February 23, 2012

Screaming Females - "It All Means Nothing"



New Jersey punk trio Screaming Females will drop the follow up to their awesome record from 2010, Castle Talk, on April 4. The record, Ugly, was produced by Steve Albini and you can check out the video for the lead single "It All Means Nothing" above.

February 18, 2012

Sleigh Bells played Terminal 5



Bros were out in full force for Sleigh Bells' biggest headlining show to date in New York last night. Backed with a full wall of Marshall stacks, Derek and Alexis kicked things off with the first two tracks from Reign of Terror before blasting into "Riot Rhythm" which sparked a powder keg of energy that propelled vivacity through the crowd that would not let up until the show ended. Alexis' vocals soared to new heights and even were able to overpower Derek's metal/post-hardcore riffs which were intensified by the addition of a second guitarist backing the duo onstage. While newer tracks fell a little flat, save for singles "Born to Lose" and "Comeback Kid", dance anthems "A/B Machines", "Tell 'Em", and a superb "Infinity Guitars" ignited the crowd and with the help of some blinding strobes and demonstrated that Sleigh Bells' noise-pop attitude is not something to be taken slightly and the duo can certainly hold their own amongst the bigger names of the electronica/dance scene. Despite a less than impressive stage presence, the quality of the songs and enthusiasm from the crowd made it clear that this was more of an experience than a show. Alexis dove into a jubilant crowd to start the encore with a dynamite version of "Rill Rill" and ended the night with a head-banging rendition of "Crown on the Ground". However even as the band left the stage and the house lights came on, the late Whitney Houston's "Dance with Somebody" came over the speakers and continued the dance party for just one more song. Even if the tribute to the late diva was not intentional, it seemed like a fitting end to the evening.

Setlist:
01 Shred Guitar
02 Born to Lose
03 Riot Rhythm
04 A/B Machines
05 Kids
06 End of the Line
07 Comeback Kid
08 Tell 'Em
09 Leader of the Pack
10 Straight A's
11 Treats
12 Infinity Guitars
--
13 Rill Rill
14 Demons
15 Crown on the Ground

February 8, 2012

Cults - "You Know What I Mean"



Retro-pop duo Cults are back with another beautifully shot video and this time it's for one of my favorite tracks from 2011, "You Know What I Mean". Watch it above via Pitchfork.

February 1, 2012

Hop Along - "Tibetan Pop Stars"





The Philly trio Hop Along will release their first album (as a full band) Get Disowned this coming Spring and have shared a new track, "Tibetan Pop Stars", via their bandcamp page. Frances' vocals sound as strong as ever on this one and the tune is certainly one of their rockingest tracks to date! [via yvynyl]