Suede – Animal Nitrate

Just a bit of a flashback to the ground-breaking moment when Suede shocked the stuffy world of corporate music executives with their deliciously depraved performance of “Animal Nitrate” at the Brits in 1993.

The moment at 3:16 is absolutely priceless, with everyone in tuxedos slack-jawed and incredulously trying to make sense of what just occurred.

Have a gander at the performance below and then check out the clip from the BBC documentary Seven Ages of Rock, which offers the oral history of how this indie band got to the awards show in the first place.

AA Loves – Boy Girl Party

Have you heard the dangerously catchy sounds of Boy Girl Party?

These Brooklyn-based indie rockers know a thing or two about inciting spontaneous dance parties with their sugary sweet vocals, infectious whistles, and thumping bass lines.

Stream “Be A Jerk,” the lead single from their EP Dear Dear, and head over to bandcamp to score your free download.

Nice Weather For Ducks – 2012

To be honest, I can’t say I know much about Nice Weather for Ducks other than what I’ve been able to transcribe from their site into poorly worded English.

According to Google Translate, as I don’t speak The Portuguese, their sound is inspired by the coming Mayan apocalypse in 2012 and they’re currently building an ark with preferential placement to those with generators.

Apocalypse or not, I’m definitely hopping on a party boat with Nice Weather For Ducks. Taken from their aptly named album Quack, “2012” is a bit like Freelance Whales backed by a 16-bit video game system. Lush layers of sound wriggle and collide with one another to form a cuddly pile of expansive Indie pop.

Check out the video for "2012" below.

Debbie

Beliefs – Catch My Breath

Like a swift kick to the groin, Beliefs pack a serious wallop.

On “Catch My Breath,” this quintet from Toronto combine violent thrashing guitars with dreamy, washed out lyrics. The intro alone is worth the price of admission with a solitary feedback driven guitar that is eventually joined by a thumping bass drum and Tarantino-esque Western guitars that soon descend into the orchestrated chaos of shoe gaze.

The two song “untitled” single is currently out now on No Pain In Pop/Hand Drawn Dracula. Listen below and head over to Hand Drawn Dracula to grab your copy.  

Golden Silvers – Arrows of Eros

Flashback Friday all the way to 2009 with the short-lived Golden Silvers and their glittery brand of 80s disco pop.

Beware spontaneous dance parties may form when the following links are clicked.

Alison

Widowspeak – Ballad Of the Golden Hour

Excuse me as I pick my jaw up from off the floor, the sultry sounds of Widowspeak has filled me with far too much indecent happiness.

Channeling the sizzling sex appeal of a forlorn Nancy Sinatra, Widowspeak is the perfect backdrop for a Sergio Leone film. Dusty roads, lost loves, empty bottles of bourbon – Brooklyn’s Widowspeak churns out evocative emotional rides through the desert.

This is seriously amazing ish and the good news is that they've got a brand new album, Almanac, due out on January 22 via Captured Tracks.

Have a listen to the first single off their new album "Ballad of the Golden Hour," a guitar-driven Fleetwood Mac-tinted tale of time and yearning, as well as my personal favorite, "Gun Shy," which is clearly from the Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra School of Awesome.

San Cisco - Nepal

San Cisco, those loveable Aussies, are back with “Nepal,” a brand new cut off their debut self-titled LP.

Despite their youthful appearance, this Indie-pop quartet churns out tightly packed, adorably dreamy tracks sprinkled with catchy hooks, bright guitars, and airy synths.

Be sure to grab their self-titled LP which just dropped on November 23^rd, and if you haven’t already be sure to snag their EP Awkward.

Oh and just for the hell of it, here’s a clip from one of my favorite San Cisco jams, “Girls Do Cry,” from their EP Golden Revolver.

Hello Ocho – Party On A Raincloud

Check out the latest band to emerge from Atlanta, Hello Ocho,  who make insanely good experimental pop in the vein of Devandra Barnhart.

Lushly layered, sensual, smooth, and carnal, “Party On a Raincloud” sounds a bit like if Wu Lyf were really into tribal drumming, yoga, and kombucha and wanted to make a spiritual hymn to the gods of nature.

Check out the video, which was shot in a cave in Georgia and features a naked chorus, which means it’s not quite safe for work. At the same time, they’re not having an orgy or anything, they’re just sitting and singing peacefully in a cave.

Namaste? More like Namasty – yea, that one got away from me. Anyways, watch the video it's frickin good.

John and Jehn – Time For The Devil

I'm still reeling from the Savages' show at Mercury Lounge a few weeks ago and started to do a bit of digging into this enigmatic band and found lead singer Jehny Beth’s other project John & Jehn, a killer New Wave duo with some absurdly catchy tunes.

Bear with me if you like totally know this, but I couldn’t help but wonder how Savages was able to erupt onto the scene as full-fledged force of nature, and the fact that Savages co-founder and guitarist Gemma Thompson backed up Jehny Beth and her partner in crime John aka Nicolas Conge during their UK tour a few years back explains a lot.

