mixtape maestro (2.0)

Of the four early previews of Arcade Fire‘s highly salivated over third full length The Suburbs that are currently spreading throughout Cyber-land, it’s no surprise that a majority of the acclaim is being directed towards “We Used To Wait”.

Whereas the sunny (and, comparable to most of AF’s output, downright minimalist) title track, boppy “Ready To Start” and fiery punk-leaning exercise “Month of May” have polarized the masses in their slightly shocking straight-forwardness, “Wait”‘s arrival has somewhat calmed this growing trepidation towards the new album by adhering the closest to the band’s well-established appreciation for the epic.

Here, Win Butler bemoans today’s “everything instant” culture, waxing nostalgic for the days of when he and and a lover could spend hours together just walking, or the days spent anticipating the arrival of her handwritten letter via snail mail (Damn those automobiles and e-communication systems!!). “But what’s stranger still is how something so small can keep you alive/…Hope that something pure can last,” he pines away, supported on the verses by urgent staccato piano chords, distant guitar flickers and heavy drum thuds that seem to illustrate the busy hustle of life around him.

From the mid-point on, this arrangement gradually blooms larger and larger, the band filling up any trace of open space left with the addition of some U2-y guitar ambiance, ghostly background vox and co-lead Regine Chassagne’s sweet coos until, by song’s end, Win’s increasingly manic yelps of “We used to wait for it/ Now we’re screaming sing the chorus again” have been completely drowned out, poignantly asserting that his yearns for the return of a long bygone era are futile at best.

The Suburbs drops August 2nd in the UK and August 3rd in the US; hear “The Suburbs” and “Month of May” through the widget below.

“We Used To Wait”:

A London indie four-piece who re-located to Louisiana to help give their self-described “swamp pop” sound some authentic Southern swagger, the Scoundrels pull this musical feat off well on “Just Can’t See It Through”, an energetic rocker built on catchy vocal hooks and swinging, blues-guitar spark.

“You’ve got your suitcase packed and you’re gonna use it/ As you scream your goodbyes on the telephone,” belts frontman Ned Wyndham with a tinge of soul grit embedded in his pipes. But no tears will be shed on his axe at the arrival of this long-distance announcement, as the singer simply shrugs off her dumping (“I can’t settle down for long,” he explains, “So I’m not gonna play with you no more”), opting to continue down his “road to ruin” instead.

Hey, if this partner-less “road” includes more excellent jams like these, we say to Hell with her then.

Look for the band’s self titled debut, to be produced by Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders), later this Summer; first single “Hangman’s Lament” (stream-able here) drops July 19th on One Fifteen Records.

DL: “Just Can’t See It Through” (alt)

On their debut album Hella, teen-aged Arizona indie-pop/ rock collective The Young Friends (headed by actual “young friends” Andrew McKee and Brant Stuns) masterfully capture the youthful bliss of entire summer vacations spent beachside, utilizing the pleasant sunniness of 50′s influenced surf-pop stylings as a fitting foundation for their endearing mini-tales of the one-sided crushes, brief flings and all-around good times with close pals the three-month-long break from pencils, books and teachers’ dirty looks bring.

When listening to the seven cuts featured, it’s damn near impossible to not be instantly transported to the sun-baked highs of your own high school days, a time when only the promise of fun trumped everything else in life.

To our ears, mid-way cut “I Won’t Break Your Heart” shines the brightest, it’s perky collection of rapid-fire rumbling drums, needly guitar riffs, hand claps and the euphoric vocal harmonies floating betwixt it all serving as the perfect introduction to the hot weather season, while cries of “You know how we get down/ Bring your friends and come on down” inject the brain with memories of the numerous occasions spent hitting the sand with you and your own tight-knit crew.

Check out the highlight below, or simply peep a stream of the rest of the must-have Hella here.

I Won’t Break Your Heart by Moodgadget

Previously noted around these parts for their excellent grown (indie) dude re-imagining of New Edition’s “Cool It Now”, Brooklyn’s Robbers On High Street show that there’s more to them than great covers on this early taste of their still-untitled third set.

