MML Update: Backslick

When we manage to do updates for previously featured artists and go to look back at our original words [October 2006 review + download], the similarities are sometimes frighteningly close to our current thoughts while listening to the new material. Such was the case with today's re-featured four piece of Khaled Saibi (vocals/guitar), Peter Valtersson (guitar), Dan Holmgren (bass) and Adam Petersson (drums) who make up the indie pop-rock outfit Backslick from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band has a new self-released EP, titled Shake It Out, which can be heard (and purchased?) if you visit either the Backslick website or the Backslick MySpace page and contact them directly. They just might just love to hear from you. If the energetic and pointed beat along with an occasional but decidedly addictive guitar accompaniment are not enough to send you back a couple of decades, Khaled's off-kilter vocals will certainly have you searching through the post-punk section of your classic 1980s record collection for a direct comparison. The next chance to catch a live show will be April 5 in Vänersborg as they've signed on to be a part of FairFest 2008.

From the 2008 EP Shake It Out... an updated version of an older song titled "Push Him Into Something Good" that originally belonged to the EP Hallelujah Moment (2006)...

MP3: Push Him

From a 2007 Backslick Promo... I can't be the only one who wants to dust off those old records and cassettes from The (English) Beat after listening here. Great song also...

MP3: Truth

Fairmount Girls

We've been tightening our belts to save some cash for a new roof over our milk milk lemonheads and have limited our time out on the town as a result of being semi-responsible adults. This past Saturday we took a rare break from our...um, break to meet a good friend who was in town to see the band City Breathing from Brooklyn, New York. We arrived late to Northside Tavern and missed the NYC opening experience but met a few members of the band who were really nice. After settling in with a couple of beers, a local outfit we were not familiar with took center stage and captured plenty of our attention. Fairmount Girls are a Cincinnati, Ohio five piece consisting of members Melissa "Fairmount" (portable Italian organ), Dana Hamblen (drums), Beth Cheek (bass), Pat Hennessy (fancy guitar) and Randy Cheek (another guitar, noise, gadgets) who all share vocal responsibilities and have been around for something like 12 years! The band put on an exceptional live performance and afterwards Dana was kind enough to slip us a nicely weathered copy of a 2006 EP. Shall we listen?

MP3: Queen For A Day



Oh yeah, it's good... and the perfect excuse for us to feature some local flavor. I checked the insert of the EP we were given and it seems that most of the music was recorded by former Afghan Whigs bassist John Curley in his studio Ultrasuede right here in Cincinnati. Since the Fairmount Girls website is currently a work in (or out of) progress, you will need to pay an extended visit to the Fairmount Girls Myspace page for additional info and music. I think it's time for another song.

MP3: 4am

*Bonus* We were unfortunate enough to miss the opening act City Breathing, so we figured it would be a good idea to give a quick shout... yo, word!.

Bonus MP3: City Breathing - Footsteps: Leaving The Scene

Heroes of Switzerland

If you are a regular visitor to MML who shares our penchant for shoegaze and some of the related music that followed during the early 1990s, please don't think for a second that we've forgotten what often has us listed as a shoegazey-type music blog. Today's featured artist goes a long way in restoring our place in the footwear fetish department and the music might just make your must-have list this week. Heroes Of Switzerland is the Nottingham, UK four piece of Ian Lockwood (vocals, guitars), Jon Crannage (bass), Jez Sullivan (guitars) and Matt Power (drums) who originally converged in 2003 under the band name Monaural. Since their current incarnation as HoS, a debut EP, titled Disposable Fiction, has been made available, and now the full length release, Comfort In Fear, is set for distribution on February 29. Both can be purchased/pre-ordered if you visit the Heroes Of Switzerland website. Of course there is also a Heroes Of Switzerland MySpace page where you can do the same and add a new friend in the process. Here is a first listen to one of the many shoegaze-infused indie rock tracks from the upcoming release Comfort In Fear.

MP3: Wonderland



Aside from the obvious, what impresses us most here is that Heroes Of Switzerland employ a clean sound that stays away from the peripheral noise many other bands misuse/mistake as some sort of traditional wall of sound. An added result of being able to hear basic song structure is that a number of pre and post-shoegaze era artists bubbled up to the surface while listening. It is possible, and quite probable, that you will be able to hear the influence of anything from Ride to Amusement Parks On Fire to Buffalo Tom to Swervedriver while taking in the track Compliancy from Comfort In Fear... have a listen.

