I Am A Happy Boy

My excitement grows as Gold Fields debut album Black Sun approaches, due to be released in Australia on March 8th. They’ve literally just released previews of their second single “Happy Boy”, only at selected links. It’s reportedly the bands favourite track off the record and those of you who were excited enough to check out the trailer for Black Sun that I included in my “5 Albums To Look For in 2013″ post, may have heard it jiving away in the background.

Personally, although I love the song, I feel it’s a strange choice for the second single considering the pace they were growing at in the US with their enjoyable take on frenzied dance-pop. With that in mind, “Happy Boy” brings to them a dark side, and from hearing previews from the new album like “Ice”, they seem to take a leaf out of the revolutionary mixture of sombre and ultra-pop that The Cure did in the 80’s, without even remotely sounding like a rip-off 80’s revival. Gold Fields are legendary in their own right, and Black Sun, for me, is the single most highly anticipated album of 2013.

Hear the new track Happy Boy here

Future Screens: Toss Up

 

Yes. Just Yes. I literally just checked this one now and found that Future Screens finally have uploaded the song they promised us all. Mind you it’s only one song; and it’s a cover. Although it’s a friggen awesome cover, I’m not sure whether to be pleased or disappointed by this.  I kind of expected more.

What are your thoughts? One Summer,  Good enough?

Issue Thirteen

As predicted, 2013 has begun with a furious bull-rush of top new tunes as the anticipation for the Triple J Hottest 100 grows leading up to Australia Day. If it wasn’t for that pesky, social-media-curious Warmest 100 guy giving all the surprises, most people would’ve been completely clueless as to which songs were set to top the year (apart from Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop”…that was a shoe-in from the beginning apparently). Not to worry. If you were hoping to hear a whole bunch of surprise punches in the countdown this year, only to let your curiosity get the better of you and spoil it all at that darned site; you’ve always got this good old top ten to count on. I guarantee none of the songs on my radar right now will ruin the one time of year that Triple J is still relevant to the rest of the Australia.

10. Clubfeet – Heirs & Graces (Fucking everything on it)

OK so I realise that this first little number is not exactly a song. It’s a trailer for Clubfeet’s album, with previews for some of the songs on it. Released last Friday, the 18th of January, Heirs & Graces prove that they are not destined to be a Triple-J-only-sort-of-one-hit-wonder. The whole thing absolutely kills it with tracks like the opening My Shadows to the tropically vibing Acapulco & LA and the follow up to Heartbreak, Everything You Wanted. I’d liken them to fellow Aussie’s The Temper Trap (on My Shadows) but probably closer to Cut Copy and Van She. The only reason they don’t receive higher status is that it’s unfair to pit an entire amazing album against puny one song shiners, and there’s no YouTube ready clips. So grab it off iTunes now!

9. Lucy Rose – Middle of the Bed

Lucy Rose is pretty cool. End-o story. I’m gonna say it outright. I have a massive thing for red-heads. Ever since Ginger Spice, I swear the whole bunch can do nothing wrong in my eyes. Anyhow, Lucy Rose has a great voice and has a bum-load of talent to go with it. Middle of the Bed is the single off her debut album and it’s a major silver bullet that will force you go out and buy the album.

8.  Daughter – Smother

I recently heard Daughter has a new album coming out soon. Very exciting news. She is as laid back as they come. Built for rainy days. It’s the type of song I don’t usually go nuts for only because it’s so chilled out it’s just there for pure enjoyment. That’s what Smother is; just a real impressive and enjoyable track.

7. The Book Club – The Irony Tower

For fans of Two Door Cinema Club or probably closer to We Are Scientists. Both great bands, much like The Book Club is. This track is yet another great dancey, brit-pop staple and to be honest I don’t care how much bands pop up with this style, they will never get old as long as they keep it fun and easy on the ears. Enter exhibit A, The Irony Tower. 

