Listen Before It's Over

Believe it or not there is still decent music out there, sometimes you just need a little help finding it all.

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Listen Before It's Over

Philadelphia independent music blog

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Diane Coffee - Kokomo [Beach Boys Cover]

Listen to Diane Coffee - Kokomo [Beach Boys Cover] by western.vinyl #np on #SoundCloud

Listen Diane Coffee’s Beach Boys cover of their 1989 hit ‘Kokomo’

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New York’s conspicuous Indie rock band 'The Strokes’ have kept garage-rock alive for over 15 years. Their accomplished career as a band is not over yet. The group made a grand return this past week, having released their first new material in 3 years in the form of a four-track EP entitled ‘ Future Present Past’. The EP includes 3 original songs (“Drag Queen”, “OBLIVIUS”, and “Threat of Joy”) in addition to a remix of “OBLIVIUS”, written by the bands drummer, Fabrizio Moretti.

Not only did they band drop a new EP this week but they also played a headlining set at the Governors Ball Music Festival on Randall’s Island in New York City. With the band scheduling more tour dates for the near future, I think its safe to say that we will be seeing more material from the fabled rock quintet.

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If you are in the New York area on July 9th, I highly recommend you take a day-trip to the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan for Village Voice's annual 4Knots Music Festival. Not only will you get to see some of the most rad bands in Indie Rock, but it’s also FREE! 

Check out the website for more info!

http://microapp.villagevoice.com/4knots/2016/

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Album Of The Week:

Pinegrove ‘Cardinal’ 

In early February, Montclair N.J. four-piece Pinegrove released their debut LP, entitled ‘Cardinal’. The album offers the groups most introspective and hot-blooded lyrics yet.  

Pinegrove is an indie rock band who’s rustic emo-tinged sound has gained quite the reputation. Emerging in 2010 with their  EP ‘Mixtape One’, these youthful garden state rockers began captivating listeners with emotional lyrics supported by clumsy guitar playing and simple drum patterns. The bands distinct minimalistic approach to roots rock can be recognized from a mile away. Lead guitarist and singer Evan Hall is the genius behind the bands abstract song structures and catchy melodies. Hall’s unconventional songwriting ability and conspicuous voice have proven to be the driving forces behind the bands success.

‘Cardinal’ is the groups first official full-length release, after signing with Boston rock label, 'Run For Cover Records’ in October of 2015. The album features 8 tracks, all of which are rich in sentiment and reminiscent of the confessional-style lyricism you might hear coming out of the indie rock scene in the early 1990’s. The open-hearted sensibility found in Hall's lyrics prove that he is not interested in complying with the harsh standards of cool within modern indie rock, but instead he blatantly disregards them. The lethargic guitar strumming throughout this record evokes genuine similarities to fellow up and coming indie rock act, ‘The Districts’. 

The album opens with the poignant track “Old Friends”, a precursor to the albums closing track “New Friends”, which was released on the bands ‘Everything So Far’ Compilation in late 2015. If you find yourself in a 'solipsistic mood’, this album will definitely help you move past your narcissism, I highly recommend giving it a listen. :)

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The National have announced their long-awaited Grateful Dead tribute album. 

This compilation project features Dead covers by the National, Wilco, The Flaming Lips, Courtney Barnett, The War on Drugs, Bruce Hornsby, The Walkmen, Kurt Vile, Jenny Lewis, TV on the Radio, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Real Estate, Sharon Van Etten, Mumford & Sons, My Morning Jacket, Grizzly Bear, Phosphorescent, Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo, Cass McCombs, Arcade Fire, Tallest Man on Earth, Local Natives, and the Band's Garth Hudson.

The 59-track, six-hour-long all-star box set, is out May 20.

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http://music.twinpeaksdudes.com

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Track Of The Week:

The Districts ‘4th and Roebling’

This small town four piece Indie rock outfit unveiled their sophomore album ‘A Flourish and a Spoil’ this past February. The album struck a chord among young people especially within small town America due to it’s substance and lyrics brimming with coming of age issues. The four bandmates met in high school and began writing songs together while living in Lititz, PA, a small suburb of the slightly more notable city of Lancaster PA. Their sounds bring back nostalgia from the post-punk revival of a decade ago with raspy and very compressed guitar riffs on top of clean, unvarying drum patterns. Particularly in their newest album, the bands low fidelity recording techniques left innovative and exciting results which remind me of a much more rural sound maybe indicative of their Amish country origins. This album is certainly one to check out, especially if you need a new sound to help cope with your angst.    

https://thedistricts.bandcamp.com

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Top 40 Records of 2015

1) Courtney Barnett ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’

2) The Districts ‘A Flourish and a Spoil’

3) Ought ‘Sun Coming Down’

4) Tame Impala ‘Currents’

5) Alabama Shakes ‘Sound & Color’

6) Kurt Vile ‘b'lieve i'm goin down....’

