Junior Boys

"In the Morning"
from the album So This is Goodbye
2006
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And here to quell the notion that Junior Boys caught lightning in a bottle with 2004's beloved Last Exit is "In the Morning,” which is not only your first tip that the forthcoming So This is Goodbye might be every bit as dazzling and adventurous as their debut (it is), but also, by some distance, the best thing they've ever done. Where Last Exit was all (post) post-coital whispers and moans, So This is Goodbye is glinted with welcome salacious touches, and nowhere do we get them more clearly than here. It begins briskly, with a sawtoothed keyboard arpeggio, some Thriller-era vocal hiccuping, and a robust snare that rumbles like a fridge door before snapping back on itself. "Girl, the night's not over," sings Hamilton, Ontario's foremost Romo revivalist, on his way to evoking the youthful escape fantasies that ruled New Pop: "We're not getting older/ They can chase forever."

With the arpeggio, plosives and snares as its foundation, the beautiful arrangements alternate between leaning on gushingly melodic phrases and skittering counter-rhythms for support. Everything overlaps seamlessly -- the verse and the chorus blissfully interchangeable, all pushed forward by that rhythm -- up until around the three minute mark, when things swell to a sudden build and the Boys introduce a shrill firecracker synth riff that sounds like one of Lil Jon's, albeit pitched up and comically excited. As simple sonic moments go, its one of the most thrilling you'll hear this year. As for the track, same -- five minutes rarely rush by this quickly.

~ Mark Pytlik, Pitchfork

Wooden Wand

"Eagle Claw"
from the album Harem of the Sundrum & the Witness Figg
2005
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Harem marks the first solo turn from James "Wooden Wand" Toth, and it turns out sunburned solitude suits him better than the unfortunately all-over-the-place psych he and backing act Vanishing Voice have liberally released (CDR-style) over the past couple of years. Here Toth treads a more certain path -- restrained, sometimes hypnotic psych-folk -- with the dazed, peculiar mien of a pilgrim who has just returned from a 40-day spiritual journey in the desert, malnourished and slightly insane. Particulars of devotion, random personal musings and remembrances, the importance of animal totems, and assorted inspirational malarkey swirl together and drip out in drawled, somehow meaningful puddles as Toth's guitars hem, haw and thrum. A baby-amusing record player shares space with an updated Book of Revelations screed on "Vengeance, Pt. 3." By contrast, he urges 'Don't let your time pass you by' in eerie, double-tracked splendor on the chorus to "Eagle Claw," investing the you with a yodel so spooky, it suggests a close proximity to the afterlife. Harem's undertow is sneakily strong; even if you don't want to drink Toth's Kool-Aid, the pews in his church are inviting and element-worn enough that a return visit is inevitable.

~ Ray Cummings, pitch.com

Van She

"Kelly"
from the EP Van She
2006

Download an MP3 of "Kelly" from Insound.com
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Van She, Van She, Van She. Let's hope for the sake of all pop music, or at least for the sake of Top 40, that Van She makes some sort of huge impact in the States. I'd much rather happen to turn on the radio and have this playing than some Black Eyed Peas hacked up Sergio Mendes nonsense. Follow? I guess that goes without saying though.

Whenever some critic says that '80s revival is over, a band like Van She comes out of nowhere just to prove them wrong. Which is great… because bands like Van She are just so much fun. They could easily be compared to a more jolly New Order. Or maybe even contemporaries comparisons… like a more playful Zoot Woman or less eccentric Scissor Sisters. Surely pop has not been this good since you were a kid. Yeah, it may just seem too happy, but is that really a bad thing? You can’t wear black every single day.

The video is worth checking out too. It’s like if Napoleon Dynamite was a sexy teenager named Kelly.

~ bigstereo.net

the Submarines

"Brighter Discontent"
from the album Declare a New State!
2006
iTunes

Download an MP3 of "Brighter Discontent" from Nettwerk
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There are always two sides to every story. In the case of Declare a New State!, the new album by the Submarines, there are two sides to the same breakup.

Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti (Jack Drag) made music together, figuratively and literally before breaking up and going their separate ways in music and life. Serious relationships often take more than one breakup, so when Hazard and Dragonetti eventually reconvened, they realized that they both had written songs based on their time apart; two distinctly different takes on the same shared life experience. The yin and yang of their responses creating a cohesive, extremely likable and emotional album about love both unconditional and fading, the struggle to make love work, longing for a former lover, and acceptance of the reality of the situation.

The album itself is a metaphor for a romantic relationship where individuality and teamwork are of equal importance in the joint challenge of keeping it all together. You'll immediately be drawn into the Hazard songs, like the Lisa Loeb-esque "Brighter Discontent," about suddenly finding yourself alone again. Looking back at a relationship through the artifacts inside a once shared home Hazard sings, "A breaking heart in an empty apartment was the loudest sound I never heard."

