Anyone who’s familiar with the Brooklyn and Baltimore scenes has run across GDFX at one point or another. You might know him better as one of the members of Teeth Mountain and the newest drummer for Liturgy. Or maybe you’re looking forward to seeing him on his current stint backing Dan Deacon as part of Deacon’s 14-person touring ensemble. And if you’re really in the know, maybe you’ve booked a show at Market Hotel through him or are hip to his micro-label Infinite Limbs. Either way, Greg Fox is a man who wears many hats whose solo project goes by the title of GDFX.

GDFX sees Greg step away from the drum kit and take a stab at twisting knobs. Filled with integrity, we’re actually fond of his work as GDFX because of it’s pop-sensibilities. Much like our friend Dan Friel — although with heavier nod to the 8-bit gods — Greg’s hob-knobbery (like that one?) is filled with plenty of catchy hooks. Too bad few of them are present in the clip below, because as fate would have it, Greg’s gear — along with a flash card that held the last five years of GDFX material — was stolen before his New Year’s show with, ironically enough, Dan Friel and These Are Powers. From the GDFX >MySpace blog on New Year’s day, 2009:

thank you to the people who broke into my car and stole all of my gear

be wary of the false gdfx.

But don’t fret, GDFX has pressed on, as his show last night with Double Dagger and Future Island and the brand new 20-minute epic track “Long Chord” will attest.

GDFX – “Long Chord”

They list as their influences The Beach Boys, The Boss and just plain ol’ New Jersey. And Real Estate are definitely a beach rock band — but it’s a style that begs to reinvent the genre rather than hearken to its heyday. Or the Jersey Shores. Whichever.

Real Estate is Matt Mondanile, Martin Courtney, Etienne Duguay and Alex Bleeker. They just released their debut 7″ “Suburban Beverage” on February 1. (You can pick one up at a show — they play Pianos in NYC April 11 and Public Assembly in Brooklyn on May 7 — or order one from Underwater Peoples). The white 7″ vinyl comes with a CD of the tracks.

In a recent interview with Stereogum, Courtney said that as for “Suburban Beverage”, “the songs on that were recorded mostly by me with Matt before the band really coalesced.” They also told Stereogum that they’re working on a second 7″ to be released on City Center. They’re recording it themselves, and they don’t have any ideas a on possible release date yet.

We’ll be interested to see what this new recording produces, since we were pretty impressed by what they’ve done so far. Check it out for yourself — we’ve got “Suburban Beverage” for you below.

Real Estate – “Suburban Beverage”

In keeping with our SxSW New Music Thursday theme, your second band of the day is Pocahaunted, a duo out of Eagle Rock, Califorina, who (depending on who you ask) either call themselves or were once called “the Olsen Twins of blissed-out drone.”

Pocahaunted is Bethany and Amanda, two gals who play a mix of drone and psychedelic bliss and who we saw at SxSW with a band and thought it only right to pass along to you. They record on Not Not Fun, and have released a ridiculous number of albums, even if you only count the ones they’ve completed in the last year. One blogger we came across called them prolific, and we’ll have to agree.

Check out “Riddim Queen” here, and listen to more from their recent Island Diamonds LP on their MySpace.

Pocahaunted – “Riddim Queen”

They list as their influences bands from an amalgam of genres and musical spectrums, but when you hear The Splinters play, it all makes sense. They are Sonic Youth meets The Shangri-Las, The Breeders meet The Evens. They are Ashley, Caroline, Lauren and Courtney. They are from Berkeley. And they’d like to rock for you.

They caught our attention at SxSW with their mix of garage rock, girl-band, riot grrrl, folk and alternative. Plus, their debut EP comes in a hand-decorated cover slip with original art by members of the band — no two are alike. It looks like at this point you can only nab copies at one of their gigs, but we’ve got a track from the EP for you to check out. Enjoy.

The Splinters – “Splintered Bridges”

So last night I went to a show at Death by Audio that featured the likes of well known noisemakers AIDS Wolf, Fiasco and Sightings. Opening the show was Meghan Remy, a Philly-based noise concoctor who goes by the name of U.S. Girls. I’ve been catching word of her performances for the past few months, but after finally seeing her for myself, I suggest getting acquainted.