7) King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard ‘Quarters!’

8) Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment ‘Surf’

9) Hop Along ‘Painted Shut’

10) Beach House ‘Depression Cherry’

11) Mac Demarco ‘Another One’

12) Evans The Death ‘Expect Delays’

13) Father John Misty ‘I Love You, Honeybear’

14) Kendrick Lamar ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’

15) Chris Stapleton ‘Traveller’

16) Twiddle ‘Plump’

17) Regal Degal ‘Not Now’

18) Leon Bridges ‘Coming Home’

19) Panda Bear ‘Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper’

20) Parquet Courts ‘Monastic Living’

21) Deerhunter ‘Fading Frontier’

22) Modest Mouse ‘Strangers to Ourselves ‘

23) Wilco ‘Star Wars’

24) Wavves ‘V’

25) Palehound ‘Dry Food’

26) Ty Segall ‘Mr. Face’

27) Froth ‘Bleak’

28) Dawes ‘All Your Favorite Bands’

29) Tobias Jesso Jr. ‘Goon’

30) Wavves, Cloud Nothings ‘No Life For Me’

31) Bully ‘Feels Like’

32) The Holydrug Couple ‘Moonlust’

33) Levitation Room ‘Minds of Our Own’

34) Vundabar ‘Gawk’

35) Unknown Mortal Orchestra ‘Multi-Love’

36) Kuroma ‘Kuromarama’

37) Sufjan Stevens ‘Carrie & Lowell’

38) Noel Gallagher ‘High Flying Birds’

39) Lord Huron ‘Strange Tails’

40) Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield ‘Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith’

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Album to Check Out:

Twiddle - ‘Plump’

Self describing their music as Hi-Def, Face Melting, Barnyard Stomp, this Vermont-based quartet has been chilling audiences across the states with their whimsical, genre-bending shredding. The band emerged in 2004 as founding members, Mihali Savoulidis and Ryan Dempsey met and subsequently started jamming together while attending a small liberal arts college in southwest Vermont. The band is now a four-piece with Savoulidis on guitar and lead vocals, Dempsey on keys, Brook Jordan on drums, and the youngest of the four, Zdenek Grubb on bass. The band has quickly gained attention and garnered an extraordinary fan-base in and beyond the Jamband scene. Just under a month ago Twiddle released their third studio effort, ’Plump’, which as a testament to their supporters, was a completely fan-funded album. The 11-track record is a bit different from what we have heard from them in the past. ‘Plump’ is very clean and well produced, it highlights the band’s amazing songwriting ability as most of the tracks contain strong melodies with the expected improvisation being cut short. For the avid Twiddle-listeners, most of these tunes, the band has been playing for years and never had the opportunity to record. Twiddle will begin their Winter tour in mid-February and are expected to be heavily touring the festival circuit come this Summer.

https://twiddle.bandcamp.com

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Suggested EP:

Summer Salt - ‘Driving to Hawaii’

This Austin rock’n’roll trio is bringing new and sophisticated sounds to the west coast surf scene with their newest EP, ‘Driving to Hawaii’. The EP, self-recorded in the summer of 2014 and released in October of that year, contains six serene tunes which for me, brought tranquil feelings of nostalgia and self-reflection. The EP opens with an oldies track named ‘Time Away from Home’, which clearly has influences south of the border due to it’s almost bossa nova-style guitar melodies bleeding into a subtle bass and percussive accompaniment. Another tune to check out is the soothing title track ‘Driving to Hawaii’. All of Summer Salt’s music is available on their band camp and spotify pages!

http://summersaltband.bandcamp.com

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Track Of The Week:

Vundabar - ‘Chop’

In the opening track on their sophomore release ‘Gawk’, the Boston rock trio known as ‘Vundabar’ mixes edgy guitar riffs, jangly beats, and beautifully  rendered vocal harmonies. Beyond the first track, listeners will be hooked on fierce rhythms ripping through soft spoken harmonies. The album’s simple lyrics are permeated with struggles of age, relationships, and touring. Vundabar seems to be taking what we love about the DIY scene and bringing it to the forefront of indie rock. Coming to a basement near you (possibly), please see them before it’s too late. :)

https://vundabar.bandcamp.com