Dum Dum Girls - S/T EP

There are definite similarities to Black Tambourine and Shop Assistants in Dum Dum Girls' music. Wishy Washy fuzz, jangly guitars and melodic female vocals. Set to release a bunch of stuff this year, she's (there's only one Dum Dum Girl) one to keep an eye on. She's also releasing a single through the HoZac singles club.
Zoo Music, 2008
1. Ship Of Love
2. Longhair
3. D.A.L (Dream Away life)
4. Catholicked
5. Hey Sis

Sample the EP

The Clean - Compilation

I should be ashamed that I was born and bred in NZ yet have only just discovered the music of The Clean. They were around as part of Flying Nun Record's "Dunedin Sound" in the '80s. Due to the somewhat isolation of NZ, a unique sound was developed amoungst the city's bands - jangly guitars, fuzzy pop recordings. A lot of the bands that I have posted about have in fact listed The Clean as an influence. I'm sure you'll dig it.
Flying Nun, 1987
1. Billy Two
2. At The Bottom
3. Tally Ho
4. Anything Could Happen
5. Point That Thing Somewhere Else
6. Flowers
7. Fish
8. Beatnik
9. Getting Older
10. Slug Song
11. Odditty
12. Whatever I Do

Sample the Album

Pens

Pens are another lo-fi poppy band to emerge in recent months. Their poorly recorded fuzz pop comes off charming and ultra-catchy. Sometimes more punk than pop, but with lots of Oohs and Aahs to sing along to.
1. Freddie
2. Hate Your Calender
3. Hide The Kids
4. High In The Cinema
5. Networking
6. Yeah Baby I'll Take You To Bagel Town

Sample the Mix

Ty Segall + Superstitions - Halfnonagon

Super limited [now sold out] split cassette on Wizard Mountain featuring tracks by Ty Segall and Superstitions which are unique to this cassette. Great release.
Wizard Mountain, 2008
1. [Ty Segall] The Happy Farmer
2. [Ty Segall] Lollipop
3. [Ty Segall] I Don't Know My name
4. [Superstitions] Bills
5. [Superstitions] Breathless
6. [Superstitions] I Don't Wanna Die Tonight
7. [Superstitions] This Town

Sample the Cassette

See Also: Ty Segall - Skin 7"/Ty Segall - It 7"/Ty Segall - Horn The Unicorn/Ty Segall - S/T/Epsilons - S/T/Superstitions-Superstitions

HoZac HOOKUP KLUB 2009

A few days ago HoZac Records announced details on their 7" singles club for 2009. Joining the club gets you 10 7"s throughout the year from artists Dum Dum Girls, Idle Times, Woven Bones, Art Thieves, Flight, White Mystery, Teepee, Mother Of Tears, Box Elders & Teeth (Blank Dogs & Spider side project). Remember, these are the guys that brought you releases from Jacuzzi Boys, Nothing People, Blank Dogs + more, so you know this is gonna be good. Presumably places are filling fast, so make sure you sign up quick!

Wavves - Wavvves [LEAK]

More than a month before it's official release, Wavvves is here(!) in all it's tasty fuzzy pop glory. Check it out.
Fat possum, 2009
1. Rainbow Everywhere
2. Sun Opens My Eyes
3. Get In The Sun
4. Jetplane (Staying On a)
5. No Hope Kids
6. More Fur
7. So Bored
8. Summer Goth 2
9. Surf Goth
10. Goth Girls
11. Ghost Ramp
12. Killr Punx, Scary Demons

-Link Removed At Label's Request-

Graffiti Island

Graffiti Island hail from London, playing melancholic pop songs built around a heavy base line. At times they sound like a poppier Joy Division. Not much has been released from the band, so I've compiled a bunch of their songs together.
1. Demonic Cat
2. Head Hunter
3. Mountain Man
4. Pet Snake
5. WolfGuy

