Dangerbird Records is giving us a sneak peek into the upcoming Silversun Pickups full-length debut, Carnavas (due out July 25), which I’m exctitedly hyping to myself as my most-anticipated record of the year.

I’ve posted on Silversun quite a bit (see below) just based on last year’s Pikul EP. (In fact, I think I’ve run out of press photos to use with my posts. Seriously, time for some new pics.)

Anyway, Well Thought Out Twinkles seems to follow the path Silversun laid down on the EP: fuzzy guitars topped by taut drumming and Brian Aubert’s strained and distant vocals.

You want comparisons, don’t you? Well, you’re gonna see Smashing Pumpkins come up quite a bit when you read about Silversun; I bet Silversun is really sick of that. (Or maybe they’re flattered by it.) But I’m going to say that this song reminds me of (gulp) Gwen Mars. Seriously, I don’t mean that in an offensive way because I dug Gwen Mars a little. I mean, they once opened a tour for Catherine Wheel, so they’re good in my book.

But listen to Gwen Mars’ Cosmic Dick (mp3) and tell me if the guitar riffs from Well Thought Out Twinkles don’t bear just a faint resemblance. I’m not suggesting a note-by-note comparison. It’s more about guitar effects: They’re both crunchy/fuzzy/echo-y. There’s just enough distortion to balance the driving melodies.

Silversun Pickups | Well Thought Out Twinkles

Related:
Silversun Pickups on KEXP.
Silversun Pickups: Kissing Families.

There’s no better news than to see Alejandro Escovedo touring again on the heels of his new release The Boxing Mirror.

In April 2003, Escovedo fell ill after a show in Phoenix. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver caused by hepatitis C. As Escovedo put it in an interview with the Washington Post, “I was in really serious, serious disrepair.”

In an interview during this show, Escovedo says it was the tribute album from fellow musicians, Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo, that inspired him to write again.

It’s no small miracle that he’s recording and touring again. This live stream from World Cafe Live is a great peek into the emotions of a singer who, without reaching for dramatics too much, we’re fortunate to still have.

Stream Alejandro Escovedo on World Cafe Live, 6/23/06.

Set list:
Put You Down
Dearhead
Arizona
Everybody Loves Me
Juarez/Rosalie
Evita’s Lullaby
The Ladder
Break This Time

I didn’t exactly intend it this way, but today’s post seems dedicated to a couple of albums that really have me flustered.

I’m not sure two albums have made me waffle so much before as The Lovely Feathers’ Hind Hind Legs and Sunset Rubdown’s Shut Up I Am Dreaming. I’d like to think I can safely tell after a couple of listens to an album that I’ll come back to it or leave it for dead. These two … I just don’t know, even after multiple listens.

(We know Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug leads Sunset Rubdown. Is it true WP members have come and gone through The Lovely Feathers? If so, maybe there’s some correlation here.)

Both albums are oddly compelling. The Lovely Feathers, by the look of it, appear to be a blogger favorite. Hind Hind Legs is maddeningly schizophrenic and sort of catchy. Damn you, Lovely Feathers. If I hum In the Valley one more time, I’m going to punch myself.

If you’re not careful while you listen to this album, it’s sometimes hard to tell if you’re still on the same song. I’m a copy editor, so I usually listen to music whilst working/reading. I tried with Hind Hind Legs. Bad idea. Waaaaay too distracting.

I think if you strip away some of the irony there’s some genuine feelings and emotions going on here. But then the sarcasm just smacks you across the cheek on a song like Rod Stewart:

“If its just my body you want, my body you want; then come on and tell me.”

I mean, this album has songs I’m pretty sure I don’t like, except that I do. You know? Ahhh! Leave me alone, Hind Hind Legs!

[mp3] The Lovely Feathers | I Really Like You

Then there’s Sunset Rubdown. Right off the bat, I don’t like the name. “Rubdown”? Come on. It’s a little unsettling.

Krug, like it or not, has that whole Wolf Parade thing working for him, so Sunset Rubdown is going to draw interest regardless. I heard some blogger on Sirius last week say he likes to refer to Wolf Parade as Krug’s “other” band, such is his devotion to The Rubdown.

