an internet pop thing from philadelphia

Cassolette’s new single (their very best yet, IMO) is out next week on Manic Pop Records and I can’t keep it out of my head! The mailbox mixup of “Return To Sender” seems to take equal cues from both the charming storytelling of Camera Obscura and the melodic growl of ¡Simpatico!-era Velocity Girl. YES REALLY. It’s popsicle-good for the sunniest days of Spring and Summer and you can order it soon!

The band will be heading out on tour on May 22 (next week!) en route to NYC Popfest! I’d urge you (if you haven’t already!) to pop over to their kickstarter page to help them get there, and get some fantastic Cassolette goodies while you’re at it! Postcards, custom mix cds, records, downloads, tshirts, cover songs, you name it! It’s a win/win!

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Here is some first-class reverby jangle to start your day (and, if you’re me, to play on repeat for the rest of the day) from Melbourne-to-NYC band Free Time. The culmination of two years of Dion Nania’s trans-pacific back and forth (including bouts of bass duties for Twerps and moonlighting in Scott and Charlene’s Wedding), the self-titled debut of his very own Free Time is an effortless-sounding, but meticulously crafted record of sunny hooks and sprawling, hummable Malkmusesque solos with no shortage of melody. This song is a fucking dreamboat.

It’s out May 28 on Underwater Peoples! GET IT!

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English Singles "Ordinary Girls"

English Singles
Ordinary Girls

After a bit of a delay, English Singles’ sophomore outing for Slumberland Records is a finally out out out! A-side “Ordinary Girls” (along with the whole damn thing, truly) is an instant classic. If the immediately singable and, dare we, twee as fuck lyrics—”Ordinary girls, walking from the park on a Sunday / Ordinary girls, stopping at the shops on a Monday / Don’t you wish that they had a secret side? / And someday you could be together”—don’t reel you in then the jangling 12-string melodies will surely hook you by the lip.

A shambolic pop wave crashed on west coast rocks and our Summers will all be the better for it.

Order it asap from Slumberland or pick it up at your favorite spot.

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Skatterbrain Monthly Mix: May!

Now that we’ve got at least one whole foot planted firmly into the Springtime, it’s safe to bet that every monthly mix until September is going to be tailored to sunny days, warm nights, and racing hearts. May is a step in the right direction! Listen for new tracks this month from Giant Drag, Sea Pinks, Bluffing, Lisa Bouvier, and History of Manners. (If you’re into that sweet, breezy late-90s Shelflife Records sound then History of Manners might just be your new favorite thing.) And the whole thing is bookended by Saint Etienne and Pipas. How can you go wrong?

DOWNLOAD AWAY! (121mb, .zip)

  1. Saint Etienne “Erica America”
  2. The Garlands “Don’t Cry”
  3. Liechtenstein “Fast Forward”
  4. Sally Shapiro “I Dream With An Angel Tonight”
  5. Mellonta Tauta “Dawn”
  6. Terry Malts “No Big Deal”
  7. Giant Drag “We Like The Weather”
  8. Sea Pinks “Magpie Eyes”
  9. Close Lobsters “Got Apprehension”
  10. Big Dipper “Meet The Witch”
  11. Saturday Looks Good To Me “Polar Bear”
  12. The Orchids “Peaches”
  13. Bluffing “Salad”
  14. Lisa Bouvier “Every Year Until We Die”
  15. History of Manners “Compulsory”
  16. Pipas “Bye Bye”

XOXO

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Rocketship “Hey, Hey Girl” (live at Zoots, 1996)

Today’s as good a day as any to rewatch all of the videos of this Rocketship set from 1996 at Zoots in Detroit! The quality is kinda poor, but it’s pretty hard to complain when their are barely 10 (maybe?) live videos of Rocketship even in existence.

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Post Modern Team "Fade Away"

Post Modern Team
Fade Away

I should have probably learned my lesson by now, but I’m still always delighted and surprised when a band from Japan sounds like, well, how Post Modern Team sound.

Since first coming across them early last year I’ve yet to hear anything less than stellar from them; but the three songs that make up their new Nite Life Lounge EP, out via the very consistently impressive Ano(t)raks Records, might be their best yet! EP bookends “Nite Life Lounge” and “Betterdays” are the type of twinkling dreampop gems I’ve come to expect from PMT, but it’s “Fade Away” that is most impressive here (and hopefully indicative of things to come). It plays like a Teenage Fanclub classic run through an indiepop filter (so basically it’s the kind of thing you’d have found on a Bus Stop compilation back when) and YES it’s exactly as good as that sounds.

Get the EP here!

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Golden Grrrls "Older Today"

Golden Grrrls
Older Today

Just going to go on record real quick and mention that Golden Grrrls’ debut self-titled LP is probably the most consistently rewarding record I’ve had the pleasure of listening to this year. I’m closing in on probably 30-40 listens straight through at this point and perfect little things like the coda towards the end (around 1:56ish) of “Older Today” still have a way of pulling my eyes and ears wide open and reminding me why pop music is my favorite part of almost every day.

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Camera Obscura are back! And just in time for Spring! “Do It Again” hit the internets earlier this afternoon and it’s a classic Camera Obscura footstomper of the finest order. Desire Lines is the 5th (or 6th, if you want to have the kinds of conversations I like to have) LP from the Tracyanne Campbell and Co. and it’s out June 3/4 on 4AD!!! 

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Sally Shapiro’s Somewhere Else has probably been my most listened to record of the year so far and I’m still falling in love with different songs every week. “If It Doesn’t Rain” was actually the first song I had a crush on and now there’s a new video for it; featuring a rosy-cheeked lass in an icy wonderland and then she freezes? but then tears (and also daylight?) heal her and everything is ok, I think. I hope. 

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surfingonsteam:

Somebody did the world a favor and posted the debut 10” vinyl EP, Houdini Aubergine (2004), from Swedes Mustafa Et Monique. This is stuff on par, if not better at times, than the new MBV album that dropped in February. Fans of Swirlies will also love this to death. 

Looks like you can still order this gem over at Oscillatone. If anyone has digital files of this record then please hit me up.

Tracklisting:

1. Melting On My Tongue 
2. The Birds (Part II) min: (starts at 3:00)
3. Monaural Tone Revolver min: (starts at 5:30)
4. Pancake Parachute min: (starts at 8:20)
5. Random Intoxication min: (starts at 10:00)
6. Velvet Skies min: (starts at 13:15) 

Seconded. This rules, you guys.

(via surfingonsteam-deactivated20130)

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