Good Weather For Airstrikes

Straight outta Jacksonville, it’s the best new American band since Vampire Weekend, the awesomely-monikered Black Kids. I’d say that Black Kids are the only good band to come out of Jacksonville, like, ever, but as a classy-looking fellow who overheard me discussing Black Kids with a friend of mine in the grocery store hastened to remind me, Jacksonville can also be credited with shitting out Limp Bizkit back in the 90’s. So yeah, Black Kids are pretty much the best Jacksonville band ever.

As for the name, there is technically only one “whole” Black Person in the band, as brother-sister vocalists Reggie and Ali Youngblood are half-black, half filipino, but none of that really matters - let’s just get to the music. It’s awesome. Like, really really awesome. Like a less morose Robert Smith meets The Go! Team shouts and some bad-ass 80’s synths awesome. It’s pretty indie-pop, almost twee at times… I mean, “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You” could easily be a Los Campesinos! song with its playful subject matter and instrumentation, and it’s going to make for one hell of a debut single when it inevitably headlines a release in the not-too-distant future. It’s one of the best tracks I’ve heard in a minute and the unquestionable highlight of the band’s Wizard of Ahhhhhs demo EP, which is available for download in its entirety from the band’s MySpace page. The quality isn’t exactly ideal, but there’s no doubt that there’s still something very special that shines through on these demo tracks.

Despite virtually no touring experience and very few shows outside of the Jacksonville area, a sensational performance at Georgia’s Athens Popfest got the blogs buzzing and left Black Kids the toast of the festival. A few important folks in the UK took note - further proof that blogs really can get a band a record deal (*cough* Vampire Weekend *cough*) - and now they’re one of the most sought-after bands on the market. And for good reason - all four tracks on the EP are incredibly impressive, and though “Not Gonna Teach” is the undeniable chart-topper of the bunch, the other three have all spent time in heavy rotation on my iPod as well. “I’ve Underestimated My Charm (Again)” is my current favorite, so it gets the nod for posting along with “Not Gonna Teach” below, but you’d be a fool not to hit their MySpace and download the rest of the tracks. With an EP showing virtually limitless promise and write-ups in both Pitchfork and NME already to their name - not to mention Arcade Fire’s manager on their team - Black Kids are set to do very big things very very soon. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

MP3s:
“I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend…” - Black Kids ((highly recommended))
“I’ve Underestimated My Charm (Again)” - Black Kids ((highly recommended))

It’s a really exciting time at Frenchkiss Records, what with the new Les Savy Fav record getting ridiculously good reviews and the band touring solidly outside NYC for the first time in years. But before they skip town they’re rocking a few more venues around the city, and I had the pleasure of catching them at the Music Hall of Williamsburg last Friday. And… they were AWESOME. There were costumes, streamers, confetti and cameos by SNL star Fred Armisen and even Bunny. Remarkably, I’d only seen them twice before, but this was by far the best show I’ve seen of their to date. Maybe it was because half their set was comprised of material off the new album (which I really fucking love, by the way), or maybe it was because I moshed harder and longer than I have since, like, 10th grade. Whatever the reason, it was not a show to be forgotten and has me even more excited than I ever thought possible for their Randall’s Island show on the 6th of October with Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem.

MP3: “The Sweat Descends” - Les Savy Fav ((highly recommended))

The new album, Let’s Stay Friends, dropped last Tuesday and it’s all kinds of excellent, a severely pleasant surprise considering there was a time not too long ago when it looked like this record might not come to fruition. Singles “Patty Lee” and “What Would Wolves Do?” are two of the band’s catchiest tracks ever, the latter standing out as my favorite song on the album, no contest. A few tracks - including “Wolves” - employ drum machines on the record, allowing the band to access a new, more danceable sound than on previous recordings that adds a whole new dimension to their sound. Sadly those tracks were forsaken in the live setting because, as Syd explained to me before the show, they haven’t quite figured out how to play them with an actual living drummer yet. But burners like “The Equestrian” and “Raging In The Plague Age” more than made up for it, the latter straight killing it as one of the most bad-ass tracks I’ve ever heard in a live setting. So yeah, see this band while you still can; Les Savy Fav are touring less and less these days, and you wouldn’t want to miss your chance to see one of the best live bands in history do their thing in their while they’re still in their prime. There’s still about 8,000 tickets available for the Randall’s Island show on the 6th and I can assure you it’ll be absolutely ABSURD, so get on it, will you? Oh and buy the record. Thanks.

MP3s:
“What Would Wolves Do?” - Les Savy Fav ((highly recommended))
“Raging In The Plague Age” - Les Savy Fav

Likely heir apparents to the British piano-rock throne, the Rushes’ sound falls somewhere between the Fray and Air Traffic. Now, that sentence alone is probably enough for you to close the page and go back to jacking off to whatever I Guess I’m Floating posted this week, but WAIT - I promise this is actually really good. Better than good, even; their self-titled digital-only debut EP is actually one of my favorite releases of the year.

