Video: Kanye West – Monster

Best late Christmas present ever!

Yeezy's film clip for Monster has finally leaked and it's fucking phenomenal.

Wrap your eyeballs on this gem. You may also want a clean-up towel for Nicki Minaj's cameo.

Video/Mind Fuck: Neon Indian – Mind, Drips

Following on from our previous post, we are now declaring this 'Mind Fuck Monday'.

So running on that theme, please take acid/shrooms now and watch the new video for the song Mind, Drips by analogsters Neon Indian.

It was creatd by Lars Larsen (shit parents) and was created using an analogue video synthesiser. Whatever the fuck that is.

Question: How many hipsters does it take to plug in a light bulb?

Answer: It's an obscure number that you've probably have never heard of.

N-Joi.

Video: Glasser– Apply

Glasser is the name of L.A. grrrl turned Brookylnite (doesn't everyone fuckin' live in Brooklyn nowadays?!) Carmen Mesirow.

Glasser is also one of our fave new artists in 2010.

We thought we'd show you her trippy as fuck video for the highlight track from her debut album, Ring.

We also felt compelled to quote the first comment under aforementioned Youtube vid:

"This video is so trippy, when i was watching it my mom came in and thought i was doing drugs, but i told her its just youtube, the fucked up thing is my mom died 2 years ago, and i dont even own a computer" – eglbc

Roflcopter.

News: Wolf Parade Going On 'Hiatus'

One of the greatest bands of the last decade, Wolf Parade, have announced they'll be going on an extended hiatus as of next year.

Very sad news, despite that their latest album, Expo 86, kinda sucked.

Let's hope this break isn't permanent.

In the meantime, let's take a trip down memory lane:

Videos: The Zoobombs Rocking The Fuck out

In celebration of having our fucking ear drums exploded by Japan's Zoobombs last night, we thought it would be only fair to share the decibel shattering experience with you.

WE RUV U ZOOBOMBS!!!

Interview: A.A. Bondy

I’m nervous as shit when I walk into the Regency Hyatt hotel in Toronto for my interview with A.A. Bondy. His first album American Hearts is genius, so I totally idolise him. But during my research for our talk, I came across an interview he did at a radio station where he more or less acts like a bit of a cunt. And seriously, come on, no one wants to meet someone they’re a fan of, only to find out they’re a cock.

My nervousness is increased 10 fold when while waiting in the lobby I realise that all the cool, hipster kids sitting around me are the members of Best Coast and Wavves! Holy fuck! What am I doing here? I keep waiting for someone to come up and tap me on the shoulder and tell me to “Get the fuck out!”

Luckily I see a familiar face in Zack from Mini Mansions, whom I’d interviewed the previous day. I wander up and start chattin’ and we’re shortly joined by Michael Shuman, co-member of Mini Mansions, bass player for Queens Of The Stone Age, and all round super-nice-dude. He high fives me and I get a boner. He asks “What’s happenin’ man?” I tell him I’m here to interview the Bondster and he politely informs me he’s just behind me. I spin around only to see him whisked away by some short ass blonde douche for another interview. CUNT! I some how grow a pair and quickly intervene.

“Mr Bondy, my name’s Rav. I’m here to interview you.”

“Oh shit, this guy got to me first. I’ll go out with him and be back with you in a bit.”

FUCK!

Twenty anxiety ridden minutes later A.A. Bondy strolls back up to me. “Alright man let’s do this,” he says with a wicked southern drawl. We head to a quiet corner and get comfy.

He looks nothing like the beautiful voice that fills his records. When I listened to American Hearts and his sophomore record When The Devils Loose, I imagined a pretty boy Sufjan Stevens or Connor Oberst look-a-like. The guy sitting before me however, looks like a geezer from a pre-Madonna Guy Ritchie movie. He has a gaunt face, intensely dark eyes, a wiry frame, spider web veined arms, charcoal hair, and his right T-shirt sleeve is rolled up to reveal a nasty-ass looking graze (the result of a recent motorcycle accident he later tells me).

I say “I’m just gonna get the recorder cranking” and he says, “Cool” but already seems distracted. His eyes shooting everywhere, from the floor, to the ceiling to people walking by, and he seems to be a ball of nervous energy, constantly juggling a spindly cigarette in his hands. I think “Shit, he already wants to get the fuck out of here,” but as the interview goes on, I realise that that’s just the way he is. His mannerisms remind me of a spider, or at least a guy called Spider, who shanks you in the prison yard.

“I was listening to your records before and I was thinking the first time heard you was when a friend actually gave me American Hearts as a present.”

“Right.”

“And I was wondering, how large a part do you think word of mouth has played in your career?”

“Actually, I was in Brooklyn where somebody said that. I imagine it’s a lot of it. I mean, I think that and the internet are pretty much the only conduits I’ve had as far as finding out about stuff. Which is really good. I mean, word of mouth certainly existed before but not in the same way, not as immediate. A band can be nobody and somebody by the end of the week. And that just didn’t used to happen.”

“How have you found the difference between crowds now after your first album and now after your second? Are there more people at the shows?”

“It’s steady it feels like. We’re definitely going to places that we’ve never been before, and they’ve been more people there than expected in the first place. At the same time, I’m not really… I’m still in the process of trying to figure out, I don’t know, that there is anything to figure out – where all this stuff sits. It’s still a weird thing to me that you write these songs, you make a record, you get into your van, drive to a town and strangers come and watch you play these things that you’ve made up. Even though it’s existed for a long time in various forms of entertainment, it’s still puzzling to me. You know? I’ve gone and seen people and been moved by something they’ve done and I don’t know how I’ll get my head around it.”

“As for the rest of this year, will there just be more touring or are you planning on making another record. “

“There’ll be touring and another record. It’ll be both things.”

“For the next record will you be working with the Felice Brothers again?”

“No. Well... They might be on some of it. But I’ve been playing with these two guys that I’ve been playing with now for over a year. So, we’ve talked about, maybe, joining forces a little bit. “

“Has it felt good to play in a regular band for those 12 months?”

“Yeah. I mean, we joke about it. We don’t really refer to ourselves as a band, that’d be kind of weird, but yeah it’s good because for a while I was having to put groups of guys together and you know, it takes a long time for anybody who’s playing together to really see what they’re capable of and develop some kind of language that they all speak.”

“In terms of songwriting are you a prolific songwriter or do you have bursts of creativity at different times.”

“No. I’m prolific in terms of melodies and ideas and stuff like that but not prolific in terms of words.”

“And do you think being around these guys in the band your songwriting process will change again?”

“It has. We’ve written a lot of things and I’ve seen what they can become by playing with them. I do write differently, more importantly, because of playing and touring with them. The way I play guitar has changed, the way I sing has changed. So it’s been good for that.”

“And have you changed at all as a live performer over the last few years?”

“I don’t talk as much as I used to. I used to feel like because I was just another guy up there with an acoustic guitar that I needed to do something to separate my self and it kind of just turned into like, a half absurdist stand up routine and half whatever the other thing is. But I don’t really say anything now.”

