After a period of hibernation in the Pacific Northwest, Say Hi has released Endless Wonder on Barsuk Records! Much like in previous albums (especially The Wishes and the Glitch), Eric Elbogen mixes distorted guitars, robot love lyrics, and drum machine beats to tell stories of heartbreak. “When I Think About You” resonates early-relationship nerves as the antithesis of post-relationship sorrow in “Dots on Maps.”
Check out the rest of the album preview on A/V Club.
San Francisco-based TAXES premiered their new track “Lost at Sea” through Breakup Records this morning.
A mix of light electronic notes with a 2004-esque indie rock, they are San Francisco’s answer to Glasgow’s Blue Sky Archives (you know, Lauren Mayberry’s pre-CHVRCHES Pinback-esque project). The male and female harmonies balance each other the same way that the faster, more intense post-bridge portions counter the softer, mellower verses.
While intricately pieced together and instrumentally and lyrically dense, “Lost at Sea” counterintuitively projects an earlier time in indie music – when Pinback and STARS orchestrations reigned supreme, weaving subtle synths into mostly guitar/drums/bass-type tracks.
Catch them at their Bottom of the Hill single release in San Francisco tonight!
While a lot of the Australian bands and musicians BoxSpeaker’s been reviewing lately have leaned more toward the electropop and nu-disco portions of the music genre spectrum, MT WARNING has more of an indie rock (with a tiny bit of a rugged alt-country feel). Think of MT WARNING as Australia’s Pete Yorn with some synths/keyboard notes.
Mikey Bee even recorded all the instrument for the song by himself in one night – similar to how Pete Yorn is credited for almost every instrument in his studio-recorded albums.
What I first noticed about “Faking Gold” by Mr. Little Jeans is the singer’s sensual, smooth voice. It’s not “sensual” and “smooth” in a soul way but in an electropop Goldfrapp or triphop Sneaker Pimps manner. In fact, her music sounds like the electropop version of Kitten or The Like! It’s as if someone took Kitten and the Like’s faster songs and added electropop beats over their lofi indie rock rhythm.
In fact, the initial twenty-five seconds of my first listen made me think Mr. Little Jeans was simply an electropop musician. The drum machine-sounding drums combined with the spacey keyboard notes and the warbley static at the thirteen second mark are very reminiscent of Goldfrapp’s style. However, past the twenty-five second mark, a guitar riff comes in and reveals that Mr. Little Jeans blends indie rock with electropop.
It also doesn’t hurt that Mr. Little Jeans did a cover of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.”
Have your own listen at myspace.com/mrlittlejeans100
![[SHOW/SONG ALERT:] “Lost at Sea” by TAXES (Bottom of the Hill TONIGHT)](https://www.boxspeakermusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/taxes-lost-at-sea.jpg)
