Social Studies was always a subject that excited and intrigued me, learning about the decades that help build the one I was currently sitting in. It felt like a grandly evocative experience for the soul while also being something rather humbling with its scope and endless lessons on life. And while it was all so factual, set it stone and undeniable, it was rather inspiring, as well, for how it lent itself to illustrating the human potential for amazing, unexpected things. It was real while providing space for the imagination to run wild.
Back in January, I wrote about Gambling On the Richter Scale, a three year old record by a San Francisco sludge/noise rock band called Kowloon Walled City. They took their name from a legendary walled city, one that originally served as a military fortress for the Chinese back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sounds pretty heavy, huh? Well, Kowloon Walled City no longer stands, but Kowloon Walled City (the band) sounds like an army with a bunch of bottled up aggression -- you know, living inside a city that's walled in and all will do that to you. I found the record to be something along the lines of a heavier Quicksand, but, then again, sludge metal and noise rock are not genres I can claim to know a lot about.
Sometimes you have to break it all up to find the hidden harmony in the cacophonous whole. Taking some '60s-era garage rock jangle and harmonious pop charm, The Blank Tapes sounds like time-traveling troubadours. And while this sounds like familiar territory, it doesn't sound dated or forced. SIKE! It's from the 1960s, of course it sounds authentic. SIKE! It's from 2012. SIKE! Which one is the truth and which one is the lie?
Girls released one of the most critically-acclaimed albums last year with their debut, Album. On November 22nd, they'll release a new 6-song EP entitled Broken Dreams Club via True Panther. Even with only six songs, the EP clocks in at 30 minutes, which, by comparison, is longer than X's Los Angeles or the Ramones' self-titled debut. Below, you can hear/download "Heartbreaker" from the new EP.
With an opening progression carried by a slow-moving phaser effects pedal, "Heartbreaker" initially sounds like a cut of dream pop. From there, it maintains a sense of mid to late-'80s indie pop, with touches of chorus, reverb, and phaser effects. It's a meditative strummer, well-structured and consistently strong throughout. The band recently shared one of their musical obsessions on Twitter: a British alternative rock band from the '80s called Felt. A link was posted for a Felt song entitled "Penelope Tree," and, hearing the song, it's not hard to pinpoint what era, or what style of sound, they were drawing from and inspired by when working on the material for Broken Dreams Club.
Hear Felt's "Penelope Tree" and download "Heartbreaker" after the jump.
Canada's Hey Rosetta! recently filmed a Take Away Show/Un Concert a Emporter for the one and only La Blogotheque. Arturo Perez met up with the band in San Francisco and filmed them performing the lovely "Bandages" inside an apartment complex parking garage. The song is off of the band's Red Songs EP. To say it's a captivating song (let alone in this setting) would be a bit of an understatement.
Hey Rosetta! is hitting the road with fellow Canucks Hot Hot Heat in support of their debut American LP, Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood). Scope the dates after the jump.
