From The Inbox

Here's what's been coming into the HFTB inbox of late....

Bad Veins

Bio:

It's not often or ever that a band from the Midwest plays as little as five shows before finding themselves on stage at an event currated by one of New York City's most well known day-to-day culture blogs. Benjamin Davis (vocals, guitar & synth) and Sebastian Schultz (drums) - the guys behind Cincinnatti's Bad Veins - were just as surprised as anyone else to find themselves performing at Gothamist's Movable Hype show this past January.

The story began as a solo act with Davis piecing together ideas he had swimming in his head in the wake of his former bands dissolution. He put down dense orchestral tracks that resonated with a fuzzy melancholy, and featured vocals sung through megaphones and telephones. Though he was making headway recording material on his own, it became clear to Davis that he'd be short a pair of hands if he ever wanted to replicated the recording on stage. Enter Schulz, a French born but American raised drummer that had just seen his own band call it quits.

Davis quickly found Schulz to be exactly what he needed. The latter's impassioned drumming took the music to new heights, allowed Davis to kick his stodgy drum machine to the curb, and most importantly gave Bad Veins the opportunity to take the stage. Lucky breaks are few and far between on the musical landscape, but for Bad Veins they came upone theirs at their second ever show, when a band they were opening for stumbled upon their sound check. Upon hearing their supporting act warm up, Atlanta's Snowden were instantly impressed. They traveled on to New York on tour and told stories to venue bookers, writers and friends about this great new band they played with Cincinnatti. Before long opportunities sprung up for shows, and a couple of phone calls came in from record labels. Weeks later they were playing Brooklyn and Manhattan.

To date Bad Veins have played a little more then a dozen shows, yet have already shared the stage with the likes of Snowden, Viva Voce, Silversun Pickups, Apples in Stereo and O'Death.

Give them a listen here....

"Gold & Warm" (MP3, right click to download)

Be their friend on MySpace....

Bad Veins on Myspace

The Icicles

Band Info:

What whould happen if a group of life-versed adults tacked the themes of young love and youthful naivety within a sixties' pop format? Well, you're about to find out. The Icicles create young people's music with a reflective palette. Sweet pop melodies remain with listeners indefinitely. The band's debut, A Hundred Patterns, dazzled music fans as well as ad exec for Motorola, who used the single "Sugar Sweet" in a national campaign. The group's newest effort is an ample offering of cheery tunes perfect for a summer day. Engineer Britt Myers (Essex Green, Dressy Bessy) joined the band in the studio to ensure a unique sound, and helped to set the group apart fromt he other girl-fronted pop offerings on the indie scene. With a sound that isn't far from indie frontrunners Camera Obscura and guitar lines reminiscent of The Cure, this band is quite a treat.

Whirling (MP3)

Latida (MP3)

A Hundred Pattern (Full Album Stream)

Fiction Like Candy

Bio:

On record and on stage, singer/guitarist/songwriter Genna Giacobassi, bassist Randy Marshall and drummer Keith Sevigny bare their all playing music that invokes the immediate feelings of love, desire and bitter betrayal. Don't let the content of their songs fool the casual listener -- Easily recognizable are nuances of Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, The Beatles, Wilco, and Cat Power. However, explore deeper into its sonic landscape and you'll also hear the love of Motown, The Ramones and Cheap Trick bubbling underneath with its simplified anthems that draw from a time when rock compositions were short, tight and blunt, with dangerous excitement. Giacobassi's flexible vocals and circuitous lyrics may at times seem emotionally vulnerable, but the strength, a nod to her Midwestern roots, powers through the mix with true intensity. Paired with Marshall's muscular bass lines and backing vocals and Sevigny's energetic and articulate drumming, Fiction Like Candy disproves genre pigeonholing and creates songs that simply rock. While still retaining the atmospheric depth of their delicate, lo-fi EP La La Lo, (2005) their second EP, Brand New Fancy Truth, (Release date: February 6th, 2007) is more abrasive, challenging and darker. Overall, the music may defy genres, but that is what makes Fiction Like Candy special -- it refuses to settle for a predictable sound, preferring instead to go for the heart and the throat.

