Tag: Tame Impala

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Since The B-52s formation in Athens, GA back in 1977, much ink has been spilled on the band, its remaining founding members Fred Schneider (vocals), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards), Cindy Wilson (vocals, percussion) and Keith Strickland (drums, rhythm guitar and keyboards), as well as their unique aesthetic approach which pairs routinely the guy vs. gals call and response vocals with a sound that draws from New Wave, 60s rock, pop and dance music. Interestingly, the band’s Cindy Wilson has embarked on a solo recording career over the past few years, and her solo work manages to be an almost complete departure from the primary gig’s imitable sound; in fact, as you’ll hear on her latest single “Ballistic,” off her recently released solo EP Supernatural her sound manages to nod at much more contemporary sources — i.e., the anthemic and trippy electro pop of Gary Numan, Tame Impala, Air and punk pop, complete with pulsating synths.

Produced and engineered by PacificUV’s and Dream Boat‘s Sun Lyons and backed by a some of Athens’ finest contemporary musicians —  Easter Island‘s and Monahan’s Ryan Monahan; Ola Moon‘s and PacificUV’s Lemuel Hayes; powerkompany’s Marie Davon, Wilson’s latest EP, and in turn, the new single also manages to see the New Wave legend at her most adventurous, pushing her imitable sound into a new, modern territory without being a soulless and cheesy facsimile.

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Up-and-Coming Leeds, UK-based Band Koyo Returns with an Arena Rock-Friendly New Single

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the first few months of this year, you may recall a post featuring the Leeds-based indie rock quintet KOYO. Comprised of Kettering, UK-born, Leeds-based founding members Huw Edwards (lead vocals, guitar) and Jacob Price (synths and samplers) along with Seb Knee-Wright (guitar), Dan Comlay (bass) and Tom Hingham (drums). the up-and-coming British indie rock act have received attention across the blogosphere and elsewhere for a sound that reportedly draws from n across the blogosphere for a sound that draws from 90s grunge and alt rock and from Edwards’ and Price’s parents’ classic rock and prog rock-heavy record collections, as well as the electronica and post rock sounds of Floating Points, JOVM mainstays Mogwai and Brian Eno — but manages to sound as though it nodded at the work of Tame Impala, Wish You Were Here and The Wall-era Pink Floyd, 90125-era Yes and Radiohead as you would have heard on “Tetrochromat,” the album title track and first single off the band’s forthcoming full-length debut Tetrochromat.

The album’s latest single “Lost in the Kingdom” continues in a similar vein as its preceding single as it clearly draws from prog rock and art rock while being remarkably accessible, thanks in part to a rousingly Brit Pop-like hook; however, “Lost in the Kingdom” may arguably be one of the most ambitious and adventurous songs the up-and-coming British band may have written and released to date. In fact, the song sounds as though the band actively were trying to write an arena rock anthem that nodded at the likes of U2, Coldplay and others, while retaining a buzzy psychedelia.

Filmed and edited by Barry Hoffman at Soundyoucansee with additional footage by Joseph Burn and Joseph Burn Video Production and Kayla Cosgrove at Loving Lotus, the recently released music video for “Lost in the Kingdom” employs kaleidoscopic footage shot in the desert, superimposed with footage of the band performing the song, followed by other surreal and dream like imagery — and it’s done in a way that sort of reminds me Candlebox’s “Far Behind” and others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Andy Crosby and Luke Hamel, the Australian/American psych pop duo Vox Eagle can trace its origins to when Crosby and Hamel met while touring together in a previous band. And during their time on the road together, the duo bonded over their mutual interest and desire to create experimental, electronic-leaning psych pop. The duo’s soon to be released self-produced and self-engineered EP was written and recorded in several different locales across the country — including Colorado, Upstate New York, the Mojave Desert, Midtown Manhattan, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, a number of Air BNBs, hotels trains and planes using the duo’s mobile recording rig. And as a result, the material on the EP is influenced by the duo’s travels as well as the changing environments the duo employed throughout their creative process. “i think the new locations help to keep the music fresh to us, and to inspire different ideas, while keeping us focused exclusively on the songs and not distracted by our respective lives,” Vox Eagle’s Luke Hamel explained in press notes.

