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Posts Tagged ‘Weezer’


26.02.2010

Best New Music: The Please & Thank You’s

posted by Will

in Best New Music, Music Reviews
1 Comment


(Click on album cover to download)

The Please & Thank You’s is one of those bands that just completely refreshes you. Everything about the band is done with such energy and abandon that you just have to be impressed. The band’s debut Mind Your P’s & Q’s, is so reckless (in a good way) and overflowing with ideas and influences. At heart, The Please & Thank You’s are a pop/punk band but there are elements of geeky power pop (Weezer) and raw emo (Cap’n Jazz) that really give the band a unique spin.

If you are a fan of older pop/punk bands like Zoinks! and Sicko then Mind Your P’s & Q’s will leave you with a shit-eating grin. Much like those bands, The Please & Thank You’s have a penchant for upping the songwriting ante as well as showing off diverse influences. This is the kind of band that gets you all nostalgic while making you excited for the future as well.

You can get the tape from Ice Age Records and the digital download free from Death To False Hope HERE.

Label: Ice Age/Death To False Hope

The Please And Thank You’s “Speaking Of The Devil”

The Please And Thank You’s “Fucking Honestly”

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17.02.2010

Best New Music: It’s A King Thing

posted by Will

in Best New Music, Music Reviews
No Comments


(Click on album cover to download)

I have posted a lot about It’s A King Thing over the years here at SAL, that is true. But, I can honestly say, Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo is the band’s coming out party. It really does take a lot for me to become obsessed with an album these days especially with the amount of stuff I try to listen to on a daily basis. But, you need this record! If you don’t know already, It’s A King Thing features former members of the criminally underrated Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start. If you love the first two Weezer albums, The Lemonheads circa-It’s A Shame About Ray or bands like Nada Surf and Guided By Voices this record is for you. In the past the band was a rotation of players but this is obviously a cohesive unit for the first time and it shows as the songs are even catchier than before. That’s a scary proposition but with With Buffalo…, It’s A King Thing has refined their sound and become sharper and a more focused in their approach. Despite the humor and innocence on the surface there is a noticeable depth to these songs that is infectious to say the least. Just listen once and you will be hooked. By god, I think we’ve already got a contender for album of the year folks!

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo is available for Free Download

Label: Self-Released

It’s A King Thing “Old Hobbies”

It’s A King Thing “Mush Mouth”

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21.01.2010

Surfer Blood: Astro Coast

posted by Will

in Music Reviews
No Comments

Surfer Blood are your latest hype band and behind the killer single “Swim” the band has been making a lot of noise over the last few months. Oddly enough these guys hail from West Palm Beach, FL of all places. Surfer Blood’s debut album, Astro Coast, is out this week and stands up fairly well against all the other hyped mess coming out these days I guess. A few songs veer too close to this whole Afro-pop craze for me but when the band decides to turn up the amps and drench their songs in reverb that is where things tend to get interesting. Surfer Blood have the ability to do the whole lo-fi noisy indie pop kind of thing rather respectably subtly recalling even early Weezer. Too often though, the band’s debut simply loses momentum. When looking closer nothing stands up to the band’s single save a few other tracks like “Floating Vibes” and “Harmonix”. Surfer Blood peaked my interest but a single does not make an album. Astro Coast would would have made a promising EP but instead just comes off as too full on filler to make a lasting impression.

Label: Kanine Records

Surfer Blood “Swim”

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29.12.2009

Matt (from Everyone Everywhere): 2009 Top Ten

posted by Will

in Year End Lists
No Comments

Matt Scottoline – Bassist for Everyone Everywhere who put out one of the best seven inches of 2009.

1 – David Bazan – “curse your branches”
2 – Cheap Girls – “my roaring 20s”
3 – Built To Spill – “there is no enemy”
4 – Dinosaur Jr. – “farm”
5 – Phoenix – “wolfgang amadeus phoenix”
6 – Sufjan Stevens – “the bqe”
7 – Japandroids – “post nothing”
8 – Sonic Youth – “the eternal”
9 – Weezer – “raditude”
10 – Passion Pit – “manners”

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01.10.2009

Band Spotlight: Animal Names

posted by Will

in Band Spotlight
5 Comments

animalnames

Who? Animal Names

Where are they from? Vancouver, British Columbia

What do they sound like? The Promise Ring anyone? Animal Names play quirky and poppy indie/emo rock that manages to stay the right side of cheesy at all times. Comparisons to early Weezer and Get Up Kids would do just nicely as well. Animal Names’ debut, Oh Yes You Better Do is a bit unspectacular but definitely solid and shows a ton of potential. Watch out for this band to really turn on the jets on their next release.

