Another Form of Relief

The Nada Surf rollercoaster is gearing up for it’s third ascent. After reaching a high on their first album, plummeting to earth for their second, up again for the third and dropping for the crushing mediocrity of the last one, they are back for another go. The band is preparing to release their fifth studio album, Lucky, early in the new year. Thanks to the wonders of the internets, a song is already available from it.

Unfortunately I don’t really know what to make of it. Certainly it’s better than nearly everything off of the last album, but it’s still kind of flat. These mid-tempo, mildly rocking numbers seem to be their most common type of late, but they aren’t usually the strongest or most daring. It’s usually the more reflective songs that work best for me, or the ones that really want to rock. And Popular of course, but I can’t see them doing that again. That said, it sounds lovely, creating a richer sound than the band can usually achieve, and it’s certainly stronger than some of their past efforts lyrically.

So what does all this mean for the next album? I have absolutely no idea, but at least it’s made me curious.

MP3 Nada Surf - See These Bones (expired)

What others are saying..

“..an attractive song that will fit well on radio, without sacrificing the band’s musical integrity.” - Puddlegum

“..songs like this go a long way in showing that you don’t always have to do something original, just make sure that you’re really good at whatever it is that you’re doing.” - Side One: Track One

“..a strong track with sweeping melody, really picking up towards its killer ending..” - My Little Ghost Friend

Lucky will be released next year via Barsuk Records.

Some of the classics..

MP3 Nada Surf - Inside of Love
MP3 Nada Surf - Do It Again

Nada Surf: Website || Myspace

It was March of last year that I first wrote about Jenny Owen Youngs on this blog. That was around the time I first discovered her wonderful song called Fuck Was I, a gentle, haunting song about regret. It was one of my favourite songs of last year, despite me never really getting into the rest of her material.

Since then, she has been signed by majorish record label Nettwerk who have reissued her first album, Batten the Hatches. In recent months she has toured the UK, released a split EP with Dave House and recorded a cover of Nelly’s Hot in Here, the video of which you’ll find further down.

Convinced that the original album hasn’t been milked enough, we now have the video for Was I, which seems to be a variation of the original song I wrote about a year and a half ago. To be perfectly honest, I’m not a huge fan of it’s rather non-sensical “What the was I thinking?” chorus, but hey, the violins are still nice.

And here’s the Hot in Here video that I never got around to writing about a few months ago:

Batten the Hatches was released in the UK about a month ago via Nettwerk. Was I is presumably being released as a single, but I have no idea when.

One of the classics..

MP3 Jenny Owen Youngs - Voice on Tape (expired)

Jenny Owen Youngs: Website || Myspace

Man, these tweepop releases keep sneaking up on me out of nowhere. With Tullycraft releasing a new album with hardly any notice this week, it seems that fellow Seattle poppers Math & Physics Club have slyly snuck out a new EP. Entitled Baby I’m Yours, it’s four new songs (well, three new ones and a new version of an old one) marking their first new material since their debut album a year ago. Is there anything new here? Not at all, but when pop comes this jangly, this sweeping and this melancholy, I’m really not going to argue.

MP3 Math & Physics Club - Baby I’m Yours (expired)

The Baby I’m Yours EP was released last month via Matinee Recordings.

Some of the classics..

MP3 Math & Physics Club - Movie Ending Romance (expired)
MP3 Math & Physics Club - Darling, Please Come Home (expired)

Math & Physics Club: Website

It’s almost as if Los Campesinos! had my checklist of things that make a song great when coming up with their latest single. Sparring boy-girl vocals? Frequent time changes? References to seemingly forgotten twee artists? All present and accounted for.

The song seems to be about a boy who likes twee and a girl who likes hardcore rock, and they come together by combining it to form tweecore? Something like that maybe? I really have no idea, as it’s far too tempting to ignore what the words are actually saying and just shout along with them anyway.

The International Tweexcore Underground will be released this Monday via Wichita Recordings, and will include a cover of Heavenly’s most excellent C is the Heavenly Option as a b-side. Which is the bit I’m most excited about.

Older Los Campesinos!..

MP3 Los Campesinos! - Don’t Tell Me To Do The Math(s)
MP3 Los Campesinos! - We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives

Los Campesinos!: Website || Myspace

Those scamps at Weepop are at it once again. After putting out some damn fine twee releases (details here), they have just released the debut EP from Sunny Intervals, the side project of Andy from the mighty Pocketbooks.

The ground covered here isn’t that different from Pocketbooks at all, but I’d probably be disappointed if it was. We’re talking lo-fi pop gems full of layered vocals, keyboards and summer adventures in the city. Catchy melodies and vivid imagery is the name of the game here rather than technical perfection, but the ramshackle feel adds a certain charm of its own.

MP3 Sunny Intervals - Sixty Seconds To Fall In Love (expired)

Sunny Intervals: Website || Myspace

Jakobinarina are from Iceland. This isn’t particularly relevant beyond the fact that upon listening you will instantly think they should “foreign” and may be curious as to where they are from. They are all between 16 and 20 too, but they don’t sound young. They sound like a band who have been doing this years, both in technical ability and, more noticably, the sound that manages to rise from the singer’s vocal chords.

This is a band that wants to rock pretty hard, and they do so, most of the their songs over and done with in two minutes. They are also very playful though, which is what wins me over most. This Is An Advertisement cynically tackles the marketing culture in music (”We would even change our name to the Coca Cola band just to get our pockets filled”) while His Lyrics Are Disastrous is made all the more charming by the fact that it’s one of their weakest songs lyrically. Whether or not this is deliberate or a happy accident caused by writing songs in a second language, I don’t know.

MP3 Jakobinarina - This Is An Advertisement (expired)

Below are the videos for both This Is An Advertisement and His Lyrics Are Disastrous. It should be noted that discovering a band that sounds like this look like a bunch of 15 year olds may be mildly disturbing.

Jakobinarina’s debut album, entitled The First Crusade, was released a few weeks ago on EMI/Parlophone.

Jakobinarina: Website || Myspace

Well we’re the best band you’ve never heard
We almost always play for crowds of twelve

Quite how apt those lyrics from Tullycraft are I don’t know, but there must be a lot of truth in them. For the best part of ten years, Tullycraft have been putting out perfect pop records, yet most people seem to be completely unaware of them. I myself was in that category until about a year ago, and I don’t tend to consider myself ignorant of quality music.

Still, seeing that I’m finally on board the Tullycraft bus, it’s nice to discover that they will be releasing a brand new album in less than two weeks. If first release The Punks Are Writing Love Songs is any indication, little has changed in the Tullyland. A look at current music trends, jangly guitars and the obligatory ‘ooh-oohs’ are here. While it’s not quite the self aware anthems that Twee and Pop Songs were (both below), it’s three minutes of joy that you’ll be hard pressed to find from other bands.

MP3 Tullycraft - The Punks Are Writing Love Songs (expired)

What others are saying..

“..another in their vast catalog of anthemic pop/twee tunes” - Cable & Tweed

“..despite the fact that their pop sounds are far from what one would normally associate with punk, this song has enough gleeful energy and shouts of “hey!” to do the Ramones proud.” - The Yellow Stereo

“Twee pop pur sang!” - Freakystyle

Tullycraft will release Every Scene Needs A Center on October 23 via Magic Marker Records.

Some of the classics..

MP3 Tullycraft - Twee
MP3 Tullycraft - Our Days In Kansas (expired)
MP3 Tullycraft - Pop Songs Your New Boyfriend’s Too Stupid To Know About (expired)

Tullycraft: Website || Myspace