All I Find Is Wasted Time

Hello gents and gentlies. I have a spare minute this morning, so I thought I'd try to do a quick post of things before I have to go paint for four hours! First of all, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Mine was spent finishing the pile of homework that built up over spring break, so that was a blast. Alright, first item of business would be... new Bridal Shop 7" on Cloudberry! They've got the a-side "Violation" streaming on their MySpace right now and it might just be their best tune yet. I love the way it just kind of explodes into a blast of guitar and drum machine at the beginning, it's so bright and beautiful! Order it over at Cloudberry Records. New Summer cats single coming up on Cloudberry, too, but more on that later...

Next, brand new – and excellent – EPs from both Northern Portrait and The Electric Pop Group are out now on Matinee. Northern Portrait's The Fallen Aristocracy EP is just perfect classic jangly pop songs. The lead track "Crazy," in particular, reminds me quite of The Smiths... could be the guitars, could be the vocals, maybe both?! The Electric Pop Group's Sunrise EP treads most of the same ground as their self-titled record from last year (very late 2006, rather), but, to me, that's quite alright because it's the type of ground that would have likely secured them a spot on Sarah Records in a different time. "This Is A Town" grabs me the same way "Walk Away" did just months ago, which means it wont be letting go for a while. They're both only five bucks each! Go get 'em!

Then there's The Sound of Arrows. Don't know too much about them, but they're Swedish, and they've got an new EP on the way on Labrador, and apparently they're leading Swedish pop into the next decade... we'll see about that, bur for now, I'll definitely say that this is some pretty fun stuff! The EP's title track "Danger!" sounds like some brilliantly dancey blend of Jens Lekman and Saint Etienne... which as anyone could imagine, is an amazing combination! The EP will be out May 7th! For now, listen (and dance) to "Danger!"

[MP3]: The Sound of Arrows :: Danger! (Hiiiiighly Rec'd!!!)

Finally, in less recent news, I've been listening to "Sickening" by The Sweetest Ache almost completely on repeat since I woke up today. What an amazing song it is...

[MP3]: The Sweetest Ache :: Sickening (Very Highly Recommended!)

Have a lovely day!
xoxo

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Club 8: "Leave The North"

Club 8

After having it close by my side for several months now, I can confidently say that Club 8's The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming (their second album with the same name as a TVPs record, hmm...) will definitely end up being one of my top 10 favorite records of the year – possibly even top five. I've written about how awesome it is once already, but I wanted to share another song with you guys, on the off chance you're still not convinced of the album's greatness. The album's full of a lot of different style's: the dance-y, hand clapping "Whatever You Want"; the Brazilian samba of "Heaven"; and the sheer hazy beauty of this song, my current favorite track, "Leave The North." Seriously, soooooooo sad and gorgeous.

[MP3]: Club 8 :: Leave The North (Very VERY Recommended!!)

The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming is out now on Sweden's Labrador Records.
Club 8 on MySpace!

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Whatever You Want From Me, Whoever I Try To Be...

Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård are Club 8.

Until I was recently made aware by both Charles over at Heartache with Hardwork and Tom at Indie MP3, I was completely oblivious to the fact that... THERE'S A NEW CLUB 8 RECORD COMING OUT! Color me absolutely psyched! Here's the first single from their new record supposedly by the same name and supposedly coming out soon on Labrador (though they have yet to mention it on their website).

[MP3]: Club 8 :: Whatever You Want (Highly Reccommended!!)
Can I please get a huge "YESSSSSSS" for the handclaps in this song?! It's like, "oh here's our extra chorus of hands, they're going to be our percussive melody now." It's exactly like that, assuming that percussive is actually a word. Also great is the fact that Karolina's vocals -- like always -- are sweeter than a glass of lemonade with extra sugar sitting in a bowl full of sugar on a summer day when it's raining sugar but still sunny out. LISTEN NOW.

Club 8 on MySpace!

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The Mary Onettes

The Mary Onettes standing/sitting on some majestic hill.

Since I've been covering the Popfest lineup pretty much for the past week or so, I haven't really had much time to mention some of the things I've been seriously enjoying lately. One of those things is Sweden's Mary Onettes and their debut self-titled record. This year has already been a fantastic year for pop and it just keeps getting better. Think of a modern indiepop version of A-ha mixed with a bit of The Wake and earlier JAMC and that's pretty much The Mary Onettes in a nutshell.

The record's got a dark feel to it, but not dark enough to the point where you'd only be able to listen to it at night. The record's first single, "Void", is lush, driving track and like most of the rest of the record, it moves along on top of a super solid bassline. Though the song doesn't neccesarily rely on it, it sure as hell enhances it, adding a bit of urgency to the vocals that ultimately makes the song much more powerful. I really used to love describing music and now I just hate everything I write, so I guess I'll stop now, but I really think you should listen to this and if you like it then you should probably pick up the record cause it's really really good.

[MP3]: The Mary Onettes :: Void (Highly Recommended Okay!)

Buy The Mary Onettes from Labrador Records!

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