Hazard also shines in "Ready or Not," a low key almost trip hop track with a Sneaker Pimps vibe where she asks "Does every day feel like a brand new chance to fall apart?" The album really comes together on the tracks where Hazard and Dragonetti team up, putting their reconciliation on display for our benefit and you hope, theirs. It's an interesting dynamic best displayed in "Modern Invention" where Hazard sounding like a slightly bored Jenny Lewis trades leads with Dragonetti's Lou Barlow impression over loops and an angelic chorus that wouldn't be out of place on a Flaming Lips record. It's like a slightly sweeter Neko Case joining the Postal Service.

Declare a New State! sounds like a Sunday afternoon, where everything past seems washed away and the possibilities ahead are endless, especially when you're in love.

~ Jason Miller, thespacelab.tv

Sleeping at Last

"Careful Hands"
from the album Keep No Score
2006

Download an MP3 of "Careful Hands" from EmotionalPunk.com
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Notwithstanding the fact that Sleeping at Last were seen opening for supergroup Switchfoot a couple years ago, and despite the fact that their anthemic, expressive record, Ghosts was released on Interscope Records, Sleeping at Last are still a mysterious group. It seems, their tight, close relationship with one another (two are brothers, and the band's manager is their mother) is almost an utmost reflection of their fanbase. Those who are SAL enthusiasts won't bend for anyone; they're practically as close as family. And, when one really recognizes and grabs onto the truth and gorgeous inner-beauty Sleeping at Last seem to flawlessly document on record, it's hard not to find them irresistible.

Keep No Score, the third release from this transcendent pop band, seems to proceed in the way one would expect, considering it's being released by themselves -- it's unbelievably personal. Immediately, singer Ryan O'Neal dives into the literal tension and thrill of love -- and one can almost feel the cold, icy depth of the ocean as he explores the plagues of loneliness in the song's intense bridge: "...walking on the ocean floor, feeding sharks out of our hands..."

It might be almost too fitting to mention that "Tension & Thrill" was meant to be on the Spiderman 2 soundtrack --ironically, Keep No Score as a whole is as O'Neal described it to me: cinematic. And, truly, as the band reveals, the songs on this record are filled with dynamics. In one instance, in the tender "Careful Hands," has an eventual mingling of strings, pianos, and guitars (but mostly strings) as the song escalates into an honestly breathtaking symphony of sound. In the next instant, "Needle & Thread" introduces an acoustic guitar -- most notably bringing to mind the spectacular track "Hurry" from their last record -- but this time, the song is touched with strings and keys to match the delicate acoustic guitar sounds. The production by mastermind John Goodmanson (Blonde Redhead, Death Cab for Cutie, Sleater-Kinney) doesn't hurt either -- the intricate, textured sounds on Keep No Score never sound too intense or too much. Goodmanson did an excellent job balancing the often hugely layered sound the band was capable of -- and it sounds nothing short of exactly right.

To take it objectively, while Ghosts tended to be filled with more soaring, accessible chorusing and splendid pop songs, Keep No Score is overflowing with introspect and sorrow. Not a song on this record follows suit with "Say," the electrifying radio-ready single from Ghosts. In fact, there are rare occasions when loud electric guitars are used-- aside from the stimulating "Levels of Light" or bouncy "Envelopes," of course. Instead, though this is to make a greater assumption than one can easily presume, it might seem the band Sleeping at Last have used their label-less opportunity to at once survey and expose their inner thoughts. In any case, Keep No Score is filled with enough dreamy, passionate melodies and lyrics that will render anyone motionless and in awe. It captures exquisite beauty and paints intense soundscapes more successfully than any record I've heard in a long, long time -- even since they, themselves released an album.

~ Andrew Martin, EmotionalPunk.com

Caroline

"Sunrise"
from the album Murmurs
2006
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Caroline's is a call so clean you soil it with your ear.

In fact, Caroline is untouchable, a voice savored from a distance. It's not in her music. Murmurs ushers you into her pink-flame with minimal resistance -- strings, subtle beats, and hushed electronic soundscapes. But there's an asexual nymphette behind her charms that's like coming upon a naked child bathing in a stream. You may well adore her innocence, her youth and pallor, her custom of pleasure in withdrawal, but she's beyond flesh.

Those of you who enjoyed her bewitchingly slight single of last year, "Where's My Love?" -- included here on her debut record -- may understand. Illustrating her classical training (she studied at Berklee School of Music before falling for Explosions in the Sky and asking Temporary Residence Ltd. for, erm, temporary residence), the track revels in the magnitude of quiet -- her voice at the center of a rather stately, if reined-in, backdrop. Skirting MOR AM Radio, she sings over quiet gum-popped beats, piano, and hushed chimes in a restrained love chord. Where Robyn and Rachel Stevens were courting listeners with meta-candypop and Nordic-postermour cover-shots, Caroline was the marble-eyed girl in the corner, biding her time 'til she spills her homework on the floor and you take notice to help.

