(Click on the label to listen to the song.)

Link: RACES on Tumblr

Normally, I would not give a damn about an EP this miniscule, especially one that only has three songs, and one of those three songs is a demo. The Big Broom EP (Frenchkiss Records) came out late 2011 as a nibble into a full length that will be unleashed in March.

So why RACES? The question is really why not RACES? This six-piece (not to be confused with the band The Race) is a congregational spark to linear indie rock you don’t hear much of these days. Each member does a great job at filling in the space and for something that is this concrete, you will not find much that is as bold. Digging into the details of this band, I don’t think they could fabricate any of their sound even if they tried. The band has been playing together for a while and although all of this was under our noses with no aggressive anticipation before, there is excitement now because if indie rock is your preferred style, this band is really good at it.

I would not even consider “Big Broom” to be the best song out of the three. The massive sound that dissipates into a sluggish bassline, punctuated by drums, it all reminds me of A House’s On Our Big Fat Merry Go Round minus the Irish accent. It’s a great song, no less, but “All For You” is that charmer. The lazy rhythms force you to slow down and focus on it all. There are bits of that expansive ‘60s California sound with modern tinges of futurism poised in between. You can hear this even more on the demo. With Wade Ryff being supported by Breanna Wood’s lush voice, the sincerity reminds me of early Superchunk and the smell of Chapel Hill in the air.

What I will admit to is that these are songs that can be listened to over and over again. It’s a good thing that you do because every time you play these songs, you gain a deeper understanding and finer perspective. These are songs you have to think about and songs that will last. Let’s see how they interact within the context of a full album because now I cannot wait to hear more.

For now, you can stream the entire EP on Spotify. What are your thoughts on this EP?

Link: Rejectioneers on FaceBook

The Rejectioneers have a lot of heart. You can hear it in the opener “Murderers.” Sure the song title does not boast heartfelt positivity, but trust me, it’s there. The song is the teenage dream, filled with pure power pop and chunky rhythms to beef up the sunny side harmonies. It all beckons to believe this is early 2000 power punk, but it’s still as fresh and refreshing in the now.

I think the downfall to this EP is the sporadic recording of songs over a two-year stretch that breaks up the consistency and momentum of the EP. “Get So Mad” is not like “Murderers.” The vocals are different, the style of music has changed. It does not matter which was recorded earlier or later, the point is that the continuity is not there.

And to put a transition piece—“Buried Treasure (Intermission)”— on a five song EP is a bad choice. It feels like a lack of creativity and something that is thrown in just to give the illusion that space is being filled.

“Wake Up” bounces back and gives nods to fellow South Caroliners Archers Of Loaf. The mid-range song structure is bright and bouncy with slacker delight. And “When It’s Over” ends with a direction that probably should have been aimed for all along. The song is their most complex, enticing and heartfelt.

CSS
La Liberacion
V2/Cooperative Music USA/Downtown Records
Rating: 3 out of 5

Links:

• Official Site
• FaceBook Page

I remember the moment I first stuck my ears on a CSS record. Cansei De Ser Sexy was blatant, spunky and all the leanings of an anti-social bedroom dance party. Their Art Rock and Punk socio-diatribes were that to be marveled over. It’s what made so many fall in love with the group.

Two albums later and La Liberacion comes at us with a new label and a deeper viewpoint of the band trying to experiment outside of their perimeters. It also comes with the good and the bad.

“City Girl,” a song that smacks pop culture with the fists of feminism exploits electro pop while throwing in a trumpet solo that actually works. If X-Ray Spex started now, this is what they would probably sound like. The title track is also their first to be sung in Spanish and gives the youth something to be charged about.

As the album opens with “I Love You,” the song is a sedated melancholia that ends up being an anti-love song in CSS fashion. I appreciate the sarcasm, but even by then, it’s stretched out to be nullifying in effect.

La Liberacion is a step up in CSS pomp and circumstance from Donkey. Three years away may have helped contribute to that, but it’s nowhere near the immediacy and rush of Cansei De Ser Sexy, and that is where I like CSS best.

Link: Hess Is More

Hess Is More creates a concoction that is varied and scattered throughout the musical spectrum. Although that is not a bad thing, it’s hard to pinpoint the band.

