Don't Steal The Beardy Durfs Ponce's Lunch Box

I love it when you open up the inbox and before you have to start wading through all the remixes, bad hip-hop and terribly written PR pieces, the first email inadvertantly floors you. This is what The Beardy Durfs' 7" Lunch Box/Ponce did to me. The Danish duo (seriously, Copenhagen's scene seems so disparate and incredible awesome!) are channelling no wave into makeshift pop compositions, then are extrapolated or truncated on a whim. 'Lunch Box' is a delectable slice of raucous garage noise-pop, whilst 'Ponce' is a lysergic jam into a bleached-white wilderness. Digital-only track 'Dead Poncho' is pure noise abandon, the kind of pop single Times New Viking or Japandroids might put out if collaborated with motorik annihilators A Place To Bury Strangers. This cacophonous ear orgasm is achieved via modified guitar pedals, homemade amplifiers, broken guitars and a seriously trashed drum kit built in the former East Germany. I seriously enjoy this 7". These are the kind of tracks I want to hear when I wake up people! (Actually, I want to hear them all day long. Keep it coming dudes).


You can get Lunch Box/Ponce from Pad & Pen Records.

Found A Dead Sailor In The Stagnant Pools

I brought to your attention only weeks ago that rad track 'Consistency' by Indiana brothers Stagnant Pools, drooling over the groove-laden dirge that is equal parts shoegaze swoon and lackadaisical guitar pop, with a smattering of gritty drone to boot. Well they have an album coming up on Polyvinyl called Temporary Room. What's more they have just finished up support slots with labelmates Japandroids (who also have a newie out, more on that later!!!) and EMA, and have more to come alongside A Place To Bury Strangers, Lotus Plaza, Exitmusic and Akron/Family (the last two of which sees them touring in a van they received as a graduation present - thanks pez!). These guys are heating up.

Stagnant Pools - Dead Sailor

Video Vacuum - A PlaceTo Bury Strangers, Trailer Trash Tracys, The Eversons, Milk Maid

Another miserable day to bring in the bullshit Winter season. I don't feel like doing work, and I KNOW you are playing Solitaire instead of whatever it is you are actually employed to do, so make your wasteful minutes count with some new music videos.

Noisy juggernauts A Place To Bury Strangers are on the cusp of unleashing their new hotly-anticipated LP Worship via Dead Oceans, and here is the clip for single 'You Are The One'. It includes typical NSFW fare such as dark hallways, hot ladies and sudden bursts of violence. All APTBS staples then...



UK act Trailer Trash Tracys have been riding waves of hipster adulation since the release of their debut album Ester, and although I enjoyed some of the tracks I felt the whole thing a bit inauthentic - much like any band that hipsters heap praise on. However, I didn't mind the song 'Los Angered' and it now has a cool video that evokes Battles' Gloss Drop conception art. Despite the TERRIBLE name, Trailer Trash Tracys could be onto something if they shirked the glossier elements of their persona and embraced their music more...



I found that the efforts of NZ goofy guitar pop kids The Eversons nailed their self-titled EP last year, and I'm glad to say they are releasing a full length called Summer Feeling on Lil Chief Records (a review of the album will be forthcoming). The following track 'Could It Ever Get Better' is off that, and the stop-motion felt cut out clip is the perfect complement to the band's aesthetic. Dumb, silly fun, done well.



Finally we have 'Summertime', the latest single from UK grungy 90s throwbacks Milk Maid. They will be releasing their debut LP Mostly No shortly, which promises to be a strong record. Sure, they are good - they ain't no Milk Music though (but Milk in the name is helping - does it really strengthen the bones???)



NOW GET BACK TO WORK!!

Burying Strangers, Claiming Victory

Exciting news week, methinks! First up today is the news that A Place To Bury Strangers are set to release their new LP, Victory, June 11 through Dead Oceans. It will be their first album with new bassist Dion (last seen in The D4), and shows a shift in sonic dexterity that will surely divide fans, but I think it opens up a plethora of opportunities The new single is 'You Are The One', and it starts off moody and jangling, down a sleek monochrome hallway before exploding in your face, the closest you can get to a 4D aural experience. Seriously, get some wicked headphones and plug into this, see if it doesn't forge itself onto your eardrums.



A Place To Bury Strangers - You Are The One

I mentioned a while back that APTBS phoenixed out of the death of a band called Skywave, and the other band to do the same was Ceremony (not Rohnert Park and Zoo Ceremony - these guys have nary a hardcore bone in their bods). The similarities are rife. Well, there is obviously no bad blood between them, as they have this ltd edition 7" split with each other! Out on Famous Class Records, expect this to fly out the window, so buy it here.

Bloody Knives Get Bloodier

I was really impressed with Austin's industrial shoegaze trio Bloody Knives and their debut release back in 2010. A heady mixture of HEALTH and A Place To Bury Strangers, the tracks on Burn It All Down were relentless and loud - very loud. (check it out here if you missed out - silly.)

Well, I missed their Disappear EP from May last year (silly), but grabbed their Blood release recently. These punkish rogues have taken their aesthetic and twisted the dials to breaking point. It can be quite busy, and the noise can fight the actual melody of the song, but it's true that this trio are insistent on branding their music onto your soul. By the end of this listen, you'll be glad to oblige.

Bloody Knives - Blood
Bloody Knives - Death Blessing

Burying Strangers Beyond The Wall

We, along with just about everybody, loves A Place To Bury Strangers' 2009 LP Exploding Head. Hell, I played the Dinosaur Hunt light gun arcade game with former bassplayer Jono at ATP the very night this blog came to be! But since then it has been kinda quiet. Now they have announced February's launch of EP Onwards to the Wall, their first release since leaving Mute Records for Dead Oceans. The incredible noisy shoegazers (complete with new bassist Dion, formerly of cool Ramones-obsessed Kiwi band The D4)have done everything behind the scenes in order to bring these new tracks to light, which pretty much ensures it will be loud as fuck and just as exhilarating.

A Place To Bury Strangers - So Far Away