John's New Music Blog

Today's featured local band is Philadelphia's Reading Rainbow, a two piece consisting of Rob and Sarah that's just come to my attention. Reading Rainbow is making some very good fuzzy, lo-fi indie pop and if you don't know who they are now, you will soon.


Reading Rainbow has been releasing records on a variety of labels since 2009 and they will be releasing a single sided 7" called "Cover the Sky" on Hell, Yes! on April 11. Take a listen below:


Here's an earlier release from Reading Rainbow's November 2010 album, Prism Eyes, called "Wasting Time."




"Cover the Sky" will be available from Insound as a limited edition of 400 and will ship on April 11. Pre-order your copy today. Prism Eyes is available on vinyl and CD from Hozac Records, and for download from iTunes and Amazon.

If you want to see Reading Rainbow in person, they will be playing a No Wavelength all ages show at Danger Danger Gallery in Philadelphia on April 25th at 7:00pm with Grass Widow, Broken Water and Acid Kicks. Click here for the Facebook event invite.

(H/T: Gorilla vs. Bear)

Last December I featured the unsigned band Big Wave Riders, an indie surf rock band from the sundrenched beaches of Helsinki, Finland and their tracks "It's Funny Things Aren't Gonna Change" and "Big Sound." Yesterday, Teppo and the band released their new single "Skate or Die," an excellent followup to their first two tracks. The song starts a little slow with an homage to surf guitar legend Dick Dale, but it builds to a tempo change about midway through that kicks it into high gear. It's definitely one to download.

Today's Fresh New Music artist is the 20 year old Mongolian raised and current Nashville resident Merry Ellen Kirk. Merry Ellen is putting out some of the freshest indie pop I've heard recently and I think she's certainly worthy a listen. Her current project, The Firefly Garden, is filled with indie pop goodness that you should certainly give a listen to and support: Merry Ellen is raising money to release the album and for a small (or large) donation, you can help make her project a reality.



Here's a video of Merry Ellen performing her song Mosaic on a local Nashville music program:

I encourage you to check out Merry Ellen's music and if you like her songs, help support the release of the Firefly Garden and tell your friends. She'll be touring around Tennessee and the Southeast (and SXSW) in March, so if you get chance, check her out live and in the flesh (click here for tour dates). I'm looking forward to hearing more from her in the coming years.

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)

Today's featured band is Sheffield's Standard Fare, a three piece indie pop band comprised of Emma Kupa on bass/vocals, Danny How on guitar/vocals and Andy Beswick on drums that's been hiding from me for the past year. I stumbled across them while wandering through the various Indie Top whatever lists and they kept showing up near the top. It's a shame that I've only just discovered them and I've been deprived of their indie pop goodness for the past 9 months.


The track I'm featuring is "Philadelphia" from their Sheffield Phonographic Corporation/Bar None Records debut, The Noyelle Beat. The song is about a girl who has to wait a year to see her boyfriend in Philadelphia, but she'd like to see him sooner and she'd like for him to come to her but knows he won't. It's a charming song that's coupled with a charmingly creative video.



The Noyelle Beat is out now  for download on Sheffield Phonographic Corporation/Bar None Records at iTunes, Amazon and from the band.

I'm looking forward to seeing Standard Fare when they come to Philadelphia. Hopefully I won't have to wait all year.

I'm starting a new featured called "Fresh New Music" for bands so new they are still in bubble wrap. Today's band is an indie garage/punk band from Finland named Big Wave Riders.There's a lot of good music coming from Finland these days like a previous featured band, French Films and this band is no exception. Big Wave Riders found their way onto my site by simply sending an email with a link to their Soundcloud and You Tube pages and asking me to check them out. I did and they made the cut and in the process created a new feature.

The first track is a live version of "It's Funny Things Aren't Going to Change," an excellent indie pop track that sounds great live. This performance is from December 11 in Helsinki at Semifinal.


The second track is "Big Sound," a great track that is alternative radio ready.

Big Wave Riders - Big Sound by Big Wave Riders

I'm expecting an EP to follow sometime next year and I'm looking forward to seeing them live in the US soon.

Greetings from Wyoming! Yes, I'm in Wyoming and while it might be Christmas week, the music doesn't stop so I've picked a few traditional Christmas songs that have been given the Indie Rock treatment and a few original songs that are unlike the usual Christmas songs.

The first track is Oxnard, California-based Catwalk's version of The Chipmunk's 1959 classic, "Christmas Don't Be Late." Fresno's contribution to pop culture is successfully given the Indie treatment.

After a brief hiatus to see a few shows of bands that I've featured in the blog, I'm back with a new discovery, jj, a Swedish indie pop band that with a lead singer who's voice cuts through the listener like a cold winter wind off the North Sea. They released their first full-length album in 2009, No. 2, to critical acclaim and followed it up with No. 3. jj isn't your typical Swedish pop band, if all you know about the Swedish music scene is ABBA, The Cardigans and Ace of Base, jj is something quite different. They are very atmospheric and their songs are crisp and very unique. How unique you ask, well listen to the three selections and see for yourself.

The first track from No. 3 is "Let Go".

"Let Go" by jj from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

The second and third tracks are where jj comes at you from a completely different angle, covers of popular hip-hop tracks. The first is "I'm the One/Money on My Mind," a mash-up of The xx's "Intro" and Lil Wayne's "Money on My Mind." I admit, I have no idea who Lil Wayne is, but if you're a fan of indie dreamscape pop, you won't know that this is a hip-hop track turned into dreamscape.

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."

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.

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