Featuring four able-bodied vocalists including frontman/guitarist Gerard O’Connell and singer-pianist Dan Armstrong, the Rushes aren’t doing anything terribly new, they’re just doing it really fucking well. O’Connell knows how to use his impassioned, ivory-backed vocals to elicit a significant emotional connection from the listener and said connection is only heightened by Armstrong’s wistful keys work. Basically, this is ideal music for brooding 15 year-olds who omg-just-got-totally-dumped to sneak into their backyards and smoke cigarettes to at night to. That said, these are fucking great pop songs.

“Ripping It Down” is the obvious single and most immediate track of the bunch because, simply put: it’s catchy as shit. Assuming you can get past that incredibly (incredibly) lame 24-second intro, you’re in for a treat: a hyper-addictive chorus, wonderful piano-driven melodies and percussion far superior to that normally found on tracks by bands of their ilk (just wait for that closing drum freak-out at the end). “Will You Won’t You” narrowly edges out “What You Waiting For” as the next best thing here, though both are every bit as good as the A-side (though not as catchy), if not better. All three B-sides come to a distinct emotional climax in which a particularly emotive (and typically fairly cliche) lyric rises above the rest of the verses in an impassioned vocal outburst that generally sums up the entire idea of the song in what appears to have become the Rushes’ signature “moment”, if you will. For example, “Will You Won’t You” revolves around that classic night-out dilemma (Will our protagonist be able to seal the deal with his new love interest?) and the song’s essential climax comes when the instrumentation drops out and all the energy of the track comes to a head with a desperate, “Is it gonna happen?!”. It’s one of the individual highlights of an EP that’s excellent all the way through, with the weakest track - if you can even call it that - coming in the form of “Get The Feeling”, a song that’s nothing to sneeze at in its own right.

Sure, the Rushes will probably go the way of Ghosts and Air Traffic before them after teaming up with a big-shot producer and realizing they could easily access Coldplay-esque stratospheres of fame, but between their debut EP and the tracks on their MySpace (I’m particular, er, taken by “Easily Taken”), there’s more than enough reason to get excited about the Rushes in the meantime.

MP3s:
“Ripping It Down” - The Rushes ((highly recommended))
“Will You Won’t You” - The Rushes ((highly recommended))

During my six-week stay in London this summer, I saw A LOT of great live bands, but none better than Brooklyn’s own White Rabbits. Ironic, given my love for/obsession with British music, that the highlight of my trip (Daft Punk aside) would be a performance by a band from my own stomping grounds, but the unparalleled intensity and controlled wrecklessness of the Rabbits’ live show was not to be fucked with. Their debut LP, Fort Nightly, is undoubtedly excellent from start to finish, failing only in that it can’t replicate the intense passion of their live show. One track, however, stands apart from the rest in its ability to capture the emotion of White Rabbits’ live set, and it’s the album’s stand-out track as a result. Released earlier this year on Say Hey Records and now seeing release as a single in the UK on XL Recordings’ esteemed Young Turks imprint, “The Plot” is one of the best tracks of the year and definitely worth writing home about.

It takes off at 100 miles per hour from square one, double-tracked drums both setting the rampant pace for the track and driving home vocalist Greg Roberts’ impassioned lyrics of domestic abuse in a relationship gone wrong. It’s a crash course in momentum and manic pacing, a four-minute test of endurance with impressive lyrical depth that’s just icing on the cake. The driving guitars and percussion that make up the track’s grandiose rhythm section let up only for a moment in the bridge, allowing the keys to take center stage while Roberts’ delivers the songs most visceral lyric: “You’re hiding in the sheets/I work hard so we can have nice things/You’re not even dressed/The house is such a mess”. Then it’s “He’s! Not! Impressed!” and the song roars back with that climactic, soaring and endlessly-addictive “woe-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” chorus, perhaps the most unforgettable of the year (save for maybe “Paper Planes”), and the rest is history. There are really no flaws with this track, and if White Rabbits can do a better job of translating the energetic passion of “The Plot” and their live show to future records they’ll be a force to reckon with in the years to come.

The B-side is Fort Nightly lead-off gem “Kid On My Shoulders”, a track that wouldn’t feel out of place in the Cold War Kids’ repertoire, all jangly piano riffs, maracas and cymbal crashes. Though it pales in comparison to the A-side, it’s one of the album’s other standouts and could do just fine as a single in its own right, making this a record definitely worth adding to your collection. I’d feel badly about giving both sides of the record up for download, but Say Hey’s already giving them away on their own site, so why the fuck not. Get your download on below and be sure to check out the band’s self-made video (basically their summer tour diary in hyperspeed) while you’re at it.

MP3s:
“The Plot” - White Rabbits ((highly recommended))
“Kid On My Shoulders” - White Rabbits

HELLO!

It’s been forever, I know, but don’t hate me - it was DEREK who kept us apart! But I digress… anyway, as all zero of you probably know, I’m a little obsessed with Beck. I’ve been for a really long time (like, since I was 11), but then The Information came out. The first time I heard “Timebomb,” it was as if Beck called me and was like, “Hey, Rya… sorry I dropped such a mediocre album last year. I made this new song just for you and I hope you dance by yourself to it in your room and listen to it on repeat all the fucking time.” I can’t really put a finger on what “era” of Beck’s music this most resembles, but that’s not a bad thing; at long last, he’s moved towards a more palatable (listenable?) musical direction. Oh, it also sounds a little bit like “North American Scum,” but about 19 squillion times better - I think it’s the lady back-up singers that made me draw the parallel. Basically, if this song doesn’t rise to the top of your play counter on your iTunes within the first 12 hours you’ve had it, I will buy you a drink (an alcoholic one, because I’m legal).

