John's New Music Blog

I came across the latest from Southern California indie summer rockers and cat lovers Best Coast over at Pitchfork. It's titled "Sunny Adventure," a fuzzed out retro '60's track that's warmer than a summer day at the beach. The track is available as split 7" with JEFF The Brotherhood from Volcom.

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

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.