John's New Music Blog

Today's featured artist is Los Angeles based, by way of Wisconsin, Zola Jesus (nee Nika Roza Danilova), a 21 year old classically trained opera singer turned goth singer in the mold of Siouxsie Sioux (less the Banshees). She's starting to make a name for herself on the indie and alternative circuit and opened for The xx, a previous featured band on their North American tour; she is just wrapping up a solo tour of Europe.

The featured track is "Sea Talk," the first single from her Sacred Bones Records EP Valusia. The song is very dark, as you'd expect from a goth singer, but it retains the lightness of the Siouxsie Sioux (didn't think that Siouxise Sioux could have a lighter side, did you?) and it doesn't club you over the head with the bass line that features prominently in most goth music (The Cure, the aforementioned Siouxsie and the Banshees, etc). It is a good track that showcases Zola's deep voice and gives the listener a good idea of her range.

UK band Editors is offering special free downloads between now and the release of their complete boxed set in February. Click below and enter your email address to receive the link for the free download of the week.

Today's featured band is Helsinki, Finland's French Films, a five piece indie rock band that is just now appearing on radar screens in the United States. Their first single, "Golden Sea," from their 4 track EP of the same name, is fun, sunny and nothing you'd expect from a band that hails from Finland, a country known more for salted herring and Formula One World Champions than indie rock bands. Take a listen and tell me what you think.

Here's the first video from a previous featured band, Portland, Oregon's indie dance pop band Mackintosh Braun, for the song "Could It Be."

Just as I posted yesterday's featured band, The New Division, they announced that their next EP, The Rookie, will be released on January 11. No information on distribution channels, so stay tuned for availability.

If you'd like to download yesterday's track, Starfield, click here to go to the band's Bandcamp site to download it and a remixed version.

Think about where a band that cites Joy Division, New Order and Depeche Mode as influences would hail from. Nope, you're wrong. Try the hotbed of indie music called Riverside, California and the band is The New Division (get it, it's a pun). The band, a four piece from the aforementioned Riverside, California, have been self releasing EP's since 2009 starting with their self titled The New Division. The band has also released one single, "Art Kraft" from their upcoming EP The Rookie and the good people over at Pitchfork previewed their next single, "Starfield," to rave reviews.

The first time I heard "Starfield," I was hooked. It sounded like what Joy Division would have sounded like had Ian Curtis not passed away before the band could take advantage of the coming advances in modern electronic music. For a band that is doing everything themselves and without the benefit of a label to support them, this track is excellent; it's well produced and keeps with the Joy Division ethic of doing a whole lot with very little (I didn't hear the Martin Hannett trademark sound effects made from unusual sounds like an aerosol spray can, but that's probably coming soon). I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the tracks on the EP when it's released sometime next year.


Starfield by The New Division

Art Kraft by The New Division

The New Division is out now at iTunes. The Rookie's release date is TBD. Check back for more information or visit the band's site. I'm looking forward to hearing more from them next year and seeing them out on tour.

If you like what you're hearing, leave a comment and let me know. If you know of a band that I should know about, either leave a comment or click "Send Me an Email." Also "Like" the site over on Facebook to get the latest posts and hear about the latest bands before your friends and be sure to recommend us to your friends.

Today's feature band isn't necessarily a new band, but chances are they're new to you. The band is White Lies, a West London based band that will be releasing its second album on January 17th in the UK and January 18th in the US. They are the worthy successor to the greatest band to ever exist, Joy Division, right down to the dark lyrics about love and relationships and the front man who bears more than a striking resemblance to Ian Curtis. The first song from their first album of the same name, "To Lose My Life", is a song about loving someone so much that you want to be with them forever.

The second track, "Unfinished Business," is my personal favorite. It's a breakup song about not being able to get over someone. The collective wisdom of the Internet says that it's about the ghost of a murdered boyfriend who comes back to haunt the girlfriend who killed him, but I think that the lyric "there's blood on your hands/and I know it's mine" is more figurative than literal. I think that everyone who's been through a breakup thinks that the other person has blood on their hands, and this song works as a haunting reminder of how it feels to not have closure, you feel like a ghost.

Warpaint, a past featured band, is up for the Week's Best Freshman Video on MTVU with Undertow. Click here to vote.

As a refresher, here's the video in question:

Today's featured band is British Columbia's You Say Party, a dance punk band from the labels Paper Bag Records and C.T.M. (Club.The.Mammoth). The band was originally known as You Say Party! We Say Die! but changed their name to just You Say Party earlier this year after the death of their original drummer, Devon Clifford. The band has been recording since 2005 and 2010 marked their breakout year in North America and Europe with the release of the album XXXX to critical and commercial success. The first song from the album is "There is XXXX (Within My Heart)," a rocking indie dance number that will get any room up and out on the tiles.

The second track from XXXX is "Dark Days," an excellent track that has a very strong Joy Division influence.

I highly recommend You Say Party for it's excellent example of indie dance punk and it's great sound that goes well with Marina and the Diamonds, Ida Maria and fellow Canadians Metric. You Say Party's new wave sound will be a hit at any party and hopefully soon on the radio in the US.