“Who would you say were your musical influences were growing up and who do you find you are influenced by now, or who do you find inspiration in now?”

“Mostly, I remember hearing stuff that my parents would play, records or whatever but, as far as something that I got into. When I was 12 Purple Rain was my favourite record and it probably still is. There’s a lot of people I’ve listened to over the years that I don’t really care about anymore that I was really excited about. I mean there’s still bands that, like My Bloody Valentine, Loveless, that record had a big, ahhh, left a big impression on me. And then before that American Hearts record I just got into all this American, other peoples folk music and stuff like that. I think I’m kinda through that phase.”

“I’ve heard your music described as a whole bunch of different genres.”

“Me too.”

“Do you have any concept of what you would describe your music yourself?”

“Not yet. I mean, I don’t know how you do it. I mean I guess it’s just like rooted in some kind of traditional, American songbook. Not traditional by meaning like folk or blues but traditional in terms of I think there’s little pieces of all American music in there except for maybe like hip-hop or rap or jazz. So when people ask, I’m just at a loss. I’m a horrible self promoter. I mean it should definitely be something that I know. And I also feel like somehow I always leave myself room to go onto the next thing by not saying anything. But I’ve never been able to answer it.”

“Do you think that's what makes you appealing as an artist – the sense that it's hard for someone to put a label on your music.”

“I have no idea. I mean, there’s those people that like to put things in boxes and I don’t know what purpose that serves to a listener. I mean, I guess it’s just an easy way of opening up the subject. It doesn’t help me, in my iTunes I don’t break everything up into genres, you know what I mean. I could very easily listen to a John Coltrane song or a Crystal Castles song. I mean whichever way I feel like going. It doesn’t really matter. “

“So in terms of what the next record is going to be or where you want to go with writing for this record, are you going in without a plan and it’s just gonna come out how it comes out when it’s time to record? Or do you think you’ll continue to fill out the production values like you did on the last record after American Hearts?”

“I’d like to say that I steer it, but it’s more… it’s just kinda like I kinda let the boat go where the boat wants to go and every once in a while I’ll be like, “I don’t like where it’s going” and then I’ll turn it. But the last record, there were actually two, full records of material recorded and one of them is never gonna come out. You know. “

“You don’t like the record or…?”

“I tend to not end up liking any of them. You know what I mean? I mean, I always think at some point I’m actually gonna make one that I like. But I don’t know, if you work on anything that long that it’s about ‘like’ or ‘dislike’. Either this is true or it’s not. And after that, even if this was true, at a certain point in time it’s rare, and only a few songs off each record will be able to travel outside of that box of wherever it was given life. But I steer it and I don’t steer it.”

“Do you think in the future, that this ‘dislike’ that you might have, will drive you to continue to be creative and produce work?”

“It does seem like there’s some kind of period like pain or suffering. Not pain or just dissatisfaction in between records and I think that is a function of time which will change a little bit till the next one. I’m just kind of frustrated or got to the point where I’m frustrated and I just don’t like the way… I mean I feel like the way I sing is my own. I feel like the way I play guitar is my own, but I don’t feel like the structures that I’m doing are mine and that’s a lot harder thing to personalise. There’s just so many different kinds of songs. So I’d like that to become more distinct. “

At this time I realise that that’s all my questions done so I press stop and shake the man’s hand. We head up a flight of steps to the lobby and chat along the way. I ask him about the show he played the previous night and he tells me “It was okay. ‘Cept I wanted to get fucked up and they only had like six beers in my rider, which was bullshit.”

It's great to meet someone you're a fan of, only to find out they're a fucking legend.

Video: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Check out the latest vid from the Arcade Fire's phenomenal album, The Suburbs.

The video was directed by some guy who's made a couple of clips here and there before. His name's Spike Jonze.

It reminds us a lot of the Smashing Pumpkins' '1979' clip, with a much darker twist.

Also, look out for a couple of the band members making cameo appearances (Hint: watch for the cops!)

Video: Twin Sister – All Around And Away We Go

Our favourite soundtrack band to a heroin overdose, Long Island's dreamy Twin Sister, have a new video out for their song 'All Around And Away We Go' from their Color Your Life EP.

Check out our interview with Twin Sister here, otherwise enjoy the vid!

Video/Free Download: The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

The Decemberists have been telling epic musical tales in various styles for around a decade now and their latest album is a waltz to the alt-country genre.

Their latest album is out early next year, but this is the firt single of it.

It features Gillian Welch, while the album features R.E.M.'s Peter Buck.

Funny seeing as 'The King Is Dead' sounds a tad like the Atlanta superstars.

Check out the vid and download the song for free below.

Song: S. Carey – In The Dirt

Drummers have a knack at sneaking out from behind the skins and making quite an impression on the mic. Phil Collins did it. Dave Grohl did it better. Even Radiohead's Phil Selway has done of it of late (although with a mug like that we doubt he will be a successful frontman anytime soon.

Now Bon Iver's Sean Carey is doing it under the moniker S. Carey. His album's been out for a few months now, but we figured a little more press couldn't hurt.

'In The Dirt' is the standout track of his debut record, All We Grow.

Song: Baths – Animals

Don't you hate it when you hear music from talented kids?!

Baths is the band name of what essentially is 21-year-old L.A. wunda kid Will Wiesenfeld.

Creating sonic landscapes and collages, it follows much in the style of The Books and especially Stateless.

Plug in your head phones and enjoy the ride...

Free Album: Girl Talk – All Day

Fans of sampling super physicist Girl Talk, GET PSYCHED, because the sound splicer has just released a new album called All Day.

And if that wasn't enough he's giving the thing away for FREE!!!

You can download it from his website here.

Ja bless the interweb.

Record Review: Peabody – Loose Manifesto

By Nathan Wood

My old band once opened up for Peabody. In fact, it was probably one of the best gigs we ever played (which isn’t saying much for a band called The Wesley Snipers). But we were tight and we rocked out hard. Fuck, I even busted out a guitar solo while sitting in someone’s lap as they sat at the bar (what a wanker – I know). But regardless, we came off stage feeling like our man bits had grown an inch and a half.

That lasted about three chords into Peabody’s set, by which stage, like a napalm raid, they’d already scorched all memories of our performance from the minds of the audience.

But what else would you expect from such a stalwart of the Sydney music scene. It feels like forever that I’ve been hearing random spins of Peabody tunes on the radio or catching one of their phenomenal live sets onstage at the Annandale, the Lansdowne and the Hopetoun (R.I.P.).

And now the Peabods have released Loose Manifesto, their fourth album but first on their own label, as well as the first without the production touches of Bluebottle Kiss frontman Jamie Hutchings. Despite these changes (or perhaps because of) Loose Manifesto is some of the band’s most impressive work to date.

