Pages tagged “band of the week”

Hometown: Nashville, Tenn.

Members: Trevor Nyman, Dave Arnold, Tim Twinem and Jeremy Flick

Fun Fact: The band is currently scoring indie film The Time Closet.

Why It's Worth Watching: The Champion and His Burning Flame strives for the whole artistic package, from the recording process to photography and packaging, from the stage to, in the near future, print.

For Fans Of: Elliott Smith, Bishop Allen, The Shins

At a little more than a year's worth of bandship, this could be considered a fledgling pursuit. However, there is a chemistry and honesty in The Champion and His Burning Flame's inaugural effort, The French EP, that begs for listening, pondering and then listening again. Twenty-two minutes and change span six chapters, each portraying an observation of social interaction.

Hometown: Decatur, Ga.

Fun Fact: As a teenager, vocalist Chris Rowell arrived at a party in Birmingham, Ala. after midnight and told a total stranger that he felt like there was a drummer in their midst. He was introduced to future Warm In The Wake drummer James Taylor Jr. for the first time moments later and the two formed a bond that has spanned a decade and a half.

Why It's Worth Watching: As raconteurs for the everyman, the band's unique brand of American Realist Rock combines scenic snapshots of the tangible and unhurried, organic instrumentation with a nod to Regionalist painter Andrew Wyeth.

For Fans Of: Band of Horses, Bon Iver, Cass McCombs, The National

"It's about needing to feed the exploration part of our personalities. I mean geographically," explains vocalist and guitarist Chris Rowell, describing the mindset behind the opening track on Warm In The Wake's new, digitally-released EP, Speak Plainly. "Not whatever dirty thing you were thinking," he continues, every bit as straightforward about the group's third recorded effort as would be expected from the no-nonsense lyricist.

Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.

Fun Fact: In high school, founding member David Metcalf was in a band called Hitler’s Gay Son.

Why They’re Worth Watching: The prog-meets-gospel-meets-psych pop of the band's second full-length, A Certain Feeling, boasts an enticing mix of rich vocal harmonies, proggy guitar jams and lively horn flourishes.

For Fans Of: Arcade Fire, Yes, Os Mutantes, Polyphonic Spree

Grand, theatrical, multi-part arrangements. Bold group harmonies. The lingering presence of an organ. All of the above created by a set of musicians anchored by a husband-and-wife team.

Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.

Fun Fact: Abigail and Lily Chapin are credited as back-up singers on Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen’s 1992 album Brother for Sale.

Why They’re Worth Watching: With their gorgeous harmonies and dark lyrics, the Chapin Sisters put a modern spin on ‘60s SoCal folk.

For Fans Of: Ida, Vetiver, Judee Sill

“I just need a new doormat and a new shelf, so I came to IKEA,” explains Abigail Chapin, sitting on a bench outside one of the blue-and-yellow megastores in Los Angeles. It’s a mundane setting for an interview, but one that seems especially incongruous with the Chapin Sisters, whose out-of-time debut LP, Lake Bottom, sounds anything but sleek and contemporary. The three siblings—Abigail and Lily Chapin and Jessica Craven—often perform by candlelight in vintage dresses, singing dark lyrics and gorgeous harmonies as if they were traipsing around Laurel Canyon 40 years ago.

Hometown: Elktooth, Colo.
Fun Fact: Singer/songwriter David Eugene Edwards claims a Native American influence on his next album and says the song “Kingdom Of Ice” best embodies Wovenhand’s sound in his mind.
Why It's Worth Watching: The band’s fifth album, Ten Stones, features its signature booming sound recorded with members of Danielson.
For Fans Of: The Cure, Iron & Wine, 16 Horsepower

David Eugene Edwards has no delusions of grandeur. His songs don’t get radio time in his home country, so he’s aware of his band Wovenhand’s finite longevity, especially compared with his muse. “What God makes is what is going to stand and not what I make,” he tells Paste. “These songs that I make will not endure.”

Hometown: Nevada City, Calif.

Members: Adam Kline and “whoever else happens to be around.”

Fun Fact: More than 30 people have at some time or another been a part of Golden Shoulders.