A one-woman show drenched in fuzz and reverb a la Wavves or the Dum Dum Girls, but with a much more cerebral approach (see: not as poppy) and vocals that will send shivers down your spine. Unlike the lazy drawl of many of the lo-fi deconstructionists, Meghan takes an almost R&B vibe on her vocals, belting out emphatically over the heavy beats and blips. She’s put out a handful of cassette and 7″ releases, so in an attempt to auralize her wide range, we’re going to offer up an original U.S. Girls track — “Found On The Ground” — and her cover of The Dave Clark Five’s “Bits And Pieces”.

U.S. Girls – “Bits And Pieces”

U.S. Girls – “Found On The Ground”

Many musicians try different sounds, vibes and configurations before hitting on one that seems to ring true. Josh Thomas had been through a couple of different bands prior to landing on the post-shoe gaze freak-out that is Kansas City’s High Diving Ponies.

There was Bodisartha, the Nirvana/Mudhoney alterna-grunge band that released two albums. Then came The Spidermums, a band the released a few EPs and got a mention in Pitchfork for their cover of The Amps’ “Bragging Party” that appeared on a compilation with Deerhunter. “Pitchfork is always looking for a reason to write about Deerhunter so I guess that’s how I wound up on there.”

But with High Diving Ponies, Josh says he wants to go in a entirely different direction. That’s one of the reasons his previous band is no more. “Bodisartha was too heavily associated with the Nirvana and the music I was making wasn’t fitting into that mold anymore. I just wanted to do something different.” Hence, High Diving Ponies.

The band pieced together with members of KC bluescore band The Factory Workers (Justin Brooks on drums and Al Amador on bass) along with friends Steve Williams on cello and Kyle Pugh on guitar. Although Thomas said he had the songs written before putting together the band, High Diving Ponies is not a one-man band. “We’ve come up with a lot just fucking around at practice. These guys bring out things I would have never thought of. The next record will be a totally collaborative effort.”

Thomas sights My Bloody Valentine, The Flaming Lips, Vivian Girls, Boo and Boo Too and The Beatles as music favorites that lead to the creation of HDP and a sound he affectionately calls “danger pop.” It is a swirling dream of effects, acoustic/electric guitars and vocals that sound like they were recorded in a room a thousand years wide. Traditional song craft, melody and structure stand hand in hand with anarchy and chaos. The three songs on the band’s MySpace page (“Muppets”, “Meatheads” and “I Smell Like Smoke”) are a step in the right, unsettling direction.

An album is in the works but Josh is taking his time with the release. “Hopefully it will be out this summer,” he said. “We’re almost done recording it but I want to sit on it a month and then go back and listen to it and make sure we still think it sounds right. There’s no rush to release it.” When it is released it will be on Circle View/Chomp Womp. And he will go the old school route: it will be DIY cds with spray painted covers — and if they can get the plates done cheap enough, Josh says he’d like to do vinyl, a limited run of about 300.

Though he considers him part of the “Chomp Womp Family”, a collective made up of Kansas City/ Lawrence, Kansas bands Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk (previously featured in Notes From Middle America), Rooftop Vigilantes and many others, he stops short at calling himself part of the KC music community. “It’s not really a good scene,” he said. “There are no good radio stations, no good zines but there are some good venues. Maybe it is a good scene. I don’t know, I’m not part of it. I’m doing my own thing.”

If doing his own thing consists of surrounding himself with great musicians making strange, dreamy, at times violent and always thought-provoking music, it’s ok if he’s not part of a conventional scene. He knows what he wants to do, he’s good at it and that’s scene enough.

High Diving Ponies – “Muppets”

It’s a bit like running through razor blades then diving into a swimming pool full of rubbing alcohol when a band takes on groups like The Cure, Bloc Party, Jane’s Addiction, New Order and Franz Ferdinand: the chances of catastrophe and painful death are magnified by 47 million.

