El Boxeo
Awake & Dreaming
Suburban Sprawl Music

Do the words El Boxeo sound familiar to you? It should, seeing as how they were featured in a download write up back on July 14th. It’s been long enough between then and now for you to have gone out of your box and given them a listen, but for those of you who haven’t, here’s another plea.

For those of you who do not know random words in Spanish, El Boxeo means boxing. It’s also the name of a trio from Livonia, Michigan that play mainly of violin, drums and bass (not to be confused with drum n’ bass). This setup is what makes the band truly unique. There is no guitar anywhere to be found, and for that I am quite pleased. With the full sound El Boxeo is able to create, there isn’t really a need for anything else. Continue Reading »

The Minders
It’s A Bright Guilty World
Future Farmer Recordings

How does one introduce a band like The Minders? Do you go through the past 10 years of their history, or do you just begin where they’ve left off? Let’s do a little of both. The Minders began as collaboration between Martyn Leaper and Elephant6 co-founder/Apples in Stereo member, Robert Schneider, in the mid-90s. From there The Minders released numerous EPs and singles to much acclaim. Although the band has gone through a few band members and location changes since their inception, Martyn Leaper has been able to keep The Minders’ sound intact. Continue Reading »

Track a Tiger
Woke Up Early the Day I Died
Future Appletree Records

The first time I sat down to listen to Track a Tiger’s first release, Woke up Early the Day I Died, I was behind the steering wheel of a car driving to some predetermined destination. The music started and my head began to bob along to the sounds. I had read a few excerpts about the band, and there seemed to be a growing theme of adjectives proclaiming them to be “moody” and “sad”. At first I agreed, but as my drive went on, my mood seemed to fit the opposite. The songs were mostly somber, but behind that initial reaction, a smile found its way upon my face. It was a strange feeling, probably like the situation that the album title would imply. Maybe it is better to go out with optimism rather than worry? Continue Reading »

It’s only been about a year since Say Hi to Your Mom’s last release, Ferocious Mopes, but that seems to be a long enough time to write and record another album. Impeccable Blahs, the NEW-new Say Hi to Your Mom record, will be released this July in conjunction with an extensive tour around North America. This time around Eric Elbogen is joined by a few other band members, so I guess that takes care of whether to call the band “they” or “he”; no longer any confusion there.

Insound.com has made a track from Impeccable Blahs available for download entitled “These Fangs”, which I am now passing on to you. The song confirms Eric’s promise of an album about vampires, which continues the theme of “Poor Pete Is A Bit Self Conscious” off of Ferocious Mopes. It’s a catchy little song, so download and enjoy. You won’t have long to wait until the new record actually hits stores.

MP3: Say Hi to Your Mom - These Fangs

It’s been three years since Yo La Tengo’s last full length album. Yes, they have been offering other things at a consistent rate, like the retrospective Prisoners of Love compilation and Yo La Tengo Is Murdering the Classics, which is a cover album that does exactly as its name implies. But this just leaves a hole that only new material can fill.

If you have been looking for a taste of the new album I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass, which is slated for a September 12^th release date, then you’ve probably already heard that Matador has made a song off of the album available for download…but if you haven’t been obsessively refreshing the Yo La Tengo website three months in advance of the album, then I’ve done the work for you (you’re welcome).      

The track “Beanbag Chair” is a nice teaser from an album that is supposedly comprised of all original Yo La Tengo material (All covered out?). Take a listen and form your own dreams of what the rest of the new record might sound like. Matador hints that this will be the first of a few prerelease downloads over the next few months, so if this is not enough for you, then be patient and good luck refreshing.

MP3: Yo La Tengo - Beanbag Chair

The Starlight Mints
Drowaton
Barsuk Records

The Starlight Mints are a quirky indie-pop band from Norman, Oklahoma. On their past two records, The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of and Built on Squares, the Mints were able to blend their pop laden songwriting with an orchestral arrangement of strings and horns to form a sort of psychedelic, bubblegum rock. After being a big fan of these two albums, I was eager to hear what the Starlight Mints had been up to. 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 »

The Appleseed Cast
Peregrine
Miltia Group

The Appleseed Cast have undergone many changes in their style of music, that you just don’t know what to expect from their new album. Will it be “emo”? Will it be more of a droning post-rock sound? Will they still have great drums? Well, I don’t know what to tell you if you actually asked any of those questions, other than yes. Continue Reading »

Nic Garcia
The Desperate Ones
Yer Bird Records 

Hearing the genre “Singer/Songwriter” sort of makes me cringe nowadays. You know you’re either going to get something unique, or something that sounds like every other musician in America. While Nic Garcia’s sound is seemingly familiar, it differs enough from the rest of the genre to make it worth listening to at least once through. Continue Reading »

Love Letter Band
Fear Not My Brothers, Fear Not My Sisters, For I Have Seen the Future
Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records

Hailing from Denver, Colorado, the Love Letter Band create wonderful folk-rock tunes using a little bit of lofi-love, and a touch of western twang. They’ve taken alt-country up a notch and added a wide array of instruments into the mix to give it a nice experimental vibe. Continue Reading »