With a sound recalling early English new wave, like The Jam, as well as later day power pop heroes, The Exploding Hearts, The Biters hit the same power pop sweet spot that made the debut record by fellow ATL residents, Gentlemen Jesse and His Men, such a pleasurable listen a couple years back. It’s all there on “Hang Around,” the band’s debut single, a track which combines blazing guitar lines and a Friday night is fun night attitude with just the right amount of gutter-punk dirt to create an instant air guitar anthem. You gotta turn this one up and jam it.

MP3: The Biters – Hang Around
VIDEO: The Biters – Hang Around

You can catch The Biters live in Cleveland on August 18th at Now That’s Class.

The Biters

“Breaking into the UK music scene meanwhile, is an anticipated dream for the singer-songwriter who has already had a taste of the UK crowds as Erik Hassle’s (who has opened for the likes of Ellie Goulding, MIKA and Little Boots and has appeared on Radio One’s infamous ‘Live Lounge’) 2009 touring keyboardist. With an impressively haunting vocal velocity and unrelentless personal drive to succeed, Brigit is set to become a recognised musical tirade to be reckoned with outside of her native Sweden”.

Looking forward to a promo Email later this week with Birgit Bidder`s name placed in the header, carefully directing us to some more information and media pleasure. The Swede`s have cleverly perfected the art of Orchestral Alt-Pop, fingers crossed for an album review to kick off next months volley of music submissions. In the meantime Birgit`s publicity team are concentrating on the UK August 9th release of the lead single `Parking Lot Paradise`, I find it hard to believe the promo video attached was shot with a such a limited budget.

Birgit Bidder : Parking Lot Paradise (New York Jazz Live)
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Courtesy Of Mud Hut Digital

Struggling through at work, but the week work is almost over. I still hope to have out reviews of the latest Honeycomb Love and Empires of Eden plus the Icarus Witch interview in the next few days. For next week I am aiming to have out reviews of the latest from Ember’s Flame, JPT Scare band, Delain and Black River and Clash of the album covers.

Have a great week!

Wednesday night blues:

1) Earl King: “Seduction”
2) John Primer: “Bad Blood”
3) Joe Louis Walker: “Got to Find My Baby”
4) Floyd Miles: “Mean Heartbreaker”
5) Johnny Heartsman: “The Butler Did It”
6) Junior Wells: Early in the Morning”
7) Magic Sam: “Blue Light Boogie”
J.B. Lenoir: “When I Was Young”
9) Fenton Robinson: “The Getaway”
10) Carey Bell: “Strange Woman”

I can’t take credit for this one, but the running joke during Black Mountain’s recent appearance at the Beachland Ballroom was that they are such the longhairs, should you even manage to shave their heads, the high and tight look would last for but a minute before their shaggy locks would re-grow  to their previous length. They are that indebted to the style, the sound, and, um, the hair of heavy riff-rockers from days gone by.

So, it’s kinda fitting, and funny for those of us in on the joke, that the Vancouver band would include a track called “The Hair Song,” on their third album, Wilderness Heart. Also fitting, is that the band would channel Led Zeppelin, a band featuring some mighty fine hair, on “The Hair Song.” The guitar and bass in particular have that signature Zeppelin sound, like the one in “Kashmir,” except not quite dramatic, in this case, and worked well within the framework of a folksy, foot stomping duet between Black Mountain’s two leads — Stephen McBean and Amber Weber.

MP3: Black Mountain – The Hair Song

Black Moutain’s third album, Wilderness Heart, will be out September 14th on Jagjaguwar Records.

Black Mountain on Jagjaguwar Records

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s performance at the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival was a rare highlight during a festival which will more than likely be remembered for three things: The heat, the boring bands who played during those hot afternoons, and Pavement.  Others didn’t quite see it that way, and Jon Spencer didn’t take to kindly to those sentiments, especially those made by Jim DeRogatis who compared The Blues Explosion’s performance to a black-face parody of the blues.  For this, DeRo earned a “F*cking a**hole,” from Spencer.

There’s more, in this particular interview with Eye Weekly, of course.

On his decision to wear rubber pants in the steaming heat, Spencer replied, “I’m in a rock ’n’ roll band and I was there to play rock ’n’ roll. I didn’t go there to work on my tan or play hacky-sack. Jesus Christ, what’s this world coming to? Everybody gets so upset about me trying to look good! I’m getting to be an old man, but I’ve got a job, and I’m going to do it the best I can. F*ck these squares.”

To this, I say, “Amen, brother.”  After watching so many bands play in shorts, and hearing so many of those bands in shorts complain about the heat, and then having to sit through painfully uninteresting sets by those boys and girls in shorts, it was pure joy to witness the Blues Explosion leave everything they had on that stage.

From Eye Weekly, via The Daily Swarm

Beginning with his much-loved lo-fi days in Guided by Voices, and on through countless, much cleaner sounding side projects and solo projects, Boston Spaceships’ Robert Pollard has always been an adherent to the Four P’s of Rock ‘N’ Roll – Pop, Punk Rock, Psychedelic Rock and Progressive Rock.  With Boston Spaceships, however, the Four P’s are often scaled back to include only punk and pop.  Perhaps, this explains why Boston Spaceships records have been the source of Pollard’s most consistently satisfying, post-GBV output to date, with songs like “C’mon Baby Grace,” from the forthcoming Our Clubhouse Still Rocks, taking all of thirty seconds to make the trip from your headphones to your heart.

