The story behind the song #4 – The Maybellines

I’m really digging that punkier kind of indiepop, which some choose to label Cuddle-Core. And I love the rumbling sound of a floor-tom. Incidently I also happen to like simple repetitive songs, whimpy keyboards, and boy-girl vocals. And I absolutely adore the excessive use of “lalalala” to fill in the gaps. Top that off with an ingenious video featuring stuffed animals robbing a bank, exciting getaway, exploding icecream and a cherry-bomb cake which kills 6 and you have something I can listen to and watch again and again and again.

Meet The Maybellines, a quartet from Denver, Colorado, and their toe-tappingly awesome song “Wait for you“. The band released their first single on Shelflife, and the next two on Best Friends Records.  They also have a cd of demos on Happy Happy Birthday To Me.  Some of The Maybellines’ best pals include Breezy Porticos, Lil Hospital, Bunnygrunt, and Dressy Bessy.

Here are their thoughts on “Wait for you”:

“We recorded ”Wait for You” with our friend Bryan around 2003, i think.  It was a weird song for us because we never really played it live the way that it is on the album, it was more sparse or something.

I think it was originally conceived in 2003 and recorded for our album Chatfield Holiday.  We made a video for the song as a part of the video compilation No Parachute, which came out on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records.  Our friend Vin recorded  the video over the course of two weeks, mostly in his apartment.  Vin is awesome cause he’s more of a punker guy, and has done videos for more hardcore type bands including a lot of stuff for Planes Mistaken For Stars,  and the idea for the video totally belongs to him.  We wrote the song about a teen couple who are separated during the summer by their parents vacation plans.  The gist of the song is about waiting, but waiting in an expectant, awesome way (does that make sense?).  Vin came in with the idea of jail and a jailbreak and puppets.  It totally works too!

A funny fact:  The band recorded for like three hours to get the 2 second clip of us playing in the video.  Most people dont even realize we’re in it.

Another fun fact:  when the song was still in its embryonic stage, we played it on the “Apartment Life” radio show in California.  A student heard it, taped it, and made her own student video!”

I very much recommend their other songs as well, and am particularily fond of “Our hearts will keep time” which is on their Myspace page . Here is the official video for “Wait for you”:

And here are the lyrics to the song:

i like (i like you too)
i think (i think you do)
i hope (i hope it’s true)
i bet

la la la la

i know (i know you do)
i want (i want it too)
i wish (i wish it true)
i feel

la la la la

it won’t be long
you’re gone for the summer
it’s only three months
i’ll see you september
girl can’t you see
it’s well worth the wait and
if you wait for me
then i will wait for you

Myspace

The story behind the song #3 – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have risen to fame in the past year, and deservedly so. I’ve been watching them ever since they landed on my doorstep in snowy Iceland in 2008 and I helped arrange a one-off gig for a crowd of measly 30 or so people. I remember one reporter not bothering with writing about them ’cause he didn’t know them himself, and a radio host snorting that they should change their name. Since then the only way has been up, and now people ask me “where the hell was I when they played here?!”

When frontman Kip Berman was asked about doing a post about a particular song of theirs, “Hey Paul” from their self-titled debut album was the prime contender for first place. Read on and discover another oddly named band and the  handful of people who loved them in their prime. Listen to “Hey Paul” while you’re at it, and look for the bonus song down below.

“Hey Paul” was one of the earliest tracks we ever wrote. It was an homage to my friend from Portland, Paul Burkhart, who was the singer and songwriter of one of my favorite rock and roll bands ever, Cocaine Unicorn. You can snicker at the name I suppose, but they were awesome– like the very earliest Primal Scream and a bit of Velvet Underground, Flamin Groovies and loads of California-ness. The also looked and acted REALLY COOL and had a guy named Dasa with tattooed knuckles that loved fighting and played tambourine. Yes. The only contemporary band that kinda reminds me of them in all their deranged glory is Girls or the poppier side of Brian Jonestown Massacre, in which drummer Ryan Sumner (R.I.P. TOO TALL) was and bassist Collin Hegna still is a member.

