Dummy - "Daffodils"

Image via Dummy

Los Angeles based Dummy have a sound that is retro cool while still looking forward. Their latest single, "Daffodils," has a space age 60's pop mixed with electronic music. Their press release refers to them as being "celestial drone-pop," and that might be the ideal description. For most of its almost three minute run time, "Daffodils" lulls you into this chilled out, spacey vibe despite being quite up tempo. And then some 90's indie rock guitar kicks in, which will solidify your love of the song and Dummy. It's a brilliant combination of bands like Stereolab and Yo La Tengo.

You can listen to "Daffodils" below. Mandatory Enjoyment is due out October 22 on Trouble in Mind. You can pre-order the album via Bandcamp. For more on Dummy, check out the band's Instagram.

Brandon Markell Holmes & Rogue Vogue - "Garden"

Photo by Patrick Luhrs

I don't typically cover a lot of dance music or R&B here, so you know when I do, it's something truly special. The latest from Brandon Markell Holmes & Rogue Vogue is unique in the genre. "Garden" combines Afro-pop, R&B, and house into this amazing dance song. It's dance, but it's a relatively laid back vibe. It will want to make you move, but you could stay in your seat, at least for most of it. "Garden" is the kind of song that defies the dance music genre. Even if you hate modern dance or R&B, you're still going to love it. Brandon Markell Holmes & Rogue Vogue have crafted more of a way to test if you actually have a soul more than they have a song.

You can watch the video for "Garden" below. Garden, the collaborative EP from Brandon Markell Holmes & Rogue Vogue, is due out August 27 on toucan sounds. You can pre-order/pre-save the EP here. For more on Brandon Markell Holmes, check out the artist's Facebook. You can find Rogue Vogue's here.

Cold Beat - "Mandelbrot Fall"

Photo by Natalja Kent

San Francisco's Cold Beat perform a style of music called coldwave. Not being familiar with the genre, I'm going based solely on their latest single. "Mandelbrot Fall" sounds like an indie/bedroom style of electronic music. It's heavy on synthesizers and electronic boops instead of the thunderous beats you get with most electronic music. That doesn't mean "Mandelbrot Fall" isn't dance music, because it one hundred percent is. It just isn't dance in a field with fifty thousand people music. It's more dance alone in your bedroom music. And that's what makes us love it.

Cold Beat's Hannah Lew says of the new song:

“Mandelbrot Fall is about embracing change & surrendering to uncertainty. There's no fighting time or gravity. This song is about submission to those forces. This process of deterioration was cathartic, just like the making of the song.”

You can watch the video for "Mandelbrot Fall" below. War Garden is due out September 17 on Like LTD. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here. For more on Cold Beat, check out the band's Facebook and Twitter.

Bambies - "Teen Engine"

Our favorite tri-lingual and tri-national punks out of Montreal are back with a new single! Bambies have recently unveiled "Teen Engine," another old school punk that's too dirty to be pop punk but too pop to be truly punk song. It's a party rager that's going to make you long for the days of being pressed up against a stage hoping you don't get kicked in the head but getting plenty of beer spilled on you. This is the kind of pop punk before it went MTV pop, back in the days of Screeching Weasel and The Queers.

You can listen to "Teen Engine" below. Summer Soon is due out August 20 on Spaghetty Town Records in the US and Wanda Records in Europe. You can pre-order the album here. For more on Bambies, check out the band's Facebook.