I’m not ready to turn myself over to Krug quite yet. Where Apologies to the Queen Mary is a tight, focused affair, Shut Up I Am Dreaming is a little more sprawling and esoteric – exactly the kind of music for which an arteeest uses a side project as an outlet. (These sorts of things break up bands, you know. Look no further than Soul Coughing.)

By nature, Sunset Rubdown is less volatile in its mood swings than The Lovely Feathers. Shut Up may take some growing into, but I’ve already pinpointed a few tracks (like I’m Sorry I Sang On Your Hands … ) that I just haven’t cozied up to quite yet. That said, Stadiums and Shrines II, Us Ones In Between and The Empty Threats of Little Lord are pretty outstanding.

So, I ask of you, Lovely Feathers and Sunset Rubdown, give me more time. I just need some space. I’m not ready for this commitment. We’re moving too fast. Can we just be friends for now?

[mp3] Sunset Rubdown | Us Ones In Between

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While I’m on the topic of Sunset Rubdown, be sure to head over to Daytrotter, which has four in-studio tracks available for download, including a new song Winged/Wicked Things.

Blogger has been acting up today, which is sad because I was going for a multiple posts today, something I rarely do. But it appears to be up and running, so I’ll give this a go.

On June 29, Band of Horses are returning to Rhythm Room in Phoenix, where they played in March after SXSW. This time, I hope they bring along Mat Brooke, who was conspicuously absent in March. He is one of the two founders of the band, after all.

Really, I’m not here to talk about Band of Horses. No, one of the openers is Sera Cahoone, who besides having a great name, was the former drummer of Carissa’s Wierd, the former band of Horses founders Brooke and Ben Bridwell.

Cahoone has gone solo, and her self-titled debut (buy from Sub Pop) is an alt-country affair with some lush vocals and instrumentation. I’m a sucker for a pedal-steel guitar and some mournful singing.

Sera Cahoone | Couch Song

Sound Team unleashes its Capitol debut, Movie Monster, today, and we’re going to be sending you all over the Web for bits and pieces of goodies. Consider it a Sound Team treasure hunt.

When you purchase Movie Monster from iTunes you get a “Tunebook,” ­which includes short videos, a music video, photo gallery, a 22-minute movie created by Bill Baird with an original score and other miscellany.

Stream Handful of Billions video clip:

Broadband
Dial-up

For more video clips, visit: Indie Interviews, Gorilla vs. Bear, My Old Kentucky Blog, Coolfer, Exitfare and Underrated Blog.

Oh, you want an mp3, too? You’re bossy.

Sound Team | Your Eyes Are Liars

Because I have a hard time shelling out $35 (plus $3 facility fee!) for any show, I’ll probably miss Austin’s David Garza opening for Fiona Apple June 20 at Dodge Theatre. Aside from Dodge Theatre’s sterile, impersonal environment, I’d be spending the dough for Garza more than anything anyway.

David Garza (accent on the “i”, as in Dav-eeed) is one of those artists in my collection I can easily overlook, but when I start listening again he’s hard to quit. His 1998 release This Euphoria might fall under one of those “desert-island discs” lists if I ever cared to put one together. He’s got the heart of a true singer/songwriter, but the playing chops that inspire big guitar riffs and pulsating drum beats.

He’s absurdly prolific, and his cameo appearance for a set by fellow Austinites Hairy Apes BMX was a highlight of our trip to the ACL festival last year.

Catch him on tour this summer. And you’d do yourself a huge favor by picking up any of his works.

David Garza | Slave (from This Euphoria)
David Garza | Keep on Crying (from Overdub)

Kevin’s computer is still in the shop, so hi. My name is Ben and I’ll be your fake-Kevin for the day.

