Yup, we did it. We were able to find two new Crystal bands in consecutive weeks. Last week it was the Euro-dance Kitsune product Crystal Fighters, this week it’s Vancouver’s psychedelic-punk-pioneers Twin Crystals. But don’t be scared off by the name.

Like every good “crystal” band, they have a synth-aesthetic, but the stereotypes stop there. They add a bit of the synth-punk made famous by bands like The Death Set or Team Robespierre to a dissodent backdrop of psychedelic fusion more akin to fellow Canadians DD/MM/YYYY. Featuring members of Modern Creatures, they are part of a burgeoning Vancouver punk scene that includes bands like Shearing Pinx, Nu Sensae and the Defektors, yet embody more of a universal sound that would also go over well with the bong tokers (hey, it’s Vancouver) and the dance kids in addition to the punks. That’s marketability baby!

Their self-titled LP was recently released on Needs More Ram Records and is getting critical praise abound, while their split 10-inch with Night Wounds is quite possibly one of the coolest vinyl releases we’ve seen (they were cut on acetate blanks from 1941). This track, “Two Girls”, actually comes from their Separated Birth EP. We recommend them all.

Twin Crystals – “Two Girls”

Bringing a progressive agglomeration of Basque-influenced folk, electronic synthetic beats and unparalleled vocals to the forefront of European music through their infamous live shows and rigorous tour schedule, the East London-based five-some of fury Crystal Fighters are absolutely killing it.

With their first single official “Xtatic Truth”, released on Parisian powerhouse, Kitsune, last week, the band is gearing up for more brain busting to come, especially with the release of their first full length later this year. Last year, the group gained fame with their Internet smash “I Love London”, voted in Mixmag’s Top 100 Records for 2008 — the only unreleased single in the top 100 — and with a stellar session at Radio 1 Live Session for Rob da Bank. If these tracks don’t make you want to rip your shirt off and dive into a sweaty sea of beautiful people and glistening gems, I don’t know what will.

Crystal Fighters – “Xtatic Truth”

Crystal Fighters – “I Love London” [via Pinglewood]

By Sarah Zellweger

Have you ever wondered what would happen if High Places and Dan Deacon had a love child? Aside from the hotly disturbing picture this thought paints (no offense to anyone), it would probably sound something like Best Hits.

We first heard Best Hits at a show on April at New York’s Cake Shop where they played alongside fellow freak, dance-electronic outfit dANA. A three-piece (two guys, one girl), Best Hits take the calypso-meets-jungle aesthetic of High Places and adds the increasingly popular 8-bit acid house glitch to create something that is equally at home in both the noise/avant continuum and a straight up glo-stick waving dance party.

After catching their incredibly fun set at Cake Shop, we approached them and asked for recorded material. Later that week we were hit up with an e-mail letting us know they recorded the entire set and made it available for download. So here is their entire set from that night with track listing below. And if you like what you hear, you can download the entire set here, or go to their MySpace to hear more.

Best Hits live April 10 @ Cake Shop | NYC

Best Hits April 10 set list @ Cake Shop | NYC
1. Queen Reade
2. Hot Water
3. Finally
4. Cheriol
5. Tons of Eyes
6. Like Dat
7. Secret Miami

This week, our never ending quest to find you the best new sounds takes us to the remote plains of Bisbee, Arizona, an old mining town that’s since blossomed as an unlikely artistic mecca deep in the desert. It’s here that pummeling death-punk quartet Francis Harold & the Holograms call home, which, given their penchant for ear-splitting noise and shredded songcraft, puts them at odds with the area’s picturesque views and generally calm demeanor. An inscrutable entity, the band never appear in public without their ghoulish masks, which, despite making you think of Slipknot, actually adds an air of the occult to anything they lay their sticky hands on.

They’ve been kicking around for a while, but have, until just recently, only released one 7″, a brilliantly brief (and rather limited) two-song eponymous EP on Going Underground Records. That all changes this month though, with the release of their first full-length, another eponymous effort that is being co-released by Going Underground and Square Wave Records. In addition, there will be a new 7″ on HoZac and a full-scale U.S. tour slated for this summer. So, if mind-shredding noise-punk and (potentially) getting kicked in the face by a guitar-wielding, be-masked psychopath sounds like the perfect night out, make sure to catch them as they steamroll their way through a town near you this June/July.

Francis Harold And The Holograms – “The Eagle Can’t Fly With One Wing”

There’s been a little buzz building here and there about Zola Jesus — we were lucky enough to see her at SxSW — and we’d like to take this opportunity to turn the buzz up to 11. She’s Nika Danilova, she’s 19 and the quote on her MySpace says it all: “fear the banshee.”

We wouldn’t necessarily compare her vocals with a banshee, but there is something wild and uncontrolled about her singing, and when coupled with a crackling, lo-fi sound and trance-inducing electronic beats, it’s a formula for musical addiction. She’s recently released New Amsterdam, a CD-R on Sacred Bones, she’s got a re-pressed 7-inch, Souer Sewer, also on Sacred Bones and a 12-inch EP, Tsar Bomba on Troubleman. On top of all this she’s got an LP — The Spoils — forthcoming on Sacred Bones, she’s touring this summer with Wet Hair and the product of her collaboration with Dead Luke will be out soon on Aurora Borealis.

Check out “Odessa” here, and as always, treat your ears to more at Zola Jesus’s MySpace.

Zola Jesus – “Odessa”

Have you ever thought “Man, I like Vampire Weekend, but I wish they added a bit more electro to their Afro-beat”? Well, that’s what we’re here for. Meet Cartridge, four dudes from Denmark who mix funky bass grooves, ethereal vocals, traditional pop and oh, yeah — those lovely synth notes.

Cartridge is Mathias Wullum Nielsen, Thomas Hjorth Vesterbaek, Alex Phumoon Thomsen and Niels Fibaek Bertel. We mentioned they were Danish, right? We’ve got their latest single, “The Woods”, for you to check out. It’s out digitally now, and you can get the 7″ single (with a bonus track!) May 9. It’s tearin’ up the charts in Europe, and we can see why.

They’ll be playing Rock-A-Field in Luxembourg June 28 alongside Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, The Ting Tings and others. And as always, you can check out more tracks on their MySpace.

Cartridge – “The Woods”