Like the other great (albeit more successful) front men of his generation in The Drones’ Gareth Liddiard and You Am I’s Tim Rogers, Bruno Brayovic has always sung with proud Australian vowels, and in an easily identifiable tone and timbre that has acted as a watermark for his band’s sound from the beginning. It's these vocals that act as the guidance system on the heat-seeking missile that is Loose Manifesto; one minute he’s cruising and crooning on top of pop tracks that tilt their hat to the bands earlier, Triple J friendly career (see ‘Mirror, Mirror’ or the anthemic ‘No New Riffs’), the next he swerves and explodes into ball tearing rock songs (see ‘Choking’, ‘Already Won’ and the album’s title track).

Throughout this swerving rocket ride, Brayovic is flanked by his equally impressive band members. Guitarist Tristan Courtney-Prior is the old scool "lead guitarist", putting on a performance unmatched by many local guitar slingers, often tearing into his strings in a way that recalls the best of Sonic Youth’s chaotic style (see ’Dead Head’ and ‘It Don’t Matter’). Meanwhile, the band’s rhythm section of Jared Harrison on drums and Ben Chamie on bass, manage to provide an equally precise and thumping bedrock upon which Courtney-Prior and Brayovic's duel guitar wringing thrives.

This is not to say the album is flawless. As much as I enjoy Brayovic’s vocals, he isn’t the greatest singer of all time and sometimes his vocals overpower the music in the mix (see 'I’ve Been Waiting'). Album closer and boogie-woogie punk number ‘It Don’t Matter’, squashes the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and NOFX-style lyrics into an immature mash that doesn’t reflect well on the rest of the record; a bit of a hangnail on the album as a whole.

But Loose Manifesto is as solid as you could possibly expect from a band that has been squeezing out quality tunes and playing like their lives depended on it for well over a decade. And although they will probably never reach the critical and commercial heights of some of their contemporaries, it doesn’t look like they’re going to stop creating excellent material anytime soon. Fuck, they’ll probably outlast the entire Sydney live music scene altogether.

Unlike The Wesley Snipers (R.I.P.).

Originally published on The Vine.

Song: Best Coast/Wavves – Got Something For You

In the all new tradition of all things indie "selling out" to make some well earned cash, the blogworld's ultimo boyfriend/girlfriend duo, Best Coast and Wavves, have combined their sensational song writing forces to write a Christmas song for American super chain Target.

It's actually pretty great too!

You can find the song at this website.

Interview: My Disco

Rav had an interweb chat with My Disco's Ben Andrews about recording his band's latest album, Little Joy, with legendary record maker, Steve Albini; getting your improv on in the studio; and naming an album after a shitty LA bar.

Did it take you boys a long time to record your new album, Little Joy? All of the instruments sound really meticulously recorded.

Not really. We spent four days of initial tracking with Albini (Steve. If you don't know who that is, you have no fucking business reading this) in Chicago and then we were on tour for a bit and then we came back and did about eight days in Sydney like doing vocals and mixing so longer than we've ever spent before but I guess in the grand scheme of things and bands in studios it was still only two weeks max. I reckon if you can't get something good in two weeks then you're doing something wrong.

For sure. What was recording with a producer Albini like?

He's not a producer per say, he kinda cringes at that word. He's more like an engineer in the classic sense like he'll get the songs down as you play them in the best possible way but also the quickest and most natural possible setting. There are definitely no frills with him.

But at the same time he'll pull this amazing drum sound in half an hour and you'll be like, 'Sweet, let's go,' and he gives you the confidence to kinda do what you're there for, which is play the songs and concentrate on your music rather than going, 'Oh do you think the guitar sounds any good?'

So he doesn't fuck around, just sticks the mic's where they've gotta go and get's done with it?

Yeah and that's the way I like to work as well. I hate having to listen to some dude hit a snare drum for 10 hours until he gets that right because by the time of that your ears are fucked and you couldn't be bothered and you're tired. So I like working fast. But at the same time having said that we kind of wanted to take a different approach to mixing and spend a bit longer on it and that's why we came back to Australia and did it with Scott Horscroft at BJB (Big Jesus Burger Studios) in Sydney. We just thought we've worked with him before on a single so let's have the best of both worlds ' a traditional engineer and then a producer sort of vibe. So yeah it was fun and it worked out in our advantage, I think.

How were you guys feeling when you went into record, especially in terms of comparison to how it felt to record your previous records?

It was a lot more relaxed and was a 'Whatever happens in the studio, as long as the vibe's right, is us,' kind of thing. We didn't stress or meticulously rehearse over the songs. We just kind of had them roughly done, 'cos there's a fair bit of improvised stuff on the record and we didn't want to over think it and make it boring for us. So, we just left a lot to chance, and on the way (to the States) I thought, 'Are we a but under prepared,' but it was just about getting the right level of song down and getting the right vibe. Some takes we'd do and they'd be completely different to other takes and that was just kind of the beauty of the album because the fact that they're not songs that are set in stone, you know. They're not songs that you either got it right or you didn't it was more about the feel of each take.

Yeah, the improvisation really comes through a lot on the record, did you guys find that you were coming into the recording with any influences in the back of your mind or were you just coming from that organic place where you were just going into the studio and just playing and seeing what comes out?

I think we knew that we wanted to do it a bit differently especially as we were only tracking with Steve. We were all excited about that idea especially having months between sessions, where we could sit on the record and listen to it at home or wherever and think about what we wanted. And then it also helped because we did vocals in Sydney, so it gave Liam (Andrews: bass/vocals/brother of Ben) a bit more time to come up with different vocal ideas and even a lot of that was down to some of the improvised stuff that he did when we did the tracking because we put a bunch of cool effects on the vocals.

That kind of played a big part in some of the layering and some of the more droney elements in certain songs where there isn't so much vocal part but more layering almost as if we used a drone synth or something. So yeah, it all kind of happened pretty organically and naturally in the studio which I think is the most exciting about it and now while playing it live we're just kind of reworking how to play it in the live setting .

What would you say is your favourite track on the record?

I really like how the song 'With Age' turned out because that turned into a... We had that song as a completely different song and then when we recorded it again, it's got this real depth to it that both of us (Liam and Ben) filled in with the guitar section that I'm really happy with and I really love the drums on it. You know it's kind of tight and clinical but at the same time has this warmth to it. And then I like some of the more expansive songs that surprise me when I listen back and go, 'Oh that's what we did?' like 'Rivers'.

So, where does the name from the album come from?

It's actually the name of a bar that we like to go to in Los Angeles. It's this kind of seedy, Hispanic kind of hole in the wall bar in Echo Park and it's called Lil' Joy, as in the way we write the abbreviated version on the album. And that was the first port of call where we got off the plane before we recorded anything or whatever. We just kind of went there, had a night off and had a few drinks and were like, 'This is the beginning of a cool adventure' or whatever, so it kind of has this starting place point of view. It's kind of developed into this kind of double meaning where you can see it as 'Little Joy' where, as we draw 'little joy' from this in the pessimistic [sense] or you can look in the glass half full perspective, where it's like a 'little joy' like something small and amazing. It's kind of cool the more after the time I think about it the more things I draw from it.