MP3: “Timebomb” - Beck

While I’m at it, I’ll throw in another Beck song I love. I don’t necessarily get down to “Deadweight,” but this is an ideal song for doing things around the house; you could listen to this and clean dishes, do homework, whatever you do in the comforts of your own home - I don’t judge. Anyway, you might think that zipping sound in the background sounds like the title track off Pet Sounds, and that’s because… well… it sounds a lot like the title track off Pet Sounds. This song is from the soundtrack to “A Life Less Ordinary,” and features a music video that’s actually better than the movie it was inspired by.

MP3: “Deadweight” - Beck

If you’re not a fan of Bruce Springsteen’s, honestly, I can do without your readership. He’s been dubbed “The Boss” because he’s the authority on how to be cool, but not in that Justin Timberlake way. Let’s put it this way, Bruce Springsteen is America’s cool Dad, the one all the other kids are jealous of. Bruce is relatable, and all of his songs sound less like masterpieces of some fancy computer program, and more like a hug. While his new album, Magic, doesn’t come out until October 2nd, its first single, “Radio Nowhere” was recently released. To be real, I’m not IN LOVE with this song, but you know what? It’s better than a lot of stuff I’ve heard recently. It’s very catchy and I guess is about something mildly more substantial than a recovering meth addict’s penchant for being “flossy”. Maybe it’s because I saw The 40 Year Old Virgin the other day, but this song kind of reminds me of “The Heat of the Moment” - way upbeat. I guess the verdict is, don’t let this be your first Springsteen song - your “primer” of sorts - but if you’re already a fan, it’ll probably be put into light rotation.

MP3: “Radio Nowhere” - Bruce Springsteen

My favorite Springsteen song? I thought you’d never ask!

When I hear “No Surrender,” it’s like all my buddies magically appear out of nowhere and we’re whisked away to a karaoke bar. This is the soundtrack to nostalgia and best friendship. Like any other song of his, “No Surrender” features the exquisite instrumentation of Silvio Dante and Conan O’Brien’s bandleader - Springsteen’s so relevant!

MP3: “No Surrender” - Bruce Springsteen

Moving along… on Thursday evening, I had the esteemed privilege of meeting Karim Fonda of my second favorite trio of upper-middle-class rapping white kids from NYC, Team Facelift. It was, in a word, a moving experience. Whenever I see the video for their song, “Sexual Perversions,” my pride for being from Manhattan reaches uncharted levels. I’m not saying I wish I was the fruit-encrusted model, or the bare-posteriored young lady in this video - but I will say that I’d do morally questionable things for them on film… if it helped their art. You’re more than welcome to watch the extremely sexy and extremely technicolor video, as it is really enjoyable to watch. Or, if you’re anything like me, you can close your eyes and imagine you’re listening to it while lounging in the Poconos, in one of those bathtubs that looks like a champagne glass, while holding a Valentine’s Day teddy bear in one hand, and caressing a blunt the size of a baby’s leg in the other… you know, something romantic and classy. Sadly, we’re gonna have to go YouTube on this one. Deal with it.

And finally, because I just love musical dudes, it’s only fair to discuss musical dudes who love(d) me. I first got to know Locksley when I was a nubile senior in high school and they played a matinée show with my friends’ band (long live Notes From Underground!). They were SUPER nice guys, and I’ll leave out the rest. Now they’re famous and I had the privilege/shame of buying a song about myself on iTunes. I don’t know if I can really say anything else about this song without sounding narcissistic, but you know what? It’s a really great song - the last 30 seconds are especially epic. Oh, and here’s the song FOR FREE.

MP3: “My Kind of Lover” - Locksley

ALSO, Derek’s step-brother’s record came out today and Pitchfork loves it (Best New Music, even!) so you should too. You’ll find one of it’s best cuts below. Oh, and some trivia: Les Savy Fav were Bloc Party’s biggest influence during their early days as a band. Fact! Vice is also currently beta-testing this new “Virtual Lower East Side” thing, where they have bands “virtually” hanging out to “virtually” kick it with you or something. Neither Derek nor I totally understand it, but if that sounds like the kind of thing you’d be interested in, be sure to register and stop by tomorrow night when Syd and Harrison will be chilling in the virtual Bowery Ballroom. There will however be a screening of the band’s last Bowery show from last spring, so that’s reason enough alone to stop by.

MP3: “The Year Before The Year 2000″ - Les Savy Fav

That’s about it for now, I promise I won’t leave you guys again. Unless you want me to - in which case, I fully understand.

