Toronto – We’ve written about New York band Hooray For Earth on a few occasions here on the blog and after putting out a stellar EP last year, the group has finally released a new album, titled True Loves. With the new album, the group will hope to build on the momentum of Momo. The new single is called No Love and the track is a bit of a departure from the poppy upbeat atmosphere that dominated Momo, instead slowing down the pace, dialing up the brass and adding guest vocals (provided by Zambri). The 80s synth warehouse training montage vibes are still there, which seems like a Hooray For Earth trademark after having listened to a few tracks. Good stuff.
Hooray for Earth play an EARLY show on Saturday, June 11th in support for Architecture of Helsinki. Other support dates are
6/12 – La Tulipe, Montreal, QC
6/13 – The Paradise, Boston, MA
6/16 – Webster Hall, New York, NY
6/17 – Black Cat, Washington, DC
6/18 – World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, PA
Washington – Remember when life was noisier? When dial-up Internet had a tone and analog clocks ticked and manual cameras clicked? Whether or not you remember, miss or never want to see those days again, chances are you will appreciate Bishop Allen’s ode to the long-silent sound of the shutter in “Click click click click camera” on their album The Broken String album.
The band’s song evokes a certain nostalgic feeling that is nicely counter-balanced by a lilting melody and lead singer Justin Rice’s calming, friendly voice. The premise is simple: a man ducks into a church for shelter from the rain and finds himself inadvertently inserting himself into a stranger’s wedding. The tune goes on to explore sensations of happiness and memory. Although complicated concepts, Bishop Allen does not get caught up in lofty, self-indulgent musings. Instead, the three-minute song is pleasantly devoid of personal angst and love stories. Besides one reference to a mysterious ‘You’ in Alphabet City, the singer directs his attention to describing his inadvertent participation in ‘Maria’s’ nuptial celebration and posing questions to the audience about their memories and place in life.
The song is definitely worth a listen for its own sake. Some of you may know it without knowing it – as a background ‘jingle’ in the film No Strings Attached or in TV show Greek, or even in the background of recent Sony advertisements. Do not dismiss it as a worthless sell-out. Let us not forget, as proud and self-proclaimed hipster-emo-alternative-quirky-uniquely-awesome music fans that our favorite bands must make money somehow (and god knows our generation’s aversion to paying for anything artistic does not permit most of our beloved musicians to do so). Additionally, for any of you YouTube fans out there, the video is definitely worth a look if you love horn- rimmed glasses, meticulously mussed hair, and old cameras. And let’s be honest, who amongst our particular crowd can resist that?
Barcelona -It’s only fitting I write about the band I’m From Barcelona whilst staying in Barcelona. Ironically enough, I’m from Barcelona is not actually from Barcelona, but a twenty nine person band in Sweden.
That’s right, 29 members. What are their riders like? Must be insane. They had a lovely jangly debut disk called Let Me Introduce My Friends a few years ago that was a great companion to my summer. They are back again with a new album, called Forever Today and with it comes a new single – “Always Spring.” It’s one of those impossibly happy tracks that will have you toe tapping and humming almost immediately. Check it out
Barcelona – OLA! Greetings from Spain. Posts are going to be short and sweet.
Today’s song of the day is going to be about an English band named Theme Park. They have a single out called “Milk” and what can I say? It’s got a catchy indie pop meets Talking Heads vibe to it. The PR email says the band is made up of two brothers and 3 friends living in London. The band just started making new music this year, 2011. Great for them – live the dream kids, live the dream. I don’t have anymore information about them, and Googling them makes me think about that ’90s game where you can make your own theme park so I get distracted.