Many acts have tried to ape their heroes and have failed miserably (see Bauhaus doppelgangers She Wants Revenge). The Killers have attempted to mug U2, Springsteen and Joy Division for their sound and the results have, for the most part, been more lukewarm than killer. The one-time touted second coming of rock, The Strokes, attempted to borrow from the Television and Lou Reed songbooks and quicker than you can say “Marquee Moon” the band went the way of the dodo bird.

But sometimes, when the clouds part, the seas grow calm and beasts large and small live together in harmony, a band that covets their influences and shapes said influences into something all their own comes along. That band in this case is Kansas City, Missouri’s, Queens Club.

QC first began gathering attention through their expansive live shows and a strong push from Kansas City alternative rock radio station 96.5 The Buzz, specifically the Sunday evening local music showcase Homegrown Buzz. Early last year the newly formed band (Tyler Bottles – bass, Jake Ryan – drums/ programming, Daniel Eaton – vocals/guitars and Andrew Nichols – guitars/vocals/programming) became a local sensation with their debut single “Nightmarer” and word of mouth was so strong that late last year they did a showcase for the record label Tooth and Nail.

Though no deal is set as of yet, Tyler Bottles told me that they are optimistic. “We’re really hoping to get signed, every band that makes music wants to have their music heard. But if we don’t, we’ll release it ourselves and see what happens.”

The album, so far untitled, is a perfect storm of Euro dance rock, indie sophistication and a sprinkling of punk rock’s filth and fury snottiness (see the pummeling track “I’m American”); all aspects of the Queens Club dynamic fit together smoothly like cogs in a well oiled machine. It’s almost frightening to me that a band that’s only been together a little over a year can kick out a debut this tight, well written and infectious. Yes, the clouds have parted, dogs are living peacefully with their feline friends and the rock Gods have smiled on this Midwestern band. Take my advice: When they come to your town, go and see them in the club because soon enough, they’ll be selling out stadiums.

Listen to Queen’s Club here.

Another freak, electronic outfit who now calls Brooklyn home and like giving away their music for free, which is good news for us. With an ambiance of Soft Circle, the frenetic craziness of Lucky Dragons and the pop sensibilities of Dan Friel, dANA mixes anything and everything to pull off hipster noise-art that doesn’t make us cringe.

Once again taking a tip from our friends who have their ears firmly planted to the ground, Impose posted the entire Vvssta EP (”Vista”) here, of which we have the unquestionable banger, “Luv Express”. But before you go condemning Impose for just giving it away, take note of dANA’s musical philosphies. The Bard-based band with ties to warped electronic projects like Best Hits and GDFX preaches, “free share, no violence// say NO to copyright, NO to agro music bros, NO to grassroots capitalism, NO to limited edition fetish, NO to lmt edt’d krautpsychfuzzpsyche. death to the cult of genius+beauty. tear down the boys-only music club. !! ffree is easyy/ easy is fun. copyright is boring violence of+against minds. copy/use/steal/share/burn/decompose/dissemble/eat/profanatize/de-sanitize.” [sic]

Coming soon to a d.i.y. show or a NY Times review near you.

dANA – “Luv Express”

In honor of last night’s BRIT awards, we’ve gone all U.K., all the time with this week’s New Music Thursday picks. Up now is a sloppy little garage-pop trio from London we’ve been following called Let’s Wrestle who might just be headed to a town (or an Austin music festival) near you soon.

Let’s Wrestle has this casual sound that sort of mimics that dressed-down style where you’re trying to say to the world, hey. I didn’t really try or anything, but I look good in a kind of disheveled way, don’t I? Singer Wesley Patrick Gonzalez has this slow, relaxed, almost apathetic vocal style that pairs well with the scratchy, imperfect, U.K. version of the currently popular U.S. garage rock sound, a la Vivian Girls, Blank Dogs, Wavves, etc.

They released a three-song EP Song for Abba Tribute Record in 2007 and a six-song disc called In Loving Memory Of… in 2008 and now they’re heading to the states soon to play with — appropriately anough — the Black Lips and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart before heading down to SXSW. Check out “I’m OK, You’re OK” here.

