What I Mean.” The advanced single will appear on Cults debut album, due out in May.

“You Know What I Mean” Cults

Surfer Blood’s Excellent ‘Lost’ Track

We’re a bit surprised that this unreleased track from Surfer Blood, “I’m Not Ready,” hasn’t appeared on more music sites or blogs. In fact, we talked to a few folks who love the band who were not aware of the track. The track is not on the band’s spectacular 2010 debut album, Astro Coast. “I’m Not Ready” is an upbeat, catchy song that definitely has post-punk and pop elements.  While the song is not exactly a fresh track – they performed it at shows all during 2010 –  it will be new enough to most people to seem like a fresh track. Also, “Weapons of War” is the excellent advance single from the upcoming A Lull LP of the same name. Plus, check out these fresh tracks from Skull Tape and Little Scream.

“I’m Not Ready” Surfer Blood

“Weapons of War”A Lull from Weapons for War single (with remixes)  – out April 19th

“Cannons” Little Scream from The Golden Record – our April 12th

“Trans Anthro” Skull Tape from The Invisible Hand and The Descent of Main – out April 12th

Brooklyn’s Zachary Cale Preps New LP and Introducing Les Blanks

Zachary Cale is a Brooklyn singer/songwriter and musician (who isn’t in Brooklyn?) who has made a name for himself in recent years thanks to his remarkable blues folk sound; “Hello Oblivion” is the first single from his upcoming new album due out in May.

“Hello Oblivion” – Zachary Cale from Welcome to Noise – May 15th

“Straw Man” is a new track of some good ole garage rock from an artist we never heard of before, Les Blanks. We’re going to resist jokes about his name, but let you know when we get around to hearing more of Blanks’ music. The track, “Straw Man,” is from the album In Country, set to drop on May 3rd.

“Straw Man”Les Blanks from In Country – out May 3rd

Wild Beasts, Teenage Atari Riot and Man/Miracle

Following on the success of their critically acclaimed and Mercury Prize nominated second album Two Dancers, the band Wild Beasts are preparing to unveil the next chapter in their career with the release of their new album, Smother on May 10th. The band have released the first single from the album, “Albatross,” a track washed with sonic layers and textures of abstract sounds combined to form something typically bold and unique.

“Albatross”Wild Beasts from Smother – out May 10th

Teenage Atari Riot sent over this new single, “Blood In My Eyes” as a teaser for the band’s forthcoming album, Is This Hyperreal?, set to be released this summer. The track is a riveting electronic punk rock diatribe, paying homage to the feminine retributive subtexts espoused by cult films like Kill Bill and heavily censored French art-house film Baise-Moi.

“Blood In My Eyes” Teenage Atari Riot from Is This Hyperreal?

Oakland indie rockers Man/Miracle have a fresh new track – a busy, pop masterpiece, “Don’t Waste It.” It’s a great follow-up to their 2010 blog hit, “Hot Sprawl,” off their debut The Shape of Things.

“Don’t Waste It” Man/Miracle