A would-be summer smash in a perfect world, “Your English Is Good” is the best track Canadian bright young things Tokyo Police Club have dropped since bursting on the scene last fall with debut single “The Nature of the Experiment”. All shouty group vocals and summery guitar sounds, “English” is a jubilant slice of warm-weather guitar-pop that stands out as one of the most fun tracks of the year. Much of its charm lies in its frantic urgency, in just how badly Tokyo Police Club want your vote and just how good they think your English is. It’s a different kind of urgency - steeped in the naive bliss of youthful optimism - than that found on their debut EP, for which the darker desperation of Bloc Party provided a better reference point, and it’s an exciting new sound for the band. By this point they’ve already established themselves as one of the most promising young talents in Canada, but for a band of their age to already be displaying a distinctively evolving sound this early in their career only confirms their virtually limitless potential.

It’s no secret that TPC’s greatness lies in the fact that frontman Dave Monks is a brilliant young talent who, y’know, just happens to have three friends who know how to play their instruments pretty well. The B-Side to “English” finds Monks shining solo for the first time on record, armed with only an acoustic guitar, the unconventional beauty of his vocals and lyrics and some light backing percussion. Like all TPC tracks it’s short and sweet and leaves you wanting more, but with a freshly-inked deal with, uh, Saddle Creek (…seriously?) and a debut album in the works, hopefully we won’t have to wait long.

MP3: “Your English Is Good” - Tokyo Police Club ((highly recommended))

STREAM: “Swedes In Stockholm” - Tokyo Police Club

GOODNESS the new Kanye video is awesome. Long live So-Me.

Also, I’ll be in Boston this weekend to see Girl Talk and Simian Mobile Disco (not to mention Dan Deacon and White Williams) TOGETHER UNDER ONE ROOF on Friday night, so don’t expect any updates until Monday. You also probably shouldn’t expect a review of the show, as I’ve already reviewed both acts twice before here and, to put it bluntly, I’m planning on getting straight-up retarded. Shit is gonna be out of control.

I’ve devoted more than enough text to brand new XL-signees (holler) Vampire Weekend in this space over the last eight months, so I wasn’t planning on reviewing their show last night at Music Hall of Williamsburg, but they were better than ever and the Shakes and Yeasayer turned in awesome sets as well, so yeah… here it goes. First a note about the venue, the latest addition to the Bowery Presents family. Formerly the Northsix, Bowery Presents rolled up and took over the place and made it over into what is basically an exact replica of the Bowery Ballroom, down to the last very last blueprint. That said, it’s still a great venue (…in the same way that Bowery is a great venue) and the largest Vampire Weekend has headlined to date, so it was an exciting night. But to rewind for a moment - I saw this band playing a frat party at Columbia in February and now their fetching $12 a ticket and selling out legit venues all over town? What a year it’s been.

Moving on to the actual show though, Yeasayer (think a more streamlined, less absurd Animal Collective) opened with an extremely impressive set highlighting their brilliant melodies and frontman Chris Keating’s unique vocals, all of which were underlay by a winning combination of live drums and a sample pad. I’d not had extensive exposure to them outside of single “2080″, so I wasn’t totally sure what to expect heading in, but they didn’t disappoint. Their ridiculous energy came to a climax in the final refrain of “2080″ (though I did long for that children’s choir at the end), and it was easily the best non-VW song of the night.

MP3: “2080″ - Yeasayer ((highly recommended))

I was far more familiar with the Harlem Shakes, whose Burning Birthdays EP was one of the finer debuts of 2006, though I’d never had the pleasure of seeing them live before. They were fucking fantastic - hampered only by backing vocals mic’d far too low in the mix -and even rocked a horn section comprised of brass players from Beirut and the Arcade Fire, which took some extremely exciting new material to a whole new level. Particularly awesome was a new track called “The Fucking Ocean”, which stood out alongside established gems like the brilliant “Carpetbaggers” and “Sickos” off their aforementioned debut EP. Sadly, it appears that no one wanted to post pictures of their performance on the internet, hence the lack of a graphic above. But yeah, they were way good anyway.

MP3s:
“Carpetbaggers” - The Harlem Shakes ((highly recommended))
“Sickos” - The Harlem Shakes

But their was no question that the best set of the night - and one of the best of the year, for my money - belonged to the headliners. A summer of coast-to-coast touring has their hype at critical mass and there were no shortage of people in attendance just there to check out what the buzz was all about. But there was also a strong Columbia presence, so much so that one hipster-looking douchebag looked at Rya and I as we walked in and muttered to his friend about how “Ivy League” the scene was. Or something. ANYWAYS, Vampire Weekend fucking KILLED it, and it’s been said before, but it’s worth saying again: this is a band who knows how to play their fucking songs.

With incredible tightness the band blazed through a fourteen song setlist chock-full of solid gold hits excluding only one track (”Boston”) from their untouchable demo LP and adding four new songs, each as good as the demos that preceded them. Ample praise has been lofted in the direction of “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “Oxford Comma” and the rest of the songs on their now-infamous Vampire Weekend Blue CD-R, but the new tracks are pretty damn excellent in their own right. Live staples “M79″ and “Arrows” pleased as usual, but “I Stand Corrected” sounded downright single-worthy in its latest incarnation. But it was a brand new track debuted for the first time that night, tentatively titled “Little Giants”, that saw keyboard maestro Rostam Batmangij stepping away from the keys in favor of a guitar and Vampire Weekend at their sunniest, with lyrics about California and skateboards arriving just in time to rekindle lingering memories of summer before fall sets in for good. At least two of the four songs will likely make the band’s debut LP proper, out next January on XL, with the remaining two likely providing some extremely solid B-side fodder on future single releases.