MP3: Boston Spaceships – Come on Baby Grace

Our Clubhouse Still Rocks by Boston Spaceships will be due out September 7th via GBV Records.

Boston Spaceships

Endless Boogie crawl out of the soil once more for a full length that’s greased with the ravenous energy of Beefheart locked into a devastating guitar loop. The band has made their reputation stretching the riff into a monolithic structure and the tower grows ever higher on Full House Head. Punctuated by Top Dollar’s gravely rasp and amiable fretwork; the band crafts albums for anyone who’s ever had a dirty blues heart and a road weary soul. Broiling the ghost of the 70’s boogie band into fighting shape they’ve dragged the past with them into the shell of 2010 but never with wide-eyed winking nostalgia. They roll down the tarmac with a powerful sincerity and an aim to rock the living shit out of you and I’ll be damned if they don’t succeed. Pick up this monster on vinyl, I can’t think of a more perfect pairing of sound and format.

Download:
[MP3] Endless Boogie – Pack Your Bags

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

“The ongoing seaside adventures of Nick Ward are continuing to excite Internet Blogs and music sites, all with a shared addiction to wonderfully structured Power-Pop. Whether the latest recording project involves explosive fuzzed-out guitar or expressive acoustic soul searching. Essential British musical observations and New Wave counter culture happily studied on eccentric hazy vinyl, Nick Ward`s connection with Sixties Soul, Britpop and radio friendly Indie is all apparent after just a few listens”.

The warm affection shown to coastal excursions through tuneful observations is soul inspiring. Pink Bay has succeeded in merging Nick Ward`s preferred guitar styles and seamless production ideals – A glowing testament to his flexibility and art-pop dedication. Historically, a musicians second full length release can become awkward, often pieced together with offcuts and indulgent musings – The Jam/This Is The Modern World and The Kaiser Chiefs/Yours Truly Angry Mob, even The Stone Roses failed to duplicate their previous hard graft and social standing. Nick has certainly not relinquished his original influences, pacing through the melody and phrasing of `Andy Partridge` Power-Pop while gently unfolding the subtle quirkiness of a Ray Davies storybook. Eleven songs of regret, hope and prosperity allowing the capacity to drown in sound without the salty, sand filled after taste. The first single lifted from Pink Bay is `Can You Heal Me Now` followed by the August 23rd release of `Just Look Around You`, I would presume the worldwide Pink Bay release will follow this date.

Nick Ward : Follow The Sun
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Previous Nick Ward Reviews

I managed to hit Nick Ward with a handful of questions this week, nothing too serious but a brief insight into Pink Bay was appreciated.

1. Your song writing, how do you approach the process in terms of the inspiration needed?

“I always have bits & pieces on the go that I work on, but it’s when I get excited about a chord progression or a lyric, that’s when I’m off and runnng with it. The best ones are always written quickly. It’s also influenced by what I am listening to at that time. I have my favourites that I always play & they will always be an influence, but as a writer you have to open yourself up to new music whether it’s from 1940 or 2010. I have probably listened to more acoustic artists recently, Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Tunng. I’ve also learned to appreciate the songs of Sinatra, Billie Holiday and 60’s Brazilian bossa nova. There’s worlds of music to discover! The lyrical side of it is different. Without trying to sound predictable, Pink Bay is a more personal album, I have taken from recent experiences. A Map & A Pin was written about a friend whose partner turned into an aggressive alcoholic. All The Dreamers was written after the fox-hunting ban came in, & it was ignored. Can You Heal Me Now can mean different things to different people, but to me it’s about our leaders taking us into Afghanistan & Iraq. But the album’s not all doom & gloom”!

2. Pink Bay, A special place?

“Pink Bay is a nearby beach. It’s called that because the rocks surrounding it are…..pink! Well, a larva sorta colour. For me it seems to be inspirational. I take my dog there regularly, and nearly always head home with a song in my head. It’s a very nice spot on a sunny day, lots of large rock pools….and some fresh water springs under the sand. Yes….special”.

3. Solo singer/songwriter or the comfort of a fast-paced Rock`N`Roll band?

“Now that’s a good question. Do I have to choose? When recording….solo. Playing live….band. It’s difficult to choose because I write & record a variety of stuff. Some songs suit a band set up, some don’t. All my favourite writers/performers have variety to their work….McCartney, Costello, Weller, Young, Davies….I’m damned if I had to play just one type of music. I want to push myself. It’s not enough to just be in a band, I have to create. Think The Beatles…….Yesterday & Helter Skelter were written by the same bloke. I try to do that in my own way. By the way, there’s no comfort in a Rock n Roll band! Ha ha ha“

4. A Nick Ward track remixed, a future possibility or an uninteresting proposition?

“I think there’s a couple of remixes already in production. But if anyone reading this fancies a go, why not”.