These two brothers from Nashville, Jake and Jamin Orrall, received plenty of buzz during this year’s CMJ, but if you have not had the chance to listen to JEFF the Brotherhood yet, this is where I tell you to do so. They just upped this video for “The Tropics” alongside the announcement that their third full-length, Heavy Days, is now available for purchase in CD form. The vinyl is in its second pressing now and was originally released in October.
Heavy Days is easily one of my favorite records in my rotation right now. Just ask anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of swapping bands we’re both in love with. What is perhaps the best thing about JEFF the Brotherhood is that while sometimes you can throw them alongside a contemporary like Kurt Vile and at another time think back to something like early Offspring, what it really comes down to is that it just straight-up fucking rocks. Call it psychedelic grunge/punk or whatever, but it’s really just rock n’ roll and that unfortunately is something that’s not being done and done well as of late.
Lucky for all of us who missed them during CMJ (or for those of you not located in NYC), the band is about to embark on a massive tour the lasts until April. They will be stopping by the Bowery Ballroom on February 6th, but make sure you check out the other dates on their MySpace too. In the meantime, I’d recommend purchasing Heavy Days (it’s out on their personal label Infinity Cat Records) so you can yell the words with me when they come to town.
Clocking in at a minute and fifteen seconds and consisting of solely the couplet above, Titles’ “Fuck It” keeps it simple. Titles is an indie band from New Haven, CT with two albums under their belt and a third, Dirt Bell, on the way.
The reason this song stands out to me is not just its pithiness, but the fact that it – among a wasteland of bands attempting to ‘beachify’ their sounds – actually succeeds in channeling the whimsy and experimentation of Brian Wilson’s finally-finished Smile. “Fuck It” drapes its 3/4 stomp with kazoos, organs, triangles, dog barks, and god only knows what else, creating a simultaneous sense of playfulness and escape.
And the video combines these two elements to great effect. It follows a red-shirted, red-haired bicyclist from the streets to the shore, keeping a cool distance as he dodges cars, races other bikers, and lands, ultimately, in the Long Island Sound.
“Fuck It” provides a great soundtrack for mild weather weekends, as we all begin to bore of winter and become anxious for the change of seasons.
Today we are celebrating here at A&SB. Why? Because it’s new release day! Air & Sea Battle have partnered with one of our generations greatest song-writers, David Debiak, to release the new Sleep Station EP: Songs From The Highway Volume 1. You can purchase it now on iTunes! A little about the EP from Debiak himself:
“The songs were written on the road in various hotel rooms, rest stops, stranger’s floors etc… We would meet all kinds of people and this EP follows the life of a recovering addict who is driving his truck accross country… the songs are more or less his thoughts.”
Below you can stream the 2nd track on Volume 1, Gracie In My Dreams, exclusively on A&SB & don’t forget to download your copy on iTunes or Amazon.
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I don’t know about you, but it’s 12:30pm, and I just woke up. Then I listened to an awesome “shapeshifting arts collective out of the UK. Not just an indie folk group, Uniform Motion, both live and recorded, is a perpetual multimedia art installation.”
I’m not sure what that means, being a blogger in his pajamas and all. But I do know this, the song I’ve posted above from their new album Life (set to be released Feb. 9 in the U.S.) is definitely worth a listen. And the video I’ve posted below from their previous project, Uniform Motion’s ‘Pictures’ series, is worth a watch.
Uniform Motion touts up tempo folk with an eye for the kind of minimalist detail that can make this genre soar. Plus, this is a damn fine video for some reason. Check it out.
Browsing the Internet for something other than nu-Eurotrash, I re-discovered what the Europeans actually do well: making folk music.
I Am Oak, courtesy of the Netherlands, has apparently been around since 2005, but judging by the tracks on their Last.fm page, their early stuff was a little too spare to garner global attention.
But this track, Gold and Porcelain, could be their breakout hit, as much as a folk band not from Amsterdam can have a breakout hit. It’s very Sam Amidon, except with an extra edge of restrained Northern European heartbreak.
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If there’s one style I’d like to see find a quiet place to die in 2010, it’s the disaffected, out-of-tune, and reverb-awashed excuse for rock music that infected Brooklyn over the last two years. Vivian Girls? Yeah, I get it. Real Estate? I still don’t get it, but whatever. Pollution is the antidote. Their 2009 cassette n.s.DRUGS is pissed off and loud.
Black Commune starts with a punch to the face, and continues with less than two minutes of pummeling drums and guitars that couldn’t give less of a fuck what you think. The second track, Fuck Hope (yeah! fuck hope!) turns the first track on its head, slowing things down to a crawl as feedback sucks the song into itself. The d-beat returns on Reds, another two minute banger with an attitude seemingly designed to wake Brooklyn from its beach-bummer malaise.
These tracks are followed up by two more feedback nightmares, which is followed by the surprising–but totally appropriate–cover of “Downer” by Lush. (A 90s era indie shoegaze band from London.)
One of the best parts about the whole package, though, is the fact that it was released as a cassette, standing as a giant middle finger to the era of digital immediocrity and stultifying High Fidelity pretenders. It’s almost as if, to really get the full experience, you need to hear the shake-click-clack of the tape dropping into the deck. And that’s awesome.
Listening to Lush, you hear hints of the modern-day Brooklynites. But the Pollution cover adds a palpable attitude that today’s forgettables haven’t been able to muster. Let’s hope more bands take a cue from them.
Man, doesn’t it feel like you never watch music videos anymore? Everyone knows about the soul corroding rot of MTV, and then they created MTV2, where the rot has since spread. People tell me to watch FUSE, but I don’t think I’ve ever received such a channel in my life.
Who remembers The Box? In Milwaukee, it was channel 8 on regular TV ONLY. You could call in and type a number and pay a somewhat-nominal fee and they would play your music video. Sure, the picture was complete crap, but sitting around waiting for Mr. or Ms. Moneybags to call in and order a video for everyone was awesome.
Fuck it, I’m gone.
Listen to 
Browsing the Internet for something other than nu-Eurotrash, I re-discovered what the Europeans actually do well: making folk music. 
