DAILY GRAM: a true road dog
THROWBACK (THURSDAY) PHOTO CONTEST:
Who is this youthful rapper throwing it down live? Answer correctly and you could win tickets to see him perform live at 9:30 Club!
To enter: send your answer to contests@930.com. Winner picked 12PM tomorrow!
NEW TRACKS: The Arctic Monkeys - ‘Do I Wanna Know?’
Suck It And See brought us a darker, heavier, and more grown up Arctic Monkeys that we happily banged our heads for live. The subsequent release of tracks like “R U Mine” and “Electricity” followed a similar trend. Now knowing that singer Alex Turner took his motorcycles (and bad ass attitude) to L.A., and collaborated with the king of dark sexy vibes, Josh Homme, we’ve have had our ideas about what a possible 2013 album from Arctic Monkeys would sound like.
Clearly, they are delivering. Performing this new track live in Ventura last night, we hear a song about love and yearning with a sinister undertone. Our thoughts? Hell yes. Check it out and cross your fingers for a new album and tour in 2013. We know we are.
SHOW PREVIEW: Best Coast
No one does poppy, California-doused indie rock quite like Best Coast. Fronted by the tatted-up, tousle-haired Bethany Cosentino, Best Coast earned a whole new wave of fans after sophomore album The Only Place was released last May. The album sort of encapsulates the Best Coast vibe: open, honest songs about relationships, catchy, jangly-pop hooks, and an onslaught of never-ending ‘I-love-you’s’ to California, the only place worth living in Cosentino’s opinion.
Founded in 2009 by Cosentino and friend Bobb Bruno, the band released their surf rock, lo-fi side, debut album Crazy for You the following year to rave reviews from critics. It even gained a few famous fans, with actress Drew Barrymore directing a star-studded music video for track “Our Deal.” Since then, the hype for the band has only been growing.
Get your lo-fi fix when Best Coast comes to the club on June 4!
-Yohana Desta
VOTD: Empire of The Sun - ‘Alive’ (Live)
Truth be told, we have worn the hell out of Empire of The Sun’s, Walking On A Dream, since it came out in 2008. The tracks never seem to get old, and are always on point in any mix. But after seeing the band’s incredible live spectacle at FreeFest a couple years back, we couldn’t help but leave a little bittersweet wondering when, or if, we would ever hear new music from Lords Littlemore and Steele.
EVERYONE REJOICE. They’re back, the sound is signature, we can’t stop dancing, and it appears the spectacle has in no way been downgraded. Watch Steele reign over this live performance of their latest single performed live for the first time at the Dallas House Of Blues.
Ice on the Dune is due out in June.
ALBUM REVIEW: The Olms, The Olms (Pete Yorn + J.D. King)
Aughts indie slacker extraordinaire Pete Yorn is back, and paired up with J.D. King for new pop throwback outfit The Olms. This may be their first record, but it plays more like long-lost mellow 70s gold. Album opener ‘Wanna Feel It’ is sunny, strummy, and just a little bittersweet. Think Pinback plus J Mascis’ solo acoustic work; think a Texas-ized Beck slogging through an alternative desert, full of cactus flowers saying hello. You get the drift.
Yorn seems to be going through a perennial ‘Breakup’, or at the very least, constant heartbreak. And as with many midlife musicians, he struggles with late adulthood – “Stranded in time / Feeling alone / Cold sweat / Drying in the garden,” he sings on ‘Another Day Dream’. Songs like ‘Someone Else’s Girl’ hearken back to a simpler and more innocent time, when pining for someone who’s spoken for was the biggest problem in the world. Don’t worry though – the song has a surprise happy ending.
Yorn still loves using unconventional instruments that set him apart from the crowd – check the freakified tuba on ‘Rise and Shine’, and the mouth harp on ‘Bottle of Wine’. And as always, there are more sounds on here than meet the ear. ‘Twice As Nice’ is the group’s take on doowop, and ‘She Said No’ is a dark, heartbreaking murder ballad of olde. P.S., ‘On The Line’ is basically going to be your official 2013 summer jam. This is a perfect slice of lo-fi weirdness: moody and textured, with the light touch of pop geniuses. At the end of the day, these guys are master musicians and extra-master songwriters, and this record will be in your rotation for a while. Say it with us: Ollllmmmm.
-Kelsey Butterworth
Performing live at U Street Music Hall on June 12th.