6. Chloe Howl – No Strings

Pretty sure there’s an umlaut (European style O with the two dots above it) in Chloe Howl. Regardless, here’s another one of those Lily Allen/Kate Nash “fuck-you-ex-boyfriend” type UK singers. She’s only 17, which makes it a little weird that she’s already fucking up her relationships so royally that she’s getting damn good songs out of it. Although I guess 17 is the age where you’re most likely to be a dick and make mistakes. Yep, if it weren’t for prolonging the effects of puberty into young adulthood I’d say we’d lose half the classic songs of our time.

5. The Heartbreaks – Delay, Delay

This playlist seems to be full of easy, enjoyable songs. The Heartbreaks are apparently quite big. News to me. That fact aside, I’m stoked I eventually got around to finding them. Delay, Delay is the obvious stand-out on what is one of my favourite albums this year Funtimes. Side Note: That title appropriately paints you a little pre-cursor for what to expect in the rest of the album.

4. MNDR – Feed Me Diamonds (SAC Remix)

Might I say that this is one of the finest remixes around at the moment. I once foolishly announced that this reminded me a little of Jamiroquai, but then quickly realised I hate Jamiroquai and absolutely fucking love this song and remix. It really hits its peak around the second verse and when the chorus has a little more content to it but the whole think is bouncy. Feed Me Diamonds is a definite heel-tapper. As in it will even get those too-cool-for-school types at a gig secretly tapping their heels, even when they think they’re so mysterious because no-one can tell if they’re vibing the band or not. MNDR: Certified jerk catchers.

3. Glasvegas – Whatever Hurts You Through The Night

Shut up. I know this is quite old. As in, one or two years. Not sure. Don’t care. Glasvegas is great and always will be. Their consistently anthemic tracks can sometimes get a bit repetitive but there’s always one or two killer classics in there somewhere. This is one of them, the other one being the sort-of title track Euphoria, Take My Hand. I would even go as far as saying that it rivals Geraldine for their best song ever.

2. Everything Everything – Duet

Everything Everything almost backed it up two weeks in a row with tracks off their second album Arc. I raved about this song in my round up of the new album but it wasn’t available on YouTube to view on the blog so I left it out. Lucky for them, now that it’s up they get a top spot in my playlist. Duet is probably the most straight forward song off the album but is absolutely stunning both lyrically and melodically from beginning to end. 

Unfortunately “Duet” by Everything Everything isn’t able to load straight to Blogger. You can check out the track by clicking on this link to YouTube! It’s apparently an alternative version. I highly recommend going onto iTunes and buying the real thing.

1. The Crookes – Afterglow

Hell yeah. Best find of the week. These guys have been trucking for quite some time and they have so far been outside of my radar until the beauty that is iTunes suggestions showed up. I was purchasing Everything Everything’s new album and there were The Crookes, sitting in the “If you liked this band…” section. They looked decent so I tried it out and damn are they good. The album Hold Fast is a winner in its entirety. Other awesome tracks include Maybe in the Dark, Hold Fast & Collecting Skies. It more than earned its spot on the summit of this weeks top ten.

So that’s it for the unlucky 13th issue of The Indie Rock Summit. I’ll be heading to St. Jerome’s Laneway festival in Sydney soon so stay tuned for an “I-was-drunk-and-not-paying-sufficient-attention-so-watch-me-try-to-piece-the-event-together” type reporting on how that goes. It might end up just a post with the words “fuck yes” in size 78 bold, who knows. 

Also, to anybody in Australia: Clubfeet are touring next month, so if you like what you heard and want to check it out live, tickets are only $15 and you can buy them by clicking here.

TIRS Snapshot

Inspired by my complete lack of energy and the fact that I in all honesty shouldn’t have the time to post regularly on this blog, I noticed an absolutely great outlet on Instagram by the name of @goodindiemusic (also on facebook here). This guy (or guys/girls) posts one or two songs a day from just whatever they are listening to or think is sounding tops at that particular point in time.

