the smith westerns: the smith westerns

There are a lot of bands/records out there that sound very similar to The Smith Westerns’ self-titled debut—lo-fi noisy sound and distorted vocals... and I am a huge sucker for this kind of music as it reminds me so much of some of my favouite punk/hardcore bands from the 80s. So, with its No Age and Wavves-like laidback garage/noise punk attitude mixed with the catchy retro style of Black Lips, The Smith Westerns turns out to be quite a fine record!

Gimme Some Time
Diamond Boys

visit The Smith Westerns' MySpace here
buy The Smith Westerns here

telepathe: dance mother

It was their brilliantly catchy song, "Chrome's On" It that introduced me to Brooklyn’s duo, Telepathe. Although the rest of Dance Mother, Telepathe’s debut is not nearly as catchy or dancey, it is still a fantastic avant-garde electro-pop record! Dance Mother reminds me a little of Tegan and Sara (at least in terms of vocal style)... maybe because of the whole female duo thing. On the other hand, the experimentation of tribal-like rhythms, ambient beats, and bold synth melodies are very Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, and The Blow sounding. So, I guess if you like the combination of those bands mentioned above, you should definitely check out Dance Mother!

Chrome's On It [wicked-cool song]
Trilogy



visit Telepathe’s MySpace here
buy Dance Mother here

you're the punk that I've been waiting for

Jamie T released a new video for his forthcoming single "The Man's Machine", out on November 15th.

song of the moment: "the indie queens are waiting" by dan mangan

In addition to his show at The Rivoli tonight, Dan Mangan will be playing a FREE in-store at Criminal Records today at 6pm! Check out this wonderful track from Dan Mangan's sophomore album, Nice, Nice, Very Nice.

Dan Mangan: The Indie Queens Are Waiting [wicked-cool song]



visit Dan Mangan's MySpace here

teenage bottlerocket: they came from the shadows

Teenage Bottlerocket’s forth full-length, They Came From The Shadows is not by any means an out-of-this-world record; it is far from being original and no, it will not change your life. However, it is an extremely entertaining pop-punk album. They Came From The Shadows features 14 fast and awesomely fun 90s pop-punk sounding anthems. I was hooked on this album as soon as I heard the lines "And I did a gnarly boneless while my walkman blasted JFA" in the opening track "Skate Or Die"... any band that references JFA gets my undivided attention! An album does not need to be multi-dimensional to be great, and Teenage Bottlerocket proofed this with their simple yet ultra fun latest, They Came From The Shadows!

Skate Or Die [wicked-cool song]
Without You

visit Teenage Bottlerocket's MySpace here
buy They Came From The Shadows here

the zookeepers: ballin' outrageous

Not only is Ballin' Outrageous by The Zookeepers one of my favourite records of the year, it is also available for free over at the band’s site! Ballin' Outrageous is half an hour of incredible cross-genre journey—from loud screamy vocal ("Ballin' Outrageous") and folk ballads ("Bubbling Brine" and "Mohono") to messy lo-fi noise punk ("Fat Tax") and electro synth pop ("Chicken", "Beautiful World", and "Helio Pause")—it is the most creative record of the year! Another great thing about this record is that it fun, witty, and at times, quite foolish! Ballin' Outrageous is DIY music at its finest... what are you waiting for?! Go discover one of the best albums of 2009 for FREE over at The Zookeepers’ site!

Bubbling Brine [wicked-cool song]
Beautiful World [super-wicked-cool song]



visit The Zookeepers’s MySpace here
download Ballin' Outrageous for free here

fucked up opening for the horrors?

Is Fucked Up opening for The Horrors tonight at Lee's Palace?

From Fucked Up's blog post:

"THIS WEEK IN TORONTO
HINT: IT'S TODAY (WEDNESDAY)

Hey we are doing kind of a warm up show this week in Toronto cause there a few catalogue songs that we haven't actually ever played live yet. We will be playing one of the following shows..."

...and the rest is a long list of shows in Toronto this week. So I went to check out the Lee's Palace's event page and a band called Polaris Pricks is playing just before The Horrors at 10pm. I Googled Polaris Pricks and there's absolutely nothing about them... but wait a minute... Fucked Up just won the Polaris Prize... could it be??? Now I really can't wait for the show!

dead man's bones: dead man's bones

Yes, Dead Man’s Bones is that band featuring actors Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields... so what?! Let’s forget who’s in the band and just focus on the band’s music because it is pretty damn wicked! Dead Man’s Bones’ S/T debut is one surprisingly strange and great record—think Timber Timbre meets Scott Walker meets Benoît Pioulard. The spooky piano melodies, mysterious found sound, echoey vocals and the eerier contribution from the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children's Choir make for the perfect soundtrack to Halloween (the holiday, not the movie). Anti- could not have released Dead Man’s Bones at a better time!

In The Room Where You Sleep [wicked-cool song]
Lose Your Soul [wicked-cool song]

visit Dead Man’s Bones' MySpace here
buy Dead Man’s Bones here

the hidden cameras: origin:orphan

I can’t label myself as a fan of The Hidden Cameras; I love the track "We Oh We" from Mississauga Goddam, but that’s pretty much it. Well... that’s until I heard their brilliant new record, Origin:Orphan. The band’s fifth album begins with a very epic sounding first track, "Ratify The New", which is then contrasted by the poppy single, "In the NA". The first two songs pretty much sum up the entire album—it features a mixture of serious/grand sounding songs as well as cheery pop sensations. This is exactly why I love Origin:Orphan! It offers such a perfect balance between emotional ballads such as "Colour Of A Man" and "Walk On", and the happy-go-lucky/the best song on the album, "Underage". Every song works magically with one another and each one also has the potential to be a hit single! I fell in love with Origin:Orphan while I was hearing it for the first time, and a dozen listens later, I am still highly entertained by it!

Colour Of A Man [wicked-cool song]
Underage [super-wicked-cool song]

visit The Hidden Cameras' MySpace here
buy Origin:Orphan here

song of the moment: "curse of the currents" by said the whale

Check out this cool video by Vancouver's Said The Whale:


Head over to Criminal Records tomorrow (October 9th) at 6pm to see the band play a FREE in-store!

visit Said The Whale's MySpace here