Let’s Wrestle – “I’m OK, You’re OK”

Let’s Wrestle on tour
03.10.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg) w/ Black Lips, Gentleman Jesse & His Men
03.11.09 – Hoboken, NJ (Maxwell’s)
03.12.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Monster Island Basement) w/ Cause Co-Motion
03.13.09 – Brooklyn, NY (The Bellhouse) w/ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
03.14.09 – Baltimore, MD (The Talking Head Club at Sonar) w/ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
03.15.09 – Chapel Hill, NC (Local 506) w/ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
03.16.09 – Atlanta, GA (The Earl) w/ The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Kitchen sink indie pop. Why kitchen sink? Think “everything but the,” and turn it into a musical philosophy, and you’ve got Little Comets, kitchen sink indie poppers from Newcastle who believe wholeheartedly in the value of the ambush gig.

Since they first formed in 2008, they’ve never been big fans of doing what the other kids do, like playing concert halls and bars. They prefer university lecture halls and public transportation. But they’re no mariachi band on a subway car. They are widly eclectic mix of percussive sound meets solid pop-rock basics meets a little riffin’ bass line and some blues guitar.

The band is comprised of borthers Robbie and Mickey and their friends Matt and Mark. Their first single, “One Night in October”, was released February 9, and they’re currently planning a self-produced, possibly self-released debut album. As well as, of course, plans to “hit a really huge lecture theatre in a prestigious university, to really put the cat amongst the pigeons.” Robbie’s words, not ours.

Little Comets – “One Night in October”

Keeping it in Brooklyn this Thursday, but moving from psych to 8-bit punk, we bring you Graffiti Monsters. The brainchild of artist and musician Mark DeNardo and comprised of an all-star Brooklyn band including Louis Shannon [Runtime Error], Julian Bennett Holmes [Fiasco], and Jeremy Wolfe Kivett [Sousalves], Graffiti Monsters has been making friends and playing shows in the New York punk circuit, the 8-bitpeoples collectives, and Brooklyn noise scene since the start of 2008.

While they’re bros with the 8-bitpeoples collective and standouts Anamanaguchi, Graffiti Monsters bring a bit more diversity to the table than most of their Nintendo-inspired brethren. Infusing indie-rock and noise into equation, we’re left with something like Pavement or the Talking Heads on a freak-out, all-night video-game bender. Check out this rough mix of the single “100%”, which we’re told will appear on an upcoming record soon and you can catch the band at one of 6 or 7 shows at SxSW.

Graffiti Monsters – “100%”

This week’s addition of New Music Thursdays we’re bringing it home. Well, it’s not home for everyone at the Tripwire, but Brooklyn is so close to our New York offices that we can’t help but feel like we’re kindred spirits with all of the beautiful music permeating out of the fine borough. First up is a band that is making noise in the Brooklyn diy scene — literally and figuratively — as large as their name would suggest.

Dinowalrus is a three-person drum n’ drone band out of Brooklyn, NY whose current live incarnation began in 2006. In an attempt to capture some of the spontaneity of their improvisational instincts and retain the complex spatiality of their recorded experiments, they re-invent their instrumentation with every song and every performance. Some tunes feature dueling Lee n’ Thurston guitar interplay between Pete and Kyle, some feature Kyle frantically playing the bass, sampler and synthesizer simultaneously, and others revolve around Josh drumming toe-to-toe with electronic beats. To us it kind of sounds like an updated Butthole Surfers — which is never a bad thing. The still-young band relies heavily on the use of self-sustaining electronic devices to push its sound into a lush atmospheric haze, including an optical theremin, a sampler, and a 1983 Roland analogue synth.

They just self-released their first proper 7″ with the single “Electric Car, Gas Guitar” on the a-side with “Cage Those Pythons” on the flip. It features a bi-fold insert design that the band created and was screenprinted by Ian Graezter of Titus Andronicus on leftover cardstock from their “Albert Camus” 7″ on Troubleman Unlimited (nice touch), and each jacket is hand-numbered. They plan on releasing a full-length later this year on the once-defunct Female Fun Records, who before being forced to stop operations due to the bankruptcy of Studio Distribution, put out records by Prince Paul and MF Doom. You can check out “Electric Car, Gas Guitar” below.