This marks album number three for the band. Where do you see yourselves in terms of your career or your lifespan as My Disco? Is this something that's still coming really naturally? Because, in my opinion, just through what I've been reading of late about the band and expectations for the album, it feels like Little Joy is going to be a high point for the band. You seem to be getting a lot more attention and interest.

Yeah, definitely. Bands are always evolving whether they're around for six months or 20 years and it's like that for us. Yeah, in some ways we're just hitting our stride now even though we've been a band for seven years or so, and that's kind of exciting because these things take time. We've only just kind of achieved goals that I've been working on for the band for the entire lifespan of it ' international releases and international tours and that kind of thing ' and I see these projects as kind of life long works, and things like that take a lot of time and effort. And we're happy to be in for the long haul, really.

You're doing the hard yards around oz for the album tour, but only one show per town, are the dates you've announced just the initial tour dates and are you guys planning to get round a lot more in the summer.

I don't know, it's about as extensive as we can go. We're still doing regional if you include like Geelong and Newcastle and I include Canberra as regional as these days. I think we're doing Hobart, Perth Freemantle and so 10 or 11 shows all in places that we've been and enjoy going to over the years. Yeah we'll probably do another run next year once the vinyl comes out but it's kind of cool to do a block of a tour that you can put it all up on a poster and get it done before Christmas, because then around December or January there's so much shit going on festivals, it's hard to compete with that kind of stuff so it's good to get a tour in before the bulk of that stuff happens.

What are plans in terms of post the record release? Are you guys gonna burn through Aus for a while and then tackle overseas again?

Yeah we're doing a weekend in NZ in February and then at the moment we've got tentative plans to go to Japan in Feb, an then we're planning a US tour for May/June and then a European tour for September. So I think 2011 will be pretty fun.

Originally published on Polaroids Of Androids.

Record Review: Weezer – Hurley

Fuck you Rivers Cuomo.

Fuck you for not caring anymore.

Fuck you for treating your fans like a joke.

Fuck you for releasing an "album", with songs so shit, that I doubt the first song you ever wrote was this fucking bad.

Fuck you for putting the fat fuck from Lost on the cover of your fucking stupid album.

Fuck you for naming said shit album after said shit character.

Fuck you for wasting a lot of people's time and money in making/publicising/selling this piece of turd.

Fuck you for evaporating the last molecules of credibility you had from your Blue Album/Pinkerton days.

Fuck you for still getting airplay for your stupid fucking album just because you're in a famous band with a major label1 behind your dumb ass.

Fuck you for not even hiding the fact that you don't give a shit about your new record, by announcing that you're going to do a bank roll down memory lane by touring your first two albums back-to-back – before you've even toured this abortion properly!

Fuck you for not playing both albums on the same night and making fans pay twice as much.

Fuck you for making me so angry that I'm compelled to write about it, thus publicising aforementioned album even more and possibly (though I pray to God2 hopefully not) leading to more unfortunate ears listening to it, in order to forge their own opinion.

Fuck you for fucking up those people's day now.

Fuck you Rivers Cuomo.

Editors notes:
1. While some may attempt to argue that the band's recent signing to Epitaph means they're now independent, it should be pointed out that Epitaph are registered with the RIAA and are distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance, which Warner Music Group owns 95% of. PS: there are no 'indie' labels anymore.
2. SATAN.

Originally published on Polaroids Of Androids.

New Music: Girls – Heartbreaker

Fucked up childhood/former cult member/Elvis Costello impersonators Girls have a new EP out November 23.

You can download one of the tracks, 'Heartbreaker' for free, roit heyar guvna!

Video: Best Coast – Boyfriend

You've got to admit: 2010 has been pretty awesome to Best Coast. They've gone from being a little known surfy, retro band pre SXSW into a blogosphere and Pitchfork fave, into one of the biggest indie bands of the year.

And now they have a sweet video to go along with their great ditty Boyfriend.

Enjoy kids.

Article: Tyler, The Creator talks to Cool'eh magazine

If you haven't heard Tyler, The Creator and his Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All collective yet, SHIT! The bandwagon left the station a long time ago.

Guaranteed this time next year, these little fucks (all 10 or so in the colelctive hover around the ages of 16 to 19) will be the biggest shit in hip hop.

But even though there is no hope for you now, we'll give you a chance to catch up on the phenomenon that is OFWGKTA by checking this great interview with The Creator Himself and Cool'eh Magazine:

http://coolehmag.com/frontEnd/interview.php?i=51&s=101

P.S. Here's what you've been missin out on!

Video: George Harrison – Got My Mind Set On You

Happy Monday everyone!

Review: Best Coast – Lee's Palace, Toronto, 25/09/10

"I guess you all read on Twitter that I'm really sick".

Not the first thing you particularly wanna hear when a singer steps up to the mic, but that's how Bethany Cosentino said hello when her band, Best Coast, took to the stage at Lee's Palace in Toronto.

I was already in a shit mood by this point after watching London's Male Bonding blast through their set with a sound mix that sounded like dog shit. I hadn't heard much Male Bonding before, but considering the fuzzed out/fucked up nature of their sound I'm really surprised they're signed to the reinvented dream noise label Sub Pop.

Despite said technical difficulties, their high-energy performance was enough to scavenge some morsels of respect from the crowd and even had a few kids forking out at the merch table post gig.
















A short interval later the girls (and boy) of everyone's favourite summer/Garfield-loving band took the stage and Bob Bruno strapped on a dirty cool Dan Electro baritone guitar, while Cosentino draped a mind-blowingly sexy sea foam green Fender Mustang around her neck.

And despite her early warning that the show might sound like crap, her beautiful voice reverberated through the room with same power and resonance as it does on the band's debut record album Crazy for You.




















She powered through awesome tracks like The End, Boyfriend, Summer Mood and When I'm With You, at times appearing visibly ill, but maintaining her composure and delivering her vocals with amazing clarity.

In stark contrast to Male Bonding the mix for Best Coast was phenomenal, and the occasional additions of chorus and echo to Cosentino's mic added greatly to the performance.
















One of the highlights of the gig was when Bob Bruno, known for being a bit of a mute, grabbed the mic briefly to thank the crowd for it's love and support, comparing Toronto only to the band's hometown of LA in their favourite places to play. Even Cosentino was shocked at his sudden outburst of gratitude, "What the fuck Bob?!"

By the end of the set, Bethany look exhausted but content, much like the rest of the crowd. If this is what Best Coast sound like when they're sick, I can't fuckin' wait to see what they sound like when their in a happy, healthy mood.

Photos by Rosie Ferguson.

Words by Rav

Originally published on Polaroids Of Androids

Video: Arcade Fire – City With No Children / Month Of May (Live, Danforth Music Hall June 2010)

Theses videos were shot by Alt Con Del earlier this year at one of Arcade Fire's secret shows in Toronto pre-The Suburbs release.