Clearly inspired by the sounds of ’60′s and ’70′s pop/ rock, boppy new single “Electric Eye” breezes by on delightfully crisp guitar work, groovy horn bursts and some sweet male harmonies, all in the name of the title subject’s mysterious pull.

“There’s no shutting it off,” frontman Ben Trokan explains, though he could just as well be referring to the sheer contagiousness of this ditty.

Look for the 7-inch of “Eye” (backed by the equally pleasant retro dip “Face In The Fog”) to drop on June 8th via Engine Room Recordings, followed by a digital release on June 22nd.

“Electric Eye”:

An ear-(and speakers)relieving oasis perfectly situated in the mid-section of the distortion-bathed, crunk-metal-cheerleader pop extravaganza that is Sleigh Bells‘ amazing debut Treats, album cut “Rill Rill” lands as the noise-pop duo’s best shot at garnering some crossover love, finding the Brooklyn duo stepping back from their gargantuan sonic assaults for a light and easy melancholy trip.

Polished up a bit from it’s original demo form (when it went by the name “Ring Ring”), “Rill Rill” can best be described as the ideal lazy summer afternoon banger; y’know, the kind that The-Dream wheels out with ease, where subtle drum knocks and sharp finger snaps add weight but don’t distract from the dreamy melodies at the song’s core.

Those dreamy melodies appear in two glorious forms here: in “Rill Rill”‘s main musical attaction, a breezy, acoustic soul loop snagged from Funkadelic’s 1971 Maggot Brain gem “Can You Get To That”, and in the ever-nonchalant chant-coos of vocalist Alexis Krauss, who strings together random conversation bits/ boastful phrases probably overheard in the hallways of high school by rival cliques (“You’re just a weatherman/ We make the wind blow”), forming all kinds of delectable mini-hooks along the way.

Stream the rest of Treats over at NPR or pick it up on iTunes.

“Rill Rill”:

BONUS DL: Funkadelic “Can You Get To That” (alt)

Multi-part harmonies and other vocal interplay tricks have always been one of the more appealing aspects of Sunderland, England-raised four-piece The Futureheads‘ post-punk sound (alongside the band’s love for lightning-quick tempos), so it’s nice to see them putting those talents to such great use on this Live Lounge-premiered rendition of Kelis’ comeback dance hit “Acapella”.

Cleverly done in a vocals-only style (heh-heh, “Acapella” done a capella) that recalls the corner-set doo-wop rounds of pop days past, The Futureheads’ reading provides an infectious listen that may even be best the original, if only because their stripped-down treatment gives the song’s lovely lyric (centered on the wondrous bliss newfound love, through either a new child or romance partner, can bring to one’s life) the centric attention it didn’t necessarily have when tucked within the original’s Ibiza-baiting electro pulses.

“Acapella (Live Lounge)“:

DL: “Acapella (Kelis Cover)” (alt)

Psych-indie-pop/rockers MGMT sure weren’t kidding when they made the announcement that new album Congratulations was going to be a far different entity from it’s highly applauded, big-singles(and-other-tracks)-assembled predecessor, Oracular Spectacular.

A sprawling, nine-cut set that feels like the blueprint for some heretofore-unannounced rock-opera project, Congratulations’ carnival-like display of strategically-pieced-together ’60′s & ’70′s-era musical signatures (including well-studied dabblings in mod-pop, surf rock, tender AM radio singer-songwriter fare and cheery “Let The Sunshine In”-esque hippie-soul), with featured narratives concerned with the step-by-step effects of drugs (opener “It’s Working”) and U2 producer Brian Eno’s awesomeness (um, “Brian Eno”), reeks of self-indulgence and a band trying perhaps a little too hard to shed “mainstream”-y MGMT fans in search of sequels to “Kids” and “Electric Feel”. But once you’ve dipped into the record’s bold, “progedelic” ambitions more than a few times, feelings of it being this retro-soaked, modern-day masterpiece (though one that probably won’t earn full appreciation for years and years) start to bubble to the surface.