Dinowalrus – “Electric Car, Gas Guitar”

If Kanye’s going to give us some love for our music tastes, then we’re going to give it right back. It just so happens that he recently blogged about these kids from St. Petersburg, Fla., who call themselves Blind Man’s Colour and who we also think are pretty damn good.

In a blog eloquently titled Some Dope Shit For My Apartment!! (the same one he posted our nod in), Kanye mentions having found Blind Man’s Colour via Indie Rock Cafe. The duo (Kyle Wyss and Orha Chettri) is currently unsigned, but they’ve got a new album, Season Dreaming, that they’re hoping to release soon.

They told Indie Rock Cafe that they’ve been making music together since 8th grade, and that they’re officially shopping their record to labels, looking for a home. They’ve self-released a few mixes over the years, some of which you can find for download via their blog.

And it has to be said, we’re definitely not surprised Kanye likes these guys. The sound texture is thick, bright and full-to-bursting. It’s a highly layered electronic sound that still stays true to the basics of rock and pop, which value a well-placed guitar solo and thoughtful rhythmic timing. At times it’s very much like a mellowed-out MGMT, with a softer vocal style and a far-away beat that we imagine is what music would sound like from the womb. In a good way.

It should also be noted that BMC is getting attention for covering a current over-hyped band, but we have two originals for you to check out. “Jimmy Dove”, which is on their their MySpace, and “The Warm Current’s Pull”, which is not.

Blind Man’s Colour – “Jimmy Dove”

Blind Man’s Colour – “The Warm Current’s Pull”

We mentioned them before, but we figured it was time to give our favorite all-female noise duo their own proper post. And following on our tip of mentioning bands that famous people like, Talk Normal comes pre-approved by none other than Marnie Stern.

Talk Normal is comprised of drummer Andrya Ambro and guitarist Sarah Register. To quote ourselves, we’ve witnessed an astute musical maturation process happening with the girls from Talk Normal. What started as misconstrued noise has morphed into distinct patterns backed by a wall of sound. It reminds us a bit of early Magik Markers, which is always good company to keep.

Now, to quote Mike Wolf from the Talk Normal bio: Here’s a pin on the map, if you promise not to get stuck on it: No Wave. Yeah, it’s au courant. But influences are to inspire, not to mimic. Lydia Lunch described a scene where the freaks and outcasts ran to “land’s end and all at once screamed their bloody heads off.” Thirty years of erosion and now the edge has come to you. What are you going to do, try to scream like they did then? Or should you choose to accept…Talk Normal.

The track “Lemonade” represents one their most accessible songs — whatever that means — and along with four others, make up the Secret Cog EP, which will be self-released on March 3. From there, Talk Normal will take the release celebration on the road and down to SxSW.

Talk Normal – “Lemonade”

Talk Normal tour dates
02.27.09 – Annandale-on-Hudson, NY (Bard College)# w/TALL FIRS & RED DAWN II
02.28.09 – Amherst, MA (Hampshire College)#
03.11.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Death By Audio)&
03.13.09 – Pittsburgh, PA (Garfield Artworks)**
03.15.09 – Iowa City, IO (Public Space One)##
03.16.09 – Lawrence, KS (8th Street Taproom)&&
03.18.09 – Austin, TX (Natrix Natrix House)
03.19.09 – Austin, TX (SxSW)
03.20.09 – Austin, TX (SxSW, Knitting Factory Day Party)
03.21.09 – Austin, TX (SxSW)
03.22.09 – Houston, TX (TBA)*
03.23.09 – Jackson, MS (TBA)*
03.24.09 – Birmingham, AL (TBA)*
03.25.09 – Greenville, NC (TBA)*
03.26.09 – Chapel Hill, NC (TBA)*
03.27.09 – Philadelphia, PA (TBA)*

* w/ US Girls
# w/Tall Firs and Red Dawn II
& w/AIDS Wolf, Sightings, Fiasco, US Girls
** w/ Edie Sedgwick, Medications, Afuche & Eat Sugar
## w/ AIDS Wolf, US Girls, Wet Hair
&& w/ Boo & Boo Too, Coat Party

It’s that special time of the week again — and today we’re bringing you a little Crypt-inspired garage and surf rock courtesy of The Beets, straight outta Queens and into our hearts.