Anyway, I really admired Paul as a songwriter, so almost all the lines in “Hey Paul” are either Cocaine Unicorn lyrics or references. It makes me sad to see people who are genuinely talented like Paul never really get their music heard. The band never even got a chance to record a proper LP, instead having two slightly rough sounding self-recorded cd-r EP’s as the only lasting legacy of a band that should have had a beautiful record with some velvet-unicorn-rainbow art that I could listen to late at night with my friends when we come back from that 1:55 beer run, right before the Plaid Pantry stops selling. Sigh. But I know I got to see something truly special– and though there’s only a handful of us that were there and remember (Zaza’s Danny Taylor can vouch for me here), that mythical and unnaturally white creature will always gallop triumphantly in our memories, stampeding our hearts and impaling our mind.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

You say you’ve been waiting, waiting for someone,
Waiting for some song, waiting since you were born
For a moment when everything’s alright,
And everything’s all white, but I just can’t wait anymore

Hey Paul where have you gone? I wanna come along
Hey Paul what went so wrong? What went so wrong?

Have you gone away or been left behind,
You know that I don’t mind, you know that you’re my kind,
‘cuz when i hear churchbells or when I see fireflies,
You know that I don’t lie, one of these days you’ll belong

MP3: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Hey Paul
Bonus MP3: Cocaine Unicorn – Tiny Phone 

Cocaine Unicorn on Myspace (fixed link) | Pains official page

Previous “Story behind the song” posts:

All Girl Summer Fun Band
Tiny Microphone

Club 8 emerge from the jungle

Krautrock and afrofunk is not what immediately springs to mind when you mention swedish valium-pop band Club 8. Spearheaded by the prolific Johan Angergård, the band has just released the first single of their forthcoming album due to be released on May 18th.

I, for one, applaud Johan’s daring journey into exotic southern and sunny jungle soundscape. According to press release the band hacked their way through Brazilian forests, engorged themselves on African music and picked up a Cuban percussion player along the way. The result can be heard here, the track “Western Hospitality” from the band’s sixth (if I’m counting correctly) studio album; The People’s Record. What will this man think of next?!

MP3: Club 8 – Western Hospitality

Myspace

Summer Cats

Summer Cats will release a follow up 7″ to their 2009 album, Songs for Tuesdays, on March 16.  Don’t worry, the feedback and fuzzy guitars haven’t been turned off.  There’s plenty packed into these two noise pop songs.  They stay at about two minutes in length so there’s no messing around.  They get to business with memorable hooks from the beginning.  I remember enjoying their album when I heard it for the first time last year, but I’m really impressed with these two songs.  I’m anxious to try and see them down at SxSW in a couple of weeks.  If you can’t see them there, then they’ll be doing a few more shows.  Here’s a list for you:

March 5 – New York, NY – Don Hills w/Mondo DJs
March 6 – Philadelphia, NY – England Belongs to Twee at King Fu Necktie
March 7 – Brooklyn, NY – Bruar Falls w/TBA
March 11 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean w/ City Center and Very Truly Yours
March 12 – Milwaukee, WI – Bayview Brew Haus w/ Very Truly Yours and The Argyle Wishlist
March 13 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom w/ City Center and Afternoon Naps
March 15 – Boston, MA – Great Scott w/ One Happy Island and Standard Fare
March 19 – Austin, TX – End of an Ear records in-store w/ Brown Recluse, Devon Williams
March 20 – Austin, TX – Waterloo Cycles w/ Brown Recluse, Devon Williams, Sunny Day in Glasgow, Depreciation Guild, Allo Darlin’
March 27 – San Francisco, CA – Slumberland 20th Anniversary Show at The Rickshaw Stop
March 28 – Los Angeles, CA – Slumberland 20th Anniversary Show at The Echo

Summer Cats – TV Guide

Summer Cats on Slumberland Records

New release on indie-mp3 records!

There is nothing like internet gremlins to prevent a release going live. Well here it is a day later than planned The Risky Woods EP by The Sequins. You can get it from here until I sort out what is wrong with the site!

http://indiemp3records.bandcamp.com/album/the-sequins-the-risky-woods-ep

The NME recently said in a piece about the current Coventry scene that “”The Sequins for instance deploy Wild Beast-style goosey voicedness strapped to Sparksian glam melodies, worn with an air of Maccabees wistfulness. It seems to be working for them: right now they are the town’s fastest rising starts”

“If The Sequins was a place, it would surely be a land of magical enterprises; a spell-binding flurry of sparkle- located somewhere near to Narnia. A trip to The Risky Woods for some indie tunes or turkish delight anyone?” Music In Objectivity

Whirl – Demos

I guess there are two ways a shoegaze band can go these days. Mix it up with electronica as the likes of M83, Perfect Blue, Ulrich Schnauss etc have done to great effect or party like it’s 1988 encompassing the sounds of the era and the scene that celebrated itself.