Why They’re Worth Watching: Ballads like “I Will Light You on Fire” and eloquent political statements like “The Honey, the Power, the Light,” for starters.

For Fans of: The Beatles, George Harrison, The Kinks

If you ask Adam Kline for the current line-up of his band, Golden Shoulders, and he starts laughing, don’t be offended. “That’s a trick question,” the lead singer and songwriter says mid-chuckle. “I’m the principal member, but I can give you a list of about 30 people who have been or are currently involved with the band.”

Hometown: Oklahoma City, Okla.
Fun Fact: The group’s moniker comes from the hideously quirky finds its members have unearthed at thrift stores and, at one time, donned on-stage. “We actually have a slew of fans who will come to our shows in ugly suits,” says keyboardist Jonathan Martin.
Why They’re Worth Watching: Via a mix of lavish keyboards and ethereal touches, The Uglysuit serves up a generous helping of good vibrations.
For Fans Of: Travis, The Shins, Ben Kweller

 “Okay, I’ve got to tell you this story,” says multi-instrumentalist Crosby Bray of The Uglysuit, his slight Oklahoma drawl suddenly vibrant. The listener braces herself for the kind of madcap caper any newly-signed, all-dude sextet of early 20-somethings might get into under influence of cash advance.

Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden
Fun Fact: A then-unknown Li got one of her first Stateside gigs by telling a clueless New York City booking agent that she was a famous Swedish singer.
Why She's Worth Watching: The genre-hopping firecracker combines organic instrumentation with her unique voice and a distinctly danceable sensibility, to mesmerizing effect.
For Fans Of: Robyn, early Madonna, The Cardigans

Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.

Fun Fact: Album track “Butterfingers” was inspired by a candy-loving Caravans song called “Three Musketeers” from a hard-to-find Hipsville Records compilation.

Why He’s Worth Watching: Gentleman Jesse’s irrepressible ditties are as refreshing as dousing your face in a cool pool of water on a sweaty summer day—if the water also has a magical chemical content that impelled you to twist and shout and shake your fist.

For Fans Of: Elvis Costello, Exploding Hearts, Wreckless Eric

Crafting a lyrical hook to stimulate crowd participation is feat enough for most musicians, but Atlanta power-pop maestro “Gentleman” Jesse Smith extends his art to guitar solos. “My rule is that you should be able to sing them,” he says. “That's why I don't like Jimmy Page. I love Led Zeppelin, but I wouldn't ever want to emulate his guitar playing because you can't sing his solos. They're way too coked out.”

Hometown: New York, N.Y.

Fun Fact: Bowery Boy Blue principal Zeb Gould’s father provided dobro and banjo on the group’s new debut album, Stalk That Myth.

Why It's Worth Watching: Bowery Boy Blue’s first record is full of string-laced Americana that’s as stirringly beautiful as the city and stories that inspired it.

For Fans Of: Neil Young, Magnolia Electric Co., Will Oldham

It’s nothing new or original to say that New York City is a bustling hotbed of emerging talent. On any given day, the coffee houses, poetry clubs, small-music venues, street corners and subways are alive with aspiring artists peddling their musical wares to anyone within earshot.

Hometown: Richmond, Va.

Fun Fact: Prabir and the Substitutes are touring the East Coast this summer in support of The Silver Beats, Japan’s premier Beatles tribute band.

Why They’re Worth Watching: Full of crunchy guitars, McCartney-inspired bass lines and cooing harmonies, Five Little Pieces takes the best bits of classic pop/rock and funnels them through a beat-to-hell Fender Deluxe amplifier.

For Fans Of: The Sonics, The Hollies, Dr. Dog

Hometown: Shawnee, Okla.

Fun Fact: At the tender age of 17, Samantha Crain debuted at her hometown's now-defunct coffeehouse, Bean and Berry, performing a set chock full of Radiohead and Creedence Clearwater Revival covers.

Why She's Worth Watching: Vocalist/guitarist Crain, along with her band The Midnight Shivers [drummer Jacob Edwards, bassist Andrew Tanz and guitarist Nate Hendricks], delivers a refreshing brand of indie-folk that fuses accessible, narrative lyrics with a home-grown wholesomeness reminiscent of her rural origin.

