If It's Too Loud...

With our love of cover songs, we look forward to each and every tribute album put out by The Blog That Celebrates Itself. This week saw the release of Stereolab in, Metronomic Underground Versions , their collection of Sterolab covers. To our particular delight was track one, which features one of our favorites, Brilliant Beast, covering "Wow and Flutter." Brilliant Beast, with their noisier version of shoegaze, might seem like an odd band to take on Stereolab, and they are. That's one of the main reasons this cover works. The original is a typically light and airy Sterolab song, with a jangly guitar. Brilliant Beast have a heavier version with a far crunchier guitar. It somehow still maintains the feel of the original, albeit louder and with more rock. You can listen to Brilliant Beast's cover of "Wow and Flutter" below. You can download your own copy of  Stereolab in, Metronomic Underground Versions for free via The Blog That Celebrates Itself's ...

It's been a little over a year since we've heard from our favorite Minneapolis shoegaze band led by a brother and sister, but luckily Brilliant Beast are back with a new song in advance of a new release. There have been roughly 4762 new releases from reunited shoegaze royalty this year, so it would be easy for the new crop of up and comers to get hidden. That would be a shame, since this new song from Brilliant Beast is so perfect. A lot of these reunion albums seem to forget what made the bands so great and they keep trying to update their sound to a more modern sound. They forget what we loved about them. "Star Of" is closer to the classic shoegaze sound than classic shoegaze bands sound like now. It's all swirling, fuzzed out guitars in a lush blend with vocals caught in a dream.  You can watch the video for "Star Of" below. The new EP from Brilliant Beast, Jelly , will be out digitally and on cassette on July 7. You can pre-order the EP via Ban...

This is starting to look like a very heavy covers week for us. Galaxie 500 are a pretty underrated band. Sure, they're beloved by most people who know them, but I always feel like they should be Neutral Milk Hotel level beloved. This is why I'm pretty excited about Blue Thunder, a Tribute to Galaxie 500. It's a free tribute album put out by The Blog That Celebrates Itself . To be honest, I'm not very familiar with the vast majority of bands on the album (some have great names, though: Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, Slow Down Molasses, The John Candy, etc), but Brilliant Beast are one of our favorites here, and they're doing "Another Day," which is one of my favorite Galaxie 500 songs. It's a pretty faithful version, with maybe a little more noise and aggression than the original. Maybe the bass is a bit heavier? Regardless, it's pretty great. You can listen to Brilliant Beast's version of "Another Day" below. To get your very own cop...

Brilliant Beast are back, this time with a full length due out on November 6th. The Minneapolis band, started by brother/sister pair Hannah and Jordan Porter, have made the first single, "Like Dreaming," available to listen. "Like Dreaming" is virtually perfect with equal parts fuzzed out droney shoegaze and pop sensibilities. This time around, there is a darker element and a sense of foreboding lurking around the edges of the song. Maybe it's just the Halloween anticipation inside of me, but this feels like the soundtrack to an indie horror film, especially the way it cuts out at the end.  Brilliant Beast's debut full length, Dissolve, is due out November 6. For more information, check out the band's Bandcamp and Facebook . You can download "Like Dreaming" on Soundcloud , and watch the just released video below.

Last year we wrote about the great Minneapolis shoegaze band Brilliant Beast. Last week they released a split EP with fellow Minnesota natives Fury Things, and it's a fantastic pairing. For their 2 songs, Fury Things wrote the songs on a Friday and recorded on Sunday. "Some Things" was recorded in just one take, which gives it this perfect feel of urgency and fun. Their tracks don't feel like Minnesota, but are what shoegaze would sound like if it was created by indie rock loving southern Californians. It's just the finest droney power pop you can imagine. Brilliant Beast are just the slightest opposite of the same coin as Fury Things. "No Fate" the extreme poppy end of the shoegaze spectrum, but they definitely rely more on the spacey, fuzzed out sounds of the genre, but with a strong 90s alternapop base. "Heaven" is a droned out as can be power ballad, the kind that would be a hit at a prom if high school kids had access to better drugs....

We've been posting a ton about the shoegaze scene in Minneapolis lately, but for some reason that area is a hotbed of 90s inspired acts lately. Brilliant Beast just might be my favorite as of yet. Led by siblings Hannah and Jordan Porter (who also share lead vocals), the band released their second album late last year. Brilliant Beast somehow join shoegaze with a poppier sound, with just the slightest edge of punk. It reminds me of the earlier, more pop driven period of Built to Spill. The third track, "Nepotism Shakes," is the soundtrack to the most lush dreams you've ever had and is much closer to Slowdive. "Crushdumb" brings back the noise and energy, while still swirling you around in dreamland. You can get some more info on Brilliant Beast at their website . While you're at it, stream their whole album (which is out on Guilt Ridden Pop) at their Bandcamp , and check out the official video for "A Child on Fire" below.