It should be noted, of course, that we’re talking about these Beets, not these Beets. They are Juan Wauters on guitar and vocals, Jose Garcia on bass and vocals, Jacob Warstler on drums and vocals and (according to the band’s MySpace profile) Matthew Volz as “official artist and muse” and Emi Delico as “musical, spiritual and psychological support.”

Together for about two years, The Beets’ sound takes the garage (un)sensibility of The Black Lips and mixes it with the casual, almost lazy vocal stylings of the Vivian Girls. They’re actually closer in vein to Brooklyn’s caUSE co-MOTION, but we like throwing around famous people’s names. The result is a little garage, a little bit 60s mod, and the teeniest tiniest bit of surf rock. The Beets are like the poor-man’s Kinks — which would be the Monks, but who remembers them? If you do, you’ll love the track “Happy But On My Way”.

The Beets – “Happy But On My Way”

Times are tough, really tough. Chances are at least one of the many misers (a.k.a friends/coworkers) you encounter in daily living is looking for some pure escapism, and what better way than through a fantastical noise adventure. Recession/winter misery — meet Brooklyn’s Liturgy.

Liturgy takes off in a way Justin Broaderick Godflesh-era would be proud of; loud, off-color, demented, yet surprisingly uplifting and emotional. The commanding combination of distorted vocals, weaving guitars and time-keeping loops and blast beats results in a dizzying propeller of sound that compels you to check how many BPM’s that bad boy can take. Comparisons are always a bore, but Liturgy preach from the book of The Berzerker, by way of old school Zao — raw electronic tone that at first listen may not grab you in melodically, but after experiencing the music as a whole interweaving package will leave you craving the good word more and more.

Evolving from a one man show, Liturgy frontman/axe grinder Hunter Hunt Hendrix has assembled a dream team of musicians to help spread the black metal video game soundtrack gospel. Comprised of second guitarist Bernard Gann, bassist Tyler Dusenbury and drummer Greg Fox, Liturgy’s live show is memorable for its irreverently captivating vibe. Hendrix also boasts front-man cred for the equally experimental, stonerific rock band Birthday Boyz, which in stark contrast to the driving force of Liturgy, maintains some seriously well executed harmonies soaked in repetition. Birthday Boyz rocks like a less distorted Mastodon, tight and technical with gritty melody; ironically Bill and Brann of Mastodon were in a band call Lethargy… Oh how the fates align.

The recent crop of Brooklyn death meal proteges isn’t much of a shock, with unemployment rates at staggering highs, the late 80s and 90s making a questionable comeback and some of metals’ seminal acts returning to the touring circuit, namely Carcass, Napalm Death and At The Gates, and Liturgy reminds us of all of the downtrodden lustre of these bands.

Liturgy – “Beyond The Magic Forest”

We don’t know a heck of a lot about this kid, other than that he comes from Indiana and calls himself Spirit Spine. But if you’re like the rest of the internet and can’t stop raving about Animal Collective’s latest, you should probably check him out.

Spirit Spine (Joseph Denny) lists as his influences a crazy wide spectrum of artists, from Animal Collective (we told you so!), Beck, The Cars and The Talking Heads to Kraftwerk and Bo Diddley. Hey, we dig it. Sometimes it’s low-toned singing over ambient noise, sometimes it’s a transfixing beat, but so far it always seems interesting. Spirit Spine’s self-titled debut album was released this month with “Trickledown” being one of our favorites tracks.

Spirit Spine – “Trickledown”

In the pattern of overnight sensations who’ve definitely been around since way before last night comes Miranda Lee Richards. She writes, she sings, she walks on water, and you can check her out here.

Richards’ first album The Herethereafter was released in 2001, and it’s been eight years and an EP of musical tinkering, growth and expansion of sound. Her sophomore album, Light of X, is set to hit stores Feb. 10 on Nettwerk, and it’s already got more buzz going than a keg party. She’s been listed as on of The Boston Globe’s “Nine to Watch 2009″ and The Washington Times’ “Four to Watch 2009.”