Sample the compilation

Women - S/T

Psychedelic and noisy with a lot of crashing and banging. But also soft, melodic and at times ambient. Women experiment with different styles which creates a really great record with diverse sounds.
Jagjaguwar, 2008
1. Cameras
2. Lawncare
3. Woodbine
4. Black Rice
5. Sag harbor Blues
6. Group Transport Hall
7. Shaking Hand
8. Upstairs
9. January 8th
10. Flashlights

Sample the Album

The Coolies - Bless The Babies & The Mothers

Such a great little record. Fast-paced punk, catchy rhythms and just a really fun listen. It's too bad they're not up to anything these days. Although it's cleaner in sound - Vivian Girls fans, download!
Self-Released, [Unknown]
1. Throwaway
2. Holiday/Vacation
3. Get Down
4. I Salute U

Sample the Album

See Also: The Coolies - S/T

The Electric Bunnies - Chewing Gum 7"

The record starts off quietly slow-paced and poppy, but quickly evolves into something more intense and thrashy.
Floridas Dying, 2007
1. Chewing Gum
2. Love Radiation
3. Super Fluorescent Hippo Flashback
4. The Stranger

Sample the 7"

See Also: The Electric Bunnies - Eskimo

The Traditional Fools - The Traditional Fools

This band is connected to Ty Segall [lead vocals], so once again, the music has a distinct garage pop/rock n' roll/surf vibe to it. Very lo-fi and gritty too. Delicious.
Chocolate Covered Records, 2008
1. Davey Crockett
2. Snot Rag
3. T.L. Defender
4. Please
5. Layback!!!
6. Get Off My Back
7. Shredstick
8. Kill Someone You Hate
9. Valley (Of the Jams)
10. Party At My House
11. Milkman
12. All-Right

Sample the Album

See Also: Ty Segall - Skin 7"/Ty Segall - It 7"/Ty Segall - Horn The Unicorn/Ty Segall - S/T/Epsilons - S/T

Yussuf Jerusalem - A Heart Full Of Sorrow

Don't let the first song on the record put you off. Despite the out-of-place harsh metal sound of the intro track, the LP consists of bouncy pop songs and folky string arrangements buried under fuzz and slight feedback.
Floridas Dying, 2008
1. Gilles de Rais
2. A Heart Full Of Sorrow
3. Greetings From Novi Sad
4. With You In Mind
5. Jihad
6. We Ain't Coming Back
7. Multicolor
8. The End Of Tomorrow
9. The One You Really Want

Sample the Album

Thee Almighty Handclaps! - Make You Mine 7"

Total retro Rock n' Roll. All distorted and aggressive, alternating between boy and girl vocals. A really fun little record.
Self-Released, 2007
1. Full-Time
2. The Handclap Shake
3. Sugarbowl
4. Make You Mine

Sample the 7"

See Also: Thee Almighty Handclaps! - Works Okay 7"

Meth Teeth - Indian Spirits

This cassette features four songs from the band, displaying sounds of heavy distortion to fuzzy pop melodies. Delightfully messy pop. [Also included are two songs from unknown releases].
Self-Released, 2008
1. Failures Selected By God
2. I Was Wrong
3. My Heart's Heart
4. A Thousand Regrets

+

5. I've Never Been to Church
6. Long Winter

Sample the Cassette

See Also: Meth teeth - Bus Rides 7"

Thee Oh Sees - Peanut Butter Oven

The music is far from being clean and crisp in sound. There is a distorted hum and muffled vocals throughout, but remains poppy and somewhat psychedelic. Led by John Dwyer of The Hospitals, Coachwhips, etc. A great EP that sold out almost instantly.
Awesome Vistas, 2008
1. Kingsmeat
2. The Freak Was Clean
3. Quadrospazzed
4. Kids in Cars

Sample the EP

See Also: The Ohsees - CDOIR/The World's Lousy With Ideas Vol. 8

Jacuzzi Boys - I Fought a Crocodile 7"