First Listen: New Releases for 6 August

Artist: Laura Stevenson
Album: Laura Stevenson
Quick Thoughts: It's weird to think that "Master of Art," the song that set Ken and I off on a Laura Stevenson obsession, was ten years ago. Her latest solo effort, her first as a mother and one that is very confessional in the broad strokes. This album is many things, and I feel like there are layers throughout that are going to uncover themselves as I listen more, but one thing I can say is that this is probably her best effort since Wheel and possibly my favorite since Sit Resist. Laura Stevenson is a criminally underrated singer-songwriter, and I wish more people understood how great she was at this. Don't miss this one/
Songs of Note: "State," "Don't Think About Me," "Sky Blue, Bad News," "Sandstorm"

Artist: The Umbrellas
Album: The Umbrellas
Quick Thoughts: This album came out of nowhere this week for me. I don't know how I haven't heard of this retro-pop rock outfit before, but The Umbrellas provide some truly great tunes that will get stuck in your head very quickly and not let go. It's got a raw, lo-fi production value that makes it feel less modern, but feels right at home with some of the more twee elements of the Elephant Six crew. Overall, a must-listen this week, and another favorite.
Songs of Note: "Lonely," "Near You," "She Buys Herself Flowers," "Galine," "Never Available"

Artist: Kississippi
Album: Mood Ring
Quick Thoughts: I need more time with this one, mostly because it's so unexpected. I learned of Kississippi when she were headed on tour with Tancred, and the sort of confessional singer-songwriter stuff she does well with is right down my alley. Mood Ring is a shift in tone - more pop than indie, more 80s than 2010s. The result is an album that continually surprises and often delights, but doesn't stick to your bones on first listen quite the same way her previous album did. Don't miss this one, to be sure, because it's quite good. But if you're a fan, know that it's a shift of sorts.

Of note:

* Footings - Annihilation
* IDER - shame
* Liars - The Apple Drop
* Eluvium - Virga II
* HXXS - CHANNELER
* Tinashe - 333
* Willy Mason - Already Dead

EPs:

* Treeboy & Arc - Life Preserver
* Mouraine - Bigger Dreams
* Homeboy Sandman - Anjelitu
* Wolf Castle - Da Vinci's Inquest
* Allison Ponthier - Faking My Own Death
* Sara Kays - Struck By Lightning
* Denzel Himself - M.T.V.
* My Idea - That's My Idea
* Mumble Tide - Everything Ugly (Part 1)
* Sweet Teeth - Acid Rain
* Fenne Lily - BREECH (Acoustic)
* TIFFY - TIFFY

Live albums/Compilations/Reissues:

* Nana Yamato - 夜明け前 (Before Sunrise)" (Japanese reissue of a favorite from this year.)

Also out:

* Nas - King's Disease II
* Lingua Franca - Sinner Get Ready
* Sponge - Lavatorium

Charlotte Cornfield - "Headlines"

Photo by Angela Lewis

Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Cornfield has a sound that is both familiar and unique. Her latest single, "Headlines," has a mainstream alt-singer/songwriter feel to it, but it could hardly be considered even remotely adult contemporary. The song has this thin layer of fuzz on the guitars, like a gorgeous little fungus. Plus, Cornfield's vocals are unique. While her singing is pleasant, it's not a traditional style that would land her on American Idol, but Bob Dylan wouldn't make it there either. This is a pop rock song for those of us that want a slightly tweaked version of pop rock.

Charlotte Cornfield explains the meaning behind her new song:

“I wanted to express the joy of seeing people, of those little interactions that happen throughout the day that I missed so much in the last year and a half. When I wrote this song I was spending so much time walking alone through my neighbourhood, and I wanted the video to take place on the same streetscape but be the antidote to that solitude. To me the city is so much about the people in it. Adrienne McLaren Devenyi, the director, came up with this arc of me exchanging objects with people as I move through the neighbourhood and that just created a beautiful jumping off point for these interactions. We had so much fun making this video, and it was such a gift to see everybody.”

You can watch the video for "Headlines" below. High in the Minuses is due out October 29 on Polyvinyl/Double Double Whammy. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here. For more on Charlotte Cornfield, check out the artist's website.

The Cocker Spaniels - "Cops Don't Care About the Drip"

Another week, another new single from The Cocker Spaniels. The musical project of North Carolina dad and booker Sean Padilla has released "Cops Don't Care About the Drip," a song about it not mattering how black people are dressed, they can still be killed for being black. Being white and middle aged, I'll let Padilla explain the song:

“This song was inspired by a march that took place last year in Omaha against racial injustice. It was led by a group of Black men that made a point of dressing up in suits, in an attempt to ‘change the narrative’—it struck me as an appeal to respectability politics, which I abhor. I have no interest in making myself more palatable or less threatening to racists, racism is illogical by nature—anyone who wants to hate me because I’m Black will do so regardless of any other situational variables that may exist.”