Sadly, at points on Murmurs, this timidity proves excessive. "Bicycle" opens with a strident trumpet before Caroline begins in a voice far too insipidly sweet for the gloss of the music behind it. Her songwriting is exposed; she trades in treacle: "I can't remember your face/ But I remember your bicycle/ How it took my breath away." She's cloying and honey-false, and given the minimal arrangements on which she relies, it leaves her demure posturing unbearably fey. "Pink and Black" succumbs to the same emotional hyperbole, as phrases like "here we go/ I'm gonna make all this happen/ Little steps/ In little steps/ I'll make it closer to you" run for unprovided cover beneath the stale folktronic beatscapes and oriental harp.

Fortunately, Murmurs' opening duo is forgiven with the rest of the record's Sunday morning balm. "Sunrise" finally pairs Caroline's carp-pool voice with a melody to match. Again, the programming is dim enchantment -- cellular electronics and stumble-block beats that give Caroline room to extend her suddenly potent range. But here, her often awkward lyrical sense blossoms under a cloudy melodic refrain. It's the pull of the ear over the brain, and as much reason to recline, dim the mind and lights, and simply daze as any here.

Meanwhile, "Everylittlething" lives up to the PR-sheet furor and Björk comparisons with its relatively aggressive beat structures and static churn. In a moment of pull and retreat, black-nail synth lines threaten to overcome Caroline's vocals before she turns for the first time to a scowl, flirting with crash and hurt. Given the record's introductory salvo, the brief sense of harm gives her a power we would be forgiven to think she lacked, and thus opens the rest of the record to the possibility this is more than your average powder fairy at play.

As the wistful "Winter" fades out on solemn piano notes, Caroline slips from view. Wilkie Collins' Woman in White, still unknowable. Hers is an adolescent voice, the silt of youth coalescing into untimed age, so far from our thoughts but beaded into dreams we don't remember. And yet, you begin to hum a smatter of tune you can't place in the shower. Caroline will go on to make better records, but if little else Murmurs will leave us those strains of melody during shampoo, rinse, repeat.

~ Derek Miller, Stylus

Boy Kill Boy

"Suzie"
from the album Civilian
2006
iTunes

Another much-hyped guitar band (it's easy to lose track as to where we are in the current slew, particularly if you find yourself tuning into one of the indie stations like XFM and are over the age of 18, or if you find it hard to keep track of every single movement and blog entry on Myspace), and for once, the hype is well-deserved. Boy Kill Boy were generated out of listlessness in Theydon Bois by a dissatisfied group of rock-loving mates and are currently all over the airwaves with excellent single "Suzie," which features on this debut album. Can the rest of the tracks hold up to some pretty weighty expectations?

In short, yes. It's a little heavier than the usual guitar music which has come out of the last five post-Britpop years which can comfortably be classed as indie, without ever going quite as heavy as to bother the Kerrang! audience too much (this is no heavy rock band). Drawing on the kind of nu-metal/emo American influences which have seen bands like Lostprophets able to turn their sound into the epic, by equal parts doom-laden and euphoric stadium rock which would also work remarkably well in a fairly intimate venue, Civilian marries Killers-style synths and riffs ("Six Minutes") with classic pop-rock choruses ("Suzie," "On and On") and some really great slower pop tracks like Ivy Parker -- which manages to nail a jangly Beatles-esque pentatonic piano line to some big rock basslines and power chords. An excellent debut.

~ virgin.net

Psapp

"Hi"
from the album The Only Thing I Ever Wanted
2006
iTunes

Psapp are best known in the US for the Grey's Anatomy theme song, "Cosy in the Rocket.” They build on that with their assured and charming second album, which boasts weirder beats and more danceable rhythms than similar efforts by UK ingénues Imogen Heap and Dido. The opener, "Hi," is anchored by a percussive xylophone, with Galia Durant's warm voice serving as another rhythmic component as she croons, "Get out the abacus and count this." Carim Classman roots the music with glitchy noises, creating an ambiance reminiscent of Stereolab around Durant's coos. It's this willingness to experiment with sounds and percussion that distinguishes Psapp from their electro-organic brethren.

~ Elisabeth Donnelly, The Phoenix

Beirut

"Postcards From Italy"
from the album Gulag Orkestar
2006
iTunes

Download an MP3 of "Postcards From Italy" from the band's website
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Gulag Orkestar starts at the end, so to speak, with a mariachi funeral march. It's an odd way to begin your career, but 19-year-old Zach Condon already sounds closer to death than birth. Beirut's brilliant debut album is full of grandeur and intimacy, with accordions, ukuleles and brass instruments complementing contemporary notions like drum machines and digestible song structures while simultaneously channeling the ancient appeal of Balkan folk music. On top of all this, or perhaps below, is Condon's voice; the sullen croon lends a gravity to these songs that blows through each churning waltz and march like a gust across the Danube.

