Following eight years of inactivity by alternative legends Guided By Voices, they've now managed to release four albums in two years. Prolific by anyone's standards. Following last year's trio comes new offering 'English Little League' which contains a whopping seventeen tracks, including the typically melodic guitar-pop of single 'Flunky Minnows'.
Free download: 'Flunky Minnows'
Guided By Voices' website
Buy the album
The Earth And Everything In It - Future Fears
They may not be the most cheerful band going, but The Earth And Everything In It can turn subjects like fear and uncertainty into very evocative and powerful songs. This week they release their album 'We Wander At Night' and you can probably expect more grandiose misery on an epic scale, much like the undeniably atmospheric recent single 'Future Fears'.
The Earth And Everything In It's website
'We Wander At Night' will be available to stream and buy on April 30th from Bandcamp
!!! - Syld
Livening things up somewhat, those US East-Coasters with the ridiculous name are back with a new album this week too. !!! (it's pronounced "chk chk chk" in case you didn't know) release their fifth full-length 'Thr!!!er' which contains plenty of their dancefloor oriented disco-punk experimenting. Having a penchant for odd names, they've called this single 'Slyd' (pronounced "slide").
!!!'s website
Stream the album in full
Buy the album
Catch them live:
MAY
2 Budapest, HU @ A38
3 Vienna, AU @ Donau Festival
4 Berlin, DE @ Gretchen
5 Nijmegen, NL @ Dutch Liberation Festival FREE
6 Brussels, BE @ Chapiteau Botanique
7 London, UK @ Village Underground SOLD OUT
10-12 Camber Sands, UK @ All Tomorrow's Parties
16 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
17 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom SOLD OUT
18 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
19 Durham, NC @ Motorco
20 Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
22 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
23 Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree
24 New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina's
25 Austin, TX @ Mohawk
26 El Paso, TX @ The Lowbrow Palace
27 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
28 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
29 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
30 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
31 Sacramento, CA @ Cesar Chavez Park
JUNE
1 Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
3 Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
4 Vancouver, BC @ Fortune Sound Club
7 Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe
8 Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge
9 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
10 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
11 Montreal, QC @ Le Belmont
12 Burlington, VT @ Signal Kitchen
13 Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall
14 Hamden, CT @ Spaceland Ballroom
15 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
JULY
20 Lisbon, PT @ Super Bock Super Rock
26 Benidorm, ES @ Low Cost Festival
27 San Sebastian, ES @ Jazzaldia
AUGUST
15 St Malo, FR @ Route du Rock
Hands - Trouble
These guys don't mess around. LA band Hands only formed last year and have made an incredibly accomplished start, no dodgy bedroom demos here. This week sees them put out debut album 'Synesthesia' which is an eclectic mix of electro-pop, indie and a few other bits and bobs that they feel like chucking in to add extra layers to their songs. Check out 'Trouble' for a prime example.
Hands' website
Stream the album in full
Buy the album
Catch them live:
UK Tour Dates
5/2 FREE SHOW!!! @ Shacklewell Arms Doors @ 8pm Presented by Eat Your Own Ears
5/3 Liverpool Sound City
——–
US Tour Dates
5/19 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar Doors @ 8:30pm
5/20 Phoenix, AZ @ Sail Inn Doors @ 7:30pm
5/21 El Paso, TX @ The Lowbrow Palace Doors @ 9pm
5/23 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada Doors @ 8pm
5/24 Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Jr. Doors @ 10:30pm
5/25 Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s Doors @ 8pm
5/28 Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn Doors @ 8pm
5/29 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
5/30 Washington, DC @ DC9 Doors @ 8pm
6/1 New York City, NY @ Glasslands
6/2 Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie Doors @ 8pm
6/3 New York City, NY @ Pianos Doors @ 7:45pm
6/4 Allston, MA @ Great Scott Doors @ 9pm
6/5 Montreal, QC, Canada @ Il Motore Doors @ 8:30pm
6/6 Toronto, ON, Cananda @ The Drake Hotel Doors @ 8pm
6/7 Pittsburgh, PA @ 6119 Penn Avenue
6/8 Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s Tavern
6/9 Madison, WI @ The Frequency
6/11 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
6/12 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews Doors @ 7:30pm
6/14 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge Doors @ 8pm
6/15 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court Doors @ 7pm
6/17 Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
6/19 Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
6/21 San Francisco, CA @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall Doors @ 8pm
6/22 Davis, CA @ Sophia’s Thai Bar & Kitchen Doors @ 9pm
OBLIGATORY RECORD OF THE WEEK
Mr Little Jeans - Oh Sailor
Hurrah! It was back in 2010 that The Sound Of Confusion started banging on about this amazing new pop starlet from Norway, we even had her in our tips for 2011 list. Since then not much has happened. A couple of female popstars we've tipped since have done reasonably well (Charlie XCX, Alex Winston) and others we're still waiting on (Yadi, The Good Natured), but my personal favourite was Mr Little Jeans. Following a couple of sensational tracks in 'Angel' and 'Faking Gold', word was that she'd moved across the Atlantic to get working on an album. Three years on from first hearing her it could finally be on the way. Recent single 'Runaway' was good, but was a little too close to the music of other artists than we'd hoped. Now we get 'Oh Sailor', and it's a bloody cracking pop song! Featuring the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Youth Chorale adding some gorgeously sweet backing, this is far closer to what we were hoping for. Maybe 2013 will have an amazing new popstar after all. Come on public, she's better than the crap you're buying at the moment by miles! Make it happen!
Mr Little Jeans' website
For some reason you'll have to wait until Friday to buy the single
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