Fiction Like Candy was just a glimmer in Giacobassi's eye when she started writing songs and performing in coffee shops in San Francisco in 2004. Though she enjoyed playing solo, Giacobassi was determined to form a band. After she put up a posting on Craigslist asking for potential bandmates, she was lucky to unearth Marshall and Sevigny, and before they knew it, they had formed a family-like bond that is the glue holding the band together. While never denying their influences, Fiction Like Candy steps away from the current imitative trends to focus on what naturally emerges from their union rather than trying to force a sound or construct a mood. The end result of Fiction Like Candy's music can be described as jittery, gossamer, plaintive and infectious. Criss-crossing the country in a tour van has helped solidify the trio's relationship and sound, making them a mighty force to be reckoned with.

Further setting itself apart from the Indie scene, Fiction Like Candy has dubbed itself "The Nicest Band In America." They are certainly down-to-earth and playful, and they are dedicated to making the band easily accessible to everyone who loves its music and comes out to its shows. It's hard to resist a band that takes the time before and after its gigs to talk to friends, fans and random souls that wandered into the bar to get a drink and became captivated with a sweet rock and roll band called Fiction Like Candy.

Stream their new EP - Brand New Fancy Truth

Be their friend on MySpace too...

Fiction Like Candy on MySpace

From The Inbox

Here's what's been filling up the inbox of late....

Jarret Nicolay (of Virginia Coalition)

Album Info:
My New Mixtape's "Winter '07" is a collection of stories. Universal
stories. There are no singles. No solos. Just lush melodies over
acoustic guitar and synth grooves that culminate in a one on one
experience between the listener and their headphones. The mixtape has
been called "the most widely practiced American art form," and My New
Mixtape has made an artistic statement of dreamy experimental pop,
greater than the sum of the individual songs. Curious? Pull out your
headphones, close your eyes, and immerse yourself in the music of My
New Mixtape.

Drunk Me (MP3)

Pull Of The Moon (MP3)

Winterpills

Album Info:
Following the massive success of its home-recorded 2005 debut, Winterpills decided to settle into a studio to record the follow up. The resulting release, The Light Divides, improves upon the shimmering, nostalgic mood of the debut, taking the band's subtle and delicate pop to new sonic territory. As its name implies, Winterpills creates blustery, hibernal tunes that are best enjoyed in the cold: they will alternatively give you the chills and warm the soul. Winterpillscreate musical deja vu -- you already know these tunes, but are simultaneously aware that you have never heard them before. Eerie familiarities lead to new discoveries with every successive listen. Ethereal strains creep in and out of stereo sound. The Light Divides is sure to haunt your thoughts, and your media player.

Broken Arm (MP3)

Handkerchiefs (MP3)

Romeo & Juliet 10th Anniversary Soundtrack

Album Info:
It's also the tenth anniversary of Boz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet. To commemorate this occasion the soundtrack has been re-released with all the original songs - which features Radiohead, Butthole Surfers, Everclear and Garbage - and some new extras.

You can stream the full album via QuickTime here and Windows Media here.

From The Inbox

Been getting some emails lately asking to post some band info and MP3s for download here on HFTB. Since I'm here to inform you and spread the music I figured why not. So here's what's been filling up my inbox of late....

Dearborn
BIO:
Dearborn is a high energy rock band who is currently gearing up for their 2007 sophomore release "Always In Disguise". Chicago's premier rock band has fans and critics on the edge of their stereos in anticipation. The band recieved the 2004 Chicago Music Award for Rock Album of the Year for their debut release, "Prepare To Qualify", and this past year were up against rock greats Billy Corgan, Wilco, The Pony's and Umphrey's McGee as a nominee for 2004 and 2005's Best Rock Entertainer Award.