“Come Over,” off the forthcoming EP features a production featuring big, propulsive beats, undulating electronics and arpeggio synths, buzzing guitars fed through effect pedals, and a rousingly anthemic pop hook paired with plaintive vocals — and in some way, the duo’s sound reminds me of Tame Impala, Painted Palms and In Ghost Colours-era Cut Copy as the song manages to seamlessly mesh 60s psych pop, indie rock and dance floor and radio-friendly electro pop but with slick, modern production that will win over some new fans.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of founding member Alexander Pavlich, Andrew Murray, Stian Aasen, Christian Balvig, Teodor Dysthe Lyngstad, and Martin Kaasa, Lovespeake is a Sandivka, Norway-based indie electro pop act that with the release of their debut album DNA received international attention — with radio airplay and additions to a variety of Spotify playlists across North America, the UK, the EU, Asia and Scandinavia. Adding to a growing national and international profile, in a relatively short period of time, the Norwegian pop sextet have received more than a million streams across the major streaming services and they were playlisted on Norway’s biggest radio station P3 for 16 consecutive weeks. Along with that, the band had songs featured on several influential Spotify playlists in North America, the UK, the EU, Asia and Scandinavia — an their debut charted highly on CMJ’s college radio charts here in the States. And most recently, they were selected as Tidal Rising Artist.

“Novocaine,” the Sandivska, Norway-based sextet’s sinuous, first single of 2017 is a collaboration with Max Frost that will further cement their growing reputation for crafting slick, hook-laden electro pop that possesses elements of psych pop, dream pop and funk that reminds me quite a bit of Tuxedo, Dam-Funk, Blood Orange and Tame Impala in the sense that while clearly drawing from brightly colored, 80s synth pop and funk, much like those renowned acts, Lovespeake’s sound manages to be a subtly contemporary take on something familiar; however, in the case of the Norwegian act, there’s an underlying quirkiness that manages to set it apart.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Julian Japser is a San Diego, CA-born, Los Angeles, CA-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who has publicly describes his own sound as being a 21st century Steely Dan or a lapsed Todd Rundgren after he had crossed paths with Ariel Pink — and although maybe to some that may be true, to my ears “2AM,  Chinatown” and “I Don’t Mind,” the first two singles off his forthcoming 2AM, Chinatown/I Don’t Mind EP remind me quite a bit of Oracular Spectacular-era MGMT, Tame Impala and Milagres as both singles possess soaring and infectious hooks, swaggering strutting vibes and a funky bass line; however, both singles thematically focus on a desperate and gnawing loneliness and isolation — in particular “2AM, Chinatown” has its narrator reminiscing over a lover he hasn’t seen or spoken to in some time, and as a result, the lonely narrator of the song is desperate to connect with that lover or with anyone really, as long as he felt some connection with someone, even if it were brief. “I Don’t Mind” possesses a funky, 70sAM rock feel that evokes a lazy morning with a lover — the sort in which limbs and sheets are hopelessly entangled and entwined, and you spend much of the day making love and chatting about all manner of things big and small. And as a result, it’s the sexiest song of the two; but underneath the surface there’s this sense of all things coming to its inevitable conclusion. All things lead to the same result — the endless search to not be as lonely as you were before, and both songs capture that with an uncanny verisimilitude.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Guy Brown is a Sydney, Australia-based producer and electronic music artist, best known as Mammals — and as Mammals, Brown has seen attention both nationally and internationally for a production style and sound that effortlessly bridges and shifts between indie rock and electro pop. In fact, if you had been frequenting this site earlier this year, you may recall his shimmering, slow-burning and spectral cover of Telepopmusik‘s “Breathe,” as part of Istanbul, Turkey-based dream pop/electro pop label Drug Boulevard‘s debut compilation, DRUG BLVD.

Adding to a growing profile, Brown’s collaboration with renowned electronic music artist and producer Goldroom “‘Til Sunrise” has received 9 million Spotify streams, has had his work playlisted in the Lost in the Woods (UK), Deep Dark Indie, Evening Chill and Boho + Chill Spotify Playlists and as a result, his own work has received over 7 million Spotify streams. Along with that Brown has opened for internationally acclaimed electro pop/electronic dance music production and artist duo PNAU during their March national tour, and he’ll be opening for fellow countrywoman, singer/songwriter Vera Blue during her national tour, before his headlining tour to support his soon-to-be released EP Chase Your Bliss later this year.

Interestingly enough, Brown has managed to achieve his early successes without having management, without being on a label, having a publisher or a publicity firm to back him. And considering that I had written about him a little while ago, receiving an email from him about his latest single, EP title track “Chase Your Bliss,” was a pleasant surprise. The new single features Brown’s tender and aching falsetto floating over a glistening and shimmering production that features layers of arpeggio synths, buzzing guitar chords, a sinuous bass line, cowbell and handclap-led percussion and a soaring hook — and while further cementing his reputation for a sound that meshes indie rock and electro pop, the single manages to sound as though it draws from In Ghost Colours and Free Your Mind-era Cut Copy and Tame Impala, as the song manages to subtly nod at psych pop.

