Post War Years, "The Greats and the Happenings" (Wealth)
Hyped on: 2stepsforward4stepsback; Brooklyn Vegan
MySpace
Who: Electro-rockers Post War Years are probably the biggest thing to have happened in Leamington Spa, England, since Nathaniel Hawthorne shacked up there in the mid-19th century (and that dude could seriously throw down). The quartet is getting even bigger and buzzier in 2009, supporting MGMT and White Lies in their native land before completing a successful run at this year’s South by Southwest.
What: Unlike the aforementioned headliners, PWY don’t necessarily stick to a script. The base here is bouncy guitars—Talking Heads’ “77”—meshed with dark ambient electronica. The guitar line running throughout “Red and Blue” has a prog-like technicality, but is hardly a Minus the Bear toe-tapper. Asymmetrical and unexpected, the showers of odd synth sounds and wildlife/nature samples make this more interesting than anything by White Lies. The song “White Lies” (no joke) is also better than the namesake act, with trippy vocal manipulations and left-field samples. “Den” is propelled by pounding synths and that jewelry box guitar effect used early and often by St. Vincent.
Made for: Fans of exciting young British electricians We Have Band and Working for a Nuclear Free City. Those bored with Friendly Fires (us). That didn’t take long!
X-Factor: The group once lived in an abandoned Russian social club, which could shed light on their curious name choice. It’s a keeper. – MR
Goes Cube, "Another Day Has Passed" (The End)
Hyped on: Parasites & Sycophants; Earfarm
MySpace
Who: While their funky facial hair and thrift store T-shirts suggest a very particular musical image, Goes Cube are the antithesis of NYC hipster indie-rock. After three EPs—which featured songs with titles like “Goes Cube Song 56” and “Goes Cube Song 50”—the band signed to The End Records (home to Mindless Self Indulgence and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum) and released a debut full-length of normally titled songs, “Another Day Has Passed.”
What: The Brooklyn trio—David Obuchowski, Kenny Appell, and, as of May 15, Matt Tyson—creates walls of low-end guitar noise, with Obuchowski barking out vocals over the always-morphing racket. “Grinding the Knife Blade” harnesses the energy of post-hardcore bands like Snapcase, while the fuzzy guitars of “I Hold Grudges” wouldn’t sound out of place on a Mastodon record. And when the band slows it down (“Saab Sonnet”), the record veers toward shoegazer-esque bliss.
Made for: The elusive indie-metal crowd that Pitchfork and Brooklyn Vegan have recently targeted. My Bloody Valentine fans who like to headbang. People who think there should be more songs about cars (did we mention that “Saab Sonnet” is their best song?).
X-Factor: The band started out in college, with Obuchowski and former bassist Matt Frey rocking out as Robototron, a Casio/guitar/toy laser gun duo. – KM
Das Pop, "Das Pop" (Sony/Ugly Truth)
Hyped on: blendetta; Ssssound!; Neon Junks
MySpace
Who: Three Belgian school friends and a drummer from New Zealand, Das Pop play what the Europeans love to call “guitar-pop” but we tend to label “danceable indie rock.” Frontman Bent Van Looy seems like a bit of a cad, and the band’s music has the upbeat, darkly witty thing going on that made Britpop big back in the day. Fittingly, Das Pop actually have been around in some form since the mid-‘90s, but only now are catching fire.
What: Let’s call it retro Bel-pop, with an emphasis on the “pop.” Though they’ve opened for bands like the Gossip and the Kills, these Belgians have never met a straight-up pop touch (cowbell, strings on the chorus, staccato guitar stabs, etc.) they didn’t like. This album’s release date keeps getting delayed, but an Internet leak has been available for a bit. Once it gets official, expect to hear a lot more of it: “Das Pop” sounds ready-made for things like Urban Outfitters overhead play and the soundtrack to “Gossip Girl.” If the Virgins, Blur and Franz Ferdinand had a Belgian baby, it would grow up to sound like this.
Made for: Those who like a dance party, but aren’t so into dance music. Britpop revivalists seeking fresh blood. Aspiring Euro DJs. Music supervisors for Urban Outfitters and “Gossip Girl.”
X-Factor: Despite their guitar-pop basis, Das Pop are seemingly beloved by electronic acts and DJs: Soulwax produced this album, Justice included a Das Pop track on their “Fabric Live” mix, and everyone from SebastiAn to Van She has already remixed them. – KND
Headless Heroes, "The Silence of Love" (World's Fair)
Hyped on: The Smudge of Ashen Fluff; Parasites & Sycophants; Underwurld Music
MySpace
Who: Eddie Bezalel is a recording engineer and multimedia artist who gets listed only as “executive producer” on the debut album from Headless Heroes. But really, for this project, Bezalel and his partner-in-crime, producer/engineer Hugo Nicolson, functioned like old-school A&R men, pairing talented musicians with great material and letting them do their thing. The result is “The Silence of Love,” a collection of 10 cover tunes lushly rendered by an ace group of New York and Los Angeles session players and a honey-voiced folk singer named Alela Diane, who Bezalel found on MySpace.
What: Covers albums are always a tricky proposition, but “The Silence of Love” avoids nearly every pitfall, displaying impeccable taste in its choice of material and arrangements. Most of the album’s highlights are beautifully restrained interpretations of cult classics from “outsider” singer-songwriters like Daniel Johnston, Vashti Bunyan and Linda Perhacs; a sparse, broken-hearted rendition of Jackson C. Frank’s “Blues Run the Game” (most famously covered by Simon & Garfunkel) is especially effective. But Diane’s gorgeous, unaffected voice is also well suited to heavily orchestrated, Donovan-esque flower pop (“The North Wind Blew South”) and stripped-down shoegazer balladry (I Am Kloot’s “To You” and, less successfully, the Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey”). She even manages to turn a risky Nick Cave cover (“Nobody’s Baby Now”) into a hushed, luminous hymn.
Made for: Vintage vinyl shop trawlers and Gemm.com junkies. Freak-folkies and weird beards looking to discover some of their favorite music’s source material. Alela Diane fans—as good as her solo material can be, she’s never been in finer voice.
X-Factor: Among the other folks involved in the Headless Heroes collective: “Ocean’s 11” soundtracker and rare-groove guru David Holmes, session drummer Joey Waronker (Beck, Smashing Pumpkins) and multi-instrumentalist Josh Klinghoffer (Gnarls Barkley, Red Hot Chili Peppers). – AH
