New Music That Doesn't Suck: Beach Fossils

Beach Fossils "Daydream" = best new band/song i've heard in a while. i'm sure every music blog has already written about these guys but i am just now hearing them and think it's a pretty killer jam. looking forward to hearing the full length. you can download this single on itunes.

Some 80s Indie Pop for your Friday Afternoon

this compilation CD of late 80s British jangle rockers Another Sunny Day is a mostly unknown and unloved little slice of indiepop brilliance. similar to most of the C86 bands of the UK indie scene during that time...Byrds influenced guitar, lo-fi recordings, and naive/punk influenced lyrics about love, loss, and murder. if you are caught up in this whole twee-pop revival (aka Pains Of Being Pure At Heart) then you might as well go back and enjoy some of the original inspiration.

opener "Anorak City" is awesome (and was oddly enough covered by Post-Hardcore band Fucked Up) and the Smiths influenced "You Should All Be Murdered" is a personal favorite. BEWARE: THIS SHIT IS TWEE AS A MOTHERFUCKER.

London Weekend - Another Sunny...

cool new band: Surf City

S/T - Surf City

Surf City's self titled debut EP came out back in November of 08...but i didn't actually hear it until this week. (thanks to my brother for turning me on to this). it's just a solid indie pop record full of catchy hooks and plenty of memorable choruses. they are from New Zealand, so it should be no surprise that their sound recalls The Tall Dwarfs and The Clean as well as the Jesus and Mary Chain (whom they take their name from the song "Kill Surf City"...with a little Pavement thrown in for good measure. they wouldn't sound at all out of place on a mixtape in between a Pastels and Shop Assistants track either. the whole 80s/early 90s indie revival is a welcome thing for someone who is a sucker for a good pop song.


a link to their myspace page.

Gimme Kiwi Rock Or Gimme Death

New Zealand, it ain't just the place where they filmed Lord Of the Rings....there's some great pop music in the Shire too. Bands like Crowed House & Split Enz came out of the 70s New Wave/Post Punk scene and had some sucess in the States and the UK and helped lay down the foundations for the 80s Kiwi Rock movement...a movement that was documented by the famous Flying Nun Records whose roster of influential bands like the Chills, The Clean, The Verlaines, Straight Jacket Fits, The Bats, & Tall Dwarfs helped give birth to the 90s/2000s Indie Pop scene that dominates underground rock today. So if you are a fan of bands like Pavement and the Shins then I highly recommend going back in time via the world of recorded music and checking out what was goin' on down in New Zealand in the 1980s. You won't be regret it.

My Top 6 New Zealand Rock Bands

The Chills "I Love My Leather Jacket"


The Clean "Anything Could Happen"


The Verlaines "Death and the Maiden"


Split Enz "Six Months On a Leaky Boat"


The Bats "North By North"


Tall Dwarfs "Nothings Gonna Happen"

Local Bands That Don't Suck: The Buddy System

here's a video from my friends The Buddy System (the drummer and guitar player used to be in my old band). the song is called "Horse Mountain". if you are easily upset by human on evil horse violence then this is probably not for you....if not then enjoy.

Horse Mountain from Lauren Gregg on Vimeo.

you can check out more of their animation and music over at Buddysystem TV.

Jangle Pop Will Never Die

i found this really awesome compilation of mid 80s British Indie Music but i don't wanna pay the ridiculous import prices. Rhino records needs to get off their ass and release this in the US.


tracklisting.

Disc: 1
1. Velocity Girl - Primal Scream
2. Sun A Small Star - Servants
3. Around And Around - Hurrah
4. Why Does The Rain - Loft
5. Vibrato - East Village
6. Pristine Christine - Sea Urchins
7. What Went Wrong This Time - Siddeleys
8. Anorak City - Another Sunny Day
9. Get Out Of My Dream - Clouds
10. Golden Shower - Boy Hairdressers
11. Ask Johnny Dee - Chesterfields
12. He Blows In - Raw Herbs
13. Paul McCartney - Laugh
14. You Didn't Love Me Then - Hit Parade
15. Like Frankie Lymon - Weather Prophets
16. Sunday To Saturday - June Brides
17. I Had An Excellent Dream - Dentists
18. Everybodys Knows The Monkey - Mighty Mighty
19. E102 - BMX Bandits
20. Tallulah Gosh - Tallulah Gosh
21. Cut Me Deep - Jasmine Minks
22. I'll Still Be There - Razorcuts
23. Therese - Bodines
24. Paradise Estate - Television Personalities

Disc: 2
1. Upside Down - Jesus & Mary Chain
2. Really Stupid - Primitives
3. It Always Rains On Sunday - Groove Farm
4. Black Country Chainsaw Massacre - Pop Will Eat Itself
5. Come Get Me - 14 Iced Bears
6. Sign On The Line - Fizzbombs
7. Anti Midas Touch - Wolfhounds
8. This Boy Can Wait - Wedding Present
9. Bible Of The Beats - Age Of Chance
10. Safety Net - Shop Assistants
11. Just Too Bloody Stupid - Close Lobsters
12. Dukla Prague Away Kit - Half Man Half Biscuit
13. Don't Slip Up - Meat Whiplash
14. I Could Be In Heaven - Flatmates
15. If I Said - Darling Buds
16. Poised Over The Pause Button - This Poison
17. Jack And Julian - Bachelor Pad
18. On Tape - Pooh Sticks
19. Flowers Are In The Sky - Revolving Paint Dream
20. Whole Wide World - Soup Dragons
21. Frans Hals - McCarthy
22. Like An Angel - Mighty Lemon Drops
23. Why Popstars Can't Dance - Big Flame
24. Baby Honey - The Pastels

New Music That Doesn't Suck: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

ah shit, Twee Pop is back motherfucker. you thought it died in the 90s...and you were wrong. maybe it's the success of Of Montreal or the fact that college kids are rediscovering the Paisley Underground or maybe the fact that now the we've got a Democrat back in the white house everyone's a little less angry. whatever the reasons, Twee-ish Beat Happening/Vaselines inspired indie rock bands seem to be all the rage. now i love the Vaselines as much as the next guy who grew up worshipping at the alter of all things Kurt Cobain approved, (ironically they have a song called Kurt Cobain's Cardigan) but the Twee sub-genre was never something i could ever embrace. i just owned too many metal and hardcore records to ever take it seriously. still i live and Athens and was in a band on a Twee-pop label (Kindercore) so i know enough about the music to know that kids love music for pussies and that it's coming back in a big fucking way. the Pains Of Being Pure at Heart are one of the few Nue-Twee bands that i've heard that sound completely out of time. you could drop them in Olympia circa 1991 or put them on the C86 comp for the NME in 1986 and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. so as far as apers of a style these cats get A+'s. that fact that they also have managed to write some catchy fucking songs helps a lot.


if you like bands like The Faintest Ideas, The Black Tambourine, The Pastels, early J&MC, The Vaselines, Ride, or Beat Happening then the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart is for you. in fact this album makes me wanna go listen to that old K Records comp
International Hip Swing ...and that is enough to make me recommend this to anyone.

in fact if you don't own International Hip Swing then you should change that.

International Hip Swing - Vari...

here's the video for my favorite song "Everything With You".


and here's the album for you to listen to.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Hea...