Animal Names “Rolling Paper Airplane”

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16.01.2009

Tigers Jaw: Self-Titled

posted by Will

in Best New Music, Music Reviews
2 Comments

[Best New Music]

Late last year Scranton, PA’s Tigers Jaw dropped an amazing album that easily made my 2008 year end list. The band plays a unique but catchy brand of pop punk with a definite indie rock sensibility. Upon my first few listens I struggled to find some valid comparisons for the band. Tigers Jaw have that endearing familiar charm while retaining a uniqueness all their own. After many listens some bands that finally came to mind were Superchunk, The Jazz June and Meneguar. Add to that the slacker-ish vocal style of Rivers Cuomo of Weezer or Alex Kerns from Lemuria and you have a recipe for an extremely addicting album. Similar in the way Meneguar is able to pull fans from genres that span many spectrums, Tigers Jaw possess that same ability as well. The melodies and harmonies are top notch here. The music is driving and powerful with washes of keyboard mixed in to accent everything just perfectly. This is an incredible debut that stands strongly on its own merits. But with closer inspection, this album really should speak towards the band’s promising future more than anything else.

Full Disclosure: This band’s press is handled by Beartrap PR. I work with Beartrap PR but I do not represent this band. These are my honest opinions. No shit, I swear!

Genre: Indie Rock/Pop Punk

RIYL: The Jazz June, Meneguar, Superchunk

Label: Prison Jazz

Between Your Band And The Other Band

Tigers%20Jaw%20-%20Between%20Your%20Band%20And%20The%20Other%20Band.mp3

I Was Never Your Boyfriend

Tigers%20Jaw%20-%20I%20Was%20Never%20Your%20Boyfriend.mp3

www.myspace.com/tigersjaw

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25.08.2008

It’s A King Thing: Proper Nouns

posted by Will

in Music Reviews
3 Comments

It’s A King Thing’s 2007 release, LP, made Best New Music here at SAL. It was certainly deserving as head honcho Brian Mietz penned masterful harmony-laden power pop akin to The Lemonheads and Weezer. The energy and humorous slant of Mietz’s songs were enough to push the record over the top. While Proper Nouns still sounds like the same band, there is a shift to slower tempos and perhaps more thoughtful subject matter at times. Don’t get me wrong though, the humor still pervades Mietz’s songs with tongue and cheek abandon on tracks like “Mush Mouth” especially. But there is, dare I say, a maturity that has wiggled into the band’s material here. Once again, brevity is It’s A King Thing’s best friend as the album clocks in at a slim and inviting ten songs in 18 minutes. Much like the bands last album, Proper Nouns is subtle in it’s measured approach. Give it time though and these songs will stick in your head. Perhaps not as overly impressive as LP, Proper Nouns sees It’s A King Thing moving forward while still staying true to the pop hook. So, if you are bummed on the last four Weezer records (however many they have put out since Pinkerton that is), just know there are bands like It’s A King Thing still out there still sticking it to the man.

Genre: Pop/Indie Rock

RIYL: Weezer, The Lemonheads, The Color Wheels

Label: Self-Released

Old Hobbies

01_old_hobbies.mp3

www.myspace.com/itsakingthing

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18.08.2008

Paper The Operator: Solemn Boyz EP

posted by Will

in Best New Music, Music Reviews
2 Comments

[Best New Music]

Jon Sebastian is one busy and talented dude. He has a solo career under his own name (Jon Sebastian), an amazing pop duo with his wife (The Color Wheels) and now he has the full band affair with Paper The Operator. Solemn Boyz is Sebastian at his most impressive though. Perhaps it is because he has surrounded himself with a band that truly accentuates the melodies and power behind his songwriting. Brief and outrageously catchy, Paper The Operator pack a truly memorable punch in a brilliantly concise 17 minutes. The quick and catchy “Divorce Court” could easily fit in with The Color Wheels brand of indie pop goodness. The guitar raging “Salty & Sweet” and “Words You Never Learned” bring to mind classic alt-rock behemoths like Chavez. The ridiculous hooks on the rest of the songs sound like long lost Jimmy Eat World tracks. Yeah, it really is that good. Man, is it 1996 all over again? I’m confused. But, in a glorious kind of way. You will be too.

Genre: Pop/Indie Rock

RIYL: Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, Chavez

Label: Viper Bite

Solemn Boyz

01%20Solemn%20Boyz.mp3

www.myspace.com/papertheoperator

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