Anyhoo, check out John & Jehn’s killer “Time For The Devil,” the title track off their second album as well as “And We Run.” Oh yea, and aside from their two killer albums, John & Jehn started the Pop Noire record label which Savages and LESCOP are signed to. NBD, they just kinda of sort of do it all.

The Murlocs – Tee Pee

The Murlocs, five scoundrels from Down Under, churn out some serious blues rock. Their leering blues harp, twinges of Wanda Jackson rockabilly, and southern twang, just scream out for a Marlboro, a Budweiser, and a shot of whiskey.

Stream their debut EP below and be sure to head over to bandcamp to grab your copy.

The Kills On Tour

Have a gander at these photos of The Kills on tour, taken by none other than Alison and Jamie themselves. For the full album, head over to Facebook.

The Interest Group – The Passenger

The Interest Group makes some serious throwback psychedelic folk a la Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood. Their mellow rhythms, gorgeous Connie Francis-esque vocals, Lithium haze, and ghostly organs will have you questioning whether this is really 2012.

The Foreign Films – Sweet Sorrow

Piano-driven pop hasn’t been done this well in a long time.

On The Foreign Films’ latest single “Sweet Sorrow” the genius and inspiration of the Beatles, Todd Rundgren, and Ben Folds Five can be clearly heard. Lush layers, immaculately arranged instrumentation, a catchy piano hook, fiery electric guitar lines, and extreme musicality make for one helluva song.

Have a listen below and head over to bandcamp where you can score a free download.

Van She - Jamaica

Because sometimes you just need some glittery 80's-tastic dance-floor bangers to make life okay.

Taken from Van She's latest album Idea of Happiness, out now on Modular People.

 

Allison

La Sera – Real Boy/Drive On

I know I’m really late on this one, but have you seen the video for La Sera’s “Real Boy/Drive On?”

The video is an amazing split feature in the style of Planet Terror/Deathproof. La Sera aka Katy Goodman of Vivian Girls, leaps visually from gauze-filtered vaudevillian flash back to grindhouse terror and aurally from sugary sweet 50s pop to dark 60s-inspired noir a la David Lynch meets Link Wray.

It’s well worth the 4 minutes and 45 seconds of your day, so do yourself a favor and just click play. Your welcome.

VOTE!

Get out there and vote today. I've taken the last few days off work to help some buddies out on the campaign trail in New Hampshire to make sure Barry O gets another shot at the title, so the least y'alls can do is take the time to vote! Seriously, you're an asshole if you don't vote.

Lowlakes – Cold Company

Check out the icy smooth sounds of Australia’s Lowlakes.

Apparently “Cold Company” has been compared to “everything from Sigur Ros to Antony & The Johnsons,” but as far as vocals go, all I hear is late career comeback Cher (think Cher’s effects-laden vocals on “Believe” and her signature slides) – and as someone who loves Cher in all her fabulousness, I mean that in the best of ways.

Now let’s quickly and quietly move past the fact that I’ve just outed myself as a Cher fan and on to the fact that Lowlakes creates a stirring ethereal mix of cyclical piano lines that collide with a droning guitar over a dark 80’s inspired beat that would have been perfect for the Drive soundtrack.

Have a gander at the mesmerizing video below.

The Growl – Smoke It Down

The Growl recently released the video for the slow-burning “Smoke It Down.”

Their brand of sensuous blues rock reeks of stale beer and sweat, and is filled with dark, roiling voodoo guitar lines and a thrumming drum line that shakes your soul.

Have a gander at the hypnotically depraved video for “Smoke It Down” below. Their self-released EP Cleaver Leaver is out now.

The Kills – I Call It Art

As blasphemous as it is to say, I must make the bold claim that this Kills rendition of “I Call It Art,” is even better than the original. Sorry Mr. Gainsbourg, the original vocals just didn’t do the hypnotic melody justice, while Allison Mosshart nails it with her dark sultry voice.

AA Loves – Elliot & the Ghost

Curse these metal hands! Well, not so much my metal hands as my life-consuming day job that keeps me from getting through the deluge of emails I get from bands in a timely manner (also ten points if you caught that reference).

Anyhoo, I’m terribly upset with myself for missing out on Brooklyn’s own Elliot & The Ghost at CMJ this year.

From The Beatles-tinted “Last Days” to “Cruel Treats,” a smoldering piece of dark blues rock that’s perfect for a Tarantino-esque cannonball run through the cool desert night, Elliot & The Ghost prove to be a unique mix of blues, folk, and southern rock.

Depending on how you look at it, this four-piece is either an indie-folk band steeped in diesel, stale beer, and cheap bourbon or a dirty blues rock band that’s really into jangling 60’s rock. Either way, Elliot & The Ghost mean business, so stream their debut EP Dark Days below and be sure to head over to bandcamp to pick up a digital copy.