As the songs parade forward, they lend themselves to cinematic pastiche: the romantic "Prenzlauerberg" conjures images of ballroom dancing; "Rhineland," the soundtrack to a battle in slow motion; "Bratislava," the dance before a feast. Stephin Merritt and Scott Walker are obvious influences, singers whose taste for the maudlin and tragic is apparently to Condon's liking. It's up for argument what's more surprising -- that a 19-year-old has managed to tastefully pilfer these pillars of pop, or that he wove their traits into foreign traditions so seamlessly.

Beirut is no stranger to Web-savvy music fans. Accolades have been steadily building around his "Postcards From Italy," a leaked song that serves as a precise introduction. With Condon's ukulele and A Hawk and a Hacksaw's Jeremy Barnes' martial drumming locked in casual groove, "Postcards" confidently broadcasts the vision of a boy with both ambition and the talent to back it up. At the age 19, Condon could be construed as precocious, but it's just as likely that he's an old soul. Perhaps when one mingles with traditions so hallowed, the spirits can't help but take over. It's hard to be a boy when you're 1,000 years old.

~ Mark Griffey, Dusted Magazine

Silversun Pickups

"Well Thought Out Twinkles"
from the album Carnavas
2006
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Download an MP3 of "Well Thought Out Twinkles" from Dangerbird Records
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In many ways, the Silversun Pickups are the study of a band in reverse: lead singer and guitarist Brian Aubert and bassist Nikki Monninger met on a plane ten years ago. Eventually joined by drummer Christopher Guanlao and keyboardist Joe Lester, the band spent years playing out across their hometown of Los Angeles, amassing a loyal and enthusiastic following and developing their live show. In 2000, the band played a well-received set at CMJ in New York City, the indie expo that packs hundreds of up-and-coming bands into a breathless weeklong marathon of shows. But it took until 2005 before they released their debut, Pikul. This July 25 brings their first full-length offering, Carnavas.

"I'm not sure we ever really had a mission statement," says Aubert from Los Angeles, though he readily admits that years of playing out had a huge influence on the development of the group's sound. "We're lucky in a way... [LA] is our backyard,” and the quartet has relied upon the sprawling city's ample clubs and bars as testing grounds for new material. Even venturing 30 minutes from the band's default headquarters of Echo Park "is like playing in another town," he says. Aubert cites Wilco, Joy Division, Secret Machines, and the Movies (another LA-based group) as influences and heroes, but also credits his fellow bandmates as "the best focus group around... everyone comes in and makes it all better -- makes it more real." He also notes "the luxury of having friends who know how to record," referring in part to the Ship, a recording studio and informal group of musicians from LA bands such as Earlimart, Irving, and the Movies, who often collaborate and play on each other's albums and tour together. Having this support network "makes the whole thing less glamorous and easier to understand."

With the release of Pikul, "we really wanted to make sure the EP wasn't this thing that, when the record came out, it just sounded like the EP plus four songs." Aubert emphasizes that both EP and Carnavas are separate works, although he says that "the EP had a big effect on the full-length release," and he says "playing out for the EP really influenced the LP." The seven songs on Pikul feature the contributions of Tanya Haden, the group's occasional cellist, whose long, low notes form a dynamic base for the crunchy guitar bridges and drone-core interludes of "Kissing Families," arguably the Pikul's most popular track. "We never really thought about radio [exposure]," says Aubert, and the band was pleasantly shocked to learn that KEXP in Seattle was playing everything off the EP. Based on the station's airplay, when the band opened a gig for Brendan Benson at the Crocodile Cafe in November 2005, the venue "was just a madhouse: lines of people by the merch table, it was stunning -- we'd never set foot in that city [before]."

While Pikul contains several solid songs, it has a bit of a sketchbook feel when compared to Carnavas. "The EP is really organic in certain ways, [while] the record is more mechanical," agrees Aubert, and many of its tracks indeed have a homegrown, workshopped appeal that translates into live sets just a bit better than into studio work. But the Seattle experience taught them a thing or two: the LP is more polished, with a greater attention to subtle musical elements and studio tinkerings. "Melatonin" and "Common Reactor," the first and last tracks, were intentionally written and placed, providing a gradually building and a gradually fading set of sonic bookends to the record. "It was such fun sequencing the record," says Aubert. "It was such a great process -- we thought it was going to be hard." Beginning with the expansive, dreamy opening chords of "Melatonin," the first portion of the album contains the moodier, upbeat numbers, such as "Well Thought Out Twinkles" (a strong contender for their next radio single), drawing comparison to the Smashing Pumpkins' mastery of blaringly loud melodies. Aubert's vocals even gain a bit of the classic Billy Corgan wail. The second portion of the LP capitalizes on the spacey, quieter guitar elements first addressed on Pikul, drawing on elements of Hum and Grandaddy for their slo-mo build and intensity.

