MP3: Hunx and His Punx – “Lovers Lane”
MP3: Hunx and His Punx – “Too Young To Be In Love”
Hunx and His Punx just released their second album, but in many ways it’s their first. Continue reading…
Hunx and His Punx to Play the Tin Can 4/9
Album Review: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – “Belong”
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — who were named after an unpublished children’s story written by a friend of lead singer Kip Berman — return today with their second full-length, Belong. The record was produced by Flood and mixed by Alan Moulder of Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine fame, respectively.
Title track “Belong” opens the album with 12 seconds of unobtrusive musical pleasantry, followed by an eruption of hard distortion that will encourage immediate air-guitar strummage from anyone who suffered through their teens in the 1990s. Cue Berman’s sexy vocals and some I’m-bored-so-let’s-just-do-it lyrics (“If you’re mine / I don’t mind / we tried another / let’s try each other”) and you have the recipe for a PoBPaH grilled chicken sandwich (but clearly not a PoBPaH coq au vin).
There’s no musical rocket science here. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart simply make music that is easy to listen to: catchy guitar+keyboard melodies, four-by-four bass plucking and drum beating, guy/girl harmonies that make it easy to sing along with your significant other in the car, and lyrics that inspire self-inflicted, diminutive mysterioso (see the lyric “Held my breath / thought of death / and things I’d like to do ’til then” on “Girls of 1000 Dreams”). Continue reading…
Little Hurricane Blow Back Into Town
On April 2nd, Little Hurricane will blow back into San Diego for a show at the Casbah.
The San Diego duo made quite the splash around town last year, winning a San Diego Music Award for Best New Artist, rocking Rocktoberfest, and becoming the first band to perform for the Owl and Bear-programmed SoundDiego Sessions. But, just as we were getting to know and love them, Little Hurricane left San Diego to tour the country with no return date in sight.
Their wanderings may not be at an end yet, but that doesn’t mean they can’t come back and visit once in a while, and they’ll do just that on April 2nd for their CD release party at the Casbah. Also playing that night: Get Back Loretta, River City, and Low Volts. Continue reading…
The Dodos Go Monochrome
San Francisco indie darlings The Dodos just released their fourth album, No Color, and they’ll make their way southward to the Casbah on April 9.
The San Diego stop is part of a whirlwind tour that will send them throughout the United States and Europe. Philadelphia’s Reading Rainbow will support the band’s appearance on the Casbah stage.
With the release of No Color, The Dodos seem to have hit their musical stride. The band’s return to their classic duo formula has produced their most melodic, cohesive effort yet, with a dreamy blend of noisy and energetic tracks. The Dodos are also hoping to hook up some lucky fans with a pair of free tickets by running ticket giveaways in each city via Facebook. All fans need to do is comment on the date of the show they would like to attend (excluding festival dates), and a winner will be selected at random — an easy way to win some tickets, especially for Facebook commenters of the world.
The band also released a new video for their No Colors song “Black Night.” Check it out above. Full list of Dodos tour dates is below.
Smith Westerns Announce Massive Tour, Yeasayer Date at Belly Up
After a whirlwind week at SXSW and the recent release of their O&B-anticipated sophomore record Dye it Blonde, Smith Westerns are hitting the road again. This time, the band has planned a massive world tour, including a stop with Yeasayer at the Belly Up on May 21. In addition to its California dates, the group will swing by Europe and Canada, and play a slew of Southern shows with a little band named Wilco.
Smith Westerns also recently recorded a live in-studio session for Pitchfork TV (see above). In the video, the band sets up shop in a foggy studio to perform Dye it Blonde songs “Weekend,” “Imagine Pt. 3,” and “Dye the World.” Two more videos and the full list of Smith Westerns tour dates are below. Continue reading…