Since Kevvy Kev is feeling helpless without his machine, I kind of feel obligated to drop something ultra-cool on y’all and I think I’ve got just the thing. This band came to me by way of the esteemed music director at Canadian radio station CJSW (who, when he isn’t being lazy also writes with me at the link above, he’s pretty lazy though.) The band is called Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome and they are awesome. Hailing from Calgary, they’re a bunch of kids, literally, hardly out of high school and are often described as “dance rock.” But calling them “dance rock” is pretty weak, because it implies a certain pretentiousness that this band replaces with sarcasm and fun. The opening of their new 7″ opens as one of the band members says “This next song. . .is about freedom” and then launches into a furious 42 second call and response explosion asking “Who ya gonna take to the prom? Sally? Cindy? Becky? Joan?” After each name comes the quick response “NO!” Other songs feature plenty of literary references for the dorks and plenty of fast-paced fun for the kids who just wanna shake it a bit. I should have the 7″ in my hands in a few short days and I can’t wait to here more from these young Canadians. You can buy the 7″ here for a mere $5. I also posted a video of the Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome covering “Love Will Tear Us Apart” over at the normal home of my sporadic writings, Hang On To Your Ego.

Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome | (Who You Gonna Take To The) Prom?
Sudden Infant Dance Syndrome | Dr. Awkward

I realize that celebrating this, my 300th post, is rather arbitrary and probably trivial. But, hey, you’ll just have to indulge me. It’s a nice round number.

And it gives me a good reason to talk about Sparta, one of those bands that I absolutely love but sometimes gets buried in my cycles of listening.

Quick history lesson: Sparta originally formed as an off-shoot of El Paso’s At the Drive-In. Singer/guitarist Jim Ward, drummer Tony Hajjar and guitarist Paul Hinojos formed Sparta; Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez became the Mars Volta. Hinojos has left Sparta, and Keeley Davis has joined.

OK, now that we’re caught up … In lieu of any new mp3s, Sparta is teasing to the release of its third LP on Sept. 26 with three-minute video podcasts. The podcasts, all artful and grainy, show clips of the band recording with cryptic sort of overtones. The first episode flashes the message: “Hide who you are” and “The service and loyalty I owe … there if I grow” near the end. If anything, it’s an intriguing piece of marketing.

Links to the podcasts (via iTunes):
Episode I
Episode II
Episode III

Check out Sparta on MySpace. And I swear I saw Sparta on the original Austin City Limits Festival lineup, but now they’re gone. What’s up with that?

Until we hear some new stuff, here’s a B-side to a 7″ for Mye, which was on Sparta’s debut, Wiretap Scars.

Sparta | Vacant Skies

Death Cab for Cutie is going to perform tonight on the Henry Rollins Show on IFC. But there’s a “Web exclusive” of Ben Gibbard and Chris Walla performing Sound of Settling acoustic.

No matter what you think of Death Cab at this point (someone no doubt is crying “sellout” at this very second), you have to wonder: What in the hell is Ben Gibbard wearing in this performance? He’s already got this doughy, guy-you’d-take-home-to-mom thing going. The knit cap and striped shirt (3 for $24 at Old Navy!) just are not helping.

He looks like a sailor. With glasses. Who plays guitar. I mean, far be it from me to judge someone’s fashion sense; I go for the no-sock look with just about everything. But this is just really hard to take seriously. The least he could have done is wear his new Stereogum shirt.

Check out two-fourths of Death Cab performing Sound of Settling here.

Also …

Taking the eMac into the Apple store’s genius bar (their word) today. For whatever reason, it’s been locking up and telling me I need to restart my computer. It does this like, oh, every day. Anybody have this happen to their Mac? I’m afraid there’s some sort of hard drive corruption going on. Dear lord. Wish me luck.

Call me shallow, but when I see members of a group have done production and remixes for DJ Shadow, Low (Monkey remix), Blackalicious, Lyrics Born and Run DMC, I tend to perk up and move that group’s CD to the top of the to-listen pile.

Say hello to Halou, a three-piece electro-pop outfit from San Francisco. At one point in my life – OK, like two weeks ago – anything described as “electronic” probably would have made me shudder and run. But this album came from a trusted and respected source, so I owed it to myself to listen, and I’m glad I did.

There’s a soothing warmth to this album, due in no small part to Rebecca Coseboom’s lead vocals. If I were some professional writer who uses flowery adjectives, I might say something like “ethereal” or “lush” or “wistful.” Oh wait, that’s been done.

This is the best kind of electronic music: programmed beats and layered synths mixed with a delicate touch of live instrumentaion.

Wholeness & Separation comes out May 23. Pre-order here.

Halou | Honeythief
Halou | Wholeness