And for the band's next trick? Aubert thinks the band might finally be getting around to making a music video. The song hasn't been picked yet, but Aubert already knows what he wants: Skid Row's Sebastian Bach walking the streets of Echo Park, lip-synching the Silversun Pickups. Stay tuned: the band's time-traveling tendencies may soon work on '80s glam-metal stars as well.

~ Connie Hwong, PerformerMag.com

the Killers

"When You Were Young"
from the album Sam's Town
2006
iTunes

Audio streams of "When You Were Young":
Real | Windows (via Island Records)

The Killers will return September 18 with "When You Were Young," the first single from their highly anticipated sophomore album Sam's Town. The full set is due October 2 in the UK and a day later in North America via Island Def Jam. It was recorded in the band's Las Vegas hometown with producers Flood and Alan Moulder.

Atop the band's signature vintage keyboard sound and a thumping bass line, lead singer Brandon Flowers sings, "Can we climb this mountain?/ I don’t know/ Higher now than ever before/ I know we can make it if we take it slow."

Although the track list has yet to be revealed, other songs expected to make the final cut include "Read My Mind," "Bones," "Uncle Johnny Did Cocaine," and the title cut.

The new album is the follow-up to the Killers' 2004 debut, Hot Fuss, which according to Nielsen SoundScan has sold more than 3 million copies in the United States.

"We're trying to strip it down a little bit," lead singer Brandon Flowers previously told Billboard.com of the new material. "Not have it be so busy. Just let it breathe and let it be a great song. We wrote some great songs on the first one, but these have more of a classic feel."

~ Jonathan Cohen, Billboard

the Format

"She Doesn't Get It"
from the album Dog Problems
2006
iTunes

Download an MP3 of "She Doesn't Get It" from Nettwerk Records
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Attention downtrodden rock bands everywhere: If you think getting dumped by your girlfriend is rough, try getting dropped by your record label. Twice. Although they're still barely in their twenties, that's exactly what happened to Sam Means and Nate Ruess, otherwise known as the Format. However, instead of letting the experience destroy them, the band has transformed the ordeal into something positive. (Hell, they threw parties both times it happened.)

"It sort of mockingly turned the whole major-label side of the music business into a dance," explains Ruess about one of Dog Problems' most telling songs, "The Compromise." "There's a line, 'I can feel your feet touching mine,' which pretty much explains it all in the sense of 'if you’re not willing to play the game, we'll just find someone else.' And that's quite alright with me." Although the band was inundated with major-label offers after their split with Atlantic, they decided to release it under their own Vanity Label imprint, distributed by Sony/BMG -- a move that allowed them to make the album they wanted to make.

"It was great," says Ruess, describing the process of recording Dog Problems with producer Steve McDonald (Red Kross). "I'd go into the studio, make decisions and never have to hear things like, "I don't know if that has enough octane," he continues, laughing. "I feel like on the last record, we were pressured to make an album full of singles, and this time we could just do whatever we want." It's true; six of the songs on Dog Problems have full orchestration (three of which are arranged by Jellyfish mastermind Roger Manning), and while the band may not have felt pressured to write singles, well, nearly every song on the disc could be a potential one.

However, the label issues are only part of the story behind Dog Problems -- and hearing Ruess explain the album's title is the best way to understand where much of the album's emotional content came from. "The title Dog Problems comes from the fact that every time my longterm girlfriend and I got back together, we'd get a dog, thinking that it would save our relationship," Ruess explains. In fact, you can actually trace Ruess tumultuous relationship through the songs on the album: "Matches" sets the scene and "I'm Actual" recounts the events actually going down, while songs toward the end of the disc have a sentimental and almost philosophical bent -- "Snails" in particular, which uses the animal as a metaphor for making the most of the time we have with our loved ones.

But even if you don't know what each song is about, the medium is also the message. With its horns and complex arrangements, Dog Problems has the scope of an elaborate show tune; "Oceans" is so instantly recognizable that it's difficult to believe you haven't heard it before; and "She Doesn't Get It," features a guitar intro based on Bruce Springsteen's "Growin' Up," but quickly morphs into a hook-filled anthem reminiscent of the band's pop-friendly peers. Ghosts of XTC, Harry Nilsson and, of course, the Beatles haunt the rest of Dog Problems, but the album also takes profound inspiration from Brian Wilson. "The new album is a definitely a pop record; that's the only way I can describe it," admits Reuss, clearly referring to a time before Britney Spears and boy bands co-opted the term to sell SUVs.

