August 29 2008
Kid Captain’s MySpace photo gallery includes an album titled “behind the scenes”, shots of the band rehearsing in some tiny practice room with no window, space heaters and cigarettes around, everyone shouldering heavy coats and knit caps. It looks like one cold-ass winter in Birmingham, the industrial city in the west English midlands that was also home to Duran Duran. Amidst the chill Kid Captain have written a song called (what else) “A Contrast To Winter” that is balmy and spacious but still a little cool, vocalist Kristian Jones using that dramatic tenor common in so many Mancunian forbearers but here a little wide-eyed and modern. We’ve just signed the band to our RCRD LBL label and are dropping “A Contrast To Winter” as the first taste of the band’s music, so download the track below if you're into epic guitars and The Smiths.
Sounds like: Echo & The Bunnymen, Bell Hollow, The Smiths
Exclusive Download: Kid Captain - A Contrast In Winter
Kid Captain's RCRD LBL Page
August 25 2008
Bell Hollow are steady and delicate, part of a group of New York bands fascinated with the early nineties sounds of British record labels like Rough Trade, Creation, and Factory. Call it neo-shoegaze, post-post-punk or whatever, but who can hate on shrill guitars, melodic bass lines played on the D and G strings, and muted, mechanical drumming. We’ve just signed the group to our RCRD LBL label and are really excited to unleash two tracks below for download today: “Jamais Vu” a cut that wouldn't be out of place on the Cure’s Faith album, and a Project Jenny, Project Jan remix of their track “Copper Crayon”, all Morrissey-miming over strings and four/four bump. Proceeds from these downloads will be donated to Bell Hollow labelmates The Prids, who were involved in a horrible car accident while recently on tour. Check out the music, help out a band in need, and catch Bell Hollow this Wednesday at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, flyer after the jump. Also, stay tuned to this space more more tunes from our new signees in the near future.
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Sounds like: Stellastarr*, Freshkills, The Cure
Download: Bell Hollow - Jamais Vu
Download: Bell Hollow - Copper Crayon (Project Jenny, Project Jan Remix)
Bell Hollow's RCRD LBL Page
Project Jenny, Project Jan's RCRD LBL Page
August 18 2008
Weathermen aficionados and RCRD LBL signees Sam Champion are prepping the release of their sophomore album Heavenly Bender, due September 2nd through North Street. Because sketch comedy web videos are, like, SO HOT RIGHT NOW, the band are releasing a series of genuinely funny clips to promote the (already comically titled) album. Scope the first clip above and grab Sam Champion's free RCRD LBL EP below along with "Easy Street," a cut from bassist Sean Bones' roots reggae side project.
Download: Sam Champion - Your Party Was Yesterday?
Download: Sam Champion - So Good To Me
Download Sam Champion - Uncle Drums
Download: Sean Bones - Easy Street
Sam Champion's RCRD LBL Page
August 14 2008
The Voyeurs seem aptly named. Their mod-inspired pop songs are sly and shady but deliberately harmless, like spying on someone from across the street (or just riding through alleys on your Vespa at night…What? You don’t have one?). The duo of guitarist/keyboardist Jonathan Hylander and drummer Sean Johnson have and continue to keep their paws involved with a bevy of projects—Hylander recently collaborated with Tom Petty keyboardist Benmont Tench—but their music as The Voyeurs hardly suffers from lack of focus. “Things That People Say” and “Something Sets Me Off” are concise, poppy guitar jams, a healthy addition to the Los Angeles chapter of the Village Green Preservation Society. While anchored in familiar sounds these tunes also bridle with some new West Coast energy, so welcome our new RCRD LBL signees by copping their fine sounds below and keep a look out for their debut album dropping this fall.
Sounds like: Albert Hammond Jr., The Kinks, Phantom Planet's The Guest
Exclusive Download: The Voyeurs - Things That People Say
Exclusive Download: The Voyeurs - Something Sets Me Off
The Voyeurs' RCRD LBL Page
August 4 2008
Monday mornings necessitate some seriously copasetic sounds. Whatever your weekend endeavors, the sound of stimulating rock music can do wonders for headache-weary temples. New York two-piece The Gay Blades sing of “hipsters” and “libertines”, but their choice jams sound just as good in early-week earbuds as they do during Saturday night marathons. They might call it “trash pop” but these horse-lovers aren’t cranking out disposable tuneage. They even look dapper as hell.