The performance as a whole was impeccable as usual and more, with the band looking like they could belong - nay, thrive - in a venue three times the size of the Music Hall. Their performance was as tight as ever, without so much as the slightest hint of a mis-step to be found. Benefiting from better acoustics and a soundsystem upgraded from the venues the band made their name, Christopher Thomson’s drums sounded massive, breathing a new vitality into the band that elevated the band’s performance above and beyond every set of theirs I’d seen prior to Saturday. Their typical Columbia fan club was in full effect at the front of the crowd, fists pumping and bodies bouncing as usual, only further adding to the addictive energy of the show. All in all it was a phenomenal set - the best I’d seen them play to date and one of the most memorable of the year - and it’s safe to say anyone at the Music Hall that night not already on board the Vampire Weekend train was fully down by the time the band left the stage on Saturday.

The band closed out their main set with a rousing rendition of “Oxford Comma”, perhaps the best song ever written about punctuation, and exited the stage to roars of approval and more deafening cheers from their traveling fan club. I’d never seen them headline a show before, so I wasn’t use to the idea of an encore from the band, but one was obviously coming due to the glaring exclusion of “Walcott” from the tracks they’d played to that point. And less than three minutes later they returned to unleash one of the most euphoric single-song performances I’ve seen in a long time, a straight-up empire-toppling rendition of “Walcott” that brought the room to their collective knees and let everyone in attendance know that this is a band that’s absolutely not fucking around when it comes to epic guitar-pop songs. Considering how amazing the song is live it almost pains me to post the demo version, as it’s the one track on their demo LP that suffers from a noticeably sub-par mixing job (in respect to the vocals, mostly), but it’s best song they’ve written to date and will likely be one of the best songs of the year when it sees an official release - not to mention a professional mixing job - early next year.

MP3s:
“Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” - Vampire Weekend ((highly recommended))
“Walcott” - Vampire Weekend ((highly recommend))

Miss Modern Age has pictures and a decent quality video of “Little Giants” to accompany her account of the show, so head over there at your earliest convenience and break yourself off a slice of the goodness. Also, I recently stumbled upon the trailer for Vampire Weekend (starring frontman Ezra Koenig), the half-baked student film idea from which the band took their name. It’s worth checking out I guess, if only because the first five seconds are pretty much priceless. Get at it here.

In other news, it’s good to be back.

It seems remarkable that this band have gone unmentioned in these pages to this point, as they’re one of my favorite things to happen to music in 2007 and have been since they first crossed my radar last spring, but better late than never. Having acquired this at the end of my tenure at XL in the final days of June, I can finally share this, one of my favorite tracks of the year, with you now that it’s finally seen its official release. Cajun Dance Party stormed onto the scene in April with an impressive debut single, “The Next Untouchable”, on Way Out West Recordings coinciding with a massive label bidding war involving nearly all the major players in the British music scene. Though nothing terribly ground-breaking, the track was an excellent, well-crafted debut and the band announced their deal with XL (rumored to be the largest in the label’s history) shortly thereafter. All of this is extremely impressive, especially when you consider their age. Why? These kids are fucking SIXTEEN years old.

Now they return with their first single proper on XL and it’s a whole new ballgame. “The Next Untouchable” was an admirable debut, but new single “Amylase” is truly astonishing. The track initially made the rounds on the band’s now-infamous demo EP in early 2007 and immediately stood out as a single-in-waiting. But six months later that version is completely obsolete, anemic in comparison to the finished product and unable to even come close to holding a candle to the single version.

A crucial factor in the metamorphosis of the track is the replacement of the original’s meager keyboard progression with those massive, sweeping strings that almost single-handedly bring the track to life. No word yet on whether that can be credited to the band or producer Bernard Butler (of Suede fame), but before his Cajun days guitarist Robbie Stern performed as a classically-trained violinist and word on the street is that it’s his boys from the youth orchestra he rolled with back in the day actually playing on record. Regardless of whose behind them, they’re the song’s defining element and they set the tone of the entire track, soaring through colorful fields, racing alongside Stern’s impressive guitarwork while keeping pace with frontman Danny Blumberg’s beyond-his-years vocals and lyricism. Everything here suggests this should be a massive hit, and the song even comes complete with a final bridge tailor-made for crowd participation as Blumberg belts out that curiously anthemic “You’re the catalyst that makes things faster/Amylase will dry up the plaster” chorus over clap-a-long drums before Stern returns one more time for one last guitar hero jam session as the track comes to a close. Suffice it to say, this is probably the best song ever written in a Grade 11 chemistry class.

The B-Side, “Fill The Cups”, isn’t all that great and Butler overdoes it a bit with the production (though not quite to a fault), but you’ll be hard-pressed to find any other faults here. And sure, Blumberg does sound a lot like a younger Luke the Kook, but it seems like the frontman of every new young act in the UK recalls the Kooks’ vocalist these days and the fact remains that the Kooks themselves may never release a track this good. Regardless of your stance on “Amylase” and Cajun Dance Party it’s very hard to deny: this could be the jumping off point of a very exciting career for a group of kids whose future is almost blindingly bright at this point.