MP3: Compliancy

The next live performance will take place March 13 as HoS pays a visit to an über trendy area of London to take the stage at Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen.

MML Update: Soda Fountain Rag

Sometimes we receive emails and don't even need to open them up right away to know good news has fallen upon us. Such was the case, just the other day, when a message arrived from Irish label Yesboyicecream Records (Yesboy MySpace). After gleefully reviewing our mail and attached goodies in the form of a zip file, we are happy to report that previously featured Norwegian artist [September 07 review + download] Ragnhild Hogstad Jordahl, a.k.a. Soda Fountain Rag, has finally completed a much awaited new 14 track gem titled It's Rag Time. This full length album is listed with a formal release date in April, but you can actually pick up a copy right this second if you know where to go. For more downloadable music and information, there is also a Soda Fountain Rag NRK Urørt page to visit. The handful of new songs we've listened to are absolutely wonderful and, if they are any indication of what can be expected from the balance of music contained within It's Rag Time, we might have a serious contender for year end honours on our hands. I think it's safe to say that MML has a little music crush going on right now...

MP3: Don't Kill The Clowns
MP3: You Sit And Wait For Life



...and since we've been been drinking beer and taunting our felines with a cheap laser pointer we picked up at the gas station yesterday, you get a bonus song from 2007.

MP3: I Wanna Be Your Cat

The Sugarettes: New Video

It looks like we get to stick around in the Netherlands for another day thanks to a message from the folks at Subroutine Records (Subroutine MySpace) regarding a new video available from a favorite band of ours. We originally posted about The Sugarettes at the beginning of January '07 with a second review to follow in September '07 and a Best of 2007 mention just last month. Can you tell we like them? Today we have a new video for the song Ready Steady which features the younger sister of the band's bassist Cox Dieben as head cheerleader... and what video would be complete without cheerleaders? For more music and information about the band, we highly recommend a visit The Sugarettes MySpace page. The video is well done and a lot of fun. Just think cheerleaders, basketball and lollipops...

From the 2007 release 'Love and Other Perversities':
MP3: Ready Steady

From the debut 2006 EP 'Sugarette City':
MP3: Claps

New Killer Stars

There will be no attempts to describe today's featured music as any type of texture, soundscape or ice cream flavor... oh no. What you get, instead, is a heads-up on the solid indie rock three piece of Sytse (guitar, vocals), Cesar (bass, vocals) and Jelle (drums) from Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands. This noisy trio, also known to many as New Killer Stars, has been around for just over a year now and have a great new EP to show for their collective efforts. Hebrew Matthew is the title of the new release and you can hear more of (and get your hands on) it by paying a visit to the New Killer Stars MySpace page. While there, you will notice a string of regional live performance dates and some amusing info on the band. There is also a New Killer Stars website with a few additional items to check out. We still can't decide whether the band is more interested in walking away from problems or sorrow, but we can tell you one thing... this track is really good and a raucous way to kick off the weekend.

MP3: Walking Away

The Hectors

We've been running this music blog for over two years now, and it's kind of ridiculous that the simple thought of putting up our email address for people to get in touch never occurred to us (check the right sidebar for the bright pink non-link). As a result of making our contact info more readily available, we have been receiving an amazing amount of great new music, and what you have for listening today is a perfectly good example. The Hectors are a four piece including members Robert Bonilla (guitar), Corinne Dinner (voice, guitar), Erik Greene (drums, percussion) and Jim Saunders (bass) from Los Angeles, California. Aside from having one of the longest song titles we've run across in a while, the track featured today offers Corinne's beautifully strong vocals drifting through a steady, gaze-threaded guitar accent that had us listening repeatedly. I Drove All The Way From Bridgeport To Make It With You belongs to the recently released (kinda-late 2007) EP titled Sometimes They Collide which is available through the band's label Tarantism Records. You can listen to more of the latest EP on The Hectors MySpace page and download additional music upon visiting The Hectors website. This is yet another great band that has me reevaluating all of those "cornfed" Midwestern barriers I've had when it comes to appreciating indie music from Southern California.

Ohh... and before I forget, the next live performance will take place February 21 at local L.A. venue Spaceland.