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Moody Visuals for The Away Days “Places To Go”

With the release of their How Did It Start? EP to critical praise both nationally and internationally from the likes of The Guardian, SPIN Magazine,and Noisey, as well receiving airplay from renowned Seattle, WA-based radio station KEXP, the Istanbul, Turkey-based quartet The Away Days quickly established a reputation for being a the forefront of an extremely Western-influenced indie music scene, thanks in part for a sound that’s largely inspired by The Cure, Tame Impala and others. And adding to a growing international profile, the members of the Turkish indie rock quartet have toured across the UK, played at two consecutive SXSW Festivals and have played festival dates opening for Portishead, Massive Attack, Belle and Sebastian and others.

Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of years, you may recall that the Istanbul-based quartet have released a handful of singles that have received international attention — including this site — since the release of their debut EP. However, the band’s long-awaited full-length debut Dreamed at Dawn was released earlier this year, and landed at number 5 on the Turkish album charts, marking it both a commercial success and the highest ever chart position for a Turkish indie rock album. The Turkish indie rock band’s commercial and critical success in their homeland and elsewhere shouldn’t be surprising as Dawn’s first two singles “Less Is More” and “World Horizon” paired atmospheric and moody yet lush instrumentation and ethereally shimming synths with material that thematically and lyrically drew from the band members’ own lives in a society in which their creative desires and efforts are viewed as being suspicious and seditious.

“Places to Go,” Dreamed at Dawn’s third and latest single continues along a similar vein as its two preceding singles as it’s a lush and plaintive song featuring shimming guitar chords played through a bit of reverb and delay pedal, an angular and propulsive bass line, twinkling synths and a rousingly antthemic hook,. and in some way, sonically the song manages to mesh dance floor friendly post-punk, electro pop and shoegazer rock; however, despite the seemingly upbeat tone, the song is a look into their lives and their cohorts as it touches upon the weight their homeland’s young people feel from an oppressive and seemingly capricious regime that demands oppression and a restlessness from the lack of meaningful opportunities.

Interestingly, the recently released music video for the song is based upon a deceptively simple concept of the band performing the song in a dramatically lit studio but throughout there are vivid bursts of animation that explode across the screen.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of founding members Victor Martinez and Nick Mariotti, along with Steven Doman, the Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock trio Paloma can trace its origins to when  both its founding members started the band in a small, bedroom studio deconstructing ideas over and over and over again while the duo had been balancing the need to make ends meet while expressing their irrepressible need to be creative; however the band’s sound and aesthetic didn’t coalesce until they recruited Steven Doman to fully flesh out their sound.  And with the band’s forthcoming debut EP Luna, the band’s sound draws a bit from the classic Southern California sound, as well as a variety of renowned artists including Beach House, Daft Punk, The Weeknd, Tame Impala, Pond, Gum, Dumbo Gets Mad, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and Earth Wind and Fire — although with “Touch,” the EP’s latest single finds the band pairing a propulsive and sinuous groove, a brooding New Wave-like moodiness and achingly plaintive vocals, creating a sound that reminds me a bit of Hands‘ dreamy and excellent 2012 EP, Massive Context and Milagres‘ impressionistic 2011 debut Glowing Mouth. In a similar fashion to those albums, the song manages to be emotionally ambivalent and confused, capturing the vacillating thoughts and emotions of its narrator.

As the members of the band explain about their new single, the song is about a diamond in the rough, a somewhat tramp-like sort, who doesn’t quite know how to believe in themselves until he meets a princess – – for him, at least — that did believe in him. When they both turn to real life, there’s a part of him that’s banking on the idea that in some ay they’re only halfway through the film, that the story isn’t finished yet. And as a result, the song possesses an unresolved tension.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of “Now I’m Alive,” the first single off his forthcoming Refugee EP, the fairly mysterious Tel Aviv, Israel-born, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer O Mer has been compared to the James Blake, Tame Impala and Arthur Russell; however, the Tel Aviv, Israel-born, Brooklyn-based producer has cited renowned Malian singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ali Farka Toure, father of equally renowned Malian singer/songwriter and guitarist Vieux Farka Toure, Greek vocalist Aris San, The Yardbirds and others. “Icarus,” the second and latest single off his forthcoming EP features O Mer’s ethereal and tender vocals paired with a stark and haunting production that features stuttering drum programming, shimmering, arpeggio synth chords. The song manages to evoke a fractured psyche ruled primarily by a visceral and uncomfortable amount of regret and self-loathing while to my ears slightly nodding to Bonobo and others.

