Dodging Sick Friends

It has taken me far too long to get around to Sick Friend's album The Draft Dodger, but there are some tracks on this indie pop menagerie that really stays with you. The title track, for instance. Don't take the title at face value - this ain't no political rally/diatribe/condescending middle class rant. Yet these Canadians are more like Russian dolls - the more you get inside them, the more intricate their world becomes. Utilising keyboards and a synth-bass into the more stereotypical indie rock mix, Sick Friend may seem to be without direction, but that is part of the deception. They could be Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, but without the whining vocals; Animal Collective, but without the samples and the warped psychedelics. They still have a bit of soul-searching to find continuity across an entire longplayer, but The Draft Dodger still manages to stay outside the grasp of mediocrity. Definitely worth a listen.

The Draft Dodger is out now on Bird & Flag Records.

Sick Friend - Cottages
Sick Friend - The Draft Dodger

Drowners Never Go Away

Take a moment to meet Drowner, fittingly from Space City USA - Houston, Texas. Their press ticks off influences that colour each corner of the shimmering guitar rock spectrum - Ringo Deathstarr, My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai, Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Cure... And whilst the shoegaze elements are inherent in their self-titled debut LP (out March 13 on Saint Marie Records, a niche label that specialises in this sound and have also added SM faves Bloody Knives to their roster), making such connections is a little too safe. Case in point is second track 'Never Go Away', at just under eight minutes a creeping track that is Siren-esque in its gossamer, eerie calls. The washes of guitar are actually delicate, meticulously balanced, even in the stronger rock numbers such as 'Point Dume' or 'Written'. After bringing Fonda's comeback to our attention last year, Crash Avenue are responsible for pushing this release, and with good reason. This reminds me of when I heard Whirr (the band formerly known as Whirl) for the first time. Seeing as their Distressor EP is one of my favourite releases of its kind in the past few years, that is saying something. Get on board.



Drowner - Never Go Away
Drowner - Point Dume

Friday Cover Up - You'll Find Secret Kinky Colours On A Sunny Afternoon

Closing out this loooooooong week with a Kinks cover. I love the Kinks. My Kinks Greatest Hits CD got the shit played out of it back in the mid-2000s. Ray Davies, man...fuck! SM favourites Secret Colours have done a cover of 'Sunny Afternoon' which rounds out their EP3...er, EP (it came out on New Year's Day). They acquit themselves well, and have left me a very happy man this evening.

Secret Colours - Sunny Afternoon (The Kinks cover)

Here is another track from the Chicago psychedelics' latest EP for good measure. Go buy it (or any of their releases) here. Bonjour!

Secret Colours - Faust

Better Days With Minty Fresh Fonda

LA dream pop outfit Fonda returned after a lengthy hiatus earlier this year with the Better Days EP. Well, in very good news, label Minty Fresh has decided to rerelease Better Days on vinyl, with an added single for the occasion! The release isn't until November 22, but you can book yourself some wax right here.

Unsure? Try the new track below, as well as another cut from the earlier release. These guys, around the core of couple Emily Cook and David Klotz, may have lain dormant for seven-odd years (and Klotz edits music on Glee - seriously dude?!?*), but Fonda are welcome back any time.

Fonda - Some Things Aren't Worth Knowing
Fonda - Better Days

* Cook writes screenplays such as Ratatouille, so I guess it almost cancels out the bad taste in my mouth about the "day jobs" - almost...

Climbing These Mountains At Midnight

Another Crash Avenue special...

Annie Williams is an interesting lady. Growing up in St Louis,, Williams' eyes were firmly set on the dusky horizons, wistfully longing for the Western climes of Wyoming. So much so that after school she packed up and spent five years there, residing in Laramie. These experiences, this innate connection to the environs, are what fuels her dusky, longing-filled songs, most evocatively displayed on her latest dual set of EPs, This Mountain and Midnight Window. As a solo singer-songwriter, she discards many of the familiar trappings, instead colouring her odes to the wilderness with a steely resolve that belies her beautiful vocals. Her current life - travelling nomadically between Jackson, Wyoming and Taos, New Mexico, marks her as a true free spirit, yet these EPs are the perfect example of someone who is giving more than taking.

This Mountain is more refined than Midnight Window - the latter displaying more of an indie trope-heavy take on esoteric wanderings - yet both EPs (consisting of 5 tracks each) are elegant in their tenuous vibrancy, a Lorelei calling out from the rock face. An earthier, more robust Emiliana Torrini if she divulged in more Gillian Welch and Sarah Blasko - heavyweight.

Annie Williams - This Mountain
Annie Williams - Midnight Window