However, despite all this, the most amazing part of the Format's still unfolding story is the way they've survived -- no, thrived -- in the face of adversity. In the past three years, the band has shared the stage with Motion City Soundtrack,
Jimmy Eat World, and Dashboard Confessional and kept their fans updated via "the Living Room" section of their Web site where they've posted acoustic versions of Dog Problems songs to tide over their growing legion of listeners -- and somehow without MTV or radio play, their fanbase has grown exponentially.

So, how does it feel with the album finally released?

"It's so exciting," Ruess beams. "We were worried that since the record was delayed for a year, maybe people had forgotten about us -- but our fanbase has tripled." He pauses, trying to articulate three years worth of work into one sentence. "I don't know how any of this has happened, but I feel like this is just the beginning."

Mojave 3

"Breaking the Ice"
from the album Puzzles Like You
2006
iTunes



Mojave 3 have been trading in their smouldering, heartstring tugging brand of country music for over a decade and despite releasing four albums that have easily matched -- indeed, on occasion, even surpassed -- anything coming from the heartlands of the States, haven't quite made the commercial or cultural impact that was expected of them. To their credit, the pastoral incarnation of one-time Slowdive members Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell have traversed the dusty country roads to pursue their singular vision but Puzzles Like You marks a definite musical shift that could see the band broadening their appeal.

Though their collective heart still remains chasing the sun, Puzzles Like You is characterised by a jauntiness and sense of fun that's been missing from their previous outings and it's not difficult to second guess where they're coming from when sporting a song title like "Big Star Baby." Dreamily and harmoniously languid -- voices coalesce beautifully to the backing of steel guitars and strummed major chords -- Mojave 3 acknowledge the legacy of Alex Chilton's doomed band with the same reverence and lightness of touch as Teenage Fanclub.

"Truck Driving Man" grips from the first note as the jangly guitars and Halstead's breathy vocals suggest a move away from Nashville to the West Coast via Memphis. Utterly immediate, any fears that this may be a one-off are soon allayed with the joyously sprightly title track that beguiles and delights in equal measure. However, Puzzles Like You isn't a complete departure for Mojave 3.

"You Said It Before"'s opening line of "…life is funny but we don't laugh anymore" finds the band in familiarly maudlin territory, while the contemplative "Most Days" is the kind of tears-in-your-beer balladry we've come to expect. But it's difficult to argue that the band haven't shifted gear when confronted with the upbeat "Breaking the Ice" and it's this almost relentless desire to show off their new side that lets down "Just a Boy" and "To Hold Your Tiny Toes" as texture is surrendered to formula.

Puzzles Like You suffers slightly from an inconsistent sense of purpose and an over-reliance of a single idea that run out of steam before the album's conclusion, but such gripes and criticisms are offset when confronted with something as irresistible as "Ghostship Waiting." Puzzles Like You may not stay the distance but there's certainly enough here to gain Mojave 3 the wider audience they deserve.

~ James Marshall, Launch

Be Your Own Pet

"Adventure"
from the album Be Your Own Pet
2006
iTunes



Good old punk adrenaline courses through Be Your Own Pet, a band from Nashville whose members are barely out of high school. Its debut album, Be Your Own Pet, hurtles through its 15 songs in 33 minutes.

Jemina Pearl, the band's blond firecracker of a lead singer, is anything but a committee-guided teenage punkette like Avril Lavigne. She yelps and taunts and sasses her way through exultant, fractured songs that are full of things to shout: "Get out of my skin!" or, in a song that makes bicycling sound like going berserk, "We're on two wheels, baby!" She sings about lust and love, robbing banks, broken bones, holey socks and apocalyptic zombies, but the specifics are nearly irrelevant. More than anything, the songs are about sheer release or, as one title puts it, "Fuuuuuun."

Although the album was produced by Steve McDonald from Redd Kross, Be Your Own Pet's previous, self-made singles attest that he's not some Svengali. And while punk is the band's essence, it doesn't confine the music. Be Your Own Pet doesn't let even the shortest song -- that would be the 58-second "Let's Get Sandy (Big Problem)" -- zoom along on just one riff.

In the course of the album, songs veer toward 1960s pop, Black Sabbath, Captain Beefheart, Sonic Youth or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, or just shift suddenly into hyperdrive. Be Your Own Pet is smart and crafty, but most of all, it's a wild-eyed blast.

~ Jon Pareles, New York Times

TV on the Radio

"I Was a Lover"
from the album Return to Cookie Mountain
2006
iTunes

As passionate as ever, but now with a little more polish, TV on the Radio's second album (and Interscope debut) Return to Cookie Mountain is their most satisfying work since they exploded onto the scene with Young Liars. More than some of their indie rock peers, TV on the Radio seems comfortable on a major label. They've always been a band with a big, unapologetically ambitious sound, and on Return to Cookie Mountain, they give that sound room to breathe with a lush, expansive production.