The third 7" single from Jacuzzi Boys. It's one song less than their previous 7"s, but it doesn't fall short in quality. Catchy, gritty pop.
Rob's House Records, 2008
1. I Fought a Crocodile
2. Blowin' Kisses

Sample the 7"

See Also: Jacuzzi Boys - Ghost Ghost 7" & Island Ave 7"

The Manhattan Love Suicides - S/T

Such a great band. Their sound is reminiscent of early '90s noise pop and shoegaze, most obviously similar to Black Tambourine, Shop Assistants and the most recent underground sensation, Vivian Girls. Sweet, soft vocals and pop melodies buried under constant feedback and fuzzy guitars.
Magic Marker Records, 2006
1. Things You've Never Done
2. Skulls
3. Evil Side
4. Crush Whatever
5. Thinking Is Killing Me
6. (The Guy On the) 14th Floor
7. Home
8. Suzy Jones
9. Kick it Back
10. Negative Push
11. Indian Summer
12. Providence

Sample the Album

The Strange Boys - The Strange Boys Will Now Forever Be Known As The Martin Luther Kings

Not sure where I found this one, but it's a self-released compilation of the band's various demos. It contains more of the same obscure catchy blues pop from the Texan band.
Self-Released, 2008
1. This Girl Taught Me a Dance
2. MLKs
3. Probation Blues
4. Should Have Shot Paul
5. I Am to the Railroad What it is to Me
6. Take it to the Lake
7. Nothing
8. We Both Know
9. Art For Art's Sake
10. Happily in Disbelief

Sample the Album

See Also: The Strange Boys - Nothing 7"

Holy Cobras - Keep Your Hands Off My Stuff

This is another release from the Canadian label telephone Explosion Records, a label that seems to have a keen eye for band's who heavily draw influence from popular '60s music genres. Holy Cobras play with a rich garage pop style - heavy on guitars, layered on top of a steady drumbeat. An instantly catchy release.
Telephone Explosion Records, 2008
1. Dismantle My Heart
2. Stormy Weather
3. Cobra Talk
4. Sun Inside
5. Strange Green Scene
6. Woman Is Poison

Sample the Album

See Also: Holy Cobras - Make Pyramids

U.S. Girls - Introducing...U.S. Girls

This is a really obscure combination of dreamy ambience and thumping noise. I can honestly say that I have never heard anything like U.S. Girls before. It sounds disjointed and messy at first, but the third or fourth spin will begin to show the softer side of the music, charming and mystical.
Siltbreeze, 2008
1. National Anthem
2. Prove it All Night
3. Jungle Jokes
4. Outta State
5. Don't Understand That Man
6. Forward Troubles Asia
7. Walk Life Away
8. R.I.P KISN
9. Lit Fire To This Life
10. Mutate Machine
11. Days

Sample the Album

Charlie & The Moonhearts - Thunderbeast

Fan-fucking-tastic. Seriously. A mind blowing musical mix up of intense garage pop - lo-fi, messy and semi-distorted in all it's glory - with a major dose of 60's influenced surf and hip shakin' rock n' roll. Cassette only release limited to 100 - see their Myspace, you may still be lucky enough to grab one. Otherwise, there's a CD-r on the way.
Telephone Explosion Records, 2008
1. I Hate You
2. Thunderbeast
3. Charlie Moon (Style Tycoon)
4. Cage Mouth
5. I Got Mine
6. Runaway
7. Walla Walla (Washington)
8. You've Got No Idea
9. Shucka Shucka
10. The Prom Song

Sample the Cassette

See Also: Charlie & The Moonhearts - I Think you're Swell 7"

Ty Segall - It 7"

Ty's second 7". Plenty of the good, trashy pop you'd have come to expect by now.
Chocolate Covered Records, 2008
1. Where We Go
2. It
3. Sweets
4. Son Of Sam

Sample the 7"

See Also: Ty Segall - Skin 7"/Ty Segall - Horn The Unicorn/Ty Segall - S/T/Epsilons - S/T/The Traditional Fools - The Traditional Fools