As a former member of rock bands This Robot Life and Color Deluxe, Milwaukee musician Mark Poe, decided to create his own band. In 2007, he took a break from his music studies in college to work on his own music. Four years later in 2011, he set out to form the band, The Directionals, with a group of like-minded “rock and roll junkies,” and fellow music students, he’d met on campus.
The band evolved into what Poe called “an artistic collective and garage rock powerhouse ensemble,” with Bob Schaab on drums, Tory Dewalt on bass, Sean Jurewicz on lead guitar, and himself as lead composer, vocalist, and rhythm guitarist. As with all DIY bands, they will need to work on honing their sound, but we think their brand of garage rock/surf pop is worthy of mention. The Directionals have opened for artists such as Tiger Waves (a great band we’ve featured in the past), Wavvy Hands, Ahab’s Ghost and The Gazettiers, while Poe lists his major musical influences as Arctic Monkeys, Spoon, Buddy Holly, The Ramones, Pinback, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. This is the band’s first single, “Serenade of Fire,” followed by the B-side, “Eyes.”
“Serenade of Fire” – The Directionals from Serenade of Fire single
Double-shot: “Eyes” – The Directionals from Serenade of Fire single
The Directionals Official Website
In 2009, two former members of the disbanded Bristol, England group Porchlight formed Daylight Fireworks, eventually adding two other members. In 2010, the new band released their well-received debut album, Skellington, followed by a six-track EP titled Secretly, We Hope. After the departure of their bass player, the remaining members decided to stay together as a trio. On Friday, Daylight Fireworks will drop their sophomore album, Some Kind of Low, from which we have two lo-fi singles, the title track and the track “Vs.” It’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, nor an earth-shattering record (they have some work to do), but some people might dig the band’s unrefined guitar rock sound. Daylight Fireworks has previously opened for bands like Tellison, Hot Club de Paris, The Crookes, and the Ex-Lovers. Their major musical influences include Pavement, Seafood, and Death Cab For Cutie.
“Some Kind of Low” – Daylight Fireworks from Some Kind of Low
Double-shot: “Vs.” – Daylight Fireworks from Some Kind of Low
Daylight Fireworks Homepage
Cross-Continental Duo, Remember Your Dead, Release Debut Album
The cross-continental duo Remember Your Dead was formed this past summer by long-time Maryland friends, Mario Munoz and Richard Sanchez. The seeds of their collaborative musical effort were planted over a decade ago when they began playing music together with a $10 USB microphone hooked up to a rudimentary computer that is a joke compared to today’s much more powerful PCs and Macs. Together, Munoz and Sanchez crafted moody, melancholic demos that were very rough. Yet over the past decade, they honed their musical and technical skills in the areas of writing, recording, mixing and mastering. In 2010, they joined up with the band Tigertronic and self released an EP.
Soon after, Munoz moved across the continent to Redlands, California, while Sanchez stayed behind in Tacoma Park, and revived a gestating musical project, Panda Sanchez. But the two did not give up on their plans to release their own EP, and this summer, thanks to stunning developments in affordable recording technology, persistence, and the Internet, they achieved their goal. The EP is a melancholic, yet energetic, collection of rock songs, instrumentals, vocal arrangements and moody transitions. The duo sent us two songs from the EP to share with everyone.
“Innuendo Eyes” – Remember Your Dead from Vigilia EP
“After You” – Remember Your Dead from Vigilia EP
Remember Your Dead Official Website
New Releases from Two Down Under Artists, Morning Harvey and Adam George
The Aussie band, Morning Harvey, is a quintet based in Brisbane, Australia. Since forming in 2011, they’ve become fairly popular in their hometown, and increasingly, throughout Australia, for their interesting mix of genres such as psych, “drone,” (obviously not like the remote aerial weapon we read about in the news), dream pop and rock.
Earlier this year, the band recorded their debut EP with the popular Australian producer Yanto Browning (Art of Sleeping, The Medics, Tara Simmons). They’ve also opened for bands like Cut Off Your Hands, Bass Drum Of Death, Expatriate and the Bleeding Knees Club. They dropped their new single, “Don’t Try It,” earlier this week. The song, a psych alternative rock track inspired by drone rock and fused with hazy reverb and atmospheric guitar hooks, airy melodies and soaring vocals, is the lead single from the EP. The band lists their top musical influences as Tame Impala, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Dandy Warhols and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Next, Sydney, Australia, singer-songwriter Adam George creates a minimalistic style of pop with gorgeous melodies and dreamy vocals as the single, “Clocks,” clearly demonstrates.
“Don’t Try It” – Morning Harvey from Don’t Try It EP
“Clocks” – Adam George from Black Rainbow EP