Cold-hearted lovers get warm under covers

The Hermit Crabs

The new Correspondence Course EP from Scotland's Hermit Crabs – which I only just heard very recently – has become an integral companion for me as I'm beginning to welcome the Spring season back into my life. The EP (out on Matinee Records) is four tracks of sugary-sweet indiepop that seems to just cover your whole body with sunshine! The best part? Melanie's immensely catchy vocal melodies – and they're made even better against the backdrop of the bouncing, almost surf-y lead guitar. In my opinion, these guys and gals should totally be as big as Camera Obscura. Listen to "I Don't Know How" and just try not to smile!

[MP3]: The Hermit Crabs :: I Don't Know How

Go pick up Correspondence Course from Matinee today!
The Hermit Crabs on MySpace!

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New Lucksmiths! Yesssssss!!!

I've spent all morning studying the history of modern design and running (and sweating) to Kinko's to print two pages for $4 that ended up not fitting in my backpack and now I've got to get to class in about 20 minutes – so I'm gonna make this quick.

Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh a new Lucksmiths record!!! First Frost will be the Lucksmith's first new release since 2005's fantastic Warmer Corners (Warm and Frost... hehe?). It will be out in November on Matinee in the US, Fortuna Pop! in the UK, and Lost and Lonesome in the Australia. There are three(!) new songs streaming on the Lucksmiths MySpace at the moment, so if I were you I'd head over there right this moment and get excited!

Okay bye!!!

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All I Find Is Wasted Time

Hello gents and gentlies. I have a spare minute this morning, so I thought I'd try to do a quick post of things before I have to go paint for four hours! First of all, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Mine was spent finishing the pile of homework that built up over spring break, so that was a blast. Alright, first item of business would be... new Bridal Shop 7" on Cloudberry! They've got the a-side "Violation" streaming on their MySpace right now and it might just be their best tune yet. I love the way it just kind of explodes into a blast of guitar and drum machine at the beginning, it's so bright and beautiful! Order it over at Cloudberry Records. New Summer cats single coming up on Cloudberry, too, but more on that later...

Next, brand new – and excellent – EPs from both Northern Portrait and The Electric Pop Group are out now on Matinee. Northern Portrait's The Fallen Aristocracy EP is just perfect classic jangly pop songs. The lead track "Crazy," in particular, reminds me quite of The Smiths... could be the guitars, could be the vocals, maybe both?! The Electric Pop Group's Sunrise EP treads most of the same ground as their self-titled record from last year (very late 2006, rather), but, to me, that's quite alright because it's the type of ground that would have likely secured them a spot on Sarah Records in a different time. "This Is A Town" grabs me the same way "Walk Away" did just months ago, which means it wont be letting go for a while. They're both only five bucks each! Go get 'em!

Then there's The Sound of Arrows. Don't know too much about them, but they're Swedish, and they've got an new EP on the way on Labrador, and apparently they're leading Swedish pop into the next decade... we'll see about that, bur for now, I'll definitely say that this is some pretty fun stuff! The EP's title track "Danger!" sounds like some brilliantly dancey blend of Jens Lekman and Saint Etienne... which as anyone could imagine, is an amazing combination! The EP will be out May 7th! For now, listen (and dance) to "Danger!"

[MP3]: The Sound of Arrows :: Danger! (Hiiiiighly Rec'd!!!)

Finally, in less recent news, I've been listening to "Sickening" by The Sweetest Ache almost completely on repeat since I woke up today. What an amazing song it is...

[MP3]: The Sweetest Ache :: Sickening (Very Highly Recommended!)

Have a lovely day!
xoxo

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The Lucksmiths: "Falling Off of My Feet Again" (Siddeleys cover)

The Lucksmiths

I've been slowly working my way through the new, MASSIVE (49 tracks!) Lucksmiths compilation, Spring A Leak and I'm continually excited after every track. There's enough covers, b-sides, demos, compilation tracks, and unreleased stuff here to keep anyone happy for months. I knew I was going to love it but I couldn't have possibly been more ecstatic when I saw that not only was there Cat's Miaow cover (!), but there's also a Siddeleys cover!!! – and of one of my favorite Siddeleys songs, "Falling Off of My Feet Again." I would hugely recommend Spring A Leak to not just Lucksmiths fans – who will no doubt love every second of every 49 tracks – but to anyone who's ever loved any kind of indiepop, because chances are there's probably something here that you wont see coming! P.S. I've also posted the original "Falling Off of My Feet Again." Both versions obviously come highly recommended!

[MP3]: The Lucksmiths :: Falling Off of My Feet Again (Siddeleys cover)
[MP3]: The Siddeleys :: Falling Off of My Feet Again

Pick up Spring A Leak from Matinee Records!
The Lucksmiths on MySpace!

Oh, and you can actually grab The Siddeleys' Slum Clearance from Matinee, too – which you should definitely do if you don't own it, because it's one of the most essential indiepop records ever. Totally unfuckablewith.

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Mix For The Occupation

If you were lucky enough to be at one of the shows of Pipas' short tour this past May, well like two weeks ago, then you probably grabbed a copy of their new "May 2007 tour only" Mix For The Occupation EP. Clocking in at only, like, five and a half minutes total, it's barely even an EP, but it's three new songs and I like them all, so it's more than okay. I can say with much certainty that the last song, and title track, "Mix For The Occupation" is the prettiest one minute and forty-nine second pop song I've heard in recent memory. I really like it a lot. Way to go Pipas. If you've never listened to Pipas before and you like this then I would very much suggest that you go over to Matinee Records and buy their 2002 record A Cat Escaped, cause it's real good and you'll like it.

[MP3]: Pipas :: Mix For The Occupation (Quite recommended)

Pipas have a MySpace 4 real

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