MP3: “Amylase” - Cajun Dance Party ((highly recommended))

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

Speaking of underage wonders, how about the Locarnos. I guess the best way of describing them would just be as an even younger Cajun Dance Party (so like 14 and 15 instead of 16 and 17), and while they definitely show their age a bit more than CDP, they also show a lot of promise. They’re sound is still pretty rough at this point, but with some professional tutelage and better production, I can see them doing big things in a few years’ time. They’ve definitely got the industry’s attention, and here are the two best cuts from their self-released debut EP, Get Your Coat On. It’s not too much to write home about now, but just you wait.

MP3s:
“Sticks and Stones” - The Locarnos
“Don’t Give Me A Hard Time” - The Locarnos

Uh, sorry about that. Leaseweb thought it would be cool to repeatedly provide me with incorrect login information to access my FTP (despite me emailing or phoning them like three times a week) so as to prevent me from actually being able to upload anything, thus rendering my new server more or less completely useless. Then Wordpress turned on me and wouldn’t even let me post if I wanted to, so a MASSIVE THANKS is in order to Greg Ipp who got all up in my server and fixed everything. But hey, at long last everything’s been worked out, and the three of you who have stuck with us during this little hiatus will now have an ample amount of new hotness to feast upon in the coming weeks. Moving on then, here are the four artists and albums that ruled my summer this year, plus a shit ton of other hotness.

EUGENE MCGUINNESS, THE EARLY LEARNINGS OF EUGENE MCGUINNESS

From out of nowhere, newcomer Eugene McGuinness has arrived to drop one of the most impressive debuts of 2007 with this remarkably accomplished mini-LP. The Early Learnings of Eugene McGuiness finds a young singer songwriter at the top of his game while only scratching the surface of his potential. His style isn’t the easiest to classify, as McGuinness is by no means your typical singer-songwriter - think a weirder (better?) Jeremy Warmsley - and thus cannot easily be tied down to one genre. Weirdo indie-pop might nail it most accurately, but tracks like “Bold Street” and “Myrtle Parade” prove the young maestro is just as successful when wielding only his acoustic guitar and his quick-witted lyrics as he is when armed with a full arsenal of electronic production flourishes as on tracks like debut single “Monsters Under The Bed” and album standout “Child Lost In Tesco”. While “Monsters Under The Bed” is undeniably McGuinness’ finest work to date, lead-off track “High Score” serves as the perfect introduction to the mini-LP and McGuinness as a songwriter in general, with its high production values, quirky lyrics and wonderful song structure. In addition to “High Score” and “Monsters”, “Child Lost In Tesco” and “Bold Street” comprise a nigh-impeccable first half marred only by clunker “Vampire Casino”. That said, the second half falters (though only slightly) in comparison to the LP’s brilliant opening tracks, but it’s easy to forgive when such a young artist is putting out so many excellent tracks his first time out. Long story short: Eugene McGuinness is someone to get very excited about in 2007 and 2008.

MP3s:
“Monsters Under The Bed” - Eugene McGuiness ((highly recommended))
“A Child Lost In Tesco” - Eugene McGuiness
“Myrtle Parade” - Eugene McGuiness

SPOON, GA GA GA GA GA

I wouldn’t really count myself as a Spoon fan in the first place and the sufficiently dreadful album title didn’t exactly start a fire of anticipation betwixt my loins for this one, but shit - this is really really good. I owe all of my appreciation of this record to my man Mack, who might as well have this CD in every slot of his six-disc changer in his car because it’s all you’ll ever hear when you’re in it, but I should have known it’d be at least a little bit brilliant with Jon Brion on bass and handling some of the production duties in the studio. So yeah, the production’s top notch, but this thing also has some fucking jams in store for you. Like the four minutes of ebullient brass, handclaps and bouncy guitars that is “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb” and Brion-produced lead single “The Underdog”, the latter coming dangerously close to matching the unbridled exuberance of 2006’s most essential summer jam, Guillemots’ “Trains To Brazil”. But yo, back to the production. “The Ghost of You Still Lingers” is another lesson in fine-ass production, with a haunting tremolo piano riff providing the sonic backbone to the track while reverb-heavy vocals echo back and forth between the left and right channels, lending the track a visceral, immersive feel. The vocal effects are brilliant, but the best part of the song might be that unexpected Velcro-sounding effect that first arrives out of nowhere around the two-minute mark and rears its head every so often throughout the rest of the track. As a whole, the record is more streamlined and less experimental than their recent efforts, and it’s all the better for it as far as I’m concerned. Possibly the best American rock record released so far this year.

