Rare Energy "Rare Energy (Team Love)"
If you like your drums to have an indie shuffle, your songwriter’s emotions to be worn on their sleeves, and your aesthetic to be of the ‘90s college/indie persuasion, then boy oh boy do I have a new favorite band for you. Rare Energy, the new EP from Guilt Mountain is everything someone could want from a genre that can be decidedly overproduced at times. Sounding a little bit like early Helium tracks with Kate Larson’s vocal delivery reminding me of the Deal sisters at their most conversational, this is the kind of collection that makes you want to start a band immediately. Like, right this second. But you don’t have time for that now, because you need to check out “Fever.”
Girl Ray "Earl Gray (Moshi Moshi)"
Hot off of being named Stereogum’s “Album Of The Week” it’s Earl Gray (Moshi Moshi), the full-length debut of North London’s Girl Ray. Here we find the three 19 year old members of the band in full mid-80s British indie-pop mode. But don’t think that means that they just sound like a Wedding Present reboot (though there are hints of that band’s sound here). Full of the emotions and warm, flat analog sounds the era was known for, this trio is anything but a revisionist band. Mix the cool Nico-esque vocal delivery of Poppy Hankin’s art school lyrics with the flat production of bouncy bass lines, occasional west coast sounding guitar solos, and easy shuffling drums, and you’re beginning to describe the “Kinks-meet-Slits” sounds of Girl Ray (that was Stereogum’s excellent description of the band’s sound). Check out the piano-led “Stupid Things.”
Moon King "Hamtramck ‘16"
The new release from Moon King, Hamtramck ’16, is a dance-y wonderland. Sometimes the record sounds like underground dance from Detroit’s dance heyday, other times it sounds like solo Stevie Nicks at her most 80s. Some disco here, some synthpop there, this is one release that is gonna surprise you into dancing, in as artful a way as is possible. Get on your best dancing shoes (or sit in your best dancing chair) and check out the aforementioned Nicksonian “In & Out.”
Katie Von Schleicher "Shitty Hits (Ba Da Bing)"
When Katie Von Schleicher was interning at Ba Da Bing Records, our bud Ben offered her the chance to release a cassette on the label (because he is a swell guy). Some demos perhaps? A live recording? Well, Katie decided to go all the way with it, and recorded the self-produced, fully-realized Bleaksploitation which garnered her all kinds of interest in her music. After the surprise success of that release, here we find her releasing her proper full-length debut, the hazy, sunny T-Rex meets Paul McCartney at his most pop-loving sounds of Shitty Hits. Pop it in the tape deck, roll all the windows down, and drive as fast as the law allows on your favorite highway while you blast the sounds of “Paranoia.”