For Fans Of: Martha Wainwright, Pete Seeger, Neko Case, Feist

Samantha Crain is not your stereotypical Southerner.

Hometown: San Francisco, Calif.

Fun Fact: John Dwyer picked up his guitar style in Providence, R. I. playing on a daily basis with Brian Gibson, the current bassist for Lightning Bolt.

Why They're Worth Watching: Thee Oh Sees specialize in the kind of no-frills garage rock that's free of pretension and full of psychedelic goodness.

For Fans Of: Black Lips, The 13th Floor Elevators, Nuggets

Hometown: Seattle, Wash.
Fun Fact: Fleet Foxes’ debut album cover sports a painting called Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel. The band's Sun Giant EP cover is a collage made up of photos from the Library of Congress.
Why They're Worth Watching: Fleet Foxes’ rococo harmonies capably quarry the breathless spirit of their parent’s musical zeitgeist with an evergreen ardor of their own.
For Fans Of: Crosby, Stills & Nash, Fairport Convention, Midlake

Hometown: New York, N.Y.
Fun Fact: Frontman Andy Butler composed music for choreographers in college.
Why They’re Worth Watching: Hercules and Love Affair creates disco music that’s intelligent, personal and complex, but always fun.
For Fans Of: LCD Soundsystem, Arthur Russell, The Rapture

Hometown: Raleigh, N.C.
Fun Fact: Guitarist/vocalist Phil Moore and multi-instrumentalist Beth Tacular have spent the last year building an eco-friendly house all by themselves to replace their AirStream trailer.
Why They’re Worth Watching: Moore, Tacular and multi-instrumentalist Mark Paulson create truly organic folk songs, full of haunting melodies and honest lyrics without layers of production.
For Fans Of: Phosphorescent, The Avett Brothers, The Mountain Goats, Bon Iver

Hometown: Philadelphia, Penn.
Fun Fact: While singer/guitarist Adam Granduciel treats the feel and ideas of his songwriting on the band’s debut very seriously, he’s careful on certain compositions to not finish his lyrics in advance of recording, in order to allow for improvisation.
Why It’s Worth Watching: Granduciel's plainspoken voice and his band's dreamily textured, ambient sound are alluringly compatible, lush and dreamy with a familiar rock 'n' roll bite.
For Fans Of: Tom Petty, Willie Nile, Brian Eno, Sonic Youth

Hometown: Bernville, Pa.
Fun Fact: Priscilla Ahn once shared an L.A. apartment with Meiko, another small-town expatriate with a talent for indie-folk songcraft.
Why She’s Worth Watching: Shifting between soft-spoken ballads and upbeat odes to love and childhood, A Good Day is a classic folk album for the iPod generation.
For Fans Of: Jaymay, Missy Higgins, Ingrid Michaelson, Joni Mitchell

Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif./Cardiff, Wales
Fun Fact: The crunktastic track “Trick for Treat” was spontaneously recorded during a party after a Spank Rock show at 4 a.m. in Boom Bip’s home studio.
Why It’s Worth Watching: Indie beatmaster Boom Bip and Super Furry frontman Gruff Rhys combined their artistry to create a concept album about notorious car engineer John DeLorean.
For Fans Of: New Order, Prince, David Bowie, Super Furry Animals

Hometown: Asheville, N.C.
Fun Fact: Tyler Ramsey was packing up his equipment at Echo Mountain studios in Asheville, North Carolina just as Band of Horses were unloading theirs to record 2007’s Cease to Begin. By the time he returned to finish up his debut full-length, they were just leaving. Pleasantries were exchanged, and a few months later, he was a touring member of the band.
Why He’s Worth Watching: His finger-picked acoustic guitar arrangements and understated melodies connect the dots between the singer-songwriters of the '70s and the traditional country-blues of the deep South.
For Fans Of: Neil Young, Iron & Wine, James Taylor

Hometown: San Francisco, Calif.
Fun Fact: Michael Hurley sang backing vocals on his song “Blue Driver” when Vetiver recorded it for its new covers album A Thing of the Past.
Why It's Worth Watching: Following its well-received 2006 album, To Find Me Gone, and its excellent new covers project, the prolific Vetiver is already working on its next batch of original material.
For Fans Of: Devendra Banhart, Neil Young, Jayhawks

Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Fun Fact: We Are Scientists' logo was inspired by an old copy of Madame Bovary that was lying around during the making of the band's debut, With Love and Squalor.
Why They’re Worth Watching: Hilarity aside, their oscillation between retro and bass-driven songs make even the heaviest feet want to challenge someone to a dance-off.
For Fans Of: Arctic Monkeys, Maximo Park, Kaiser Chiefs

Hometown: Durham, N.C.
Fun Fact: While students at Duke, the members of Bombadil accidentally burned down their original practice space, a house on loan from the University. The house had to be completely demolished a week later.
Why It's Worth Watching: Bombadil's stunning debut album combines a love of international folk with homegrown mountain-blues, played with a good-time rollicking feel perfect for road trips and lazy summer days.
For Fans Of: The Avett Brothers, Akron/ Family, The Decemberists

Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
Fun Fact: Besides fronting Destroyer, Dan Bejar is currently in three other bands—Hello, Blue Roses; Swan Lake and the New Pornographers.
Why It's Worth Watching: A Destroyer album is like a library book for the ears—listeners can get happily lost in Bejar's guitar-based, slithery melodies and labyrinthine lyrics.
For Fans Of: Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Gustave Flaubert

Hometown: Oxford, Miss.
Fun Fact: Three members of the band are also in a Pavement cover band that is so good it "even fucks up correctly."
Why Its Worth Watching: Colour Revolt combines the more adventurous side of indie rock with soaring dynamics and a Southern mentality.
For Fans Of: Radiohead, The Grifters, Modest Mouse

Colour Revolt has hardly glutted the marketplace with material in its three-year existence, but with good reason. In addition to the fact that all of the band members are just now wrapping up their collegiate educations at Ole Miss, Colour Revolt has also kept busy playing 150 shows a year. All this without mentioning the fact that the band's debut EP was picked up for a one-off re-release by a major label. Needless to say, Plunder, Beg, and Curse, the band's debut album, has been a long time coming.

Hometown: Miami, Fla./Atlanta, Ga.
Fun Fact: The album art for the band's latest, Meanderthal, depicts several mildly menacing but benevolently furry creatures drawn by guitarist Juan Montoya. A closer look reveals that each beast is a caricature of one of Torche's members.
Why Its Worth Watching: With sheer volume, force and catchy hooks, Torche brandishes a heart stopping live show that shames all bands unlucky enough to share its bill.
For Fans Of: Jesu, Foo Fighters, Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age

Pummeling, earth-shattering noise married to gorgeous melodies: It’s the golden egg so many underground acts have searched for, but only a handful have had the chops to pull off. Sonic Youth has made a career of the combination, My Bloody Valentine collapsed under an obsessive perfection of it, and the extreme metal and hardcore scenes of the '90s splintered into innumerable sub-genres, many of which put pop hooks in the strangest places.

Hometown: Palenville, N.Y.
Fun Fact: On the sinister “Hey Hey Revolver,” you can actually hear a lightning bolt strike the leaky, abandoned theatre where these young roots revivalists recorded their rare first album, Tonight At the Arizona.
Why They're Worth Watching: The Felice Brothers are more than unkempt panhandlers of American folk idioms. Plenty of on-the-lamb experimentation supplements the threadbare songs of their self-titled Team Love debut.
For Fans Of: The Avett Brothers, Bob Dylan, The Band, Woody Guthrie

For pundits of modern music journalism, especially ones that love to harp about how criticism has become a silly game of who influenced whom, The Felice Brothers are perhaps an easy target. Their music, cobbled together by three brothers and a former dice player, is often filed under the influence of Bob Dylan and The Band, particularly the pair's legendary 1967 Basement Tapes sessions.

Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Fun Fact: Jack London’s novel, The Sea-Wolf, inspired the band's moniker. Appropriately, its tour van is named The Ghost, after the ship in the book.
Why Its Worth Watching: Sea Wolf combines the precision, flair and innovation of '60s rock pioneers with a sparse, folk-infused delivery.
For Fans Of: Andrew Bird, The Decemberists, Neutral Milk Hotel, Belle and Sebastian

Alex Brown Church always had a boyhood fascination with wolves. As time would have it, his intrigue with one of folklore’s central antagonists begged him to create a mythology of his very own via the aural tales eloquently delivered through his alter-ego, Sea Wolf.