Got me thinking that this phenomenon takes all the effort out of writing about music and songs. It’s perfect for this blog given that all I do anyway is post YouTube clips about which songs I like at the moment. So if you read my posts and like getting some new tunes to check out for breakfast, lunch and dinner…

Add me on Instagram @theindierocksummit

Fresh Tracks: Everything Everything

In December 2012, the world was supposed to end. God had planned on a rapture the likes of which had only been seen once before. Who by you ask? By Noah of course. The legendary bearded gentleman that built that fine wooden arc we’ve all heard about countless times throughout our youth. He and his family were chosen out of everybody in the world to carry on the human race because of their devotion to awesomeness.

Well this time around God chose a band named Everything Everything to build an Arc that would outlast the end of the world. But when December 21st, 2012 came around, to his surprise (and absolutely no one else’s) he was foiled by science. When the end of the world had been avoided, God said to the band, “Fuck. Sorry boys, I really thought that would work. But as long as you made that Arc we might as well do something good with it”. So in two fell swoops, God uncapped his magic marker, gently sniffed the tip of it, and turned their Arc into what will be one of the most impressive albums to come out in 2013.

So there you have it. Everything Everything’s new album, Arc. Engineered by God. Powered by divine intervention.

But seriously, this is only the tip of exciting news in releases to hit stores of all sorts this year but holy hell is it a fantastic start. When Everything Everything released their debut album Man Alive, it was interesting to say the least. Their attempt at mixing a kind of prog or art rock-esque styling with smooth pop didn’t seem too polished except for a few stand out tracks that became singles such as MY KZ, UR BF. It seems like they’ve well and truly crossed their T’s and dotted their lower case j’s in this second release.

The reviews for Arc are just beginning to come in from the major outlets and so far the sentiment is that it’s the work of a band at the top of their game. Described by most of the top reviewers as a more “honest” album than their first (whatever that means), the first single, Cough Cough, is being flogged like crazy here in Australia on Triple J and I believe it is one of the top 100 most played songs of the year on that particular channel. It’s fresher tracks like Kemosabe, Duet and Torso Of The Week that have me giddy like a twelve year old girl about this record. Showcasing all the best elements of the band including the most original use of falsetto in all the perfect places combined with hallmark Everything Everything harmonies and that static, creepy-crawly style guitar with soothing electronics. I know that description sounds like a whole lot of different noises and flows crashing around, but believe me it is such a perfectly melodic mess from beginning to end.

Everything Everything’s, Arc is available on iTunes as of right now. You can like their facebook page HERE.

Issue Twelve

Back for the first Issue of the new year with some pretty unreal stuff. The next few Issues are sure to be crazy exciting with albums coming out all over the place (including Everything Everything’s newbie coming out this month that I forgot to put into the 5 Albums to Look for). It turns out that I’m so keen to chuck out the first top ten of the year that I coincidentally haven’t got much to say about it. I’m sure it speaks for itself.

10. A B & The Sea – In The Sunshine

A B & The Sea. Even just by the name you can tell that these guys could be the poster boys of pop and that they are. In The Sunshine is just your typical catchy pop song that has the possibility of becoming annoying if heard one too many times. That being said, it has had it’s moment in the sun for a long while on my iPod and this spot in the top ten is well deserved, although there is much more pressing matters to attend to. For lovers of HAL (anyone remember them?), or I guess even people that liked fun. before they got terribly repetitive and boring.

9. Twin Shadow – The One

It has taken me a very long time to have any opinion at all on Twin Shadows critically acclaimed album Confess. Eventually I gave it a second listen and got this half decent track out of it. It’s definitely an acquired taste, unless you really enjoy music from 80’s buddy cop movies…then you’ve probably already heard this before. 

8. Foxes – Clarity

I honestly think I could love Foxes forever in an emotional capacity based solely on her voice. It’s encapsulating and transcends anything that Richard Mercer could even dream about. *insert cheesy 80’s late night sex line vocabulary while dressed in a maroon silk robe and a tumbler glass of scotch etc. That’s not even based on looks. But Foxes, whilst having an absolutely amazing voice, actually writes some kick ass music. This being one of the aforementioned songs that has a hand in the kicking of said ass.