Not really in the Scandinavian style, where the duo evolves from; while not really enriched in distinct New York City flavor, unless you count the recent slew of covers of New York artists like Blondie or Talking Heads, Creation Keeps The Devil Away floats out in the ethers.

As composers for both film and theater, that creative style follows through into the music. It’s not so much atmospheric as it is conceptual. Adding Middle Eastern style to their bubbly pop demeanor on “Going Looking For The End Of The World,” the ambient avant-garde of “12 Bells,” or the experimental alterna-pop epic of “Go Go Go Go,” —filled with the electronic chirping you would find on a Nitzer Ebb album or the sound of taking your watch to a thick steel wire that supports an electric line —that transforms with horns and Far East aesthetics to form something that could be remotely compared to a Mungolian Jetset song.

But the real epic is “Call For Change,” a pivotal song on this album. Stretching over seven minutes, The song is somber compared to the lively action that surrounds it, and builds a different, more serious environment for the duo that is respective as it builds and responsive as it burns out.

Whatever it is you walk away with, I’m sure your thoughts will be bouncing around like this release.

Link: Cloud Control’s Official Website

When I hear “Meditation Song #2 (Why, Oh Why),” I want it to be like something off of The Flaming Lips’ In A Priest Driven Ambulance, but what I really get is the equivalent to “When The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” It’s not an association I want.

But if you get past the first song, the real grit of this band lies in “There’s Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight.” The song soars and makes a proper name for Cloud Control.

The band is fueled by honesty, and it shows. They may not be one of indie music’s greats, but they will get your attention with their gorgeous and sincere vocal harmonies, and the band’s organic, laid-back approach.

“Death Cloud” proves to be an indie gem. With vocals that bounce around the song, fierce guitar notes pierce through and spin into one of the more powerful power pop songs I have heard in a long time. I could listen to it into infinity.

“Ghost Story” sings like a cult chant and “Gold Canary” sings along like the Beach Boys taking to the mountains. The tropical feel of “This Is What I Said” makes the journey that much better.

This gives you a sample of the diversity this band can sift through while maintaining a specific identity that by the end of this album, you will know exactly what a Cloud Control song is while being mesmerized by how well the band drifts into varied styles like hopping time dimensions.

Link: The Dear & Departed’s Official Website
The Dear & Departed return with an album that is better and stronger than the lengths they went through with their debut Something Quite Peculiar. L.A. Ink cast member Dan Smith fused a world of pop music teetering at the end of the world. He will have you talking about this album like you would early ‘90s Duran Duran.

This album is entrancing, endearing, and immediate. And with Smith’s vocals, you will find them up their with the strengths from Big Country to VHS or Beta.

Okay, so a song called “Air Supply” would normally be a nudge to the greats of softcore late night love songs, but in reality it ends up being a modest approach at an optimistic mid-range rocker.

Where “Landslide” exploits rock balladry, “Star Struck” focuses more on the alternative craze that singed the early ‘90s; you will feel Mighty Lemon Drops and Kitchens of Distinction power throughout.

From England to New Zealand, you feel the power pop of both influences bleeding through their guitar-fuzzed spiral. The harmonics on “Depth Or Desparation” or the mid-tempo groove that wraps around you on “It’s Not What You Think,” Every Waking Moment describes the very essence of musical utopia from the musician to the listener.

—“Just listen to it from the start, the words are from my heart, and they’re just for you.”

No matter what mood you may be experiencing, you cannot help but be effected from this exuberantly positive album. More than a pick-me-up, this album is well written and effective in every aspect.

Links:

• Extra Classic’s Blogspot
• Extra Classic on FaceBook
• ZapTown’s Coverage of “Congo Rebel.”

The way Extra Classic captures the old Jamaican sound is so real that you will forget it is not of this reality. Recorded in analog on 8-track tape and recording equipment plucked out of the ‘60s and ‘70s, you get the fuzz and the inconsistencies of vintage antiquities humming in your ear like a ghost. If it was done any other way, I don’t think this recording would have been as effective.

For the five-piece band, they have all come together to warp a sense of perfection and beauty through the lush underground. They bop and sway in the reggae bounce of “Congo Rebel,” that also takes from early heavy metal and the way the song is constructed. This all adds power to the presence.