The sonic depth throughout the album is a sharp contrast with the density of their first full-length, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, which was so jam-packed with sounds and ideas that it was nearly suffocated by them. However, Return to Cookie Mountain is hardly slick or dumbed-down for mass consumption. In fact, the opening track, "I Was a Lover," is one of the band's most challenging songs yet, mixing a stuttering hip-hop beat with guitars of Loveless proportions and juxtaposing inviting vocal harmonies and horns with glitches and trippy sitars. "Playhouses" is only slightly less radical, with its wildly syncopated drumming and Tunde Adepimbe's layered, impassioned singing.

At times,Return to Cookie Mountain threatens to become more impressive than likeable -- a complaint that could also arguably be leveled against Desperate Youth as well -- but fortunately, TV on the Radio reconnects with, and builds on, the intimacy and purity that made Young Liars so striking. David Bowie's backing vocals on "Province" are only one part of the song's enveloping warmth, rather than its focal point, while the album's centerpiece, "A Method," is another beautiful example of the band's haunting update on doo wop. Meanwhile, the mention of "the needle/ the dirty spoon" on "Tonight" cements it as a gorgeous but unsettling urban elegy.

As with all their other work, on Return to Cookie Mountain TV on the Radio deals with the fallout of living in a post-9/11 world; politics and morality are still touchstones for the band, particularly on the anguished "Blues from Down Here" and "Hours," on which Adepimbe urges, "Now listen to the truth." Notably, though, the album builds on the hopeful, or at least living for the moment, vibe that emerged at the end of Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes. The sexy, funky "Wolf Like Me," which is the closest the album gets to rock in any conventional sense of the term, and "Dirtywhirl," which spins together images of girls and hurricanes, offer erotic escapes.

And by the time the epic final track, "Wash the Day," revisits the sitars that opened the album with a serene, hypnotic groove, Return to Cookie Mountain gives the most complete representation of the hopes, joys, and fears within TV on the Radio's music.

~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Damone

"Out Here All Night"
from the album Out Here All Night
2006
iTunes

The day Damone was released from RCA Records they showcased for, and subsequently signed to Island Records. The result is the tried and true rock and roll sound of Out Here All Night. The new album is a flawless display of everything we love about rock and roll.

Led fearlessly by Noelle's beautiful and mildly aggressive vocals, the album opens with the poppy "Now is the Time." After that song ends the album ceases to have anything in common with the band's debut album. Beginning with the second song (the title track) this album takes on a life all its own. "Out Here All Night" explodes from the album with some great guitar riffs and a melody you just can't shake. The more anthemic "What We Came Here For" follows, complete with gang vocals overtop of arena style drumming as the band riotously proclaims, "I'm not someone you ignore/ Give us what we came here for!”

The rock and roll balladry of "Stabbed in the Heart" invokes the spirit of legendary female rockers like Joan Jett and Bif Naked exhibiting the softer side to the band's rough exterior. Damone has a tremendous ability to take something that could easily be cheesy and make you feel it. This is never more evident than on the party rock "You're the One," as they take a typical relationship song and make you feel it. The band is just totally plugged in on this album –- you can tell it's what they love doing.

Imagine driving fast down the interstate on a sunny day with the windows down and your stereo cranked. Now imagine the prefect album to be blasting from the speakers. Now hit the eject button and put in Out Here All Night. You won't be sorry.

~ Mark Fisher, thegreatnothing.com

the Long Winters

"Fire Island, AK"
from the album Putting the Days to Bed
2006
iTunes

Download an MP3 of "Fire Island, AK" at Stereogum
[right-click/save-as]

The Long Winters will be releasing their third full length on July 25 on Barsuk Records, entitled Putting the Days to Bed.

Putting the Days to Bed, the third LP from Seattle's the Long Winters, combines the lyrical intimacy and melodic complexity of the Ultimatum EP with the guitar pop rave-ups of the band's previous full lengths. The two sides of songwriter John Roderick come together to create the most compelling Long Winters release to date. That’s saying something, as 2003's When I Pretend to Fall made it onto Harp and Magnet's Best of the Year lists, and Neil Strauss of the New York Times called it "smart, catchy, near-perfect indie-rock."

In addition to scratchy-voiced singer/guitarist John Roderick, the current line-up of the Long Winters features long-time stalwart bassist Eric Corson, who is slowly embezzling every last penny from the band's accounts, veteran drummer Nabil Ayers, who completely tunes everyone else out and consequently enjoys his job immensely, and new hire Jonathan Rothman, who has the job of playing all the interesting parts but who has to sleep on the floor.