Check out upcoming tour dates, below.

Tour Dates

03/16 – Alphaville – Brooklyn, NY
05/27 – Rockwood Music Hall – New York, NY

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of co-founding members Huw Edwards (lead vocals, guitar) and Jacob Price (synths and samplers), along with Seb Knee-Wright (guitar), Dan Comlay (bass) and Tom Higham (drums), the Leeds-based indie rock quintet KOYO‘s sound draws from several varied sources — including 90s grunge and alt rock, Edwards’ and Price’s parents’ classic rock and prog rock-heavy record collections. Although recently the band has started to incorporate a variety of electronica and post-rock such as Floating Points, JOVM mainstays Mogwai and Brian Eno‘s influential ambient soundtracks, and as a result the band expanded to a quintet to fully flesh out their sound to incorporate their expanding influences and sonic palette. Naturally, the band’s forthcoming full-length debut is slated for release later this year will reportedly mesh psych rock, prog rock and ambient electronic in a way that will remind listeners of Tame Impala, Pink Floyd, Yes and Radiohead — but with a decidedly modern turn, as you’ll hear on the atmospheric, moody and slow-burning “Tetrochromat,” the album title track off the band’s forthcoming debut, Tetrochromat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Featuring brothers Alix, Miles and Reece Melendrez and schoolmate Matt Mumician, Decorator  is an up-and-coming Los Angeles, CA-based indie rock/indie soul quartet, who publicly claim a rather wide and diverse array of influences that include the music the Melenderez Brothers heard quite a deal of while growing up — Jimi Hendrix, The Isley Brothers, Bob Marley and contemporary acts like Lauryn Hill, Wu-Tang Clan, Gorillaz and others. And interestingly enough, the project which attribute their name from a famous Frank Zappa quote “without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production headlines or dates by which bills must be paid” can trace their origins to when the Melendrez Brothers taught themselves how to play covers of the songs they heard so much growing up. As high schoolers, the Melendrez Brothers began writing their own music — and their folks drove them to school night gigs in which they played in bars they weren’t even be allowed in without their gear.

 

Wanting to master their instruments and to do their own thing, the Melendrez Brothers enrolled themselves at Silverlake Conservatory of Music, founded by Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Flea, where they met and befriended fellow student Mumician and started writing music together. However, it took several years before the band took their music out of garage rehearsals and house parties and were able to concentrate on their music full-time, as the band’s youngest member, Reece Melendrez honored his promise to his folks to graduate from high school before making music a full-time effort.

With the release of their 2014 self-released debut EP Transit, the band quickly received a growing local profile and fanbase, including their first headlining set at the renowned Troubadour, thanks in part to a sound that draws equally from classic soul, indie rock, contemporary pop and neo soul — and in a way that manages to be uncompromisingly difficult to pigeonhole. The Los Angeles-based quartet’s latest single sonically speaking seems to owe an equal debt to Tame Impala‘s Currents, the Cascine Records roster, Neon Indian and 80s synth soul as the quartet pairs shimmering and undulating synths with a sinuous groove, an infectious hook and Miles Melendez’s sultry falsetto.  Lyrically, the song’s vulnerable narrator admits to be run around in circles by an unrequited and cruel love interest, with whom he feels desperately and inexplicably pulled towards — and as much as he wants to pull away, to move forward with his life, he feels trapped in a vicious and unfulfilling circle. Certainly, what’s remarkable to me about this band is the fact that their material manages to possess a maturity and self-assuredness that belies their youth.

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Tame Impala’s Jay Watson Releases Trippy Synth-based Psych Pop Paired with 80s-Inspired Visuals

Best known as a touring member of renowned indie psych pop act Tame Impala, Jay Watson has received attention with his solo recording project GUM, a psych pop project which bears some sonic resemblance to his primary gig, as well as Painted Palms and others. Watson’s latest effort as GUM Flash In The Pan was released earlier this year, and as you’ll hear from the album’s latest single “Gemini,” Watson pairs a slick and trippy production consisting of swirling electronics, stuttering drum programming, shimmering synths, wobbling low end with Watson’s ethereal vocals and an infectious dance floor-friendly hook — and the single will continue to cement Watson’s reputation for crafting slick and trippy synth-based psych pop.

