Her’s a cut off of punk revivalists The Men upcoming record “Open Your Heart,” their follow up to one of my favorites of last year, “Leave Home.” This track is clearer than the tracks on the previous album, but it still holds that traditional, old-school punk feel with the distorted guitars and fast-paced drums kicking up a furious whirlwind of energy and noise. Check this one out and look for The Men’s new album coming out on March 6th.
Have an open-hearted day!
First off we have a song from Daniel Rossen, the frontman of the great band Grizzly Bear. This track is quite bare, featuring mostly just a piano line and Rossen’s sweet vocals. Just so melancholic and stripped, a genuine plead for forgiveness or something like that. Let’s put it this way: it’s by a member of Grizzly Bear, so it’s already bound to be amazing. Listen & download, please.
dl.soundowl.com/2mhj.mp3
Trailer Trash Tracys lit up the blogs of last year with their single “Dies in 55” which featured floaty vocals, sugary arpeggiating synths and plush bass lines. “Candy Girl” sounds almost like a tribute to sounds of the 80’s and 90’s with Jesus and Mary Chain or Joy Division, with tons of reverb on everything, echoing drums and a constant, dizzying riff going throughout the song. I love it, hope you do too!
Tennis’ more polished sound that’s going to be featured on this new album of theirs is getting me all excited. I loved their debut album, but this maturation of sound, ditching the fuzziness of some parts and embracing a more clean and direct approach is amazing. Case and point is this song: sweet as sugar and perfect for a summer day on the sea. Tennis, don’t stop what you’re doing.
Have a great day, everyone!
SLEIGH BELLS.
I don’t know about you, but the words “Sleigh Bells” loosely translate to “badass” in my mind whenever I hear them. This becomes difficult and when people are talking about Christmas or other wintery affairs. This video just cements the badass feel to Sleigh Bells, featuring Alexis Krauss jumping on a bed with a gun, dancing, leather jackets, Derek Miller on a skateboard, lens flares, Krauss with blonde hair, varsity jackets, Ray-Ban Wayfarers, and MORE. The song is also sick. SO there’s that.
Since I can’t embed things on here, watch the video at MTV.
Have a badass day, everyone!
Hey y’all!
New Tennis track out here from their upcoming album “Young and Old” produced by Patrick Carney of The Black Keys. Sweet mamma jamma this is a bamma. Well, I’ll stop that now, forever. Listen to it on Blahblahblahscience
Have a nice, Tennis-filled day!
Hey all,
Here’s a new Andrew Bird song from his upcoming album, “Break It Yourself” coming out March 6th.
Have a nice day!
Hello all!
Well, this is the first album review that I’m posting on Combo Breaker Kid of 2012 and it’s a GOOD ONE.
Cloud Nothings have been known to create fuzzy, simple pop songs with catchy hooks and laid back vibes. Dylan Baldi was sick of this simple song format and decided to write some emotionally dense music with sharper edges and a more aggressive attempt to make a “music album” to quote Baldi in his interview with Pitchfork. The band enlisted punk legend Steve Albini (Big Black, Shellac) to help produce the record, although apparently he didn’t do much with it, according to that same Pitchfork interview.
Nevertheless, this album blew me away the first time I listened to it. Actually, it blows me away every time I listen to it. The first song is a trip in itself: “No Future/No Past” starts off with a minimal piano line that slowly crashes into a huge, powerful, screaming fit. This first song really cements the band’s new sound and their goals they want to put across to their listeners.
The second song, “Wasted Days” starts off with a sweet guitar riff that evokes the band’s music inspirations like Sunny Day Real Estate or other “emo” bands from the 90’s. It’s catchy like their previous songs, but it actually holds a substantial amount of weight, instead of the floating pop songs that they crafted previously. Then there’s a long instrumental break that doesn’t seem forced or out of place at all, because it’s just a smokescreen for a gigantic, chaotic buildup that ends with Baldi screaming his lungs out with “I thought I would be more than this.” Powerful stuff.
Other standouts include the purely instrumental track “Separation” which is one of the more invigorating tracks on the record, featuring some extremely skilled tune-writing work by the band; “Stay Useless,” probably the poppiest track on the album but that still holds the aggressive edge that the album had going; and “Cut You” which has pretty emo-like lyrics and features a nice fusion of the cool punk sound with a pop feel.
This album really will stick with you after the first listen and I would not doubt that it will appear in the Top 50 of 2012.
STANDOUT TRACKS: No Future/No Past, Wasted Days, Stay Useless, Separation, No Sentiment, Cut You
Have a fantastic day!
Hello friends;
Miike Snow have released another song from their upcoming second album, Happy to You, called “Paddling Out.” Got that signature Miike Snow sound with upbeat, danceable percussion and synth patterns with the high pitched vocals. It’s a pretty good banger, check em out if you’re really into that stuff.
Have a nice day!
Woo new really good tracks!
This track… is very nice. I’m not really the biggest connoisseur when it comes to hip-hop, but when I find a really good track that I like, I’m all over it. The layering of the Kid Cudi cover sample and the tight rapping of Q and Rocky is excellent. Seriously, go listen to this if you don’t totally shun hip-hop.
I didn’t really dig Lower Dens’ debut album in 2010, but this I can get into. The song structure is a giant buildup, which is always a sticky deal. Sometimes they can be disappointing, but when they’re pulled off successfully, they can be so, so sweet, like this song.
Have a nice day!
Hello!
One of my anticipated albums of 2012, Chairlift’s album “Something,” is available to stream at KCRW until the album is released on January 24th! So go hit that up! It’s a good album!
Have a great day!
Hey guys
You can stream this album again. It’s really really good, so I support you listening to it.
So yeah, do it.
It’s really good.
Do it. Yo.
Warm Visions 