Good songs are hard to write, hard to find, and are unrelated to fashion. As Roderick says, "I like chairs that don't creak and songs that don't suck." There's a lot of music being made as an accessory now, but there will always be a need for actual songs. The Long Winters are working on making those, and with Putting the Days to Bed they may just have succeeded

~ Glide Magazine

Lily Allen

"Smile"
from the album Alright, Still
2006
iTunes

Video streams of "Smile":
Real Hi, Lo | Windows Hi, Lo

Alright, Still, arriving on July 17, is the debut album from British pop artist Lily Allen. Like so many artists, Lily started posting tracks on her Myspace site in November last year so she could gauge what people thought. The response has been phenomenal. Following plays of her debut low key release "LDN" by Jo Whiley and some great early press interest, plays on her site started rising exponentially and with her single "Smile," listens on her my space site now are staggering at over two million and rising. Her support from the press, radio and TV has been fantastic and she was was the first new artist ever to appear on the front cover of the Observer Music Monthly. She is already a "red top" favourite with her honesty and sharp tongue, but also has fans across the digital world and within cult publications.

~ Regal Zonophone Records

Tokyo Police Club

"Nature of the Experiment"
from the EP A Lesson in Crime
2006
iTunes

Download an MP3 of "Nature of the Experiment" from Paperbag Records
[right-click/save-as]

David Monks and Graham Wright hand out high-fives and the odd jab with the kind of comfort that can only come from a friendship that began in Grade 4. The members of Newmarket's cheery dance-indie quartet Tokyo Police Club are humble when discussing their increased profile and recent Paper Bag Records EP, A Lesson in Crime.

"Over the last six months, [everything] has come together quickly," says Monks, 19, the vocalist and bass player, over a glass of water at the Red Room with keyboardist Wright, also 19. (Drummer Greg Alsop and guitarist Josh Hook round out the band.) After forming in January 2005 and playing a sold-out Pop Montreal show in October of that same year, Monks decided to drop out of McGill after one semester and focus on TPC.

"I was thinking I could actually try to make a living as a musician instead of trying to convince myself I'm interested in something else," he says.

A Lesson in Crime's seven joyful, unpolished tracks are undeniably catchy and raw, marrying danceable hooks with talk of robot masters and global emergencies, providing an upbeat soundtrack to our troubled times.

"I was in Montreal and I was homesick and band-sick and I was in a lot of science courses, too," says Monks. "So I was writing songs on my own up there and Graham came up with this scary keyboard riff. I was like, 'I have this song in waltz-time about robots but if I change it around a bit we could put them together.'"

Don't expect the band's full-length effort -- which they plan to write this summer -- to necessarily tackle the same Blade Runner themes. As Wright himself admits, to raucous laughter from Monks, "We're not the revolutionary robot-fighting warriors that we make ourselves out to be."

Not a complete surprise when you consider that the boys, barely drinking age, still live with their parents and work full-time while trying to establish themselves in the saturated Toronto scene.

"Only the good bands get attention anyway in the end," asserts Wright.

"This is the hardest I've ever worked at anything in my life," he says. "And I'm happy."

~ Andrea Miller, Eye Weekly

Brightblack Morning Light

"Everybody Daylight"
from the album Brightblack Morning Light
2006
iTunes

Download an MP3 of "Everybody Daylight" from Matador Records
[right-click/save-as]

The ten songs on Brightblack Morning Light's eponymous second album are more like one long song broken into sections. Starting with the lightly funky, slyly snaky "Everybody Daylight," Brightblack Morning Light proceeds through an extended mediation on communing with the Earth in the Native American way. The songs, which have titles like "A River Could Be Loved," "Amber Canyon Magik," and "Black Feather Wishes Rise," all hold to the same slow-drip pace and echoing sound, filled up with gospel piano, rattling percussion, and occasional surprising snatches of trumpet. The record aims to be the A Love Supreme of whispery, lo-fi drone-rock, only its spiritual flowering is much more low-key than John Coltrane's.

Brightblack Morning Light's co-founders, Nathan Shineywater and Rachael Hughes, grew up making music together in Alabama. They were discovered by fellow traveler Will Oldham, who led them to Northern California, where the duo settled in a rural cabin and began organizing events for the nascent "freak folk" scene. The band's personal journey suffuses its presentation, from the self-promotion (Shineywater and Hughes describe themselves as "homeless," a politically loaded and inaccurate term), to the musical style that resembles Low or Galaxie 500, only with a thick streak of spooky Americana.

What Brightblack Morning Light lacks, though, is a sense of focus. That may seem like an odd criticism to level at a band and an album that doesn't vary its approach from track one to track 10, but Brightblack Morning Light never makes any definitive statement, or achieves any kind of catharsis. The last song -- "We Share Our Blanket With the Owl" -- is no more or less resounding than anything that came before. The album ends where it began, with hushed anticipation.

~ Noel Murray, The Onion A.V. Club