Directed by Sam Kristofski, the recently released music video for “Gemini” is as Krisofski explains in press notes “roughly styled around old children’s fantasy shows, like The Neverending Story. I love the idea of people blaming their behavior on their star sign too, so I think that was the whole section around someone crying, and in deep thought then cutting to the symbol. Also Jay fighting his star sign was based around that whole Gemini double personality thing, in combat with your other half, I just did the 80’s Karate Kid thing as it mixed in with the theme and tone of the clip.

We shot the whole thing in LA on left over 35mm and 16mm film stock from CSI Las Vegas, which was a risk as the film was so old.” And as a result, the video manages to look as though it were shot in the 1980s, complete with some occult-like imagery.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Turkish JOVM Mainstays The Away Days Return With Their Most Politically Charged Single to Date

Now, over the past couple of years, the Turkish indie rock quartet have released a series of singles that have that have seen international attention across the blogosphere, including this site where the band has added their name to a growing list of mainstay artists. Up until recently, it had been about a year since we had last heard from the renowned Istanbul-based quartet; but as it turns out, the band had been busy working on the material, which will comprise their highly-anticipated full-length debut effort. The album’s first two singles “Less Is More” and “World Horizon” were atmospheric yet lush tracks in which plaintive vocals were paired with ethereal and shimmering synths — while drawing from the band members’ lives as musicians in a society in which their efforts are viewed suspicious and seditious.

“Places to Go,” the third and latest single off the band’s forthcoming full-length debut is a lush and plaintive song featuring layers of shimmering guitar, a tight motorik-like groove and a soaring, anthemic hook — and in some way it makes the song sound as though it were inspired by classic shoegaze and contemporary pop and indie rock; however, the song manages to possess a deeply held tension as lyrically, the band draws from their lives and the lives of Turkish young people as the song touches upon the sense of frustration, boredom, oppression and conformity, lack of opportunity and their overall restlessness.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Surreal and Psychedelic Visuals for The Moonlandingz’ Manchester-Inspired Single “Black Hanz”

Featuring The Eccentronic Research Council‘s Adrian Flanagan and Dean Honer and Fat White Family‘s Lias Saoudi and Saul Adamczweski, The Moonlandingz are both a side project and a semi-fictional guitar pop act, whose latest single “Black Hanz,” is as the band refers to in press notes “a song for our times, born out of abuse; abuse in the workplace, abuse in the street, abuse by the sniveling toe rags we call a government, abuse for daring to dream and to be different,” and “a celebration of the Outsider, the socially inept . . ” Sonically speaking their sound manages to mesh a facsimile of the Manchester sound — twinkling synths, guitars fed through delay and effects pedals and a driving motorik groove — paired with a sneering and ironic punk sentiment, and a mischievous and menacing spoken word section towards the song’s bridge.

The recently released video features a Ziggy Startdust-era David Bowie rocker who gets picked on, ridiculed and threatened everywhere he goes for both his ridiculous, alien-like appearance and for having the bravery to not fit in. The video goes into much stranger territory when the rocker’s Fairy Godmother swoops down to save him from a bunch of thugs — and then promptly places him where he belongs, fronting a rock band. Simply put it’s fittingly and goofily low-budget while emphasizing the song’s central theme of celebrating those who are proudly different and are proverbial square pegs – but with a subtly 60s psychedelia.

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Featuring The Eccentronic Research Council‘s Adrian Flanagan and Dean Honer and Fat White Family‘s Lias Saoudi and Saul Adamczweski, The Moonlandingz are both a side project and a semi-fictional guitar pop act, whose latest single “Black Hanz,” is as the band refers to in press notes “a song for our times, born out of abuse; abuse in the workplace, abuse in the street, abuse by the sniveling toe rags we call a government, abuse for daring to dream and to be different,” and “a celebration of the Outsider, the socially inept . . ” Sonically speaking their sound manages to mesh a facsimile of the Manchester sound — twinkling synths, guitars fed through delay and effects pedals and a driving motorik groove — paired with a sneering and ironic punk sentiment, and a mischievous and menacing spoken word section towards the song’s bridge.

The project’s full-length debut effort was co-produced by Sean Lennon and the band and was mixed by Dave Fridmann, best known for his work producing Flaming Lips and Tame Impala, and is slated for a 2017 release through Chimera Music across North America and Transgressive Records in the UK and elsewhere.