Controlling the Famous
Automatic City
The Militia Group 

The boys down at The Militia Group were kind enough to send me a copy of Controlling the Famous’ new album Automatic City, and I must say, it’s been tough figuring out how I am going to review it. My first instinct is always to let someone else on the writing staff take care of it, but sometimes those guys go MIA and I am forced to do some writing of my own. That isn’t really too big of a big deal, the real difficulty of reviewing this record is its dual and contradicting nature. Continue Reading »

John Roderick and his pop band The Long Winters are back with a new full length. Putting the Days to Bed will be released on July 25th on Barsuk Records. Wooden Wand is reissuing his album Harem of the Sundrum and the Witness Figg. If you didn’t hear it the first time around, think psych-folk. New Matmos track reminds me of the Books. Their record, The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast, came out this past Tuesday on Matador Records. Human Television are happy, eclectic, & catchy. Their album Look at Who You Are Talking To to came out on May 2nd. Check it out. The Stills have a new record out, Without Feathers. According to Metacritic.com, they’ve received generally favorable reviews. I’m going to the record store tomorrow to pick up Black Heart Procession’s latest record Spell. Check out the song Not Just Words. Camera Obscura are returning with a full length in June. Until then they’ve put out the single Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken.

 The Long Winters - Pushover
 Wooden Wand - Eagle Claw
 Matmos - Roses And Teeth For Ludwig Wittgenstein
 Human Television - In Front of the House
 The Stills - In the Beginning
 Black Heart Procession - Not Just Words
 Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken

When I was 12 years old I played little league baseball and listened to the Smashing Pumpkins.  I wasn’t in a band.  I didn’t even know how to play an instrument.  That’s why it intrigues me when I hear about little kids being in bands.  It’s especially interesting when these kid bands are playing legitimate club shows, and not just the local fair.  Take 12 and 14 year old sisters Chloe and Aysa for example.  Their band Smoosh has just signed to Barsuk Records (yes, that Barsuk Records) and are currently traveling the world opening up for the Eels (yes, those Eels).  I can’t pretend to know what that must be like but I bet it beats little league.

Find a Way has all the qualities of a song written by children- simple and repetitive melodies, high pitched vocals, vague lyrics- and within that context it is a good song.  I’m just confused towards Barsuk’s motives for adding Smoosh to their roster.  Are they trying to market the girls to hip college students and indie kids or are they looking to develop a new pre-teen division of the label?  It intrigues me.

 MP3: Smoosh - Find a Way

Rocky Votolato
Makers
Barsuk Records

Rocky Votolato is the kind of musician who is at his best when he darkens things up a bit. As evidenced by songs like Prison is Private Property, Mixtapes/Cellmates, and Suicide Medicine, the Seattle songwriter is truly at home when there is a hint of pain or longing behind his gentle rasp. His 2003 album Suicide Medicine explored this dark, emotional attachment more heavily than any of his previous albums and as a whole it still stands as his best work to date. It has the upbeat energy that Burning My Travels Clean and the self titled record lacked and the brooding, introspective voice that Votolato’s latest album Makers sorely misses. Continue Reading »

Moneen
The Red Tree
Vagrant Records 

I’ll start this off by saying that I’m not a huge fan of emo-rock. I’ve never wanted to purchase a Taking Back Sunday record, or listen to Thursday in public. I don’t like being called an “emo”, and I correct people when they refer to me as such. But with all of this aside, I actually love the new Moneen record. This Toronto band is bringing the goods. Continue Reading »

If you are an indie aficionado and the least bit internet savvy, you probably downloaded this record 4 months ago, purchased the album last month, and got your hands on 5 copies of this song from various other mp3 blogs in the past 2 weeks.  Why am I posting this then?  I guess you can look at it as my way of rebelling against cyber-nerds’ ‘one week equals one year in internet time’ policy. 

I am more than willing to sacrifice our we we’re there first hipster status just to provide all 17 of our readers with songs from 3 years- er, I mean 3 weeks ago.  I feel it is my duty to those pre-occupied members of the indie constituency.  If you have a job- one that doesn’t include strumming an acoustic guitar or scanning rare LPs for the local mom and pop record shop- or you are a full time student- the academic non-art school kind- then consider Invisible Limb your red eye flight to last week’s hottest mp3s. 

While you’re out working for the machine or getting your learn on, our committed staff of one will be here putting in the hard research.  Did you know the Arctic Monkeys just put out a spankin’ new EP?  I also heard something about a new Built to Spill record.  I bet it’s going to be awesome!

This leads me to the original point of this post: The Fiery Furnaces.  These guys have released a ton of albums, and each one seems to have its own thing going on.  For example, rather than re-tread through their back catalogue on their last full length,  The Furnaces got an old lady relative of theirs to tell creepy stories over some piano arrangements.  It was art!  I’m not sure if their new album, Bitter Tea, is as artistic or not, but I do know that it came out a month ago and I am committing mp3 blog suicide by posting an mp3 from it so late in the game.

Oh well. Rebellion!

 MP3:  The Fiery Furnaces - Benton Harbor Blues

I don’t care what anyone says, Grandaddy are top shelf.  They may not have Vaudevillian stage names, retro get ups, or the much beloved schizophrenic/tortured artist back-story, but they do know how to write one hell of a pop song.  Even when they were pleasing high brow critics with their experimental & thematic rock sound, they were killing it on the pop front.  It was the pre-cursor to Sumday, which I feel is their most solid effort.  Critics panned it for it’s stright-forwardness but file that under snooty, self-serving ‘journalism’.  Sumday was the best pop record of 2003, with or without the return of Jed the suicidal android.

Alright so to bring things back to the present, Grandaddy are getting set to release their next and final album, Just Like the Fambly Cat, on May 9th on V2 Records.  Yeah, you read right.  It’s their final album.  The band is planning to call it quits shortly after its release, which means the record better be a re-hash of the Sophtware Slump or critics will be disappointed.

  MP3: Grandaddy - Elevate Myself

Brandtson
Hello, Control
The Militia Group

Brandtson, a long-lived Indie pop/rock band, combines the catchiness of pop with the intensity of rock and the driving beats of electronic music. This band definitely has the potential to be chart-toppers in the near future. Nearly every song on Hello, Control is so memorable it’s nearly impossible to not sing along. Continue Reading »