It’s ephemeral, airy pop with some thoughtful soul infusions that puts Richards’ voice at the center of the landscape. She’s originally from San Francisco, the child of some pretty famous hippies (her dad was an underground comic and her mom was one of the founding editors of High Times) and it shows a bit sometimes — but in a good way. There is an organic feel to some of the songs that seems quite in keeping with that philosophy.

Have a listen to “Early November” from Light of X below, and if you want a little behind the scenes look, check out this video about the upcoming album.

Miranda Lee Richards – “Early November”

They’ve actually been around since 2002, but in the grand tradition of “overnight successes,” we bring you The Outline, an experimental, amalgam of sound four-piece whose sophomore album, Phantasmagoria, is due out this year.

The Outline is Graham Fink on guitar and lead vocals, Austen Lee on keys, guitar and sax, Max St. John on bass and backing vocals and Mike Trevino on drums. Their debut LP, You Smash It, We’ll Build Around It, was released in 2006, and if you believe record reviews, The Outline have been compared to everyone from Bloc Party and The Strokes to Panic at the Disco! (who they’ve actually supported on tour in the past) and The Postal Service.

We’re not entirely sure about all of that, but they definitely have a sound that is coming from many different places at once. At times it is straightforward rock, at times it’s thoughtful pop with well-placed riffs, and smart use of rhythm and meter — like on “Simpleton,” which you can listen to below. Definitely check out their MySpace for more. We like “Why We’re Better Now” and “Death to Our Enemies.”

The Outline – “Simpleton”

Skint & Demoralised is a duo consisting of producer MiniDog and Matt Abbott, who started honing his musical style at 17 when he began writing and performing spoken word poetry around his UK hometown of Wakefield, Yorkshire. The early heckling he got might be where the groups name comes from, but now that they’re signed to Mercury Records he’s probably not worrying about it anymore.

We have to give credit for the music we’re about to share with you to the BBC’s music newsbeat. They have this great habit of finding really unheard of acts that are also really quite good. Skint & Demoralised are the latest they’ve turned us on to, a spoken word-ish, pop/rock duo from northern England.

In 2007, Abbott was contacted by MiniDog, a producer from Sheffield, who wanted to put Abbott’s demo tracks together. The partnership continued, and now the formula is set — Abbott provides the lyrics, MiniDog, the music. Abbott told the BBC, “We’ve kind of pulled a lot of northern soul, a little bit of Motown and a lot of the Smiths — we’ve brought it up to date with a bit of distortion.”

If you like the delivery of The Streets and the word play of The Arctic Monkeys, you’ll dig Skint & Demoralised. The duo has a new single out Feb. 16, “This Song Is Definitely Not About You”, and the album Love & Other Catastrophes will be out sometime this spring. The album was actually partially recorded in Brooklyn last summer with the now-legendary Dap Kings.

Have a listen to one of the duo’s demo tracks, “Falling in Love (On The 126)” here, and be sure to check out their MySpace to hear the new single “This Song Is Definitely Not About You” and our personal favorite, “Only Lust Ignores Violence Involving Ambulances”.

Skint & Demoralised – “Falling In Love (On The 126)”

Coupleskate isn’t just something that made your palms sweaty in junior high — it’s also a tight indie-rock four-piece from Chicago! The ladies are getting ready to drop their first full-length album, Don’t Scare the Horses this spring.

Their story, like most, is kind of a long one. The quick and dirty version goes something like this: first there was Andrea Bauer (vocals, guitar) and Laura Watral (guitar, vocals, keys), who’d played together a bit while both students at the University of Iowa before pursuing their own musical ventures. They eventually reconnected in Chicago in 2002, along with bassist Carol Bales and drummer Jonathan Durlam.

But those two ended up falling in love and getting married, leaving Chicago in 2006 and leaving Bauer and Watral to find a new rhythm section and reconceptualize Coupleskate. They found Lauren Viera (bass) and Martha Williams (drums) in 2007, and since then the band’s sound has evolved dramatically from its self-released debut EP, Trophy, to the sound fans will finally experience in full with the release of Don’t Scare The Horses.