Don’t have the time (or need) to bathe yourself in the band’s mostly hook-free dip into artsy-fartsy waters? You still might get a kick out of Congratulations’ set-closing title track. It’s arguably the most gorgeous thing MGMT have ever recorded, with it’s mellow acoustic guitar strums and occasional minor-key tricklings, and births striking lyrics that seem to follow on the sarcastic-lined perspective of the rock star life presented on Spectacular favorite “Time To Pretend”.

Whereas “Pretend” focused on pre-making-it-big dreams though (who could forget that “I’ll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars” line?), “Congratulations” hones in on the internal struggles that emerge once worldwide acclaim has been had, when you’re not quite sure you’re comfortable with all the success yet have now grown so accustomed to the attention, the thought of life without it feels terrifying.

“As strange as it seems/ I’d rather dissolve than have you ignore me,” sadly notes frontman Andrew VanWyngarden before tucking all his “half-assed guilt” away so he can enjoy another soothing blanketing of his awaiting fans’ adulatory hailing.

Catch a live performance of the cut below, then stream the rest of Congratulations (due April 13th) through the band’s website.

BONUS DL: MGMT “Electric Feel (Prince Language Remix)” (alt)

Newbie Louisville, Kentucky four-piece The Pass construct a fierce indie dance-rock boogie that’s sure to rank amongst favorites come year-end music list-making time with “Colors”, the title track to the their newly released introductory EP.

The track’s main riff, a punchy, cock-sure cyclone of ringing guitar funkiness, houses an instantaneous spark, the kind that haphazardly seeps into your brain in the A.M. and leaves you floating through air the rest of the day, the echoing of it’s contagious rhythm in your head all that’s needed to keep your personal mood on a life-loving, sunny tip.

Are their other elements to “Colors” were mentioning? Of course: it carries cool vocals and a solid hook that’s just begging to be sung along to while driving down the highway in the middle of the summer with your friends; for us, however, it’s all about that central strut of a groove.

Peep it (and fall in love) below.

DL: “Colors” (alt)

Tucked away in the mid-section of their hyped-to-the-heavens second offering Odd Blood, the admirably near-uncategorizable Brooklyn indie-rockers Yeasayer go even odd-er (if such a thing is even possible) by getting all early-00′s teen-pop on our asses with the computerized white boy funk workout of “Love Me Girl”.

Far different than anything they’ve ever put to tape, at it’s core, “Love Me Girl” teeters on being an awkward mess, it’s struggle at finding a comfortable common ground between New Romantic swooning and Timberlake-ian herky-jerk R&B glitch never quite gelling as well as the band seems to think it does.

So why do we stamp it as being an album standout, anyway? Partly because we kinda-sorta dig the nervous tension in the song’s lyrics (it follows one man on the verge of an emotional breakdown as his current relationship fizzles out before his eyes); but mostly because of it’s begging-to-be-looped two minute long intro, a dramatic synth-based build-up excitingly peppered with animal cackles and haunting vocoder tags that hints of the best rave ever bursting alive around you at any moment.

Take a listen to the amazingly launched cut below, followed by a bonus offering of The Very Best‘s merry overdub of Odd Blood‘s lead single “Ambling Alp” (shouts).

“Love Me Girl”:

BONUS DL: Yeasayer “Ambling Alp (The Very Best ‘Mulomo’ Remix)” (alt)

Summer may be months away in reality, but it definitely doesn’t seem that way when the feel-good buoyancy of First Rate People‘s “Girls’ Night” is spilling through your speakers.

Here, the Ontario-based seven-piece piece together a fetching swirl of indie rock, R&B and bedroom-pop style stamps, the song’s encircling male and female leads at times feeling like two different songs being mashed together in perfect harmony.

We’re not particularly clear what the two singers are going on about (something about sending postcards and crashing an all-female outing), but honestly we could care less, because what is fully understood, is that by the time this two-and-a-half minute tune has faded out on a sunny high of chirpy guitars and that crunchy, hip hop-esque drum track, we’re immediately hit with the uncontrollable need to hit “replay” so that we could be immersed in it’s catchy goodness all over again.

Expect a full-length debut from FRP sometime later this year.

DL: “Girls’ Night” (alt)