The Futurist Song Of The Week For August 10
Mike Taylor - Shout Out Louds - “Hard Rain”, from the CD, Our Ill Wills
If there’s one song that has perhaps made a band’s career to this point in 2007, it might be “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John. A super catchy tune, but the rest of their Writer’s Block disc seems fairly pedestrian to these ears. Along the way, the band’s Bjorn Ytlling found time to produce the second disc for fellow countrymen Shout Out Louds, Our Ill Wills, and I dare say that this the better record of the two. In fact, it kind of seems like they’ve taken the same template as P B and J’s disc and have merely done them one better.
Full of sunny pop tunes yet still very much within the realm of indie rock, the Shout Out Louds, a quintet from Stockholm, have the ability to tug slightly at your heartstrings with precious tales of yearning on “Your Parents Living Room” and “Suit Yourself”, which features a very “Young Folks”-like interplay between band members Adam Olenius and Bebban Stenborg. This is actually a very deep record that represents a huge leap forward from their debut Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, which was not much more than a collection of previously released EP’s spanning a few years time.
My pick here is the 7 minute plus “Hard Rain” which, as the closing track, stands apart from the rest of the record due to it’s more expansive guitar work, allowing the band to break out of a more traditional song structure that fills up the rest of the disc. Hitting the shelves domestically on September 11th via Merge Records, Our Ill Wills is highly recommended for Peter Bjorn and John fans and lovers of indie pop everywhere.
Matt Shiv - Imperial Teen- “Shim Sham” from the CD he Hair The TV The Baby and The Band
It’s been 5 years since we last heard from Imperial Teen. The band have all been keeping busy with their own lives and the title of their new album kind of catches us up on what they’ve been doing. With “The Hair The TV The Baby and The Band” we learn that Jone has been working as a hair dresser, Roddy has been doing music supervision for television, Lynn has been having babies (she just had her 2nd), and Will has been focused on his other band, Hey Willpower! After a triumphant return at this year’s SXSW festival, Imperial Teen are ready to bring us their 4th album in a few weeks on Merge Records and rock out through these last dog days of summer.
This is a band that can take even the silliest words and craft them into the catchiest damn song you’ve ever heard. They did it on 1999’s “Yoo Hoo” and they’ve done it again with their new single “Shim Sham”, which has been on constant repeat for me over the last two weeks. Whether you’ve been waiting for them to return or this is your introduction to the band, this song will not disappoint.
Joe Long - - Maritime, “Guns Of Navarone” from the CD Heresy And The Hotel Choir.
Every now and then, a simple pop song does the trick for me. I was always a casual fan of Maritime and their previous albums, but this new song is really making me look forward to the new one from these guys, which is due out in October. This song, Guns of Navarone is simple, as I stated before, and really seems to have a positive pick me up feel to it.
Despite how cheesy that may sound, it is a tune you should check out and tell me it doesn’t brighten your day a bit.