XXXX is out now at iTunes, Amazon, and from directly from Paper Bag Records. I hope to see them on their next North American tour when they come to Philadelphia.

Today's featured band is Seattle's Seapony, a lo-fi trio that specializes in sun drenched songs that will have you asking "Are you sure Seapony is from Seattle? I don't hear any grungy guitars and I don't want to kill myself after listening to it." Yes, they are from Seattle and there's more to the Seattle indie scene than Nirvana tribute bands and flannel shirts. The song, "Dreaming," is their new single from Double Denim Records, is upbeat and has a retro feel that is becoming more prevalent in indie rock. Some might even call Seapony a twee band in the style of Belle and Sebastian and last week's featured band, Allo Darlin', but I would put them into the retro category and include them with Best Coast and other surf pop bands like San Francisco's Girls (a surf pop band who's songs are emo versions of the Beach Boys). I'm looking forward to hearing the EP and hopefully seeing them when they make it to the East Coast.

Seapony - Dreaming from Double Denim Records on Vimeo.

The EP is out as a free downloand from Bandcamp and Dreaming is available as a limited edition 7" from Double Denim Records (order now, only 700 will be pressed).

Today's featured band is Denver's husband and wife lo-fi indie band Tennis. Over the summer they released an EP entitled Marathon on Underwater Peoples Records and have since signed with Oxford, Mississippi's Fat Possum Records and January will find the band releasing their first album, Cape Dory. Denver's Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore spent the past year living on a sailboat and exploring the Eastern Seaboard and in the process writing songs inspired by the places they visited. The album's title is the name of their boat, the Cape Dory. Tennis has an upbeat, summer sound that works well, something you don't usually associate with lo-fi and fuzzy guitars. It is unlike anything being currently played on the radio right now and it's the perfect antidote to a gray, cold winter's day. The other two songs on the EP, "Baltimore" and "Marathon" are excellent examples of their style and the theme of exploration that is present throughout the EP.

Tennis -- Cape Dory

Today's featured band is Best Coast, a surf pop band from (are you ready for this) Los Angeles. The band, Bethany Cosentino on vocals and Bobb Bruno on guitar, released their first album this summer, Crazy for You on Mexican Summer Records. The featured track (not available on the 12" vinyl), "When I'm With You", is a fuzzed out summer classic that will stick in your head, but in a good way. The video features a character similar to one from a major hamburger chain and in a most ironic (and very Southern California) scene, this very similar marketing character comes out of an In-n-Out Burger and hands the bag to Bethany.

The rest of the is a summertime classic that will feel right at home and if you play it during the depths of winter, you'll have an instant summer day coming out of your speakers.

For today's New Music Sunday I bring to you Allo Darlin', a London-based indie pop four piece band that's been around since 2009, but the members have been recording with other bands and the lead singer, Elizabeth Morris, has been releasing her own music since 2007 and records with the Tender Trap. Allo Darlin' just completed a successful US mini-tour in conjunction with CMJ 2010 in New York (they were in Philadelphia in October and had I known about them before last night, I would have gone to see their set at Blocktoberfest). Their self-titled album was released in the US last October and has been gathering critical acclaim.

The first video is "The Polaroid Song", the first single from Allo Darlin'. The song itself is very fun and has a great guitar line and some shades of Belle and Sebastian's chamber pop sound. The video is a take on The Breakfast Club and the memories that an old picture can evoke. The use of 16mm film and not digital or even videotape recording gives it a warm feeling that digital film just can't create and supports the song's theme of fuzzy memories that a forgotten picture can bring back.

The second track is the second single, "Dreaming". The song is an invitation from a girl to a guy to go out on the town and the guy is hesitant because he likes the girl (and she likes him) but he doesn't want to get hurt but knows that the two of them have a connection, chemistry if you will. The video was shot on Super-8, giving it a very grainy but warm and intimate feel, like being invited to watch the couple as they go out on the town. The video and the song complement each other and capture the feeling of following your heart despite knowing that you're going to get hurt in the end.
    
Allo Darlin' -- Dreaming

Warpaint, an all-girl band from Los Angeles recently found their way onto my iPod in the form of a free Amazon MP3 download for the song Undertow from their first major label album, The Fool. I hadn't heard of them before and after listening to the song, I was drawn in by the complex sound and very haunting lyrics. This is not for a casual listen, Warpaint's punk influenced fuzzy and complex sound requires three to four listens before you hear all that's going on and pick up on the subtlies of the band. The other songs from the album are just as complex, Set Your Arms Down is another track that starts slowly and builds to a smoldering fury that could burst into flames at any moment.

If you like The xx, you will love Warpaint, this is more make-out music for the smart set.

Hello and welcome to my new New Music Blog. I moved over all the music related posts from my political and financial blog and now they have their own home. I'm always looking for new indie and alternative bands to feature with a primary focus on bands that haven't broken in the US yet or are just coming up through the ranks. If you have any comments or suggestions for bands to feature, leave a note in the comments section or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from music fans all over the world with their suggestions for bands to feature.

Artists, Promoters and Managers: If you or your band is coming to Philadelphia, send me an email and let me know when and where the show is and I'll try to stop by. I'm looking forward to meeting some of you out on tour.