ALBUM INFO:
Always in Disguise is an album that embraces high energy alternative rock music pulling from every generation of rock and roll since the mid-70’s to current times and everything in between. Most often compared to mid-90’s alternative music with a little bit of an 80’s feel. Dearborn is unapologetic about their style, and it helps make their music more appealing. It is radio friendly and catchy but still in touch with what is real and now. The album speaks for itself as the band has gracefully honed in on their sound.

Always In Disguise (MP3)

Mew

To call Mew 'sort of surreal', of course, is like saying Bill Gates is 'reasonably well off'. If the sprawling, soaring bliss-rock of their breakthrough third album Frengers (2003) - particularly the ecstatically icy space ballets She Came Home For Christmas and NME Single Of The Week Comforting Sounds - projected a sense of glacial fairy tale wonderment (the sort of thing The Brothers Grimm might have written after a month on the road with Hope Of The States) then their fourth record 'Mew. and the Glass Handed Kites' is an even greater leap into the unknown. Redefining the concept of an 'album' - and, indeed, of a 'concept album' -and the Glass Handed Kites is an eccentric 60 minute rock headfuck, flinging musical ideas, distorted nightmare images and heartbreak choruses at the listener with what at first seems to be a random ferocity. One minute we're sailing towards Valhalla on 'Chinaberry Tree''s crusade-rock stomp, the next we're being asked "Why are you looking grave?" by J Mascis over a My Bloody Valentine throb, the next we're in the middle of an ethereal ballad about hiding foxes. Initially it sounds like ten bands playing ten different albums at the same time, which we're tuned in and out of by some insane studio engineer; repeated listening, however, reveals a remarkably unified work that picks up the experimental baton of 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac' and drenches it in Mew's unique other-worldy glisten.

Mew is a band originationg from Copenhagen, Denmark and has been making their way through the music scene by touring with great bands like Kasbian and Bloc Party. Their peculiar yet intriguing sound has distinguished them as a truly brilliant band. Already, Mew has achieved notoriety and success with their new album "Mew and the Glass Handed Kites," placing #2 in Entertainment Weekly's Must List.

Check them out on MySpace - here.

The Makes Nice

Following his exit from Bay Area rock heavyweights The Fucking Champs and Drunk Horse, Josh Smith (guitar, vocals) set out to strips things down in search of the perfect synthesis of pop melody and rock muscle. Enter Aaron Burnham (bass, vocals) and Jack Matthews (drums). What was originally intended as an instrumental R&B outfit evolved into a refurbished vintage project. Drawing from freakbeat influences (i.e. The Creation, Small Faces, et al.) The Makes Nice brings Smith's impeccable musicianship and traditional power trio rollicking to catchy, sing-along pure pop. Where many vintage-based acts leave listeners nostalgic for the old days, The Makes Nice draws from old styles with an entirely new angle. For its first release, the band called on Phil Manely, best know for his stellar guitar playing with Trans Am, to lend his engineering prowess.

Candy Wrapper (MP3)

California Sun (MP3)

The Safes

A literal "band of brothers," the all sibling trio The Safes is one of the hottest bands in the reputable Chicago rock scene. The rock/powerpop/soul threesome recieved much praise for its two previous efforts and has traversed the country playing for eager crowds. Well, Well, Well The Safes latest and strongest record builds on that solid foundation. With a sound that embodies the adage "old, new, borrowed and blue", The Safes are sure to get your feet tapping. The O'Malley brothers' family chemistry is easily discernible upon first listen and contributes volumes to this brilliantly cohesive music (think Kinks). With the release of Well, Well, Well and the great reputation of their lauded live show, The Safes stands poised to emerge from the Chicago market as a national force.

Phonebook Full of Phonies (MP3)

Fairy Tale Tomorrow (MP3)

I'll try and make this a regular series based on the amount of submissions I get.