MP3: I Drove All The Way From Bridgeport To Make It With You

**BONUS** From the band's previous self titled debut EP:
MP3: Darren

I Make This Sound

Just when we thought that all of those 2005 era (yes that was ages ago) indie bands of more than five members had fallen out of favour, a new music collective sneaks up and has us smitten with what we are listening to. I Make This Sound is a lovely seven piece consisting of members Mike Hopkins (drums), Heather Kafka (keys, vocals), Jeremy Levy (percussion, vocals), Jillinda Palmer (keyboard), Matt Peter (bass), Jonathan Price (vocals, guitars), Greg Weigel (guitar) and Brittney Westover (keyboard, vocals) from Los Angeles, California. Wait a minute... is that eight members? Anyway, the music is perfect for our Sunday around the house and will probably raise a few eyebrows amongst those MML regulars who view the art of music as some sort of landscape. We just like the way this sounds while dancing around and cleaning the kitchen. For more of what you are hopefully already listening to, stop by the I Make This Sound MySpace page. There is also an I Make This Sound website that is currently a work in progress. The song featured today belongs to a brand new EP, titled Staring At Yourself, which is set to be self-released next week with a party to coincide at local Los Angeles venue The Echo on February 13.

MP3: One Two Three!

Julian Fader

Almost a month ago, a favorite NYC band of ours paid a visit to the Queen City and we finally had the chance to meet some of them. Le Rug (who we've spoken about here, here, here and here) ended up coming into town a night early before playing local Northside venue Gypsy Hut. To our surprise, Lisa Liu, of previously featured indie rock outfit Renminbi, was part of the entourage. Also among the musicians who showed up that evening, as a part of the percussion duo (yes, Le Rug has two drummers), was today's featured artist. Julian Fader is a multi instrumentalist from New York City who is more than worthy of note on MML. The song presented today builds and falls into all of the right little places for our ears and, for some strange reason, I can think of a certain someone who just might find the music of this young artist as appealing as we do. There are additional lo-fi live recordings to be found on the Julian Fader MySpace page and you will hopefully be able to purchase the finished product once Cooling Pie Records makes a few important things happen. Here ya go...

MP3: Dark Entry

(Note to Julian & Co... That kick ass music shop you visited here in Cincinnati was Shake It Records)

Girl Loves Distortion

There's a ton of exciting primary election coverage to finally give our television a purpose this evening, so it only seems fitting to feature a band from the nation's capitol. Well... that might not be entirely true. It's actually pure coincidence but also the perfect excuse to post more outstanding indie rock recently found within our email inbox. Girl Loves Distortion is the trio of Jenn Izza (percussion, vocals) Steve (bass, guitar, organ, vocals) and Chris (guitar, bass, organ, vocals) from Washington D.C. The band's self-released full length debut, titled Earth Beings on Exhibit, was produced by Hugh McElroy (Black Eyes), mastered by Chad Clark at Silver Sonya and will be available for purchase at some point early in March. There are a number of additional tracks to stream on the Girl Loves Distortion website as well as a pair of demos for listening at the GLD MySpace page. If you are a fan, or are even familiar with some of the mid to late 1980s bands (from cities like... um, Boston) who shaped the post-hardcore fuzz rock era back in the day, you will most definitely want to adjust the volume on your computer speakers to the highest possible level. Great stuff.

From the March 2008 release Earth Beings on Exhibit...
MP3: Transition + Resistance

Kickers

It's Superbowl Sunday here in the States but, as not-so-avid sports fans, we can assure you this feature has nothing to do with athletics or the commercial hell one must endure to figure out if they've won any money in the office pool. Instead, what you get today is an incredibly talented indie rock band that had us listening repeatedly. Kickers are a Montreal, Quebec based duo consisting of musicians Victoria Morrison (guitar, vocals) and Anne Gauthier (drums, vocals). The band is currently shopping for a label and I can't imagine them having a difficult time of it. Actually, it's unsigned bands like this one that have us contemplating starting our own little label one of these days (but shhhh). If you enjoy the two songs featured here, stop in for a visit to the Kickers website for a couple of additional tracks which are equally impressive. The band also inhabits a compulsory Kickers MySpace page where you can find yet another song not available on the website. Big Big recommendations from both of us on this one. Enjoy, and expect some buzz...

MP3: New In The News
MP3: Euro Disney