7. Matt Pond PA – Specks

I found out about these guys whilst researching Christmas Songs for the last Issue but they’re actually really good. They’re a tad old I believe and I can’t believe I’d never heard of them as apparently they have a weird connection to Bryan Adams. Maybe they used to play in bands together or something of the sort. All I can say is they’re awesome at writing acoustic gems and will easily make your playlist if you also dig artists like Josh Pyke or to a lesser extent City & Colour.

6. Art Of Sleeping – Above The Water

I just heard this song today on Triple J so it well and truly snuck up on me. Can’t say much about Art of Sleeping. They’ve been around for a while I know that but I never really took to them. Have a bit of a feeling this is a one off pick too but it’s quite a good song and deserved a little more respect then a late spot.

5. Tan Vampires – Digital Rot

I found out about Tan Vampires from the good folks at Good Indie Music (@goodindiemusic on instagram) simply because I loved their album art work. Turns out the songs aren’t half bad either. This is the stand out track of the album although I Found A Body rivals it hard. It’s very folksy, but lately I seem to be liking that. Make sure to drop by their facebook page and give them a like if you dig because they have a measly 1,000 fans and deserve way more with beauties like this.

4. CHVRCHES – We Sink

CHVRCHES are back in the top ten! I knew they’d make it as soon as they released something else. I had a feeling about these guys. I actually found this live studio version of one of their other songs and it was so perfect live that I felt it could go right into the top ten even though they haven’t released it properly on iTunes or anything official. Watch out for CHVRCHES in 2013 though, they’re going to cause a big fuss.

3. The Cast Of Cheers – Human Elevator

The Cast Of Cheers, Family. What a classic album. It was super hard to pick this as one of the tracks I would put into this Issue but here we are. I think you can tell I’m hinting at a recommendation to go out and sample the rest of the album. Seriously, do yourself a favour. If you like Foals or Late of the Pier you’ll love these guys after a few listens. I actually found out about them through one of those “If you bought Foals, you’ll like…” on iTunes. Apparently they’re in the top 50 most played songs on Triple J of 2012…good for them.

2. Tigertown – Morning Has Finally Come

This is a massive stretch at number two. I gave it a chance and it came good. Another song that I’ve only heard recently courtesy of Triple J and I decided I liked it well enough to put it here. May feel like in a few weeks time that it was a bit premature but it’s a real quality song and plods through the whole track with that whole racing vibe given off by a very vibrant percussion and symphony of vocal harmonics. Effervescent in it’s delivery. In pretentious speak…that means it fizzes. What I mean by that I have no idea.

1. Everything Everything – Kemosabe

Oh my frigging good lord almighty. This is basically the reason I decided I wanted to do another post tonight. I heard this and went absolutely bonkers. I love Everything Everything. Have been a massive fan ever since I heard their first single in my van in Canada from an English mate. But Kemosabe has to be without a doubt the best song they’ve released to date. I really hope to see them create a stir this year. I love their out on control frenzied sound that always comes off melodically perfect through it all behind the most unique and well used vocals I’ve heard in a very long time. The new album, entitled Arc, comes out in 5 freaking days! Now I’m not sure if that’s UK release date or the Australian release date but it’s sure to be soon and I am more excited than ever. It’s going to be raining epic albums for the next four months!

5 Albums To Look For In 2013

Gold Fields – Black Sun (March)

My favourite new Australian band are set to release their debut album “Black Sun” this coming March and I couldn’t be more excited. They’ve been very slow to release any information or early tracks which is only helping to build the excitement world wide. The first single off the album “Dark Again (Lights Out)” is already on the Triple J hit list as well as getting smashed out daily on Channel V and has previously received a number one spot on this blog.