Classic Video: Galaxie 500 – Strange (Live)

One of our fave bands from the 80s play a great live version of their classic song Strange.

Not often you get to see a fucking kazoo solo at the start of a song!

Song: Land Of Talk – Cloak And Cipher

This Montreal trio are causing quite a stir at Alt Con Del at the moment. A mix of sweet guitar lilts, a tight rhythm section and a voice that simply devastates, this band is something else.

Cloak And Cipher is also the name of their new album, and this song is a great way to float you through a Friday and into the weekend.

Enjoy!

Video: Boards Of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy

Where the hell has this been on the radar? We only just read about this band in a recent article about their former label, Matador records.

A quick Google investigation later revealed a video fused with sky diving from hi-altitude balloons, synth sounds sucked from the 70s, a splattering of spaghetti western, and a groove to finish the whole mood.

Definitely delving into these Scots' back catalogue!

Interview: Twin Sister

Floating out of Long Island, NY, Twin Sister make dreamy, experimental pop that's so good, you can hardly believe they make it all in their bedrooms and basements. Roving, radical reporter Rav, caught up with the band's bass player Gabe D'Amico to talk about their latest EP Color Your Life, giving up on promoting yourself through MySpace, and why the band decided to sign with Aussie label Pop Frenzy.

How did you guys meet/start playing music together?

The five of us are all from Long Island. We played in several different bands while we were growing up and we kind of met each other playing music with different bands. As time passed we started playing more and more with each other in kind of an informal way and then two years ago it started becoming a little more serious and a little more official.

Where does the band's name come from?

Andrea made this painting for Eric years ago. It was these two sisters around this big fish and then Eric wrote a song about it called Twin Sister and then we were having a really hard time naming our band and that one was just kind of the least offensive. Nobody disliked it so it stuck.

Who would you say are the band's major influences or did you have common influences that brought you guys together?

There's definitely common ground for bands that we all like, and each of us all have our individual tastes. A couple of those that we share would be bands like Cocteau Twins, Stereolab, we all like Japanese pop from the 80s like Yellow Magic Orchestra and the people they worked with. Those are a few of them. And of course we're kind of exploring music. In the last year we've been listening to a lot of Kraftwerk and been getting more into electronic music.

How would you describe your own music?

Our 'go-to' term when we get asked that is usually 'experimental pop' and we're very attached to making songs that have lyrics and are usually between two minutes and five/six minutes. We're not doing anything crazily conceptual but within the bounds of that we do like to try different things.

Obviously you guys are garnering a bit more media attention and general interest in the band of late. Was there a point when you guys were playing together where you felt that you were on to something good or something you hadn't experienced in other bands?

Yeah, especially making music on Long Island, sometimes it starts to feel like you're putting things out there and nobody is listening. There are so many bands that make music and people get inundated with Myspace friend requests and like "Come to my show" posts.

At a certain point we'd given up on promoting ourselves in that way and it had just become us casting songs off to our friends or just acquaintances and keeping it kind of small and it kind of just grew from there.

There was definitely a point where we'd see people [at shows] we don't know. We'd keep seeing somebody writing something online and from places we've never been. That was probably the point where we were like "Oh wow, for whatever reason the stuff we were doing was having some kind of impact."



What's the song writing process within the band? Do you guys collaborate or is there a chief songwriter?

It changes from song to song. Usually what happens is one or two of us have kind of like a little seed of an idea and it sits around for a while. And then someone else will come along with an addition and eventually we'll get to a point where all five of us are really liking the direction of it and then we kind of feel like it's close to being done because everybody's happy.

On Color Your Life, All Around And Away We Go started as a demo that Eric and Andrea recorded together and then Bryan and I recorded a couple of things on top of that demo and then we completely changed the feel the song a few months after it had been written originally while we were just rehearsing. And then the song kind of grew out from there. So everybody at some point in the process gets their hands into the song but it doesn't always start in the same place or end in the same place. Like for the sake of simplicity we just split the songwriter credits five ways, which isn't always accurate to the song but it goes through so many cycles and changes that by the end of it, it is kind of unrecognisable from how it started.

What can you tell me about Color Your Life?

We put it out on our website in March of this year and then it got pressed and released a couple of months later in the US and then it's gonna be put out in Europe and Australia. But it was recorded a year before. We started recording in February or March of 2009, and then we finished pretty much a year later. It took a really long time mostly because we weren't living very close to each other and we had other things that we were doing like jobs and school and things like that. So the whole process was broken up. There was lots of breaks and time in between. And we made it all pretty much in our bedrooms and our basements. We didn't do anything in a studio or anything, we just self-recorded the whole thing. It was kind of an intimidating experience, particularly being stressed out for so long toward the end. We were all going a little crazy because we'd been listening to all those recordings for almost two and a half months.

I heard you guys had a few labels chasing you, what made you guys sign with Pop Frenzy?

They actually just approached us and our only hesitation with signing to a label was doing something where we had options of doing things in the future. We always wanted to have the record out in as much of the world as possible. But we also didn't want to do something where wanting to make that happen meant that the next few things we did after that would be set in stone. We're pretty early in the process of understanding what it means to be a band and trying to figure out what we want do, so we didn't want to have too many constraints placed upon us. Pop Frenzy was nice enough to just say "Hey, we'll just license this release and put it out without any strings attached," and that was pretty much an ideal situation for us, so we jumped on board.

So what's the next step for Twin Sister?

We're just finishing a tour right now with this Canadian band called Memory House. We get home in September and we're taking all of September to just rehearse and flesh out some ideas that we've had over the last few months and then we have a couple of tours in October and November but after that we're gonna take a few months to make a record and we're really excited about because we've all quit our jobs so we can spend all day everyday making music which is very new to all of us. We've never had that opportunity before. So it should be really fun.

So are you looking at 2011 as the big year for Twin Sister?

Oh yeah, well as far as just being able to do music full time is pretty amazing and we're hoping to make the most of it. You know, we don't know how long this kind of thing can last and how far it can go but while it's here we're going to try and capitalise on it and make as much music as possible.

Originally published on polaroidsofandroids.com

Song: Ra Ra Riot – You And I Know

For some reason, Ra Ra Riot's brilliant debut album, The Rhumb Line, went totally under the radar for a lot of people – like Solid Snake with a packet of Marlboros (hi-five nerds). It coupled amazing pop sensibilities with classical arrangement – often combining disco beats with deeply soothing swoops of bass and cello (check out the core melting tune 'Ghost Under Rocks').

It obviously didn't fall on totally deaf ears though, with the album going on to make (the once great magazine) Rolling Stone USA's Top 50 Albums Of The Year list in 2008.

This great track is taken from their latest album, The Orchard, and is a rare treat where one of the ladies in the band wrangles the microphone. Enjoy!

Video: Ten Kens – Spanish Fly

Chck out this amazing animated video directed by Alt Con Del pal Kareem T. Song rules too!

Video: Wayne Coyne's Self Sustainable Poster

Everyone's fave old man acid punk, The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, screen prints a poster with his own fucking blood!!!! Check the vid below!!

