SOUNDBETSVIDEO
| Band: | Lamb of God |
| Song: | "Set to Fail" |
| Album: | "Wraith" (Epic) |
| Sounds Like: | Raw and ripping pure American metal. Read our write-up of the deluxe version of "Wraith." |
| D.C. Bound: | Wed., Nov. 11, 9:30 Club, with Darkest Hour, who did a cool track-by-track rundown of their new album with us; read it here. |
| Get More: | Web Site | MySpace | Wiki |
| Band: | The Get Up Kids |
| Song: | "Long Goodnight" (Live version from the 10th anniversary concert for the album below.) |
| Album: | "Something to Write Home About: 10th Anniversary Special Edition" (Vagrant) |
| Sounds Like: | The Get Up Kids recently apologized for causing modern-style emo, but the band has nothing to be sorry about. All genres (and subgenres) have good and bad music, and it just so happens that The Get Up Kids are one of the best from the introspective melodic-punk camp. After the jump, see five more live clips from the band's recent reunion concert. |
| D.C. Bound: | Nov. 3 at 9:30 Club. |
| Get More: | Web Site | MySpace | Wiki |
| Band: | Echo & The Bunnymen |
| Song: | "Think I Need It Too" (Live version from "Later with Jools Holland") |
| Album: | "Fountain" (Ocean Rain) |
| Sounds Like: | One of the strongest singles in years from one of the greatest bands to explode out of the U.K.'s '80s post-punk underground. Check out some vintage Echo & The Bunnymen tunes after the jump (here). |
| D.C. Bound: | Nov. 17 at the Black Cat. |
| Get More: | Web Site | MySpace | Wiki |
Continue Reading "Echo & The Bunnymen, 'Think I Need It Too'" »
| Band: | Frightened Rabbit |
| Song: | "Swim Until You Can't See the Land" |
| Album: | New single out Dec. 8 in the U.S. on Fat Cat. An as yet untitled new album is scheduled for spring 2010. |
| Sounds Like: | More classic Scottish melancholy yearning. Great song, great band. (But the sound in this video encode is a bit distorted. Stream and order the single here.) |
| D.C. Bound: | Not yet. But we did a cool interview with the band when they played here last year; read it here. |
| Get More: | Web Site | MySpace | Wiki |
| Band: | El Perro Del Mar |
| Song: | "Gotta Get Smart" (live version) |
| Album: | "Love Is Not Pop" (The Control Group) features the studio take |
| Sounds Like: | Swedish indie-pop crooner Sarah Assbring (not a typo) knows from the sad and delicate. Lovely. |
| D.C. Bound: | Nov. 7, 9:30 Club, opening for Peter Bjorn and John. |
| Get More: | Web Site | MySpace | Label |
| Jump Off: | Full on Scandinavian jukebox, with new videos from Ida Maria & Iggy Pop, Dark Funeral, Rigas, Datarock, Susanna & the Magical Orchestra. (Click here.) |
| Band: | Islands |
| Song: | "Vapours" (live) |
| Album: | "Vapours" (Anti-) |
| Sounds Like: | On record the band indulges in synths and drum machines for its '60s-influenced pop, but the obviously the songs work well acoustically, too. More live performances by Islands after the jump, including videos of "Creeper" and "Pieces of You." |
| D.C. Bound: | Tue., Oct. 6, 9:30 Club, opening for Happy Mondays and The Psychedelic Furs. |
| Get More: | Web Site | MySpace | Label |
| Band: | Superchunk |
| Song: | "Crossed Wires" |
| Album: | "Crossed Wires" 7-inch (Merge) |
| Sounds Like: | Live version of Superchunk's fab new single. For better audio and a different take on the song, after the jump check out the acoustic, sitting-on-the-porch (literally) version, performed by Mac and Jim, for Play.Converse.com. |
| D.C. Bound: | Mac McCaughan will be at Crooked Beat on Mon., Oct. 5, to read from "Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records" and to perform a solo acoustic set. . |
| Get More: | Web Site | MySpace | Wiki |
| Band: | Hefner |
| Song: | "Alan Bean" |
| Album: | "Dead Media" (Too Pure) |
| Sounds Like: | The last studio album by the obscure English indie-rock band Hefner was an all-aging-synths affair, with keyboards wheezing and drum machines battering as the boys kept their guitars and percussion in their cases. But 2001's "Dead Media" is also the group's best album for many reasons, not the least of which is because of the great "Alan Bean" single. Written from the perspective of Bean as he fell to Earth after being the fourth man to walk on the Moon, the song ends up being something of an inspirational anthem: "Ever felt like giving up? / I've felt like giving up / But not since 1969. / I found a greater truth / At a godly altitude / Won't waste another day of my life." And Bean didn't: He retired from NASA in 1981 and became a full-time painter of the Moon. See our write-up of the exhibition "Alan Bean: Painting Apollo, First Artist on Another World" at the National Air and Space Museum. |
| D.C. Bound: | Nope. The band broke up not long after "Dead Media" came out, but ever-prolific singer-songwriter Darren Hayman has been releasing solo records virtually nonstop since Hefner's demise. |
| Get More: | Web Site | The story of the "Alan Bean" song here and here | MySpace | Wiki |
| Band: | Dethklok |
| Song: | "Bloodlines" |
| Album: | "The Dethalbum II" (Williams Street) |
| Sounds Like: | The house band for Adult Swim's "Metalocalypse," Dethklok is a animated group playing cartoon metal (redundant, we know). But while mastermind Brendon Small (guitars, voice of Nathan Explosion) is taking the pizz with the band and the series, he's also paying homage to extreme music, of which he's a master and a mega-fan. If this song doesn't kill you, it's not because Dethklok didn't try hard enough. Read our previous features on Dethklok/"Metalocalypse" here and here. Check out the videos for "Murmaider" and "Bloodrocuted" after the jump. |
| D.C. Bound: | Saturday, Oct. 31, at Patriot Center with Mastodon. Dethklok's live musicians are hidden in shadows while new animations, made especially for the this tour, are projected on giant screens. Totally \m/. |
| Get More: | Web Site | MySpace | Wiki |
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