Black Sun is the product of a journey that began in the summer of 2011, when the band decamped to Los Angeles to spend six weeks working with producer Mickey Petralia (Ladytron, Peaches) and then retreated to a remote Australian farm manor to continue writing songs, which they later recorded with Scott Horscroft (The Presets, Sleepy Jackson, Silverchair) as co-producer/engineer. After learning a lot from both Horscroft and Petralia, Gold Fields decided to re-record and produce the whole album themselves in leader singer Mark Fuller’s parents garage in Ballarat.

Phoenix – TBA (April)

Word on the street is that Phoenix have done some recordings for the new album, presumably titled TPC, and describe it as very experimental. In an interview with Pedestrian.tv at Sydney’s Good Vibrations Festival, Thomas Mars and Deck D’Arcy revealed that the new recordings might be a departure from the ‘hooky pop’ of their last album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

In the interview they mentioned a lot of drum machines and percussions will be influencing the new tracks as well as some orchestral parts but an interesting comment was made about recording with percussionists in Byron Bay. Although I do dig experimental Phoenix, I’m really hoping the album isn’t traditional Byron Bay style a.k.a bongo’s over a homeless guy that can barely play two chords on a rusty guitar. I’m actually anticipating something more to the degree of their effort two albums ago in United. This band seems to skip styles every two albums, with It’s Never Been Like That sounding closer to 2009’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and United being reminiscent of Alphabetical. 

Foals – Holy Fire (February)

Foals have taken nearly three years to deliver the sequel to Total Life Forever and let’s be honest, it had to be a good one. February in 2013 marks their third studio album, which is highly anticipated after the guys went quiet for quite some time.

Speaking to NME about the new album, frontman Yannis Philippakis recently said, “There are some heavier moments and some dirtier moments. It’s swampy, some of the grooves are quite stinky. There’s a track called ‘My Number’ that had a Curtis Mayfield groove which was pretty unashamedly funk, for want of a better word”.

I’m also heavily jealous of friends who are travelling the UK in the next few months as they also plan to tour pretty fiendishly following the release of this record, and with tracks like My Number and Inhaler already showcased it’s safe to say their shows will have gotten a shit tonne more enjoyable than the cargo loads of fun it already was.

Fenech-Soler – TBA (March-May)

Cult-status electronic rockers Fenech-Soler premiered the video for their single “All I know” back in October, 2012. As it was their first new original material in 2 years I was understandably excited for what is to come while the band finishes up their second album, slated for a Spring 2013 release. While no other songs have yet been heard, the first single has all the same anthemic quality that Demons had from their first album with big massive buildups carried by singer Ben Duffy’s voice crashing into pulsating four-to-the-floor drops. 

If this upcoming release is anything at all like their first studio album, fans and soon-to-be fans are going to be in for an absolute treat. These guys remind me of a UK version of something like The Presets. Not as specific as sounding like them, but in the way that they have that uncanny ability to take electro-rock music into the most unbelievably catchy domain it could ever possibly go into. Between Duffy’s amazing voice and form and the beat of tracks like Golden Sun and Stone Bridge, it only takes a few listens to start kicking yourself and wondering why you didn’t hear this stuff years ago.

Future Screens – TBA (January)

Never heard of Future Screens? Not many people have. It’s hard to understand the logistics behind a band of this calibre only obtaining a measly 1,000 likes on Facebook once you’ve heard their releases so far. Songs like Don’t Stop (which was heavily favoured on the sterling BIRP! July playlist) and Sidewalk Chalk were two of my favourite releases from 2012 and it was not even a difficult decision to sideline my hate for junk mail from random pointless websites and sign up for Future Screens band camp newsletters.

It was only the other day I received an email informing me of this future release and although nothing has yet appeared on the internet, iTunes or even Band Camp (I’m assuming due to the bands humble status and lack of music label), I can only assume based on every single thing they’ve done so far that when this new album is ejected unto the world it will be one of the best things to grace your ears in 2013.