It’s thought-rock: that place where complex melodies and harmonies meet the simplest rules of a really good bass line, and evocative lyrics float over reverbed guitar solos. In a Jenny Lewis/Ben Gibbard kind of way, Bauer’s casual, calm voice has this way of pulling you in, its very tonality hinting that she knows something she’s not giving away just yet. On top of that, of course, you’ve also got the absolutely irresistably mellow harmonies — delicate, smooth, almost weightless — floating over driving rock beats.

On Don’t Scare the Horses the ladies also bring in the strings, like in the opening of “Laws of Physics,” where they pair perfectly with sustained reverb before drums and rhythmic guitar burst through the texture. You can have a listen to “Laws of Physics” below, and be on the lookout for a music video for the single coming soon. Also included below is “Friends in Pharmacies,” another track from Don’t Scare the Horses.

Coupleskate – “Laws of Physics”

Coupleskate – “Friends in Pharmacies”

So on one of our regular searches around the world wide interweb looking for new music, we have a few regulars we like to scout from. Problem is, then you feel guilty taking the credit for it. Such is the case with the next teen sensation, Fungi Girls.

In case you missed the hint, we found these guys via Impose — who ironically is responsible for Brooklyn teen noisemakers Fiasco’s most recent record — because they are currently hosting a link to download Fungi Girls’ Psilo demo.

Maybe the fact that they are only 14 and 15 years old will help you want to dig out from under their lo-fi murky garage rock and the obvious Vivian Girls and Wavves comparisons. Or maybe it will make you realize how novice bands like those are at such “advanced” ages. Or because that at such a young age, Fungi Girls’ list of references ranging from Suicide and Pavement seem that much more impressive. Whatever the case, the beyond-their-years song writing of Fungi Girls has paid off in the way of two soon to be released split tapes. One with Natural Numbers on North Carolina’s Neon Aztec Records and one with Philadelphia’s Reading Rainbow on California’s Not Not Fun. Not bad for “three Texas teenagers who make noise pop.” The track below, “Crystal Roads”, is on their Psilo demo.

Fungi Girls – “Crystal Roads”

Again we use the term “new” loosely, as Anamanaguchi has been leading NYC’s 8-bit power-pop charge since at least the middle of this millennium’s first decade.

Having recently released their debut album Power Supply on 8BITPEOPLES, the group proudly lists the original Nintendo Entertainment System as one of their primary instruments. Fresh off their performance at the Blip Festival — a fest dedicated to “archaic game and home computer hardware that is recast into the unlikely role of musical instrument” (does that make me archaic for owning those systems when they came out?) — the full live performance band consists of Peter Berkman (Guitar/NES), James DeVito (Bass), Luke Silas (Drums) and Ary Warnaar (Guitar/GameBoy.

Power Supply can be downloaded completely on Anamanaguchi’s page on the 8BITPEOPLES website, but were posted the two most popular tracks that are full of “hyper-melodic, electric powerpop flavor.”

Anamanaguchi – “Power Supply”

Anamanaguchi – “Helix Nebula”

Coming to us courtesy of our delightfully indiepop and delightfully British friends at Twee As Fuck, we bring you Mexican Kids At Home, a five-piece from Derby, UK, who love a little ukulele solo now and then and describe themselves as “four skateboarders and a girl singer.”

They released their second EP, When We All Live in Igloos, in May on weePOP! records. With lots of harmonica-driven melodies, keys, trumpets, organ and an assortment of other noise makers — including that ukulele, which we’re seeing everywhere right now (Exhibit A and Exhibit B) — they create a pop sound that’s light, friendly and unassumingly matter-of-fact in its vocal delivery. We particularly love the holiday treat that awaits on the band’s MySpace page at the moment: “Wholesale XMAS Bore is Over”, with a few funny take-off moments on John and Yoko’s “Happy Christmas (War is Over)”, a fun melody and excellent use of maracas, tambourines and xylophones. And damn, that ukulele.

We also like “No Eyed Deers” and “Plastic Pitchfork Song”, and of course check out “Start A One Man Band!” from the When We All Live in Igloos EP below. With shows in the UK through February, Mexican Kids at Home don’t look to be making a stop off in the U.S. any time soon, but in the meantime, their EPs are available through weePOP!.

Mexican Kids at Home – “Start A One Man Band!”

Mexican Kids at Home
MySpace