This week’s New Music Monday features work from:
- Surfer Blood
- Japandroids
- Flaming Lips
- The Murderburgers
- Muuy Biien
We’ll see you on the other side of election day. Enjoy.
Surfer Blood
West Palm Beach, FL
“Six Flags in F or G” from Snowdonia due Feb.3 on Joyful Noise Recordings
When I first saw Surfer Blood, I thought I was seeing an amazing up and coming indie band with a great future ahead of them. Grabbed their debut album, and yep, sure enough, pretty great. Then a run of shit luck culminating with the loss of founding guitarist Thomas Fekete to cancer at the age of 27 left the band rebuilding. This is the first single from the retooled Surfer Blood, and is both fairly interesting and encouraging, old school indie rock with unexpected guitar interplay and tones. I’m rooting for them. – Tom
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Japandroids
Vancouver, BC
“Near To The Wild Heart Of Life” from the album of the same name coming January 27 on Anti
The lead single from the upcoming Japandroids album sounds exactly like I thought it would, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Driving drums, straightforward guitars, upbeat, earnest lyrics, group vocals on the chorus, some “whoa’s” here and there……you know, a Japandroids song. – Tom
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Flaming Lips
“The Castle”, first single from Oczy Mlody, January 13th on Warner Bros.
C’mon, you already know what you’re about to hear, don’t you? It’s the Flaming Lips, ya’know? I guess if I were to describe this song, I’d say it’s a throwback to their Yoshimi era sound with fairly standard song structure. They’ll probably release the album in some totally weird way, like say in a giant gummy skull, and the shows will be like, totally mind meltingly epic, man. The Flaming Lips do their own thing, and their own thing is pretty fun. – Tom
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The Murderburgers
Scotland
The 12 Habits Of Highly Defective People
When it comes to pop punk, it’s hard to expect something terribly new and innovative when it comes to sound. I mean, music really only needs three, maybe four chords at most, right? At any rate, while it certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel, the latest release from The Murderburgers is a great listen. While the catchy riffs pull you in, their songs deal with the golden standards of self doubt and apprehension about what the future may hold. – Petee
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Muuy Biien
Athens
Age of Uncertainty
Is this a punk band? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. I can say their high-energy live shows feel like a punk show. The last time they played Savannah, I remember thinking they sounded more like local punks Cray Bags than anything else. It’s rad for sure. Boarding psychedelic, the new joint offers some strange twist and turns, and is filled with their traditional odd harmonic juxtapositions. It’s interesting to listen to, albeit a little slower than their last album, “D.Y.I.” I’d say, experimental punk with a little Americana influence. Bass heavy foundations, fuzz-laden guitars, lo-fi vocals, occasional horn and string instrumentation, and stellar drum work all create a strangely wonderful vibe on this record. If Jim Morrison had survived being awesome, I imagine his music would sound similar to this. Dig it. -Joshua