John's New Music Blog

Last February we featured the Portland band Blouse, the Depeche Mode/The Cure influenced shoegaze band that released "Into Black." Blouse is back and recently released a new 7" single "Shadow" via Seattle-based indie megalabel Sub Pop.


"Shadow" is a throwback to the early '80's of Human League and OMD, it covers death and despair in with the cloak of summer.


 Blouse - Shadow by subpop

The B side is "Nights & Days," a shoegaze track that highlights the vocals of singer Charlie Hilton with another '80's flashback. The track could have been released in 1983, but it doesn't sound dated like La Roux, but it's a logical progression from Depeche Mode and New Order's early albums to this track.




Blouse is currently in the studio recording their Captured Tracks debut album. "Shadow" and "Nights & Days" is available on vinyl from Sub Pop and for download from Amazon. Their first single, "Into Black" and "Firestarter" is available from iTunes and Amazon.

Today's featured band is another one of Portland, Oregon's contributions to indie music, Blouse. The featured track, "Into Black", is a gothic inspired indie pop track that oozes early Cure and Depeche Mode influences and is quite possibly one of the best tracks of the young year. The video is from a Portland based video collective that combines the song with clips from a film with Juliette Binoche titled les amants du Pont-Neuf.

Today's Fresh New Music is from Stockton, California's Craft Spells, a summer indie pop band that will be releasing their first LP, Idle Labor, on March 1 on Captured Tracks. The first single is "After the Moment," a song as warm as a San Joaquin Valley summer's day and melts the snow of winter with its infectious lyrics and sound.




Idle Labor will be out on March 1 from Captured Tracks. No sales information yet, but check back by March 1st for details.

(H/T: Beachtapes)