Today we’re presenting you with two exclusives from these new RCRD LBL signees: “Shake The Graves”, a folk joint well-suited for pensive staring out windows until feedback and four/four drums push it toward its ending, and “Mean Muses”, a steady mind-melter with some anglophile twang hovering above the slow riffing. These guys don’t exactly wear their influences on their sleeves (holler subtly!), but saying they sound like Crazy Horse messing with some Stereolab noise wouldn’t be inaccurate. Here’s to getting rid of the Mondays.
Download: The Gay Blades - Shake The Graves
Download: The Gay Blades - Mean Muses
July 31 2008
We’ve seen the name Radical Sons splashed all over the Internet lately, so we thought we’d investigate and take a closer look. What we found were four young men from St. Louis, writing garage-pop songs that sounded like Television, The Modern Lovers and, we suppose by default, a grittier, realer version of the Strokes. As with all bands we're really blown away by, we decided to sign them to RCRD LBL, and we couldn't be happier with our Awesome Band Radar... We rushed to get two exclusive tracks to release: “Jungle” and the ambitious “Brother Speed”, which sounds like a version of “Rebel Rebel” by David Bowie ignited by the angst of being young and American. Thanks Internet, you’ve done it again.
Sounds like: The Modern Lovers, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Strokes
Download: Radical Sons - Jungle
Download: Radical Sons - Brother Speed
July 2 2008
It’s 1996, we’re walking to school with our Discman in our backpack, and the soundtrack du jour consists pretty much solely of Hole, Veruca Salt and Velocity Girl, and it doesn’t even matter that we didn’t do out math homework, because mid-‘90s alt rock/pop was that awesome. The May Fire bring us back to those carefree days, when men were men and women dyed their hair with cheap drugstore color kits and wore really dark lipstick.
Fronted by enigmatic frontwoman Catty Tasso, The May Fire craft catchy rock songs that sounds exactly like the sunny Californian skies they were written under. So catchy, in fact, that we decided to sign the to RCRD LBL so we can release even more of their tunes. The May Fire’s new EP, The List, will be released on August 5th, with a US tour beginning the day after. It’s an exciting time in the band’s career, and we’re stoked to be able to experience them during it. The two tracks we’re releasing today, “Doctor’s Appointment” and “No Clone” are both from The List.
Sounds like: Velocity Girl, The Breeders, The Pixies
Download: The May Fire - Doctor's Appointment
Download: The May Fire - No Clone
June 27 2008
Like a dark version of Yaz fronted not by Alison Moyet but Melissa Auf der Maur (stay with us on this one), Cruel Black Dove sound exactly like you’d expect band called Cruel Black Dove to sound: sex, spite, angst, hurt and revolution. The band are from Brooklyn and only formed last year, but if they continue cranking out the darkwave blues numbers, they’re sure to be a hit. We just signed CBD to RCRD LBL, and are expecting to hear many more gems like “Love Song” in the future. Enjoy!
Sounds like: Depeche Mode, Siouxie Sioux, Auf der Maur
Download: Cruel Black Dove - Love Song
Crayonsmith hail from Dublin, Ireland, and make upbeat indie pop with a touch of electro—a little strangely, as their sound is quite similar to American bands such as Of Montreal and the Spinto Band. It makes for a great guitar-and-keyboard-driven smorgasbord of war ‘n’ fuzzy pop hooks. They band’s first LP, Stay Loose, made us fall in love with them, thus their status as a brand new RCRD LBL signing. This week, Crayonsmith are wrapping up a US tour with Islands, then going back to Ireland to work on their upcoming sophomore album. We’ll be following them closely, as we’re sure you will after sampling “Lost in the Forest” and “All the Elders” from Stay Loose.
Sounds like: The Spinto Band, Of Montreal
Download: Crayonsmith - Lost in the Forest
Download: Crayonsmith - All the Elders
June 20 2008
Dublin’s Grand Pocket Orchestra make break beat, hyperactive indie pop songs that only young British kids seem to be able to muster: the guitar lines are catchy and the keyboards bleeps and bloops follow the crazy vocals note-for-note. It all makes for a sort of schizophonic happy mess that recalls a slightly unhinged version of Múm on uppers and Prozac. The four songs we have for download today (“Chongo Pop," “Get Go,” "Little Messy," and “Odd Socks”) are the epitome of that sound, if you will. GPO have some big things lined up for 2008, notably finishing up their debut album for Irish indie label Fifa, with Mario Thaler (who has worked with the Notwist and Lali Puna) on the decks.
Sounds like: CSS, Pavement, Best Fwends
Download: Grand Pocket Orchestra - Chongo Pop
Download: Grand Pocket Orchestra - Get Go
Download: Grand Pocket Orchestra - Odd Socks
Download: Grand Pocket Orchestra - Little Messy
