Harlem

Meet Harlem from Texas. Cool poprocks tunes. Their name has been floating around since their first release Free Drugs ;-), but I didn't mention them because they're title is so similar to Harlem Shakes, one of my personal favorites who have since broken up.

Thankfully, Harlem doesn't sound much like The Shakes.

Their second release Hippies is due out on Matador Records April 6 and they're on a small club tour now.

Hippies' single free, courtesy of Matador:

“Friendly Ghost” (192k mp3)

TWEES

The Twees are this really adorable three-piece indie pop-rock band from New York.
Their backing is super light and Strokes-inspired; the vocals are deep and have Kapranos written all over them. And there's something just a little off about their guitar parts for whatever reason, which makes them a pretty fun and memorable listen.

Stream their four song EP "Lessons to Connect" on myspace.

BOAT

Check out Seattle's indie pop-rock group BOAT.
Their debut album Setting the Paces is a lot of fun and pretty good.

MYSPACE.COM/BOATMUSIC

VIDEO: Tokyo Police Club - "Hands Reversed"

New Tokyo Police Club: Hands Reversed

Really lovely track, although it does seem like they might be starting to become pretty influenced by their friends Born Ruffians. Anyway, hopefully they will keep it as is - it's very strong in its acoustic form.

TPC's follow-up album to Elephant Shell is in production, but no details of release have been announced.

Shoestrung Short

The Shoestrung are a cool, rock and roll + Beatles inspired group of Londoners.
Check them out!

Free tracks on Bandcamp
myspace.com/theshoestrung

Timing is Everything

Julian Casablancas released another track from his solo album Phrazes for the Young (RCA, USA 11/3) recently: "River of Brakelights". It's sort of creepy, but the arrangement is genius.

Listen via Myspace
Hypem

Free Write

Penpal is an indie duo from Chicago.
They sound a little like Bombay Bicycle Club, but stripped completely of BBC's punk/rock influences. Their debut is mostly instrumental music..great for studying.

Grab said debut for free at penpalmusic.com

Holiday Shores

Holiday Shores are a band from Florida.
They're coming to play their pleasantly floaty indie at the CMJ Music Festival here in New York, which is a pretty big accomplishment/deal for little groups like these guys.

Try Phones Don't Feud:
myspace.com/holidayshoresmusic

The Coast

Bands with the word 'coast' involved in their name often get lost in the shuffle (Best Coast, Envy on the Coast, Ruby Coast, Right Coast, The C.O.A.S.T., etc...)

So naturally a band with the most stripped down version of coast, The Coast, would get noted but passed up. But these Toronto natives shouldn't go by the fan of Canadian indie pop rock.

Listen for yourself on their myspace.
Try Tightrope and Killing Off Our Friends.

VIDEO: Born Ruffians - New Song

Born Ruffians play a new song at Le Poisson Rouge in New York.
This was for WARP Records' 20th birthday party, and was the culmination of several events all weekend around the city. Hundred in the Hands and Jamie Lidell also preformed.

Sounds great, the prospects of their new album are very exciting...

Healthcare for your iPod

Portland's experimental dreamy-pop band Nurses are back with their second LP,
Apple's Acre. It has very pretty album art.
The tracks roll softy and it's an easy listen. Fans of Akron/Family, French Kicks or innovative music in general shouldn't miss this!

They are currently on a continental double club tour.
If you're of age, they're apparently very good live.

[hypem] Nurses- Technicolor

New Vampire Weekend Songs

Hopefully the new album's coming soon! We'll keep you updated.

"Run" in Montreal (8/2/09)

"Cousins" in Copenhagen (8/13/09)

This page is coming along; still in the process of finalizing design though.

LA ROUX: THE NEW KAREN O?

Big hype around La Roux, an electropop duet from London.
They played at All Points West yesterday on the small stage and
are releasing their self-titled debut on September 29 in the US.
There's just a really cool KO vibe about La Roux. Maybe the
next icon! We'll see..definitely keep an eye on this group.

La Roux Myspace
La Roux on Hype Machine

scrooge

Arctic Monkeys, your favorite kids from Sheffield, are
back and pressing their new album Humbug like
woah. We're talking big tour (including headlining
several festivals in Europe and the US) and a special
online gig via their official website to showcase tracks
from the album on July 30 at 9pm BST.

Trailer for the gig here.
Your concert time HERE

WOAH

Guys.

Julian Casablancas is alive.
And releasing.

Apparently he's going to be putting his album, Phrazes for the Young, out in the fall on RCA, followed by "a special series of U.S. dates shortly to be followed by a solo tour later in the year."
Nuts.


JULIANCASABLANCAS.COM

set em wild, set em wild

Everyone should get the new-ish Akron/Family release Set Em Wild, Set Em Free. It's a beautiful experimental indie-rock album. Very interesting music, there's a wide range of style on this record that just..works. And it has the best cover art ever. (Dunno, I'm not a nationalist or anything but there's something inherently appealing about it)

NPSH

Did anyone see V-For-Vendetta?

It was realist-scary.
Real scary.

Remember the time Natalie Portman shaved her head in that same movie?
Remember how it kinda started a cult around her baldness?

Band names were apparently no exception.

Pictured above, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head,
(aka NPSH) an electro-pop/rock outfit from Seattle.

They sound like Hail Social & The Virgins, with a little bit of Lonely Island-esque joking lyrics mixed into some of the tracks. They're on a big big big mostly 18/21+ summer tour right now. If you can stand the hipsters, check them out!

NPSH MYSPACE

It's Lizto-may-nia

Ok ok ok ok regarding the new Phoenix album:
(thankfully it lived up to the insane amount of media hype)

It was solid. Alright more than solid. Just taking the album as is, without the previous studio releases in mind, they delivered with some seriously well done rhythm guitar based pop-rock. However, it seems like they're still a little confused about their sound. This group is really a chameleon of sorts: their acclaimed sophomore album Alphabetical was 100% electronic and it came through on the album, especially in the oddball track 'Fences'.

All and all it was a pretty enjoyable and fun release.
They're on tour now, check them out if you can!

Grizzly B!

Grizzly Bear has been been tearing up the mainstream media lately + is coming out this Tuesday with their third studio album, Veckatimest. For those who are unfamiliar with them, they're in the same vein as Animal Collective, but way more accessible and lo-fi. Anyway it should be really good and a review of their new work with most definitely be posted.

Invest in the discography, would you?
grizzly bear myspace

BLEED

New Animal Collective! Recorded live in DC.
MP3: Animal Collective-Bleed