Dance, Charlatan! - Held at Bay Track Review

Sweet melodic indie pop fills the width of "Held at Bay", a new track from Dance, Charlatan! "Marked is a man, and his principles too, when the problem at hand is a drunk love for you" are the first words of the sweet love song, which shifts between easy-going to fill force rock. This is a promising track from a band with only one other track available on their bandcamp.
Our ears are open, Dance, Charlatan! Now give us more tunes!

slander - device b/w flood

Everyone's favorite female fronted high energy band is back with a new single, device b/w flood! Slander pack even more punch in these two new songs!

Shale track review - III

Shale's track "III" off of their eponymous debut is a slow burning and beautiful song. It sounds a little like Karate, Gastr Del Sol and American Analog Set. Pretty harmonics and violins accessorize this weighty tune, which swells and becomes fat with saturation at the end. Thunderous and brilliant drums blast out and settle with dual vocal melodies.
It is worth noting that this band features former members of Fugue and midi.
Beautiful album art to boot!

SINGLE: Cold Feet - Anna

In the mist of neo-disco irony and reverb-saturated chicness, Cold Feet's "Anna" dares to embrace bubble gum pop music... and that is not a bad thing. Cold feet, while embracing cheeky pop elements, still manage to pull off a cascade of wonderful sounds. Sounds which drips down and in your ears--filling your body with a cheerful warmth--letting you lose track of your troubles and a bad day. Keep it up, hope to hear more from Cold Feet.

tiny reviews pt. 5

Here's part 5 of a big set of reviews I did this week. If you want to see the full list of reviews, just click here.

Ipsissimuss - The Three Secrets of the Fatima

Pretty killer full-length black metal release from Ipsissimuss. The album is relentless and doesn't let you come up for air. It's got a bit of a reckless attitude and it's a bit sloppy around the edges, but it's good shit. You can pick up a copy on black, black vinyl from hot air press. The picture doesn't really do this one justice.


Fatal Film - Sisterwife

This EP has some songs that are catchy as hell. Fatal Film plays straightforward powerpop - distorted guitars, brash lyrics, and powerful rhythms. The tunes are danceable post-punk, and you can't go wrong with "Something in the Water." You can stream this album at their bandcamp site. In fact, you can stream all their stuff there!


The Mountain Movers / Titles split

The first thing you'll notice about this is the artwork - the vinyl is a picturedisc, front and back, and it looks great. Both bands really shine on this one. How Titles managed to fit two songs on here, I'll never know. Either way, this split is phenomenal, and it's another great release from Safety Meeting.

tiny reviews pt. 4

The Liz Larsons - Talk Like a Male Artist

Hell yeah - Liz Larsons knows how to rock. She emits an attitude of complete nonchalance as she belts it out. Her songs sound like cleaned-up grunge tunes - rather than going for the fuzz pedal, the guitar sounds tiny and jangly. I find myself wishing there was just a bit more grit here, but at the end of the day it's still a solid album. Check it out on her bandcamp site.


David Bello - People of People That Are Confusing

David Bello is from West Virginia, but he released this album through Willimantic label OHYM, so I'm going to talk about it, just try and stop me. It's a best-of compilation of Bello's tunes through the years. The guy is a brilliant songwriter and the album's one of those you'll spin over and over again. I'd describe it like a cinnamon red hot - sweet indie pop, but it's still got a bit of an edge to it. You can download it for free right here.

Skobie Won - Autodidact

I'm not usually one to talk about hip-hop, but I somehow stumbled across Skobie Won and liked it. Sure, he's got kind of nerdy rhymes but he's got a DIY spirit that I really agree with, and the beats are good. The guy is offering the album as a free download so listen to it, who knows, you might like it.

tiny reviews pt. 3

Bottle Up & Go - Them Bones

NY's Bottle Up & Go is getting a lot of great press for this album - and although I admittedly wasn't that into them when I saw them open for Dead Meadow, I think the album is a lot different than they are live. It's a fun blend of open-tuning blues slide and don't-give a fuck punk screams. Released on Durham, CT's Kill Normal Records, this is cheap fix for when the whiskey runs out.

