We all loved a bit of scuzziness due to Toronto's The Bats Pajamas' garage shtick. Well here they are again, with their EP Totally, and like its moniker suggests this record totally kicks arse! OK, the EP doesn't suggest kicking arse, just that its totally... But seriously, 'Red Scared' is one hell of a rocking tune, and the rest of the album follows suit accordingly. You can get the EP for free here.
The Bats Pajamas - Sarai
The Bats Pajamas - Red Scared
Remember Life Size Maps, the Brooklyn band whose demos I really dug last year? They have now released Weird Luck, a three track EP that shows their evolution perfectly. Adding granite edges to indie pop, harnessing melody with some crunching guitarwork to them (hear the intro/outro bookends to 'Copper Mirror'), so it is a rocking euphoria that they exude. Can't wait to see the next step.
Life Size Maps - Weird Luck
Life Size Maps - Wind In The Furnace
Neil Weir loves his shoegaze, most evident in current band The Chambermaids. Their track 'China Blue' from last year really struck a chord with me, and the follow-up 'Whirlpool' mines this rich vein further. It's a slick, sexy number, released through Guilt Ridden Pop, and marries a windswept coastal vibe with a downward spiral of caterwauling guitars. They have been hard at work recording for a new album, and when the fruits of their labour surfaces Ill be the first person to latch on to it!
The Chambermaids - Whirlpool
Reading quartet Tripwires are cranking up for a big 2012 if 'Emerald' is any indication. These kids have been quiet since the ripples they cleaved with their last single 'Cinnamon', but 'Emerald' ensures and mollifies - the wait has not been in vain. The album will be burning its way across the sky very soon...
Tripwires - Emerald
Finally (and no offence to the other acts here, they are all amazing, but I feel I've left the best to last on this occasion), NY/DC's Drop Electric dropped an electric bomb on us all with Finding Color In The Ashes back in March last year. Er, sorry...tequila hangover induces lacklustre puns... But this is kinda fitting, seeing as the band's new track is called 'Santo Domingo' after the capital of the Dominican Republic (that isn't racist is it? To assume they drink tequila or some similar hard liquor in that country? I don't mean to cause international distress, seriously!) It's been a while since a new instrumental band really knocked me for six, but the brooding menace underpinning the Eastern inflections in this track paints an artful, epic soundscape that is nigh on impossible to escape. This is a good un, people. Stay alert on this one.
Drop Electric - Santo Domingo