MP3s:
“The Underdog” - Spoon ((highly recommended))
“The Ghost of You Lingers” - Spoon

KATE NASH, MADE OF BRICKS

Oh goodness, talk about a complete and utter obliteration of expectations. I’ve been loving “Birds” all year and was considerably pumped by the quality of her demos and the news that one Mr. Paul Epworth would be producing her album, but I had no idea it could be this good. Lead-off single “Foundations” has been hanging around the top of the charts in the UK for a while now and even ended Rihanna’s twelve-week reign at #1 two weeks back, and it seems nigh-on impossible that the album’s other likely single cuts (see: “Mouthwash”, “Pumpkin Soup” and “Merry Happy”) won’t achieve the same success. And, again, the production is just so good. “Mouthwash” could be the biggest hit on the album with its unbelievably infectious chorus, powerful vocals and pounding Bloc Party-esque drums, while “Pumpkin Soup” is the poppiest track on the record with that “I just want your kiss boy” chorus and should do ridiculously well on radio if it were to see release as a single.

There are some huge jams on this track (check out those big tropical 80’s synths on “Shit Song”), but the slower jams aren’t anything to sneeze at in their own right. “The Nicest Thing” just might be the best track ever, with it’s beautiful, emotive strings arrangement and Nash’s honest narrative of painful longing, and album-closer “Merry Happy” is most excellent too. “Merry Happy” finds Nash at her quirkiest, like a better Regina Spektor or a wayyyy better Lily Allen, with a wordless chorus you’ll be humming for months and overly-simplistic pop structure that spotlights Nash’s most endearing qualities; her lyrical honesty, absolute adorability and brilliant delivery. I could ramble on for hours more about this record, which is easily in my Top 3 of the year to this point, but James has already gone ahead and handled that for me, and in a far more insightful fashion than I could ever achieve I might add.

“Mouthwash” is out as her next single on the first of October, so I figure I’ll put it up for streaming for now, but make sure to download “The Nicest Thing” and “Merry Happy” below.

MP3s:
“The Nicest Thing” - Kate Nash ((highly recommended))
“Merry Happy”** - Kate Nash ((highly recommended))

**curiously large 18 MB file size due to a hidden track, “Little Red”, tacked onto the end of the song.

M.I.A. KALA

I’m not gonna front like I was a huge fan of Arular, so I wasn’t exactly dying in anticipation of M.I.A.’s Kala, especially considering the disappointing sophomore efforts turned in by nearly all of 2005’s big breakthrough artists to this point so far in 2007. But after hearing “Paper Planes” blasting from the office soundsystem on my second day at XL in May that all changed. It took a ridiculous amount of self-restraint not to jack the record from the office right then and there, and from that point on I cruised the internet every day waiting for Kala to fall into my lap until it finally did one glorious day in late July. And guess what? The other 11 tracks on the record ain’t nothing to fuck with either. “Paper Planes” - or “that gunshot song”, as the uninitiated will likely come to call it - remains my favorite moment on the record, but the whole thing has proven to be one of the most remarkably pleasant surprises of 2007 for me. “Jimmy” rocks a Middle Eastern disco strings sample and sounds like the Knife’s “Heartbeats” gone Bollywood, “$20″ references the Pixies over a primal electronic beat and the Timbaland-produced “Come Around” shows M.I.A. can do the whole mainstream pop star thing too. But after “Planes”, triumphant lead single “Boyz” is easily the album’s next-brightest moment, the massive, flawlessly produced drums and reckless energy providing the perfect reintroduction to M.I.A. for a music community who could have understandably written her off as a mere flash in the pan after 2005.

Perhaps the best thing about the record and M.I.A. in general is the diverse international flavor that runs rampant throughout Kala and that should enable the record to do big numbers in international markets the world over. “Paper Planes” and “Come Around” could own the US market if Interscope plays their cards right, “Bamboo Banga” and “Jimmy” both rock that Bollywood vibe and “Mango Pickle Down River” even represents for aboriginal Australia, complete with verses from aboriginal kids hip-hop group Wilcannia Mob and a fucking didgeridoo sample. But no track screams “third world megahit” more than “Boyz”; you can just see it obliterating dancefloors in slums and ghettos the world over, but more than anything I can picture this blaring out of speakers and tearing shit to the ground all over the favellas of Rio. Thus, I’m psyched to see up-and-coming Brazilian producer-remixers The Twelves dropping a bangin’ electro edit of the track, which you can and should get at below in addition to aforementioned album highlights “Paper Planes” and “Boyz”. In conclusion: M.I.A. just might have released the best album of 2007.

MP3s:
“Boyz” - M.I.A. ((highly recommended))
“Paper Planes” - M.I.A. ((highly recommended))
“Boyz” (The Twelves Remix) - M.I.A.

In other news, the last few months have seen me accomplish some personal triumphs. First of all, I played a role (albeit a minor one) in the production of a fairly excellent mash-up, teaming up with the consistently bad-ass DJ Half Price in a meeting of the minds to create “Feel Gold Inc.”, which takes Erol Alkan’s masterful intstrumental remix of Klaxons’ “Golden Skans” and pairs it seamlessly with the vocals from Gorillaz’ 2005 megahit, “Feel Good Inc.”. Give it a listen below and please don’t hesitate to let us know what you think. I’ll be real with you though, I’m pretty psyched about it.