Video: The Strange Boys – Be Brave

Awesome video from one of Alt Con Del's fave songs of the year!

Record Review: Street Chant - Means

About six years ago I greened out.. hard. I was already wasted before I smoked the shit out of a giant spliff in the crappy hotel room my mates and I were staying in for the Melbourne Big Day Out. The next thing I know, I'm sprawled on the floor, terrified that the carpet was swallowing me whole. Four hours later I woke up on the toilet floor with a sticky coating of vomit on my chin, seven slurpee straws sticking out of my ass crack like mini flagpoles, and everything that wasn't nailed down in the hotel room balanced on my back.

Since then, I've refrained from heavy use of marrow-ojay-warna. But after listening to Street Chant's new album Means, I found myself sucking on an orange juice bottle bong like I was hiding behind a bike shed in Wagga in 1999.

This is the kind of music designed for being young and getting fucked up. It's messy, it's raw, it's full of mistakes, its production is shit, but its energy and confidence is off the chart. For some reason NZ bands just know how to make who-gives-a-fuck-garage-punk-pop like no one else. Maybe cause there's nothing else to do in New Zealand except surf earth quakes. (Too soon?)

Anyways, Street Chant rule hard and Means has some cracking good songs. Obvious stand out is Stoned Again. It's fantspastic opening guitar riff is more than enough hook for the whole song. Other sure-fire-hits that had me moshing at the imaginary house party at my parents house I throw every time I put Means on are You Do The Maths, the ol' skool-Bloc Party-esque (key words being: ol' skool) Less Chat, More Sewing, and album opener/cunt kicker Fatigues.

In the end though, I think the thing that I love the most about this record is that it's been kept so simple and so dirty. They could've easily scoured it with distortion and gone for a Wavves/Times New Viking pastiche, but instead they kept it clean and insured that not only their few weaknesses were leaked out, but their many strengths burned bright.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go cut off some more garden hose.

Disclaimer: If my mum reads this, the opening anecdote to this article is in no way true.

Originally published in Polaroids of Androids

Record Review: Wavves - King Of The Beach

This is a double-team review.

International correspondent Nate Ravioli and I have double-teamed before. No, get your mind out the gutter mister — I'm referring solely to life on the basketball court. Like Wesley Snipes and Woody Allen, hustling young bucks out of their hard earned cash. And that's what we're doing here. With words. Sure, those words aren't beautiful, but then again, a sneaky ally-hoop on an illegal pick-and-roll isn't either. In the immortal words of Killer Mike - "that's life".

So, here we share two different points of view on Wavves' new album King Of The Beach. We both agree that it's a brilliant record. That's something we aren't willing to budge on. But everyone enjoys music for different reasons, and not only do people's beliefs on what makes a "good record" differ, but so too do their reflections based on their musical history.

That was something evident as Rav and I discussed the merits of this record. And something which we felt would be (mildly) interesting to share. (Editors note: We know you just look at the numbers and move on. And that's fine.)

Part 1: Ravvv

Blink 182 are one of the greatest bands of all time. Disagree? Fuck you! You don't remember the real Blink 182/are a cunt.

You remember a band that began taking themselves too seriously/began sucking/released an album with a title that was punless/broke up. The band that I'm talking about are the guys that nuded up in their film clips, had dirty porn stars on their album covers, told more dick and shit jokes than my 14-year-old brain could imagine, and released a little album called Enema of The State, aka The Greatest Album Of All Time.

What's that indie sceney cunt blog reader? Blink are gay? I'm a douche? The National rulz hard! EEEEHHHH! WRONG! You know how I know you're wrong? A little fact that Enema Of The State sold the princely sum of 15 MILLION COPIES!!!

I know what you're thinking now, "Album sales don't mean shit! It's all about cred. Blink are a joke." Tell that to Travis Barker as he cruises down the street in his gold plated Bentley, past Bradford Cox giving old men squeezers for pennies.

What the fuck does any of this have to do with Wavves' new album King Of The Beach? The simple answer is that King Of The Beach is the best pop punk record since Enema. In fact it's pop punk perfection, with disgustingly catchy hooks, simple as shit guitar riffs, and the same I-don't-give-a-shit attitude that Blink proudly wore on their tattooed sleeves.

Walking away from the dirty laundry, bong water and cum stains of his bedroom floor and into the studio — where I'm assuming you have to at least go outside before doing a bucket bong — has been a great move by Nathan Williams. It's allowed him to expand his sound and achieve clarity in his recordings, without losing the raw pop elements that made his previous record so sick.

Plus, the fact that Williams finally has a solid band behind him suggests that Wavves really has become a band, and not a novelty act that releases shit-fi albums and goes bat shit at Spanish people. Not forgetting either that the current Wavves line-up corresponds with the classic Blink 182-three-piece-formula, a move that I think has really given Williams a lot of confidence.

What's My Age Again-esque highlights on this record include:

King Of The Beach
The album's namesake, album opener and first sure-fire hit. "You're never gonna stop me, You're never gonna stop me, You're never gonna stop me, You're never gonna stop... King Of The Beach!" are words that will be stuck in your head for fucking decades.

Idiot
My fave tune on the album is a big 'fuck you' to all the naysayers that wrote Williams off as a one-album-wonder and features the classic stick-it-up-your-ring-hole line, "I'd say I'm sorry, but it wouldn't be shit."

When Will You Come + Baseball Cards
On Wavvves, Williams tossed out a few of ditties to break up the album's flow, but in all seriousness, you'd have to be blitzed out of your mind to enjoy them. The curve balls he fires on KOTB are these two little sweet sprinkles, that bubble away from the punk format and float towards an Animal Collective reacharound, but still fit in with the overall hyper-colour mix of KOTB.

Post Acid
Two minutes and 11 seconds of fun, summer, alcohol, pingers, weed, the beach, babes, love, fairy floss etc, etc.

Take On The World
Williams expresses his doubts about his own song-writing/general human abilities. Shit he would have clearly gone through in the Primavera Fest-freakout aftermath.

Baby, Say Goodbye
Where the fuck did this come from? Is it doo-wop? Is it a Len cover? I don't know, but I love it!

When it boils down to it, King Of The Beach is not going to sell 15 million copies (although, in this day and age not much does). But what it does emulate in the same guise of Blink 182 and Enema of the State is that it comes from a songwriter/band that clearly are not about to take themselves too seriously. They make fun music for the simple reason that making music is fun, and the fact that they can do that and do it successfully fucking rules.

Part 2: Jonny

Firstly, I agree with everything Mr RAV 4 says above. Aside from "funny Blink" being better than "serious Blink". Both are awesome. This isn't a rebuttal. Just eleven cents.

When King Of The Beach leaked I was just as guilty of crapping too much about it's awesomeness as every other loser with a Twitter account and a Pirate Bay invite. The endless terrible puns (King Of The Bleach, Wavves 182 etc), referencing every well-known pop-punk band of the past 20 years and the standard "reminds me of Cobain" memory lane tripping, were warranted — to an extent. But an over-analysis of this kind of music, especially in a nostalgic sense, doesn't really give this album the respect it deserves.