“Metal Tiger” is the charm of the release. Up front, you get put into a mystical place of alluring possibilities. Soft in texture, you feel the fierce power from this group as a drum cadence revs up the intensity with third world emotions. There is not much else on this album that can match this song.

The remainder of the release is all consistent as it roams through a dark underbelly of indie rock, righteous defiance, and personal conviction as “Give Them The Same” presents.

When you have a song like “Demon Hit” that looks to the early Marley and the Wailers days, the comedown “Angel Eyes” and “Give Me Your Love” does not seem all that thrilling, leaving you with a feeling that is strange in comparison. It speaks like a classic gospel and blues song would. Not the way I would want it to end, but satisfying for any completest.

Link: http://beirutband.com/

The Rip Tide is another exquisite album from this band. Flowing melodies, sounds you can envision ringing out from the countryside of an older world, and songwriting that is relevant and rich in aesthetic storytelling, it’s a formula Beirut is good at, and a formula they stick with.

If you dig hard you will find a little more intimacy from the group, but it won’t feel any different from when they churned out Gulag Orkestar. What The Rip Tide has to offer is an accentuation from The Flying Cup Club. Not to say that one is better than the other; both albums have their charm. What their new album does is offer stability from this community of inspirational musicians.

The experience is immediate on “A Candle’s Fire.” The horns blare decadence and Zach Condon’s soaringly sincere voice. You can’t help but feel humbled underneath this glowing canopy of the whimsical.

“Sante Fe” is a song that could have belonged on Flying Cup Club. It bears similarities to “A Sunday Smile,” but moves along like a road trip.

Fans will recognize “East Harlem” and “Goshen,” both featured on a limited edition single. A casual slow down for the band, “East Harlem” highlights his ukulele as it carries the tune, treating Harlem like a distant land of wonder. “Goshen” is the most contemplative album in a Billy Joel Cold Spring Harbour kind of way.

More so than before, are the drums so prominent and the blending of instruments as they stand out and then fade into the mix is absolutely incredible.

After listening to this album, I cannot imagine being without it.

RACES (formerly Black Jesus) have caused quite the stir in their home base of Los Angeles. It’s easy to respect a band with a blue-collar reputation constructed primarily by word of mouth by furiously traveling the golden coast. Races is a modern anomaly of sorts by attempting to fuse the grit of 90’s grunge rock with the subservience of indie pop.

The initial throbbing bass on “Big Broom” (the song is part of an upcoming EP of the same name) is deceiving as the song systematically compiles from a sense of dread to a campaign through this enchanted ambient forest. The luminous guitars segment the mysterious dark while the vocals act as an afflicted guide. Gingerly, they lead us through each ambiguous path to our eventual destination. The EP is a precursor to their upcoming full length, Year Of The Witch (Frenchkiss), due out March 2012.

So pack light and press play in The Jukebox already!

Link: http://talkdemonic.com/

Talkdemonics’ Ruins was not pleasing to begin with. I thought the raw format mixing to the opening songs were brazen and scruffed out so much that it was not an effect done right.

But then it hit me. Actually, it was Lisa Molinaro’s strings that made me change my mind about Ruins.

Don’t get me wrong. What Kevin O’Connor does to blend in percussive experimentation — sometimes bordering on free jazz while other times based on simple angularity — with analog and organic instrumental features done really well. A song like “Revival” is the foundation for what O’Connor can churn out. What’s cool about this song is that there is a playful exchange of hands as to who is holding the rhythm and who is carrying the melody. I find they do it better than a band like Explosions in the Sky with that respect.

Their more intimate songs are also a highlight. It helps the strings reach out further in the song. “Midcentury Motion” may not show off the soft side to this duo, but it does showcase how expansive these two can be in the context of musician limitations. Nowhere on this album will you feel that only two people are creating music of this expanse.

And as much as I love to be challenged as a listener, much of the experimental values from this album do not go far, except maybe “Violet.” Also do not expect anything long-winded from this band, their average song length is around two-and-a half minutes. Setting these constraints, it forces them to work within a very short time and fill every nook and cranny with sound. And that is what I would find the most impressive with O’Connor and Molinaro.