MP3: “Feel Gold Inc.” - Erol Alkan vs Klaxons vs Gorillaz [exclusive]

Personal triumph number two? Well, guess who commissioned his first ever remix. While in London I interned as a personal-assistant-of-sorts with Abeano Music (home of I Was A Cub Scout, To My Boy and Vampire Weekend) founder Imran Ahmed, but essentially being his bitch for six weeks reaped rewards in the form of mad concert hook-ups and limited input into the music videos and remixes of his artists. When he asked for my recommendation for a not-too-well-known remixer for the upcoming I Was A Cub Scout single, “Our Smallest Adventures”, I suggested Brighton-based electro-wizard Frankmusik, and what do you know - he went with it. So yeah, here’s a sufficiently bangin’ remix that I guess I kind of helped come to fruition. The single’s out this week (buy it) and the video’s pretty ingenious too.

MP3: “Our Smallest Adventures” (Frankmusik Remix) - Cub Scout [exclusive]

And because Imran’s a stand-up guy who enjoys the site, he also through me another exclusive I Was A Cub Scout remix, Lull’s rework of the Cub Scout boys’ debut single, “Pink Squares”. Sure, it’s not quite as flawless as Lull’s remix of “I Still Remember” off of Bloc Party’s “I Still Remember” remix EP, but it’s pretty damn good in its own right.

MP3: “Pink Squares” (Lull Remix) - I Was A Cub Scout [exclusive]

Rounding out the remix section of this comeback mega-post is one of the hottest remixes to grace my ears all years, from another up-and-coming remixer in the electro scene, David E. Sugar. A prominent figure in the 8-bit glitch-pop trend, Sugar has been dropping impressive remixes all year. Until last week my favorite works of his had come in the form of his excellent unofficial remix of “Golden Skans” and his equally-brilliant cover of “Just Like Heaven”, but that’s all changed with his perfect update to the Rumble Strips’ “Girls and Boys In Love”.

MP3s:
“Golden Skans” (David E. Sugar Remix) - Klaxons ((highly recommended))
“Just Like Heaven” - David E. Sugar ((highly recommended))

For the most part, my general feelings towards London indie(?)-rock outfit Rumble Strips could probably best be described as loathsome, so imagine my shock at finding Sugar’s remix of the track coming dangerously close to causing me to undergo a full-scale Rumble Strips conversion. Sugar takes the track and speeds it up a beat, putting that pristine piano-riff front and center over double-time hand claps and a pounding electro beat. Then the beat drops at the 48-second mark and shit just gets naughty. Seriously, this is AWESOME. Fortunately, all it took was one listen to theatrical schmaltz-fests like “Motorcycle” and “Alarm Clock” to set me straight and remember why I dislike this band so intensely, but all that aside - this is still a fucking fantastic remix and another reason to get considerably pumped about David E. Sugar as a rising star in the UK’s burgeoning glitch-pop scene. This just might be the best remix of 2007.

MP3: “Girls & Boys In Love” (David E. Sugar Remix) - Rumble Strips [exclusive]

Last year’s remixing crown went all but uncontested to Metronomy, and he hasn’t slowed down in 2007 either. How about some Metronomy taking on Temposhark and Imogen Heap? Why the fuck not. And let’s not forget that bangin’ update to Kate Nash’s summer mega-hit, “Foundations”, either.

MP3s:
“Not That Big” (Metronomy Remix) - Temposhark (ft. Imogen Heap)
“Foundations” (Metronomy Remix) - Kate Nash

Oh and hey, dude’s back with a new single too. His rather disappointing original productions have always paled in comparison to his consistently immaculate remix work, but all that may be about to change with his upcoming sophomore LP. Having witnessed the band perform a set of mostly new material last spring in New York, I was optimistic that the Metronomy’s second album would make up for their bummer of a debut, and new single “Radio Ladio” doesn’t disappoint. It’s still not quite on par with his remixes, but it’s a promising sign of things to come nonetheless.

MP3: “Radio Ladio” - Metronomy ((highly recommended))

Speaking of new singles, how about that new Wombats track? Fucking awesome, right? “Let’s Dance To Joy Division”, the lead single off of the Wombats long-awaited full-length LP proper, A Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation (out October 16th), dropped this month and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t disappoint even a little bit. I first heard it live when I caught the trio at Borderline back in June and then again when Zane Lowe debuted it on Radio 1 in mid-July, so I’m psyched to finally have my hands on a copy to have and to hold in sickness and in health forever. I really love this song.

MP3: “Let’s Dance To Joy Division” - The Wombats ((highly recommended))

Also back with a new single are Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip, two names I honestly never thought I’d hear again after they scored an unlikely anthem with “Thou Shall Always Kill” last Spring. Miraculously, they’ve defied one hit wonder status and returned with a half-decent single. And by half-decent I mean actually pretty good. No, seriously, give it a listen.

MP3: “The Beat That My Heart Skipped” - Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

To wrap things up, I’d wanted to feature a grand finale of an absolutely incredible new single from one of the most promising young bands like, maybe ever, but I’ve decided its brilliance warrants an entire post in its honor. However, you should have more than enough music here to tide you over until then (and probably longer), so go nuts, kids.

Thanks to everyone who stuck around and here’s hoping it never happens again.