Whirl, on the evidence of these two tracks, have chosen the latter route and they sound like a mix of Lush/Slowdive on Leave and My Bloody Valentine, complete with Colm Ó Cíosóig style drumming, on Meaningless.

Of course, whilst being totally unoriginal, that is not a bad thing when all things have been done and said but when the artwork too mimics the same era you have to wonder where the band are going to go with this. That said there are definite grounds for hope here and once the band free themselves from the constraints of their influences they could, and should, flourish.

Whirl – Leave

Whirl – Meaningless

There is an interview with Nick from the band here.

My Space

The 10p Mixes – Bedroomsound

The 10p Mixes are a Liverpool based indiepop duo who play lovely stripped down acoustic songs which, in their own words, are aimed at making people think, laugh, cry, smile, dance and sing along. The band consist of Danielle (vocals/keyboards) and Will (guitar/backing vocals).

When I previously wrote about the band I mentioned how great Danielle’s voice was and it has come on leaps and bounds here. Comparisons could be made with Kirsty McColl but it is distinctive enough it it’s own right. The songs are about the usual – love, nights out, poverty etc sung in a heartfelt way with some lovely supporting harmonies. They are well written and can only leave positive impressions. Surely the 10p Mixes are one band who would grace the church stage at indietracks with these indiepop hymns!

The 10p Mixes – Sticky Disco

The album was released on the Best Kept Secret tape label in December. The label ceased to be earlier this year but I am lead to believe there are copies still available. There is also a CDR release on the bands own Tiny Pony Records available at the bands gigs.

My Space

Perfect Blue – Head In The Shed Remixes

This is Perfect Blue’s first release since 2008’s On A Higher Plane album which fused ambient and electronica with all things shoegaze. Here they go head to head with remixers Head In The Shed to produce four gorgeous tracks packed full of luscious soundscapes and atmospheric beats.

I have heard people state that you cannot make emotional or beautiful music with machines and that a voice and a guitar is an essential requirement. That may be the defence but I put this EP forward as part of the prosecution’s case that such a statement is utter tosh. Highlight of the EP is Night On Earth which reminds me of Reload and Ploygon Window at their finest. Intelligent Dance Music indeed and perfect for those night and early morning owls.

The EP is out now on CDR and digital formats from Northern Star Records.

Additionally head over to the bands my Space page and listen to the Kontakte remix of Stardust.  Absolutely stunning.

My Space

Thunder Bunny – Demons

There is so much going on this EP from New Jersey’s Thunder Bunny I don’t know where all to start. In fact all the songs sound so different to each other the EP could well be a compilation by six different bands and that’s where I think the trouble could lie. It’s not that each song should sound the same but by the time it finishes I am not sure if Thunder Bunny are coming or going!

The EP opens with It Reminds Me Of Walking which is a saunter through Morricone soundtrack territory coupled with somewhat restrained vocals. I Am The Arm wanders  aimlessly like a less stoned Spacemen 3 with Lollipop, whilst having some nice guitar sounds, isn’t too memorable.

Wonder Brian sounds like a Martin Hannett remix collage – it certainly sounds like Joy Division until the Hendrix style guitar kicks in and the track goes AWOL over the course of it’s far too long nine minutes.  Just as I start to shrug my shoulders the band pull the rabbit out of the hat with a stunning shoegaze track in the shape of Sleepy Head. It’s a mix of glorious fuzzy, shimmering guitars mixed with ethereal vocals which wouldn’t sound out of place at Club AC30. The EP finishes with This Crown I Wear Is Hollow And Made Of Filth which is an incidental piece which is almost finished by the time you have finished reading it’s title!

Demons is a pretty decent EP in parts and it will be interesting to hear where the band go from here on future releases.

Demons is out next month on Edition 59 Records

My Space

Very Truly Yours – Debut Album News

Very Truly Yours release their debut album Things You used To say on Skywriting Records on March 23rd. The tracklisting is:

1. I’d Write You a Song
2. Homesick
3. Puddles
4. Sorry to Say It
5. Dear
6. Things You Used to Say
7. Your Funeral
8. The Ballad of Growing Up
9. Love is Hard
10. To See You Here

The band/label have made the title track available as a free download.

Very Truly Yours – Things You Used To Say

Pre-order the album from here.

My Space