Giles Corey - self-titled

Giles Corey is the solo project of Have A Nice Life's Dan Barrett. If you're familiar with HANL, you'll be glad to hear that this album is also bleak and dark, but there's a lot of upbeat moments as well. It's still morbid, just in a slightly different way than what Enemies List has released before. I guess the best way to describe it would be black folk with prominent keyboards. The LP hasn't officially been released yet, but you can download some samples from last.fm. And it'll be available from Enemies List real soon!

Quiet Life / Widower split

I really enjoyed this 7" split by Oregon-based Quiet Life and Washington's Widower. If you're a fan of roots-rock, you'll be into these guys. If you're one of the thousands of people who like John Prine or Neil Young, I don't see why you wouldn't dig on this. They released this one through Safety Meeting, so I suppose I'm allowed to talk about it, right?

tiny reviews pt. 2

Ponybird - Full Cold Moon

Ponybird is the project of Jennifer Dauphinais, and Full Cold Moon is her first full release. An introspective minimalist folk album with all kinds of strange instrumentation that drives you to madness; it's an intensely personal work, and it's still psychadelic and fun. The vocal harmonies are to die for, and the entire album just has this lush sound that I can't get enough of. It also features a ton of local musicians and names you should be familiar with if you read our blog regularly... You can stream and purchase the album right here.


Coldsnap - Godspeed

Wow, Coldsnap has come a long way. I wasn't as into their demo CD-R as Jay was, but this changes things a bit. This 7" has two great tunes on it. It's sludgy hardcore - stomping rhythm and killer riffs. The first track "Can You Even Hear Me Scream" is a doozy. Pick it up at hot air press. Hell yeah.

Crooked Hook - The Captain Will Be Your Guide

Crooked Hook is heavy shit, man. It's great stoner metal - I dare you not to love the hell out of this album. Everything's buried a layer of deep, wooly fuzz, and kicks a serious amount of ass. You can stream the whole thing on their last.fm, and snag a copy at Safety Meeting. While you're there, you might as well snag a copy of the self-titled EP which is equally badass.

tiny reviews pt. 1

As the year is winding to a close, I figured I'd dig through the bin and yap about a bunch of albums and EPs. This is my holiday gift to you, faithful readers. Because I hate doing "best of" lists here's a bunch of quick reviews. No real rhyme or reason here, but be sure and check all these artists out. Pay attention! This is the stuff to snag. I'll publish these in groups of three every day this week right up until the new year.


Medication - Don't Die / Fog

Medication is the bedroom project of Mikey Hyde. This is his first official release, and it's a fucking killer. Perfectly warped reverbed-out pop tunes from start to finish. Both songs are so good, it's hard to see why this guy isn't huge right now. The 7" was only released as a very short run of 150 on HoZac Records in Chicago, and they're completely sold out. Fortunately, What Would I Want? happened to upload it for your perusal. Anyway, he has a full-length LP that just got released and should be in my oven mitts real soon - I'm super-psyched!

ovlov - Crazy Motorcycle Jump

Remember listening to Pinkerton on repeat thinking it was a perfect album? Then you might like ovlov. A lot of their music comes sounds like mid-90s pop punk, in the best way possible.

Put on your headphones and grab your skate deck, because this is the perfect soundtrack. You can download their new EP "Crazy Motorcycle Jump" for free right here.

The Black Hollies - Gloomy Monday Morning / Heart of the Country

Believe it or not, I saw this in Newbury Comics the other day - I was kind of surprised, it looks like Los gets around! Anyway, The Black Hollies are from Jersey, but they're not typical Jersey dudes. Their music is straight out of the 60s, and this 45 is probably the most vintage-looking modern release I've ever seen. As always, the packaging is pristine - and so are their tunes. They've got a sleepy psychedelic sound that instantly takes you back in time about 40 years. You can pick up this gem at Safety Meeting Records. Keep in mind this is a single off their full length release "Softly Towards the Light" which is incredible.