Taking this record solely as a collection of songs, it's easily Nathan "Wavves" Williams' best work yet. Aside from the obvious extra level of care and time taken by Williams in regard to the songwriting and his increased understanding of structure, the production perfectly suits the lo-fi pop nature. There's a much higher level of overall quality, attention to detail and at least a litre of spit, but at the heart of it all there's the no-bullshit songs, which are both instantly appealing and much more accessible.

But, King Of The Beach, as a single body of work, is destroyed by a fewer minor missteps.

The most notable is Convertible Balloon, a song so terrible that it not only becomes an instantly skipworthy low-point, but also makes you either want to go Van Gogh on your ears or at the very least move to Melbourne, where they only listen to Super Wild Horses and The Twerps and other cool bands who stick to the classic drums, bass, guitar, fixie line-up. Just kidding Melbs. Stay real.

But, unlike our Southern Hipster Neighbours, Convertible Balloon is a fucking mess, sounding a little bit like a late night informercial for bagless vacuums and a solid argument against letting Wavves smoke weed and have 24-hour studio access.

One monkey doesn't kill an album though and, aside from a few other consistency issues with the way the album flows from track-to-track, King Of The Beach is a total cunt-banger. Please don't let my old-man "an album is an album" bitterness detract you from that fact that this is the kind of record that makes me want to flip off cops, shred a bowl and get a (temporary) tattoo of Tom getting totally violated by Mark, while DJ AM's plane goes down in the background.

And the one question you came here to ask - "BUT is this album really a whole 0.5 not-as-good as Wavvves?"

Yes.

Words by Rav and Jonny

Originally published in Polaroids of Androids

Record Review: Best Coast - Crazy For You

This album should come with a bottle of SPF 30+. It is summer. It is the surf, the sun, the sand, the humid air, the cold beers, the summer romances and the sand in your swimmers. It's happy, carefree and slightly heartbreaking, in the sense that the whole time you're wrapped up in it, you're dreading the fact that it'll soon be over.

A lot has been said about Best Coast and the other 'throwback' bands that have made it big lately, and how long this reverb-y, retro thing will last. But after listening to Crazy For You, I don't think that Best Coast deserve to be lumped in with bands like Surfer Blood or the Drums.

Purely because I think Bethany Cosentino's songwriting and pop sensibilities are timeless. Sure, they're akin to songwriting from a bygone era, but it's the genius simplicity of these songs - the catchy melodies, the straightforward lyrics, and the sheer awesomeness of Cosentino's voice - that make this record hold its ground where others have waned.

And what really drives me wild about this album isn't so much specific songs but tiny tid bits in tunes that just kill me:

Boyfriend's unreal opening and breakdown guitar solos
The "I can't do..." intro words to Crazy For You
The way Cosentino sings the word 'just' in the chorus of The End
The "that's not your deal, that's not my deal" medley at the end of Our Deal
The only rainy day on this whole sunny parade is the bonus track, When I'm With You. Although far and away Best Coast's most well known single to date, it was tacked on the album late and it shows.

In the end it probably made sense to add the song for business reasons or simply to give fans who hadn't had bought the single a chance to nab a copy, but in the end it leaves a slightly uneasy feeling, like the brain freeze at the end of a sugary, delicious ice block.

But that shouldn't take away from the fact that Best Coast have done a phenomenal job on their debut record. It took a lot of singles and a lot of build up to get to this point, but I think they've totally nailed it.

Originally published in Polaroids of Androids

Record Review: Twin Sister – Color Your Life

From all accounts, heroin is pretty fuckin' awesome. Unfortunately I'm not ever gonna give it a go because I'm afraid of:

a) needles
b) AIDS
c) becoming passé

But if I ever did decide to throw my friends, family and life away and shoot up a jab of H, I reckon the soundtrack to the whole experience would be the tunes of Twin Sister.

Warm, woozy and dream-like, the music this bunch of kids from Long Island, NY makes is the kind of home-recorded experimental pop that drives other bands into fits of jealous rage. And their latest EP, Colour Your Life, is going to be the first medium that a lot of people are going to discover this band, and it's a pretty good platform to show off on.

Bubbling and oozing along; the keys, bass, drums, and guitars all fuse with watery sound effects and ghostly background bursts of distorted echoes that make you feel like you're falling one minute, and floating the next.

Bleeding through this chaotic atmosphere is Andrea Estella's amazing voice. Her breathy vocals sound like they wafted in and out of the mouths of Feist, Bjork and Victoria Legrand, before finally finding a home in Estella's sweet chops.

Stand out tracks on the EP include opener The Other Side Of Your Face and the closer Galaxy Plateau, but truth be told, this little gem works best when listened to from start to finish in one sitting.

The band has also recently signed to Pop Frenzy, so hopefully they'll be surfing to our shores some time soon. Make sure you become a Twin Sister junkie before they get here.

Originally published in Polaroids of Androids.

Record Review: The Drums – The Drums

Scene: A housing estate flat in Manchester in the early 1980s. Two well-dressed youths sit at a table and have a discussion.

Morrisey: Hey Johnny, I think we should start a band, man.

Johnny Marr: I totally agree, Morrisey. But what kind of music should we play?

Morrisey: I think we should play Shangri Las-esque love ballads that have lots of reverb. We could call ourselves The Drums!

Johnny Marr: Fuck that. Let's write songs about dying and being bent and call our band The Smiths. Let some other bunch of wankers be The Drums in 30 years or so.

Morrisey: Sounds good to me.

Morrisey and Johnny Marr: Gooooooooo Smiths!!!!

The two youths leap into the air and hi-five. Everything is awesome.

End scene.

It's true, in the same vein as their buddies Best Coast and Surfer Blood, The Drums wear their influences on their Abercrombie & Fitch 'Classic Collection' sleeves. The lyrics reek of Morrisey's influence:

"You were my best friend. But then you died"
- Best Friend

"We tried, oh yeah we tried. But then we died. Oh yeah we died."
- We Tried

And the music could have easily been scored by Mongo Wilson, the retarded half-brother of the Beach Boys. But you know what, I don't really give a shit because this album is the perfect soundtrack to a summer. It's just a shame it's been released at the height of winter in Oz.

With it's chunky surf guitar lines, Casiotone swoons, reverb drenched cymbals, and overtly emotional vocals, I can picture myself listening to this record at a late night pool party, in between sipping on a can of flat beer/chlorinated water and trying to hide my erection from girls in bikinis.

Unfortunately I also get the vibe that it's an album that would be perfect for just ONE summer. It's one of those CDs you have in your car and listen to non-stop for three solid months, learning every lyric off by heart, before abandoning it in your Nissan Pintara's glove box along with Franz Ferdinand and Superheist.

I suppose that's the thing about imitations - they're maybe okay for a short-term fix, but before long the taste has gone bland and you're craving the originals.