Musically, it's the funkiest we've heard so far from The Cocker Spaniels' upcoming album. Instead of the normal Prince meets Guided By Voices sound we're used to from Padilla, this one is more Prince meets Ben Folds. Despite the ultra serious nature of "Cops Don't Care About the Drip," the song is unmistakably fun sounding.

You can listen to "Cops Don't Care About the Drip" below. The Cocker Spaniels Are Still Alive, and So Are You will be out August 13 on Evil Island Fortress. You can pre-order the album via Bandcamp. For more on The Cocker Spaniels, check them out on Facebook.

Tigerman WOAH - RED BAIT

It's been quite a while since we've heard from Boston's Tigerman WOAH, but they are back with a new EP released last Friday. On these four songs, Tigerman WOAH show off their unique blend of roots based punk perfectly. Notice I didn't say folk punk, because that's a whole different thing from what these guys are doing. RED BAIT is full of heavy rock songs with a roots base and a punk edge. According to their Bandcamp profile, they are "What started as a couple of under-employed friends learning songs off the American Anthology of Folk Music has become a locally celebrated brotherhood dedicated to making music that moves people into mosh pits and onto picket lines," and that pretty much sums up their aesthetic. Songs like "Dangerous" and "Don't Kill My Baby" are rocking songs with grizzled vocals and groovy bass lines. Tigerman WOAH are a great and unique take on a few of your favorite genres all mixed up in a way you haven't heard before.

You can listen to "Don't Kill My Baby" below. RED BAIT is available now via Bandcamp. For more on Tigerman WOAH, check out the band's website.

Slow Crush - "Hush"

Photo by Kat De Laet

I don't know a huge amount about Belgium, but Belgian shoegaze just sounds right. Slow Crush's latest single, "Hush," is exactly what I want out of shoegaze. It starts off a bit quiet and twee, and then just erupts into a wall of noise that is going to just blow you back. It's a wall of fuzzy and swirling guitars and hypnotic vocals that, despite its volume, almost lulls you into relaxation. There is a loud/quiet/loud factor, but the periods of loud and quiet each last long enough that it doesn't truly matter. This is the kind of vintage shoegaze you crave deep down and need. Luckily, Slow Crush is back to give it to us.

You can watch the video for "Hush" below. Hush is due out October 22 on Quiet Panic. You can pre-order the album here. For more on Slow Crush, check out the band's website.

Dos Santos - "City of Mirrors"

Photo by Victor Duarte

Chicago's Dos Santos are blending traditional Latinx with a more contemporary sound. Their latest single, "City of Mirrors," is grounded by an impossible to resist groove. Along with the traditional Latinx sounds, they've added a little soul and R&B in here. It's the kind of song that even if it doesn't sound like your usual thing, you truly owe it to yourself to check out. It's an endlessly compelling song that truly sucks you in, even if you're not Spanish speaking yourself. The feel of the song conveys emotion far better than lyrics ever could.

Alex Chavez says of the new song:

“‘City of Mirrors’ is a love song to Puerto Rico amid the aftershocks of disasters. Inspired by Gabriel García Marquez’s 100 Years of Solitude, Puerto Rico to us is like Macondo—the city of mirrors, a central character in that novel—a place of beauty and trauma, of struggle and triumph. Indeed, the Caribbean as a whole is ground zero for this dichotomy, borne of the legacy of colonialism in the ‘new world,’ much as Macondo. This song is a tribute to this place and its enduring story.” 

You can watch the video for "City of Mirrors" below. City of Mirrors, the upcoming album from Dos Santos, is due out October 1 on International Anthem. You can pre-order the album over at the label's Bandcamp. For more on Dos Santos, check out the band's website.