Hometown: South Portland, Maine
Fun Fact: This homespun acoustic group emerged from the prog-leaning art-punk collective Cerberus Shoal.
Why It’s Worth Watching: Fire on Fire is a medicine-show concoction of ragtime, acid folk and campfire swing without one touch of posturing.
For Fans Of: Be Good Tanyas, Bardo Pond, The Band

When it seems like every unwashed minstrel with a John Fahey CD, nylon guitar and a four-track recorder is hailed as a free-folk visionary, a band as good as Fire on Fire is downright refreshing. The group rose out of the underground experimental cabal Cerberus Shoal, when folk revisionist troubadour Micha Blue Smaldone moved into the group’s shared house in South Portland, Maine. This sense of communal closeness permeates the rustic alchemy on the band's debut EP (titled, fittingly enough, 5 Song EP).

Hometown: Norman, Okla.
Members (L-R): Austin Stephens, Kyle Davis, Josh Jones, Todd Jackson
Fun Fact: Principal songwriter Josh Jones traveled with The Mooney Suzuki as a guitar tech about a year before his Evangelicals got their break. While on tour, he committed the ultimate roadie taboo and tried to hand out his band’s demos to various A&R guys.
Why They’re Worth Watching: These Okies take a sledgehammer to indie pop and spit the fragments in a hundred different directions, hitting everything from overdriven synth rock to campfire sing-a-longs.
For Fans Of: The Unicorns, Deerhoof, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Josh Jones knew he just needed a connection with a record label to help spread the gospel of his Evangelicals project. Well, that, and an actual band.

Hometown: Kelowna, British Columbia
Members: Duffy Driediger (vocals, guitar); Darcy Hancock (lead guitar, vocals); Sean Hawryluk (bass, vocals); Ryan Peters (drums, vocals)
Fun Fact: Recording sessions for the band’s latest album often stretched into the wee hours of the morning, thanks to copious amounts of sugary sangria.
Why It’s Worth Watching: After releasing a 2007 EP that Hancock admits “didn’t really sound like us,” the band has returned to its roots on Shots.
For Fans Of: Neil Young, The Band, My Morning Jacket

When childhood friends Duffy Driediger, Darcy Hancock, Sean Hawryluk and Ryan Peters were ready to self-record their first album back in 2005, they had a very specific sound in mind for Ladyhawk's debut. “We wanted to have a real live-sounding record,” Hancock explains. “We did it all live in the same room because we refused to wear headphones.”

Hometown: Baltimore, Md.
Fun Fact: Vocalist/keyboardist Victoria Legrand, the niece of French composer Michel Legrand, was born in France and city-hopped until settling in Baltimore’s tight-knit music community.
Why It's Worth Watching: Beach House’s dreamy, reverb-soaked songs are the perfect soundtrack for wintertime solitude.
For Fans Of: Grizzly Bear, Broadcast, Mazzy Star

Beach House’s otherworldly music is a sly pickpocket of reveries from that delicate time between when your head hits the pillow and you hazily submit to slumber. Although “dream pop” sounds like would what happen if Rainbow Brite got the hankering to rock, it’s nevertheless become the elected label for the band’s muted sound.

Hometown: Atlanta, Ga.
Fun Fact: Performing with his other group, Deerhunter, Bradford Cox cuts a striking figure onstage. He's worn a short dress over his lanky frame and smeared himself with fake blood during past shows.
Why It’s Worth Watching: Atlas Sound is the dream-pop alternative to the more aggressive rock sound of Deerhunter, showing another facet of Cox's musicality.
For Fans Of: Deerhunter, Liars, Brian Eno

Bradford Cox has a reputation for effrontery onstage and off. In addition to the factoid above, the Deerhunter frontman, who is releasing his first proper solo album under the name Atlas Sound, has written bloodletting screeds on the Deerhunter blog, and has railed against former collaborators in interviews, most notably Samara Lubelski, who produced an early version of Deerhunter’s breakthrough second