On a side note: I'd like to nominate this bread sandwich of an album cover for the most boring/least evocative of 2010. It looks like something my Nan would learn to make in computer class at her nursing home.

Originally published in Polaroids of Androids

Interview: Best Coast

As a kid growing up in rural NSW, summertime could be a real shit. When the temperature peaks at a median of around 38 degrees, and with the nearest beach sitting an eternal six hours away, you have to make do with what you've got. The salty bite of the surf was replaced with the sweet cordial taste of Wooly's ice blocks, detergent slicked slip 'n' slides, and the all out warfare of super soaker fights in hyper colour T-shirts (fuck me the 90s ruled).

This geographical remoteness also meant relative cultural isolation, with the soundtrack to those summers consisting of whatever the powers at be had decided to add to that season's Hit Machine compilation. If only I'd been listening to the Beach Boys or the Ronettes, I might have grown up to write songs like Best Coast.

Best Coast, for those of you who haven't hung ten on their net-hype wave yet, are a two-piece from Los Angeles, California, that have taken the genius song writing formula of the surf bands and girl groups of the 1960s and re-imagined them as the fuzzed out soundtrack of today's summer.

Our buoy Rav recently spoke to Bethany Cosentino, Best Coast's chief songwriter and conceptualizer, about how the band got their start, what recording their debut was like, and how Garfield has become a mascot for the band...

Where did you guys first meet?

Bob (Bruno, the other half of Best Coast) and I met at a party in LA. I knew who Bob was because he recorded a lot of bands in LA and he played with a lot of bands. He was kind of this guy in LA that was involved in a lot of music. We started working together on a project that I was involved in called Pocahaunted and he recorded us and played live with us and that was sort of the first time I'd recorded with Bob musically. And then when I started Best Coast I just knew that he was the right guy to ask to do it with me, so he was the only person that I asked, basically.

What was your first impression that people were really starting to dig Best Coast's sound?

I had no idea, I mean, I just started writing the music because I was... it was kind of a time filler. I didn't really have much going on and I'd just moved back to LA from New York and I'd just dropped out of college. I didn't really know what I was going to do and I started writing these songs and we started playing shows in LA and it all just started to happen really quickly.

I think the moment that I realised that kind of how busy things were getting was when we went to SXSW. We played like 10 shows in three days and that was sort of like the moment where I was like, "You know, this is something that I'm doing now pretty much full time. And it's getting pretty busy and it's exciting but it's also something that came out of left field. I had no idea that it was gonna take off like it did and it's really exciting and cool that it's doing well.

This summery kind of beach and summer inspired pop has taken off lately with you guys, as well as bands like Wavves, The Drums and others. What do you think it is about this kind of music that listeners are really identifying with?

I guess people are just trying to capture that vibe or that excitement that summer brings and try to portray it through their music and I think that it's kind of cool that everyone is kind of doing that and everybody's doing it in their own way and all those bands have different sounds and unique sounds and I think everyone is trying to have fun with their music. And summer is fun!

So what can you tell me about the new album, Crazy for You?

The record was recorded in January of 2010. Basically we had two weeks allotted in the studio just because time constraints and the guy who recorded our record is Lewis Pesacov and he plays in a band called Fool's Gold and he also plays in a band called Foreign Born and he's super busy and touring just as much as we are and we kind of looked at our schedules and that was the only time we had to do it. So we went in and the studio that's called Black Iris, it's in Echo Park, which is in LA, and we basically just went in and we took about two days rehearsing songs to come up with drum parts and tracking drums and all that and for the next week and a half we got in there and started recording our parts. We took a lot of advice and knowledge from Lewis and it was really fun experience.

You've already had a fair amount of success purely on the back of the singles you've put out, what are your hopes for success once the album gets released?

Who knows, I mean, we really didn't expect anything from the singles. I don't really have any sort of expectations or I try not to really think too much in the future just because, you know, I try to sort of live everything one day at a time, especially because things are pretty hectic and busy right now. If I think too far ahead, I get a little anxious because there's so much stuff going on but I think that I really just hope that people enjoy the record and I hope that a lot of people spend their summers listening to it or spend this summer listening to it at the beach or with their friends or whatever. And, you know, we have a lot of touring and stuff coming up this year that we're pretty excited to do and we're gonna get to go to some places we've never been before and meet awesome people, so I think we're just looking forward to whatever is sort of mapped out for us, I guess. We're just kind of open to new ideas and sort of excited about what the future holds for us.

Looking at the album's track listing, why did you decide to put When I'm With You on as a bonus track as opposed to one of the tracks on the album?

I didn't want to include it on the record at all, just because I wanted everything that had come out before the record to sort of stand on its own and I didn't want to re-record songs.

But then I realised to date that's the biggest song and that's the song that when we play live people recognise that song and I thought, you know, I just want to include it on the record. But it didn't just seem like it really fit with the record, so I didn't want to put it on their as a song on the record 'cos everything on the record was brand-new. So I just thought the bonus track would give the people what they want but I did it the way it wanted to be done.

What's the concept behind the album's cover art?

When we were trying to come up with our album art we were in Europe and our deal with Mexican Summer happened really quickly and they were like "We're gonna have the record out really soon and we need to have the art, and Bob and I had had some concepts and I thought of some ideas but the original things I wanted to do with Bob and I would've taken a lot more time. So I just sent in a photo of my cat [Snacks] and I said I want this picture to be included and I think it would be really cool if we kind of blend in some of the aesthetic or the aspirations of the band, which is the beach and, you know, it has the old timey post card font on it and in the inside of the font, is like map pattern and the map that is inside the font is actually a map of Los Angeles. And this guy, his name's David Raiser, he did it and he is a really nice guy and he just came up with it really quickly and basically I just explained that I want post card font, I want a beach scene, I want my cat, blah, blah, blah, blah and then he came up with that and we loved it!

Any plans to tour Oz?

Yeah, we are doing our record in Australia with Pop Frenzy and I think we are [planning to tour] actually. It hasn't been confirmed yet or discussed too much but we're thinking of coming out there in January or February of next year because the record comes out here in July and I think it comes out there a couple of months after. But yeah, I'm still so excited to go to Australia. I'm not looking forward to the flight because it's really long and I don't like flying [laughs] but Australia's the place that I never in my wildest dreams ever imagined I would go to and to be given the opportunity to go there and play music for people is really rad, so we're really looking forward to that.

I saw on your blog you guys want people to bring Garfield stuff to your shows, is Garfield a band favourite?

Yeah, I love Garfield and, in my house at least, there's a pretty good collection of Garfield stuff. And a lot of times at shows people will bring me weird cat stuff and I thought I'd just be more specific and say bring Garfield stuff, but cat stuff is also expected - but I do love Garfield.

I assume you guys don't want anyone chucking lasagne at the stage?

No, no lasagne [laughs], unless the lasagne is maybe in the shape of Garfield.

Originally published in Polaroids of Androids